Completed Bastille Day Outfit

(Since it's almost Bastille Day 2017, here is the progress update from Bastille Day 2016)

I managed to get the stays to look somewhat presentable!

The straps were a bit short, so I ended up adding some fabric to them.  This turned out to be a bad idea.  The stays rode up the whole day, which made the straps slip off my shoulder.

I used round reed to bone the channels.  This wasn't nearly as difficult as I though it would be.  Granted, I put more than one piece in each channel and I'm perhaps not supposed to do that...

I bound them using a leather chamois cloth from the auto section at Wal-Mart.  It worked surprisingly well and the yellow color even ended up matching the stays!

The completed stays
(with pocket and bum pad, not worn in 2016)

About mid-way through this project, over the summer, I found a wasp's nest in my sewing room.

Yeah.  Awesome.

I was minding my business making a circle skirt when one of the bastards flew by me.  I didn't think anything of it until I happened to see the nest.  It was small, but I freaked right the heck out and took off down the stairs shrieking.

I still think this is an appropriate response.

I rescued the sewing machine and brought it downstairs to finish the skirt, but the wasp was also holding my fabric hostage.

I ventured up a few times during the week to grab some things, but I knew we had to destroy the nest or it would only get worse.

Googling things did not help.  Seriously, do not Google wasp's nest.

We sprayed the heck out of it one night with wasp killer and I was pretty sure we'd gotten them, because the nest was soaked.  Like running down my walls soaked.

I went up, cautiously, a few days later to do some straightening up and thought everything was fine, until something buzzed past my ear.

Damn wasp! (More shrieking and bravely running away)

We sprayed the nest again that night and I scouted out the area a few times and didn't see anything.  I didn't end up attempting to knock the thing down until about October, which meant that not much sewing actually got done last summer/fall.  I'm blaming the wasps.

At any rate, here's the pictures from Bastille Day!

I managed to complete the bodice safely in my living room (far, far away from the wasps).  Unfortunately I did not have time to put a proper closure on it before I needed to go and quickly (poorly) stitched on some ribbons to tie it shut.

Oh look, 2016 selfie...
You can sort of see the ribbons here.
I may need a fichu...

I actually really like the way this looks, but because I did it so quickly before I left the house they didn't hold up to the strain of actually holding the bodice closed and I lost one almost as soon as we arrived.  If I did it again I'd probably make some button holes and run the ribbon through them.

The skirt is awesome and was so quick to make up, but I really needed a bum pad to plump the back up a bit.  As always, I leave the undergarments too late and don't complete them.  The bum pad is now completed and was so easy that I really shouldn't have put it off last year.

In progress with incomplete bodice,
incomplete hat, and fake fichu.
My dress form does not do it any favors.

I faked the shoes with the grannie shoes I wore at Jazz Age the year before, just added a ribbon to them. They looked pretty good, but I had to toss them after the event because the heels totally caved in on me. (Now I have lovely shoes and buckles, so I don't need to worry about this again.)

I had planned to make a hat using one of those straw craft hats, but it just wasn't coming together.  I tossed together this little beret, which seemed appropriate, and finished it with a red, white, and blue cockade, which took forever.

The beret is literally just a circle of fabric gathered around the edge.  I stitched it to a piece of bias tape to finish it, but thought I was going to be hiding it under the edge of the straw hat, but that didn't work.  I had sewn the black bias tape to the navy beret with white thread, but didn't want to pick the stitches and redo it.  I colored over it with a Sharpie.  I have no regrets!

Rien!  Non! Je ne regrette rein!

All in all, I really like the way it turned out even though there're always things I'd change.

The power lines really set the scene, don't you think?

Bastille Day 2017 is in progress now.  And by "in progress" I mean I have fabric and a sketch and it's 18 days away.

Return of The Steamy Sari

Oh my gosh, it's a costume re-wear!

I happened to get an email from my corset supply shop with some information on a local event they were vending at featuring an awesome jungle-tastic photo.  It seemed like a fairly good place to take some south/south east Asia inspired photos, so it was sent on to the Partner in Crime.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Partner in Crime wasn't able to attend Steampunk World's Fair this year.  We had spent a while working on her Thai dancer costume and she was pretty upset that she didn't have a chance to wear it.

I had only worn the sari outfit for a few hours at SPWF, so it seemed like a pretty good opportunity to get some more mileage out of the outfit and get some awesome photos.  It's also nice to only have to track down my costume parts and not be rushing to finish something at the last minute.

Me, elegantly dying in the fernery.

That being said, I'd had some issues with the brown bodice being too loose at SPWF, so I made some alterations to make it fit better ultimately taking out about four inches from the sides and another four inches from the center back.  It's still a bit loose, but the fit was better overall.  Still not happy with the bustline, but that will only be corrected with a proper mid-bust corset.  I also added an extra hole to my belt with an awl (not the best tool for the job...), so now it's sitting at the waist as intended.

I managed to get the fake hair paranda to work this time around and it bulked up my braid nicely.  (I have an unhealthy relationship with cheap fake hair extensions.) I might consider making a more traditional paranda just to add some more color to the outfit.

I made some minor changes to the accessories as well.  I found some bangles that I had wanted to wear the first time around, but couldn't locate at the time, changed out the gold earring for green ones, and added a vintage Victorian sash pin that I bought at SPWF.

The lovely sash pin

I prefer the green earrings.  They're a bit more interesting than the gold ones and I think they complement my skin better, however, they kept getting stuck in my hair (well, they keep getting stuck in the fake hair).

Original gold earrings.
No schvitzing.

Halfway decent shot of the earrings, sash pin, and bangles
if you ignore my schvitzing.

I'm considering getting a new petticoat for this.  I've worn it both times with a white petticoat, but because the lace is cream all of the detail is lost in photos.  If I wear it with something darker, that detail will stand out better.

Detail of the brown linen and cream lace

We headed out to the Morris Arboretum pretty early in the day, which ended up being a good idea since it was so damn hot.  We've been having some pretty great weather lately, so naturally the day of the event was over 90 degrees (this seems to be a recurring theme in our summertime events).

We wandered a bit, getting lost several times because we both have a terrible sense of direction, but (exhausted and hot) finally made it to the fernery.

The fernery was built in 1899 and is currently the only free-standing fernery in North America.  It houses a collection of ferns from around the world and a koi pond and made an awesome backdrop for some steamy (literally) photos.

Thai dancer on the wooden bridge and
some of the greenhouse glass in the background

Approximation of what I might actually look like in India.
I am so hot my face is red.  

Undoubtedly the fernery would be lovely in the winter, but it was already oppressively hot and humid when we visited, doubly so in the fernery.  We managed to get some decent photos, but scurried out immediately after.  Emerging back onto the path outside felt like air conditioning after the fernery.

We called it a day after only a few hours, since it was so darn hot.

The arboretum is really very beautiful, particularly the rose garden, so we'll have to go back when it's not quite so hot to explore a little more and maybe take some more photos.