Well, I had to do a new ghawazee coat rather... ahem... quickly, as the RenFaire is this coming weekend and, last Monday, when I tried the ghawazee coat from last year, it didn't fit.
I borrowed two patterns from Parvaneh, the one from Atira Fashion and the Turkish Dancer from Folkwear. Given the sizes described on the envelopes and a recommendation from Akilah, I used the Turkish Dancer pattern. Boy, did I love that pattern. Now I will have to buy my own copy! And I can't wait to make other things with folkwear patterns (like I have the Turkish coat one with which I want to make a cover up for belly dancing costumes).
So, I did the mock up. There was a need for a dart from the arm hole towards the breast. I didn't want to have those darts as 1) they are not period and 2) given that my fabric has uneven stripes, it was going to look most odd if there were darts.
So I did some searching online as to how to remove darts. I didn't find exactly what I wanted but I ended up finding enough to make it work okay. I also didn't like the length of the arm hole. See, the thing is that, for most patterns, they assume that, if you need one of the bigger sizes, it's because you are taller... well, I'm short!
Bottom line, I ended up redoing the pattern somewhat. I modified the mock up to make sure that I hadn't lost my mind while redrafting the pattern and it was okay.
I decided that I need a book on pattern drafting as this is where you get the info as to how to make modifications so that the pattern will fit better. Back when I was in Quebec, it was relatively easy for me to modify patterns because I would ask my friend Sylvie, who is a professional designer/seamstress and, at one point, I was taking workshops with a former professional designer so he would tell me what to do. Now, when you have folks helping you like that, it makes your life much easier... but then when they are not there, I noticed that they either didn't explain to me what they were doing and/or I didn't remember enough... so a book on pattern drafting would somewhat be like having them next to me (provided that I figure out what it is that I need to do; sometimes I know just enough to get me into trouble. lol).
Lemme tell you that cutting fabric with uneven stripes is a mess.... man, it's so hard to make the damn things connect correctly. I ended up doing all right at the shoulder seam but I completely messed up on the sides but I'm not sure how a professional person would have done it! Anyway, surely that will not be what people will be thinking when they see me dance: "Ooh! Look at how messed up her stripes are on her sides!" Well, they would say that if, say, I did a brain fumble and ended up having the front pieces with stripes on the horizontal plane and the back piece with stripes on the vertical plane! lol But then I would have recut the fabric! lol
Oh, talking about the fabric! It came from Susan who sold her things after she decided to quit belly dancing (and now she's thinking of starting belly dancing again... well, she can shop again... not a bad problem to have... except for the whole budget thing... okay... stopping the tangent) but that fabric didn't sell so she gave it to me. Boy, was I happy to have that fabric last week when I discovered that I needed to do a new ghawazee coat! It's so hard to find nice stripey fabric in a cool (as in awesome) material!Quite frankly, the color looks really good on me (goes well with my eyes, I think) and, well, stripes on the vertical are always a big plus! ;o)
So. The coat is well advanced. Last night, after the Tempest workshops (which were awesome awesome awesome, btw), I sewed the sleeves on (I did a "French seam" for the under arm seam so that it will hide the seam; and I did keep the arm holes half open for ease of dance and lifting arms), I did the freakin' loops for the buttons (those buggers take a loooooooooong time), and sewed on the buttons (10 buttons). Since we are having dress rehearsal tonight, I went for the items that would make the coat functional... so the hems are not done. Well, the neckline and front ones are done... but the rest isn't. And I am going to need some more freakin' purplish thread... GRRR!
Since we didn't receive the stupid lamp unit yet for our beautiful large TV, I put on my iPod (I have speakers... that is a great set up for belly dancing classes as that means that I have all my cds with me all the time... anyway) and played my "Medieval" playlist (which has some Corvus Corax and Qntal) and my "Gothic" playlist... ah... that one is way cool! Boy, I love Corpus Delicti (sigh... Motherland!)and Voltaire....
I pledge my allegiance to all things dark
And I promise on my damned soul
To do as I am told, Lord Beelzebub
Has never seen a soldier quite like me
Not only does his job, but does it happily.
or
I used to think that rent control was a good idea
until i moved here. now I'm the only sucker
paying more than a hundred bucks a room
And I'm surrounded by lunatics who don't
even need a moon
But it's the man upstairs who pulls the strings
won't let me sleep...
Please, kill that man upstairs.
if you ever loved me, you'll do this one thing,
won't you sweetheart?
Please murder that f*ck upstairs.
if you want to be my friend
you'll have to prove you mean it.
Or
I wait for the day when I'll finally defile
the bodies of my ex lover's lovers.
I'll pile high to the sky
the bodies of my ex lover's lovers
Die die die die die die
die die die die die die die
watch them die. (x2)
(Now, you must picture me twirling and smiling while singing "die die die die...")
So... bottom line:
- Things went smoother than I thought.
- I need a freakin' book on pattern making for ease of future projects.
- That color looks good on me.
- Goth music is awesome for my sewing skills.
And... drum roll... the lesson learned.... NEVER WAIT UNTIL THE WEEK BEFORE A PERFORMANCE BEFORE TRYING ON THE COSTUME (unless it was very recently made)!
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