I know that I haven't been around much lately, and I keep saying that I will be back as soon as my thesis is finished, but I think I'm going to have to modify that promise a bit. I'll definitely be back to sewing, but this blog is going to be moving. For about a year now, I've been paying for a blogdrive subscription just so that I could ban those pesky little students who were being jerks and leaving less than flattering comments on my blog. However, now that my subscription is about to expire, I've decided to take advantage of the blog program offered with my webhosting; it really doesn't make sense to pay here for something I'm already paying for over there.

Anyway, it will take me a little while before the other blog has a whole lot of content, so I'll go ahead and leave this one up for a short time. If you currently link to this blog or have bookmarks, you can change them over as soon as you like, since I'll only be posting to the new blog from now on.

Sorry to those of you who were still enjoying some of my older gallery pictures. Unfortunately, they were putting me way over my bandwidth. Hope everyone got to see them who wanted to. I didn't realize this site got that much traffic--shows how well I pay attention--so I'll probably have to downsize the pictures and keep fewer events up at a time. I know that kind of sucks, but I really don't want to have to pay for more space; I'm sure you'll understand and hope you will continue to check back and enjoy the pictures for as long as I can keep them up.

Spammers' computers should die a slow, agonizing death! But really, are there actually people out there with nothing better to do than to post stupid comments (and web links) on people's blogs? I mean, come on! My blog hardly even has a readership, so why target me? Idiots.

No sewing news at this point. I'm at that awkward point where my work year and my summer school classes overlap, so I'm back to work full time, but I'm still trying to finish up the two classes I'm taking. Makes for some mean stress levels and absolutely no sewing time. Thesis should be done sometime in October, so look for Dickens Fair sewing to start up about then.

I can't believe it, but I'm actually going to make it to the Peacock Tails event this weekend. Of course, I don't actually have anything new to wear, but I'll be there, I guess that's the important part. Mom managed to put together an outfit for this one--her first Victorian. Well, it's still in progress, but it's looking like she will get it done on time. She even recruited grandpa to make a necklace for her. :) It's inspired me to try to get my parasol done, that way at least I'll have a new accessory if nothing else.

I had a very different experience this year--I had so much stuff going on before hand, a project to finish once I got there, etc., etc., etc. I ended up shopping on Friday, since I wasn't going to be able to go to the fashion distric on Monday. Then I spent a lot of Saturday working on finishing my gala dress. I did go to two workshops that day...a Victorian trimmings class and a German Renaissance Bodice class. The gala was fantastic, as usual. (Kendra and Heather convinced me that I must go to Gatsby this year and bring Kevin along.) Then on Sunday I did some shopping at the market place and then went to an 18th century pocket hoop class; didn't quite get finished with the pocket hoops, but it'll only take a little bit more work.

Anyway, I didn't take as many pictures this year, but what I've got is in the gallery. Enjoy! And yep, that first one is the last minute gown.

Why is it that everything ends up taking longer than I think it will? The skirt is nearly finished...yes, you read right...not finished, only nearly finished. The good thing is that it's all pressing and hand work left to do, so that can always be done on the way or once I get to Costume College. So, the first thing on the menu tomorrow is to get a mock up done of the bodice. I've made this one before, but my size has changed so much that it's like making an entirely new bodice, so I definitely need to take the mock up stage seriously. Unfortunately, this only leaves me Thursday to actually get most of the bodice done on top of studying for my midterm. Maybe if I just keep telling myself "I can do it" then I'll actually make it.

My lightsaber finally arrived! It took so much longer than I thought it would, and I'd kind of lost all the initial excitement I felt about it...then it actually got here. Now I'm all jazzed again. It looks and feels great. I wasn't going to bring my jedi costume to Costume College, but now I just have to; must show off the complete ensemble.

So, I've actually got three costumes planned now. Still not sure when I'm actually going to wear them. The 1890s gown I'm working on right now will definitely be worn to the gala, but I don't know when I'll wear my jedi costume or my regency. I wasn't planning on wearing a costume on Sunday, since we will probably be leaving early, which leaves just Friday and Saturday. Anyway, there's plenty of time to decide that stuff.

In the meantime, I need to finish the 1890s dress, work on my thesis and study for a midterm. (My midterm, BTW, is on Thursday night. Yes, that's right. I'm taking an essay exam at 6:30 pm and then driving the six hours to Van Nuys. Talk about bad timing!) Hopefully the weekend will actually feel like a vacation after such a hectic week.

Didn't accomplish as much as I'd planned, but I'm still at the point where any progress is a reason to celebrate. The petticoat is about two-thirds done. I shouldn't have any problem finishing that up tomorrow and starting the skirt...maybe even finishing the skirt depending on how dedicated I am.

Yep. That's all I've accomplished today, but at least I got that done. (High stress and emotion levels lately have seriously slowed me down. I'll try to do better the next few days though; I've got a LOT to get done.)

In other news, I'm changing my plans a bit in the hope that I'll actually get something finsihed before we have to leave for Costume College. I'm thinking that I won't really have time to get all the various pieces of the bustle dress done (especially since I was planning on working from a pattern that needs to be enlarged and I don't currently have access to an overhead projector. So, the new plan is an 1890's gown for the gala, and then I'll start on a naturalform outfit that may or may not get finished but will at least be started for the Peacock Tails event. (I figure with time being so tight, I should go with what I know, so no outfits that require entirely new under structures and no patterns that will need major tweeking.)

So, tonight I'll throw my fabric into the wash and tomorrow I'll start with a petticoat and then move on to the 1890's skirt. Friday, I should be able to wrap up the skirt and get a start on the bodice, which can then be finished over the weekend. Of course, somewhere in here I need to sqeeze in some work on my thesis and some time with my bf. At any rate, that will leave the early part of next week to study for a midterm and begin the naturalform outfit...hmm...I guess we'll see about that one.

Okay, the corset is mostly finished. I got all the boning channels sewn, placed the eyelets, cut and tipped the boning, inserted it all, and then did a fitting. While the corset fits wonderfully, I am so incredibly frustrated with this boning I have. I thought it would be great for corsets, but it just isn't flexible enough and ends up addiing more bulk than the added support is worth. So, unfortunately, it looks like I will need to take a trip to Lacis before finishing this up. Until then, I think I'll start on the bustle. (Maybe I should start a poll...or a pool...to see who thinks I'll actually get this dress done in time for Costume College.)