More progress

I worked a lot on this project this week, and I was finally able to start sewing today! The skirt is done except for buttons and hem. No pics because, well, when it's not being worn, it looks rather like a big pile of fabric.

The day started with a big scare. As I was lining up the skirt pieces for flatlining, I had a sudden feeling that I had cut the thing on the wrong side. See, this skirt is meant to cover the legs of a side-saddle rider, so it's long on one side. Normally, you climb the horse from the left (the horse being on your right), so both your legs are on the left side of the horse; which means that the skirt is longer on the right side, so it covers both your legs gracefully as you're riding. But since it's asymmetric, it has to be cut all from the same side of the fabric so the longer part is on your right. For a moment there, I thought I'd cut my fabric on the wrong side! Phew, I'm glad it wasn't the case :-)

My big victory of the day: I fixed my sewing machine! A while ago, I must have screwed the small screw on crooked, because it seems I stripped it. It still worked for the regular foot, but my double-feed foot is thicker so it wouldn't hold that, and I really needed it for this project. I went to the repair store a couple of days ago but even with the machine model, they couldn't be sure which screw to give me, so they told me to come back with my screw. Well, the store is far and I needed it today, so I asked Richard if he thought I might find a similar screw in a hardware store. He answered maybe, but you'd have better luck in an electronics store. So... I dug out the bag of various screws I inherited when I was having problems with my motherboard; I found a screw that is identical in every way, except for the head. I thought it would be too big, but... look at that picture! It's just fine! (And much, much better quality than the original too!) (It's the big screw on the right, holding the white plastic part onto the vertical shaft.)

Let me introduce you to my double-feed foot.

So, I was able to do a decent amount of sewing without swearing too much ;-)

The bodice pieces were all cut and waiting for me. On top is my fashion fabric (wool); middle is the lining (cotton/poly percale); and bottom is flatlining (cotton denim) to give more body to the fashion fabric.

I assembled it and had the very good idea to check fit carefully before I was done. Even though I removed a standard (for me) one inch in length before I even started thinking about cutting my fabric, it's still a good 1/2 inch too big in the shoulders, and, as usual, the back of the armhole gaps. There's nothing wrong with the pattern; my body is simply made that way.

The waist fits really well :

The shoulders and armscye, in the back, need some adjustments. Thankfully, Richard is extremely good at pinning on a live body.

Tomorrow, well... I'll see how I feel after taiko... but I'll try to finish assembling the bodice! If I can finish my own costume before the weekend, maybe I'll have time to make something for Richard after all!