1887 Bat Costume Progress

I finished the first piece of the 1887 bat costume (refer to Jan. 12, 2010 post). It is the black silk satin corset laced with thin silk ribbon.
Since the style is more along the lines of an evening bodice, there is no busk to close it at the front, so when I write the instruction for the pattern, I will recommend one create a side opening to put it on and off as lacing it each time may not be practical (especially for single girls not unlike myself who live alone!)




This is the part where I stitch the channels for the 1/2" boning at the back (on my 1941 Singer with the circa 1889 quilting foot attachment).

Next bit is to work on the bustle construction and then start the skirt.

Scintillating - An Amalgamation of Past and Present, also to honor Charles

I just posted this project on THREADS Magazine's Fancy Fabrics Contest. This is 80% metal/20% silk crinkle organza, one of my favorite fabrics with which I have been working over the last three years.



The bodice is cut from a contemporary Vogue pattern and the skirt is from this 1935 evening gown pattern.

It was this evening when I learned that Charles Kleibacker had passed on yesterday. As I commented on Threads: I was honored to have one of my clients bring him to my dressmaking shop here in Columbus 4 years ago and I since talked with him at The Columbus Museum of Art where he had been curating.

I meant to look him up again not long ago and now am sorry I hadn't. I had thought about him the two days when I was building this gown, particularly when modifying the bias part of the bodice.

The sewing world is a lesser place without him and his positive attitude. 'Good things' he would say to me at the end of our phone conversation...

Photo by Cynthia DeGrand