Sempstress

I wanted to add Digg links to all the pages in specific categories.  Smashing Magazine had a trick for adding Digg links based on custom fields, which is great if you are the person who can remember to add the custom fields.  I’m not.  Here’s a modified code snippet that you can add to your single.php file, to produce a Digg button on all pages in a list of categories:

<?php
   if (in_category( array('category1', 'category2', 'etc'))){
      echo '<script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js"
      type="text/javascript"></script>';
   }
?>

I’ve gotten most of the old pages that I felt were worth keeping imported into WordPress.  I dusted off my old PHP coding skills and wrote myself a little importer.   Unfortunately, I’m a little rusty, and some of the pages I wanted to convert just didn’t quite come out right.  I’ll be adding those as I get them converted by hand.  

I’m still working on the look and feel of the main page, trying to put the gallery back together, and a few other details.

In the mean time, please enjoy the search button and general blog-a-licious goodness!

Hey, if you’re looking at this wondering what the heck happened to your friendly neighborhood sempstress, fear not! I’m in the middle of a big ol’ conversion process right now. I hope to have a large amount of content back online by tuesday, 09.08.25. Sorry for the confusion!

Reverse applique of flowers on a vine, done in leather.

Reverse applique is the process of sewing two layers of material together with the stitches forming some sort of design, then cutting away the positive areas of the top piece of the material. This creates a nice, strong design. Reverse applique using leather is seen in at least one surviving suit of men’s clothes from 1615-20 (Arnold, Patterns of Fashion, pgs 30, 90-2). Read the rest of this entry »

This is a very popular style of bodice amongst the english during the Elizabethan period. It shows a distinctive inverted arch to the neckline. Read the rest of this entry »

The kirtle is sort of a general purpose under-dress. The pattern
being drafted below is actually somewhat earlier than the elizabethan period
– I’m basing the seam placement on Fouquet’s The
Virgin of Melun. Read the rest of this entry »

So, you’ve bought, begged, borrowed, stolen (I hope not), or been gifted with a dress dummy. It came with directions about how to adjust it to your size. The instructions they gave you were for modern clothing, and you wanted the dummy for to make ‘bethans. Read the rest of this entry »

In case there was any doubt in anyone’s mind, I love working
with leather. I think it can add a very sophisticated touch to a costume, and,
let’s face it, the number of people who do leather work is limited. I’ve been
wanting to try the reverse applique leatherwork technique shown in Patterns
of Fashion (in one of the men’s doublets – the one with the gillyflowers – I
forget whose that is) for several years now. Read the rest of this entry »

I noticed a while back that most of the bodices in Alcega’s
book and several other period tailor’s books show a slight backwards S curve
at the front edge. That seemed like it would accommodate the bust and belly
a little, and I was feeling like being comfortable, so I decided to give it
a shot. I included a picture of what was left of the fabric after I cut the
pieces, because it looked surprisingly like bodice cutting diagrams shown in
period resources. The last picture is a boning diagram, just in case anyone
was curious.

Results and Notes:The resulting corset was quite
comfortable, and gives a very nice line. I was pretty happy with it. I didn’t
get that terrible sinking feeling you can sometimes get from a heavily boned
corset with a straight front

Would I do it again?: Yes. In fact, I’m actually planning to repair the one I made (the boning wore through wool surprisingly quickly, much to my dismay). But, honestly, to do it right I’d have had to remake all of my bodices with a curved front, and that was like work. Not sure I’ll do that. Trimming things gets complicated.