Just keep swimming, just keep swimming ....

Oh my goodness! It seems like I've not stopped in months!! I have so many things to share with you guys, but no time to do anything :(
The last month or so of the school term was murder, and as soon as it was finished we had our big summer dance demo. They'd seen photos of our Elizabethan demo in the winter and asked us to do Elizabethan for them too, but our kit was made from thick wool, designed for cold not the usual scorching heat of the summer demo! so I needed to make new kit for both of us. Of course, it turns out we would have been much better off in the wool melton than the summer weights I used, seeing as the UK is suffering the wettest summer on record!
As if the demo wasn't enough, I also offered to make the bridesmaid's dresses for my best friend's sister's wedding next weekend. Gemma, my best friend, is one bridesmaid, and Kate's fiancé's 8yr old niece is the other. The dresses are both very simple, but they're made from duchess satin, so every little flaw is glaringly obvious! They certainly gave me a few sleepless moments! But the little girl's dress went home yesterday, and I finished Gemma's right down to the lingerie straps this morning, thank goodness!!
Now, at last, I can finally get to grips with the last of my CosCol sewing! I do just have to trim a hat and add two hooks to a jacket to go with my Edwardian kit, for a trip on Sunday to a tram museum. (Judging from past experience we'll get rain and cold, so a thin cotton blouse isn't really going to cut it!) but that'll soon be done.
So, my plan so far is:

Thursday: 1920s bathing dress
Friday day: either my cross bared silk sack or summer bustle dress
Friday evening: 1820s chess piece
Saturday day: whichever I didn't wear on Friday!
Saturday evening: figured silk sack back
Sunday: Blue plaid bustle dress

I need to replace the back of the petticoat of my cross bared sack, and the bathing suit and bustle dresses are barely started! but I work better under pressure, so I'm not worried ... yet!

Blue stripe pierrot jacket

Even though I have LOADS to do, here I am posting photos! I'm working in the shop today, and I only had enough hand sewing ready to occupy the morning, so, as I have nothing else to do, I may as well post some photos!
First up, some photos from back in May when girliegirl32786 came to stay! The highlight of her visit was our trip to Kedleston Hall, so naturally I needed a new outfit! I eventually decided on a pierrot jacket, in a blue and white striped ribbed silk. I wish I hadn't decided to chevron my stripes though! and I completely blame koshka_the_cat and her gorgeous stripedy 18thC dresses for the insanity that ensued!

So, ( pop under the cut for the pretties... )

Now that I've posted these photos, I'm starting to think maybe I want to take my pierrot to CosCol, hmmm, if I don't manage to get both bustle dresses done, it might not be a bad idea!

Summer Elizabethan demo

The summer demo we do each year is at a 'country fair' in Melton Mowbray (home of the famous pork pies) and it's held in a park, so it's nice and green and leafy for photos ;)
Now, be prepared, you might need your sunglasses for mummy's outfit! The photos, however, can all be found ( under the cut )

I have some photos from a small Victorian ball we had in May, but they're on the other camera card, and it's at home, so I've no idea when I'll get round to posting them! Otherwise, I'm finally all caught up! The only other things I have finished that I could show you are a 1920s brassiere and tap pants I made from one of Granny's silk nighties from the '40s, but they're a teeny bit revealing, so I'm afraid you may have to use your imagination ;)

playing with millinery

So, I've finished trimming my hat for Sunday, and I love it! It has a huge felt dahlia, 2 orange poppies, a brown hydrangea leaf and 2 large, vertical, pointy ribbon ends. All sounds rather odd when you list it like that, but I think it looks pretty cool :) My hat will be rather more up to date than the rest of my outfit, but I'll just say I've updated an old suit with a brand new hat, I'm sure they did that back in the day.
Now, the only trouble is, if I take off the ribbons and replace them with ostrich feathers the hat would be absolutely perfect for the 1920s outfit I'm taking to CosCol, but how on earth do I get a large, fragile straw hat on the plane without looking like a total numpty?!