Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Working on the En Forreau Gown

Today, I had a chance to sew on the En Forreau gown, but only after I had completely removed all the carpet from my living room floor.  Jim and I have been redoing most of the floors in our 110 year old house, and are so excited to be almost through with this project.  We have had to replace the subfloor and install vinyl flooring in the dining room, master bedroom, and the office, but were fairly sure that we would only have to install an underlayment for the vinyl flooring that we are installing in the living room and another bedroom.  The bedroom has a pine floor that has been painted, but otherwise is in great structural shape, so we will simply install the underlayment and vinyl flooring to this room.

We were so pleasantly surprised to discover that after we removed the old carpet in the living room that the original pine flooring was in wonderful condition.  We never anticipated being able to preserve some of the original flooring in the house, but now we will be able to do so.  Here is a picture of the floor as we found it after removing the old carpet.


Now back to my sewing project.  I had completed the two sections of the En Forreau 1700s gown, and today I pleated and inserted the en forreau back of the gown.  Remember, that the term en forreau refers to the way the back of the gown is made up of a long pleated section that starts at the neckline and extends to the hem of the skirt. This feature of the gown allows it to be fitted in the waist by adding tiny little pleats.  I'm not going to say, that this phase of the project was completed without me having to rip out some stitches, because I would not be telling the truth.  Hopefully, when I make a second gown by this pattern, I will be able to breeze through it.  Here are pictures of the pleated back section of the gown and where it was inserted.



And these last two pictures show little Mattie having her second fitting.  I placed the petticoat fabric against the gown to get an idea of how the colors will look together.  What do you think?


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Read the Instructions Before You Begin a Project!

There have been more times than I can count when I have asked my students to please read the instructions before starting an assignment, taking a test, or beginnning a project.  So you might ask me:  "Do you take your own advise?"  To which I would say, "Well, sometimes."

On this En Forreau project I must respond, "Not this time."  I have a word for you today--
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE STARTING A PROJECT!

I've lost count the number of times that I have had to rip out stitches in this dress project. Thankfully, I have been able to correct my mistakes along the way, but tonight I made one that scared me a little.  I made a cut that could only be corrected by sewing the piece back on leaving a seam where there is not suppose to be one.  All in all, though, unless you saw the pattern instructions; you would not be able to determine that it was a miscalculation on my part!  Whew!
Tonight, for my bedtime reading guess what I will be reading???

So what did I accomplish in the little time that I worked on the dress?  I added tiny little pleats to the skirt of the dress and attached one side of the skirt to the bodice.  It looks like the pieces line up, so when I resume sewing, this is where I will begin.  Until next time, good night.




Saturday, July 19, 2014

Today is Saturday and I Actually Got to Sew


This morning I finished making a batch of sweet pickles that I started last night, so I did not get to resume my sewing until this afternoon.  I was really anxious to get started since I left one of the sleeves of the En Forreau dress ripped apart last night.  The first thing that I did was re-cut another sleeve and re-attached the cuff.  It looked great, and I was pleased with the results.  The next step involved gathering the sleeve caps and then setting them into the armhole openings of the bodice.  I thought this would be easy enough, because I had done it many, many times before, but to my dismay, I set the first sleeve in backwards.  So it was rip, rip, rip time again; can I say this project was plagued with my careless errors?   Finally, though, I managed to complete the sleeve insertions and it was time to do my first fitting on little Mattie. SIGH!!!


After all the struggling with the bodice of the dress, it really did turn out nice and seems to be a perfect fit.  The wide opening in the back will be where the En Forreau (long sheath) will be inserted.  But first I will have to attach the skirt of the dress to either side of the bodice before this insertion is made.  The En Forreau will extend from the neckline to the hem of the dress and will feature a series of tiny pleats whose purpose is to produce a snug fit around the waist.

I had thought about sewing some more tonight, but Farmer Jim, my husband, asked me to help him count his herd of cows.  For some reason he was coming up short on his count.   I had my doubts that I would be able to do this because most of his cows are the same color--black--and most of them would not stand still for very long.  It only took about three times of starting over with my counting, for me to give it up, for they would invariably escape my mental corral.  Even my idea of taking pictures of them and later trying to count them on the computer screen proved just as hard a task.

Now it was fun to watch Jim count the cows; he is so experienced at doing this.  It's amazing to me how he can tell them apart; but he can.  He knows something physically unique about each one; he also can tell you the due date of each mama cow.


Well, that concludes the events of my day and I'll be posting again on the progress of my sewing project, so please tune in to see what happens next.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Started a New Sewing Project Today

My next sewing project is going to take us back to the late 1700's and allow us to get a glimpse of the dress styles of that era.  The doll dress that I have chosen to make was designed by Shari Fuller of Thimbles and Acorns, a super talented lady who spends lots of time doing research into the fashion trends and styles of centuries past.  

