My Day Off, I get to Organize and Clean and Dye

I am so exicted! It is my day off, and while I have a Doctor's appointment, I have been dreaming of cleaning up and organizing my sewing room so I can knock out my Clothing for CoCo!!

Costume College for those who have not yet been and I can assure you if you can save up to get to it next year you will love me for giving you a new addiction!!! What an enabler I am! LOL Plus? You are less than a 40 minute drive to the LA Garment District!!!

I am spending the day getting my sewing room in order. Since getting a full time job, I have not had a serious moment to put back the fabric into the stash that I am no longer have the time to use at the moment. Family just piled it on top of my cutting table and it is bending under the weight.

I am also going to try to vat dye some damask I have had for a bit in order to fashion my English Fitted Gown out of. I have 6 yards, and if I am carefull it should work (famous last words) if not? I have deep purple Linen that I can use. I am going to make some brocade, did you hear me correctly? Yes you did! Actual brocade is made when you stitch silver or gold onto already made fabric, I have some silks in various colors, I am going to make sleeves with Gold and Silver Fleur de Lys all over them.

English Fitted Gown~

Did I mention I am dyeing the Damask? I have never used this a new (to me I guess) iDye, they have one for Poly as well as natural fibers. Since I have no clue as to what the content of this damask is? I have a huge metal pot, which was in fact? Not big enough so I thought I could use my bath tub. ? Huge mistake, I have a new home so the tub is plastic not enamel which my old bathtub was (house from 1920's). Thank Gods there is bleach. My tub is a very pretty purple....

. They only had 3 packs of the poly and I have 3 packs of normal, I will be adding all of these to the vat. Heating it up and then cooking my fabric over night. I am hoping for a deep purple but I will be happy with whatever happens to it. If it is icky? I will go with the Linen so it is a win/win situation. Anyway, it has caused me fits today but it is all my fault for being me?

Here is a photo of the before and the after I think it came out really neat! However? Not with the Orange Linen I want to use for the Kirtle

It came out a violet and silver!!! I will use the fabric for a gown but not this gown!!!

I purchased the two patterns currently on the market from Reconstructing History and Tudor Tailor, and I like the TT pattern better since I am in fact guiding myself from the book as well. I am only using them as a basic guide as I am using my good ole Margo bodice! I will be self lining the Kirtle. I have some really aweful green linen I can use to line the actual gown with. I do not htink I will be lining the skirts of the Kirtle. It gets really hot in my neck of the woods and really? I do not deal well with heat issues.

Dilemma!!!

Help!! Which Trim?

The ladies of Tudor Tailor, said that polished cotton mimics some of the material in period. So I have 10 yards of this deep purple, and I have 6 yards of lining in this gross (to me) green.

And for the Roman which I remembered is not needed until after Costume College~ When I was going through my Stash of Dyes, I found a Rose Red so I used the huge pot I could not use for dyeing the Damask due to not paying attention and instead of dyeing the 6 yards I cut from the whole? I dyed the rest of the fabric...Oy and Vey! LOL My research into the Roman era has shown that the Female Tunica? Was colored and not just plain white like the male version. So I will be using this as my under gown.

More later...... Oh I did get about a 1/3 of my crap off of the cut table...so progress was made!

I hope no one sends me to Hoarders! LOL

Cilean