Springtime Sewing

I hang my head in shame for not having written a post in over a month. I have the excuse of having been extremely productive these past weeks, but I'm afraid I also had absolutely no blogging mojo....
And what have I been up to lately? Well, a whole lot! Its crunch time for the Louisville Jane Austen Festival. I'm trying to get all my commissions out of the way before the end of May so I can concentrate on personal sewing and lot's of travel in June and July.

In April alone I produced an entire regency wardrobe for a customer. Consisting of 2 different drawstring dresses, 2 open robes and a petticoat ,

Open robe #1 made from a purple and gold sari i brought back from India

back view of the open robe isn't it just yummy?!

and a side view to show off how prettily that skirt billows out!

Drawstring dress #1 made from a lovely Indian block printed muslin

Drawstring dress #2, a v neck drawstring style made from a plain white cotton sateen

Bodiced Petticoat made from plain white muslin with 3 rows of pin tucks at the hem and a wide eyelet ruffle

Open Robe #2 , made from another one of those perry silk Saree's i got in India, this one is a rich green with a yellow and gold border

I made a set of short stays for another customer,

White short stays bound in pink.

Trimmed with bobbin lace and lined in a cute  pink cotton  floral print.

Made a dress for Charlotte, because we had a reenactment at Woodville and she had outgrown all her reenactment clothes,

Charlotte's new dress, it's made from  peach and white striped voile using the sense and sensibility 1780's girl's dress pattern .Somehow I only have a decent picture from the back.

I also re trimmed her old bonnet.

I ripped the yucky shiny polka dot poly ribbon and fake flowers off her hat and replaced them with yellow berries and soft green silk ribbon. looks so much more period correct now

Then  I made a lovely new gown for my friend and probably best customer Erin,

V neck drawstring dress made from one of the beautiful sheer cotton Saree's I got in India.

I made a cool triple hem from the sari border.

 Made some lover's eyes,

This is my personal lover's eye based on my husband's eye, it's a mourning style because he never comes out with me to costumed affairs,so I consider myself a "regency widow"

The locket is 2 sided and I added a lock of my husbands hair in the back like I have seen on some original lover's eyes.

Also made this one it's based on Prince Albert's eye, cause he was hot. it's for sale for any of you Prince Albert fans out there..

 Trimmed a hat

 I shaped and trimmed this straw bonnet, It's trimmed with some really cool feathers, paper flowers and ombre ribbon all in shades of peach and green. It's for the store as well.

And last but not least started on a new dress for myself.

My newest frock

Oh and I also made a beaded reticule!

And a cute little reticule, do you recognize the fabric?

 April was a busy month indeed! and may is shaping up to be even worse. I still have a couple of commissions to complete and then i need to make things for sale from the Jane Austen festival as well as some regency clothes for my cousin Regina who will be visiting from Germany in June and will be traveling to to The Heritage Fair at Spencerville with me. So I apologize in advance if you won't hear much from me until after Jane fest. I will try to squeeze in some blogs, but I won't make nay promises!