This style of gown, as described by Shari, is based on the popular En Forreau' dress style from the 1770's where the bodice and skirt at the center back were cut in one piece and pleated to fit.  The gown can be worn down or tied up with hidden tapes to form a bustle.  The petticoat is historically detailed with front and back ties that form pocket openings at the sides.

Armed with some old gold taffeta that I found in the remnant bin at JoAnns and a cotton floral print that is the perfect color for the fall season, I began my sewing project.  Determined to accomplish something before the end of the day, I pinned the pattern to the fabric, cut it out, serged the edges of each piece, threaded my sewing machine with matching thread, and started sewing the sleeves. My new goal for the day would be to finish the sleeves complete with cuff, lace, and shoulder gathering.

Here are some pictures of my progress up to this point.



My little model for this sewing project will be Maddie.

As you can see from the last sewing picture above I started with the sleeve, first attaching the lace and later the cuff.  Below is a picture of what I thought was the accomplishment of the goal I had set for the day--to finish the sleeves.  


But after further examination I noticed that I had attached the lace to the right sleeve in the same direction as the lace on the left sleeve.  Of course, we all know (don't we) that they have to be the opposites of each other.  So here I am ripping it out, and figuring out what part of it I can still use and what part I will have to recut.  



But, that is no big deal; most seamstresses know they will have to rip something out sooner or later; so we just take it all in stride and keep moving forward.  Tomorrow, I hope to be able to finish the sleeves, attach them to the bodice, and begin making the En Forreau back of the dress.



Monday, July 14, 2014

YES!! I Finished the Elsa Dress

With excitement and relief I am pleased to present to you the finished Elsa dress inspired by the Disney movie, Frozen.  Most of today was spent taking pictures of my doll, Kirsten, in the dress that I have been planning and sewing on for what seems like two months.

I have to admit, though, it has been a lot of fun working on this project.  It has required, as I said, lots of time as well as a fair amount of expense.  This dress will be unique in that it will not be exactly duplicated again, so whoever purchases it will have a one-of-a-kind little dress for her special doll.  If you are interested in purchasing this dress, you can do so at Etsy.com/shop/missycrissy2.


Last week, I finally got to watch the movie with my little granddaughters, Katie and Jane.  It was a fantastic movie with such a great life lesson, wonderful music, and beautiful animation.  I hope that you have enjoyed following my progress with this Elsa dress project, and it would be so great if you could post a little comment on my blog; otherwise, I will



have no idea that you read it.  Thanks for following.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

It's Been A While!

It's been a while since I worked on the Snow Queen Elsa dress.  Hopefully, today, I will be able to complete it.  I am learning to navigate through some software, Corel PaintShop Pro, in order to remove the background from the pictures that I take of my dolls' outfits.  This will allow me to photoshop the doll pose onto a background that I would otherwise be unable to obtain here in Mississippi.  Specifically, a background of snow, that was the setting for most of the Frozen movie.

Last week was really a wild one for my husband and me.  We are striving hard to do our part in redeeming our beloved state of Mississippi back from what seems to be a very low place politically speaking.  It is our desire that the U. S. Senatorial election be conducted and concluded in such a way that each voter in Mississippi can be satisfied that the outcome was arrived at legally and ethically.  Sometimes we often wonder why things have to be so "upside down" in our lives and in the world at large; and we may, like Job, wonder where God is in all of the commotion.

Today, while reading God's Word, I think I might have found the answer in Psalms 33: 8-11..."Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all people of the world revere him.  For he spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.  The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples, But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

(Paraphrasing Matthew Henry) God over-rules all the counsels of men, and makes them, contrary to their intention, serviceable to his counsels. Come and see with an eye of faith God is on the throne, 1. Frustrating the devices of his enemies: He bringeth the counsel (Ps. 2:1 ); the counsel of Ahithophel is turned into foolishness; Haman’s plot is baffled. Though the design be laid ever so deep, and the hopes raised upon it ever so high, yet, if God says it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass; it is all to no purpose. 2. Fulfilling his own decrees: The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever. It is immutable in itself, for he is in one mind, and who can turn him? The execution of it may be opposed, but cannot in the least be obstructed by any created power. Through all the revolutions of time God never changed his measures, but in every event, even that which to us is most surprising, the eternal counsel of God is fulfilled, nor can anything prevent its being accomplished in its time. With what pleasure to ourselves may we in singing this give praise to God! How easy may this thought make us at all times, that God governs the world, that he did it in infinite wisdom before we were born, and will do it when we are silent in the dust! of the heathen to nought, so that what they imagine against him and his kingdom proves a vain thing.  

There are two things that I would like to emphasize here:  God is still on his throne, and He will accomplish his purposes in his time.