Work on the House Begins!

So we are finally starting to work on the house. We have wanted to put down new hardwood floors for a while. Due to a little ant problem we decided to move it up on the list. We also hope to get some rugs, paint and hang some curtains but one thing at a time. First the floor has to come out:























We had the professionals do it as we have not installed floor before and did not want to start learning now. We chose a nice deep wood that has a bit of cherry in it.












































It looks great. The kitty is not so sure about it though. She was used to the carpet and liked to roll and lay on it. So we had to buy her a little soft kitty bead.

Married

This lovely Victorian Lady is now a married woman. Christopher and I were married on October 17, 2009 in Raleigh, NC. It was an amazing and wonderful day. I wonder if that makes him a Lord now? ;)










































And my new Lord became quite the waltzer. He did a wonderful job on the lessons and made this Lady's dream come true of waltzing on her wedding day.



















Updated on Aug 12, 2010
We now have a video to share of our first dance. Enjoy

Our Video

Home Sweet Home

Well we did it! Christopher and I are buying a home. It will close September 30th. We are so excited.

It is a 3 bedroom townhouse in a relatively new development. Its only 2 years old. They are just completing their final phases so its a great value and a great neighborhood. It is 1740 square feet on two floors. It has a garage and a screened in porch. We also got lucky and the previous owners are leaving their (relatively new) Kenmore Elite refrigerator and the washer and dryer.

We are very happy and cant wait to move it. Here are some pictures that the sellers took (so its their stuff). I still need to download some that I took.

Ours is the one with green door and the garage to the right of it. That pop out on the second floor is in our master bedroom.

I love this entry way. Its such a nice touch.

We get to keep those bar stools too. They go nicely with the stainless steel appliances and the fan in the living room.

The hall upstairs is nice and wide and it has this little nook at the top of the stairs.

And finally, the screened in porch. To the right it has a door that leads just outside where you can put your grill.

So thats it for now. We will keep you posted and hopefully post more pictures once we get it.

Graduation from Sewing Class

And the start of something beautiful..........

I took a sewing class at my local sewing store (Sew Unique in Cary). It was a basic class where you sew a project from pattern to completion. It was great to walk through all the steps with an instructors help. I learned alot and had a lot of fun.

In other news, I also have a snazzy new machine. It is on loan but a beauty. As I was starting the class, I realized the other older machine I had was not going to work. It did not have all the right presser foots and would not seem to do anything other than a straight stitch. Christopher's mother, Renee, had recently inherited a brand new machine that she was not using and was very kind in letting me borrow while I get my feet wet in the world of sewing. It helped a lot having a newer machine that worked great. I did not have to worry about it and it even did button holes! Thanks Renee.



So I have set up a little corner of my apartment as my sewing nook, sorta. I am currently using my patio table with a sheet over it but its working well for now. Its a work in progress so I will expand and add more as I do more projects.



Finally, I have also started my Dress Diary. I will use the diary to document my projects (patterns, notes, descriptions, etc.) with pictures. There is a link on the right side of this page with the categories of projects. You can use this Diary to see detail of what I have made and what my current projects are. They will be regular posts like this one but you can also find it by following the links under the Dress Diary on the right. I have posted my final project from this class there under other projects.

Hope you enjoy!

My First Victorian Piece

Work in Progress....















This will be my first Victorian piece. It is a chemise and drawers. I chose it because it is simple and will get me started in the historical patterns. This pattern is Truly Victorian #102. This one is going to take a bit of time as it has lace and some embellishments that are not in the pattern. I have to first figure out what I want to do, buy the needed lace and notions then figure out how to sew them on.

Basic pieces of the chemise:













Here is the first part sewn. Its the basic chemise without the sleeves and trimmings.














More to come....

My First Completed Project

The Blue Shirt/Blouse from my sewing class

Well I finished my first complete project. I am pretty happy and impressed with myself :)

I did not really take any pictures of the process as I was in class and I was so busy trying to pay attention that I forgot to. It was pretty basic construction that taught me interfacing, several ways of seaming and finishing as well as buttons.

I think my next plan of actions is to buy some new fun fabric and make the pattern again, this time by myself. I want to reinforce what I learned and I also want to try tailoring it a bit. It was on the larger size and I think I could go down a size fairly easily.

Here are some pictures of the completed shirt:

Inspirations

Over the years I have collected inspirational and beautiful Victorian artwork and pictures. These are usually artwork or pictures of fashions from the era (either from museums or other people's recreations). I use these as inspiration for my own pieces. Bellow are some of the artwork pieces that I have fallen in love with.

This was the first picture I ever saw of this collection. I fell in love with the pink gown. There is a very talented seamstress that sells gowns on ebay that actually reproduced this dress. The gown was exquisite and I regret not getting it (although the price was a little high for me around $650)

I always felt that if I could sew my own gowns I would love to make this blue gown. All the ruffles and layers are just wonderful.


I have recently discovered the artist of this collection is James Tissot. And the even better news is he made a bunch of these. Some gowns even show up several times in his art. Below are some more art pieces that I now want to copy into gowns. I am going to be busy. :)

I have added this one to my definitely have to makes. That fabric is going to be hard to match but I love this one.

The infamous black and white stripped dress (also known as the Sleepy Hallow dress). He has this one in several of his pictures as well. There a few talented ladies out there who have successfully recreated this dress. Stripes can be tricky so this one will have to wait for a bit.


James Tissot was a very talented artist. I enjoy having art/pictures from the Victorian era that represent something closer to reality than the many fashion plates out there. Fashion plates are a great resources for ideas but sometimes can be a little stylized in their drawing making it harder to vision or recreate. Tissot has given us more of a window into this era to see what this gowns might have looked on real ladies. If you would like to see more works by Tissot, The Art Renwal Center is a wonderful resource for most of his works.