Monday, January 31, 2005

Floral Madness

I don't know why I bother setting out specific tasks to be accomplished over the weekend. I never seem to get any of those tasks done. Lots of other things, certainly, but not the ones I had planned.

Friday was a total wash, as I had to be at an OES instructional thing in flippin' San Jose. I want my Friday nights back. January and February are really bust OES months, hardly a weekend without some event that consumes the whole day. Oh well. It will slow down again sooner or latter.

Saturday I went to Britex and got silk to bind my cheongsam. They didn't have china silk in the right color, do I got some nice dupioni with minimal slubs instead. It's light enough to work, the colors are perfect, and it will be a million times easier to work with than the silly china silk. Yay! I also found some really neat brown and hot pink brocade to do the Madame X corset out of, since it turns out I don't have enough of the raspberry and black stuff left over and nothing else in my stash was appealing for this outfit for some reason. I'm going to bind the brown brocade with matching pink changeable taffeta. Very obnoxious.

The reception Saturday was brilliant. The girls all did a wonderful job, and the guest of honor looked and felt like a princess in her dress. I was so glad that it got finished and fit right! That she enjoyed it so much really made it all worthwhile. She's such a sweet kid, almost like a little sister really, and it makes doing things like this for her much more fun.

N. and I ended up going out to dinner and a movie after the reception, which was a blast. We haven't had a girls night in a long time, it was good to just hang out in a non-Masonic setting and catch up a bit.

Sunday I finally got down to sewing and laundry. After a quick trip to the Height to get a mask and some foliage for my Mardi Gras masquerade dress, I got down to business fixing my old 1830's round gown. I had no fabric left over from the original project at all, so it was a little tricky re-cutting the bodice, but it worked out. The waist is a little higher, so it has a more 1829/30 transitional look to it, and I turned the long gigot sleeves into short mega-poof sleeves so it's more of an evening gown. I ended up using the bodice pattern I did for Mrs. G's dress, which fit well and has a nice neckline that works for the period. The thing went together really well, I was able to fit it to myself, and got it completely done, down to the hand-worked eye loops last night before bed. Yay for me! No pins! Well, ok, there are pins in the sleeves but they hold the sleeve crinoline things in place and that's how they are meant to attach.

All I have left to do for Saturday is arrange the foliage on the dress. I have a brilliant plan, I just need to sit down with florists tape, wire cutters, and a good movie and I'll have it done. Luckily I found a really cool butterfly mask at the art supply store, so I don't have to do any work on that. I can just focus on the floral arranging.

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