Sewing ADD Or A Full Plate

'Tis the season.
Dickens Fair is just around the corner, and while I thought I'd bow out of any official presence in character, this year, it looks like I will be after all. At least part-time.
My mind was made up as soon as it was known to me that the character I had suggested presenting, was OK'd.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Also affectionately known as Sisi.

I'm ecstatic, yet a bit intimidated.
I have a good chunk of *more* sewing to do, but I can breathe a little easier knowing that Ander's will be doing the lion's share of his own costuming/sewing this year. I just want to finish a tailcoat I had started for him last year.

So, I am Sisi.

Being Bavarian/Austrian myself, I have a lot of source material and was practically raised on stories and images of Sisi. I may need to brush up on details of her travels and those she regularly 'hung out' with, but I have a pretty good head-start.

Hair: I'll need to go a bit darker than my current shade, but her dark blond is very close to my natural color.
I'm considering a temporary color, so I don't kill my tresses with a high lift developer trying to remove it after the the holidays.
I'll be investing in hair pieces too, to get that bountiful braided look she was so famous for. hopefully I can use human hair for the majority of it, since I can't stand the overly shininess of synthetic hair.

The outfit(s?):
Oh lordy. Where do I begin?
I already have an idea of what I want to make, but it has to be seasonally appropriate too. No Worth star gown for me (not that I'd want to tackle that project right now. I have, actually and it's been on the back burner).
Skirt, blouse and Swiss waist?
Or an ocean of midnight velveteen?
Do I make one or both given the time I have?
Additionally; it can get stuffy and downright warm at Dickens. Do I want to be wearing 15 pounds of velvet?
Incorporating the two outfits and making it 'convertible' to the blouse underneath the velvet ensemble, might be a good option when the temperature rises.

Images that are currently inspiring me:

The velveteen options:

Excuse the colorized photo below, but this is the skirt blouse combo in question. The level of actual detail on the blouse in this image is lost, but it gives a general idea:

Mockup Done, Velveteen Cut...

A handsome man in great breeches.

After completing the mockup of the Breeches Of Doom, and a few 'minor' adjustments to those (longer in the crotch, slightly longer in the leg and some extra room at the knee so it will stay buttoned), I was finally ready to cut the pattern out of the real fabric.
Hopefully it works...by work, I mean beating the hell out of it and making it whimper uncle until it behaves.

Final thoughts on this for now;
the J.P. Ryan pattern, regardless of mistakes in the instructions and pieces, is an already frustrating garment to construct. I think it's simply compounded by the messiness and sometimes lack of instruction. This pattern is like running the gauntlet, separating the people who craft from the Goddamned Seamstresses. If you make it through to the end and use common sense as a weapon against the evil of misleading information, you are one victorious Goddamned Seamstress...even if you end up bruised (and quite possibly bleeding) with a less than perfect pair of breeches in the end.

And yes, I'm making these out of a cotton velveteen...I'm crazy...or this is going to get really interesting.

xoxo

Breeches Continued

Here they are so far. Tonight I'm putting the waistband on, but I think that's all I will accomplish until tomorrow. Work took the wind out of my sails today and all I want to do is curl up with my sweetie and a slice of pizza.

These are just the mockup, but the actual breeches I am going to make will be from a plum burgundy velveteen. A frock coat of the same material will follow...I only hope the pattern for that doesn't have too many speed bumps.
Plus, the patterns for my own gown(s) are from the same company (once I get to those).
I already plan on adjusting things, and I can drape my own without a pattern if needed, so if the instructions or pattern itself are off again I can catch it in the mockup...but hopefully without too much futzing.
Futzing makes me impatient.

The Austrian Woman On Facebook

Way back in July, on the 4th come to think of it, I started an official Facebook page for The Austrian Woman; as a link to the more extensive sewing blog here.
I know, it's just another page for a page, but I figure this is a good way to help people who are on FB find me here, who perhaps do not normally frequent Blogger.
On the Facebook page, I share links to my latest blog entries, relevant images and posts I find browsing off and on Facebook. Think of it as the condensed version of the Austrian Woman blog.

Feel free to go 'Like' it here:
The Austrian Woman Facebook page
Enjoy! xoxox

Once More Into The Breach!...Er, Breeches!

Today I began the mock-up of Anders' 1770-80s breeches; ugh.
Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to finally be making them, but holy Amadeus. There are not only a ton of pieces to this pattern, but a couple of flaws that would seriously ruin a person's day if they aren't carefully paying attention (along with a good sense of how a fall front is constructed).

So far so good!

The flaws I noted, and have heard about from other sewers with this pattern, is the mismatch between what is shown on a pattern piece and what is shown in the instructions.
On the fall front lining for instance, they have one of the markings (a spot in the seam allowance to clip in) on the wrong edge of the pattern, which can confuse the user as to what edge to stitch together.
Edited to note:***After further inspection and a near fail I just caught, I noticed the instructions actually do have you stitch the incorrect edges together for the fall front lining.***

Also, when an edge on the front of the breeches should be "turned under" to the wrong side of fabric, it shows it in the instructions being turned outward, toward the right side/outside. Very odd.
I plan on sending a friendly note to the company (J.P Ryan) about the issues above, but should any of you try the 1770s fall front breeches pattern, be wary.