And Onward!

The new burlesque costume was a success! Although the act itself was a bit edited from its original choreography, since my poor love came down with the hell flu.
I made him sit this one out, not only because
A) he had the flu and I didn't want him to get worse, but
B) I also didn't want him passing out on stage!

Of course, I still need to make some additions and adjustments to a few things on the ensemble and as always...there will be even more rhinestones added.
I will hopefully have at least a few shots of it from Sunday night's debut performance to post soon.

One of the ostrich plumes I hand dyed for my costume's headpiece.

This was taken before I added the fuchsia Swarovski crystals along the spine of each plume.

And with that, I can now take another deep breath and dive into my sewing for Dickens Fair.
I have a feeling this will be a bit less stressful, since there is far less engineering involved with my planned dress(es) compared to making a burlesque costume.
I already have the new hoop crinoline, and a new corset on the way from Dark Garden, so those are already taken care of and will save time spent on futzing with the items that aren't as fun to construct.
I actually have an ensemble or two to wear, but they are showing their age and they have become rather uncomfortable. The corset I built for underneath the main dress has seen better days, but it's the only one the dress fits over. So, I must make a few new items.

I would also like a new bonnet this year. I will either need to make the time to build one myself, or I will try to find something at the fair that is historically appropriate. There are a lot of lovely hats and bonnets sold at Dickens, but the selection tends to veer into the modern crafty or 'historically inspired' territory. While these creations are absolutely gorgeous, many of the materials and modern trims used wouldn't have been seen during the time period I am portraying.
I also bought a pattern for a proper ladies mantel for outerwear while on the "London streets" of the fair. Fumbling with a pashmina or large scarf became really tiresome last year, since the ones I own are not the larger true pashmina shawls of the time period. Hopefully I can just use some fabric I already have in my stash for that one. I may need to snag more cotton velveteen from somewhere.

And yes, the Sisi fur and velvet dress will be completed by the final weekend of fair.
I promise.
meanwhile here's another pretty, from the 18th century, to distract you: