Sunday, November 05, 2006

ask a stupid question....

So a good rule of thumb is never to ask the dress engineer his opinion unless you're prepared to hear the answer. One would think his professional integrity was at stake or something. For example:

Me: Honey, how does this look?

Him: Hm. It looks fine.

Me: *narrowed eyes* Fine?

Him: No, no, what I mean is, it's nice. Really nice. Except, well....never mind. It's lovely.

Me: *deep sigh* So what does it need?

Him: Well, if you did this and that and the other thing altogether, it would be so much better, don't you see?

And then I go do another afternoon's worth of handsewing. Rinse and repeat. The trouble is, he's always right. He's got a better eye for things like balance in design.

 

This is possibly not the olive green wool kirtle I perhaps mentioned in the last post as THE PLAN. And I always stick to the plan. As evidenced as all the other times that I stuck to the plan.

 

Oh, and new rule. In addition to the "no machine stitching showing" rule, I now have "the insides have to be finished too." So we've got french seams and flat-felled seams and hand-stitched linings. And you know what? That rule's actually making me pretty happy. Posted by Picasa

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmmmm... must remind dress engineer that "fine" has multiple meanings. Of course, he does have a great eye for balance. I like the color, glad you mentioned that it is not olive green, thought my monitor color was wrong.
Seriously, very nice work daughter.
Mom

Julebug said...

Wow, that cutout/embroidery detail is the bomb! Now if only I could tell where it is on the costume. ;)

Also, I must bow to you in your handsewn lining-ness. Wow. Just wow.

Abigael said...

Oooh, I love the cutout and embroidery! Are those just raw edges on the cutouts? Do you plan to finish them somehow, or will they stay as they are?

Really cute. I think that I'll use that cutout/embroidery idea on a doublet, if you don't mind...

Abigael said...

And where do you get your hooks and eyes?

Beth said...

Thanks ladies! I really appreciate your kind comments. I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures of the completed outfit yet. I did actually wear it this past weekend, but I ran short on time.

Julie - the cutout/embroidery detail is angled across the bosom (symmetrically of course - crazy elizabethans!) on a doublet. There's similar stuff across the back.

Abigael - The edges actually are raw on the cutouts, but it's a coat-weight wool and so I thought that they would be slow to fray. They held up for the weekend just fine. For anything that was more fray-prone (which would be pretty much anything), I think I'd have probably faced the cutouts, which is what I think Julie did with the slashes on her husband's doublet?

Oh, and these are actually just the larger-size regular old hooks and eyes (marked as size 2). Possibly from Joann's, possibly from Wal-mart. Sometimes for big stuff I get the coat hook-n-eyes that come about 4 to a package. I know I've seen reproduction hooks somewhere online, I'll look for those.