History-Con Checklist: Feeling the Heat

It's the day before The Fort MacArthur event, and let me tell you what... I'm super stressed. Of course, as a procrastinator, I'm always stressed when it comes to events... and whether I will be fully clothed at said events.
I have have quite a bit to do.
My peplum and my trim are still hanging out in a little pile on the floor together. But I have sleeves! And the jacket closes on my body!
I'm going to make crazy quick false undersleeves, and I may or may not have time to make a new cap. Fingers crossed.
Next time I will refrain from sewing garments for my friends. My friend K was a great sport, seeing as she had never sewn anything before. But she has a new Georgian wardrobe! Yeah, I didn't blog about all of her new clothing, but she'll definitely be modeling it tomorrow.
So here's to a crazy all-nighter...my third this week.
Wish me luck.
Tons of pics tomorrow!

History-Con Checklist: Pockets

History-Con is literally five days away. And I still have a lot to do.
But I've already done tons, so....phew. I'm almost there!
Here was my original personal list:

• 1780's Handsewn Stays
• Hand-dyed Scarlet Jacket with a super awesome peplum
• Striped Linen Petticoat
• Apron 
• A million cockades
• A fetch little cap
• A plain set of pockets

This what I've completed so far:

• 1780's Handsewn Stays ( due to a "wardrobe change", I'll be wearing my Two-Day Stays. That saves a lot of hand work!)
• Hand-dyed Scarlet Jacket with a super awesome peplum
• Striped Linen Petticoat
• Apron (Since I'm putting my Seafoam hand-sewn stays on hold, I can definitely get this done!)
• A million cockades
• A fetch little cap
• A plain set of pockets

The jacket will be the largest project, but hopefully I'll get it all done in one day. I've already dyed the fabric:

Evidence that I've been working!

So today I'm going to talk about my pockets!

I've already posted about my embroidered pockets, which are on pause for the moment, but I'm going to show the construction of these little bags of joy!

I made my set out of handkerchief linen, and it has a buttery feel to it. I honestly just like rubbing my fingers over it because it's so soft. I know, weird, right? Wrong. It's honestly my favorite fabric right now. I purchased it at Joann's with a 50% off coupon. I went with the cream linen; it's not unbleached, but it's not blindingly white.

For the binding, I decided not to make a self-fabric bias, because that's what I did with my stays and it takes forever. I was over it. Instead, I used a really soft 100% cotton twill tape, which is a whiter white (blerg), but I was  impatient, and most people won't see my  pockets...besides you lovely people reading this. Thank you, by the way. For reading. 

So making a pocket it really easy. I cut out my pattern, and used one piece of fabric each for the front and back. When I finish my embroidered pockets, I'll line the front so the embroidery isn't pulled at by my coins and bread :).

Front and back set together.
This is as smooth as I could get it with a hot, steamy iron. 

I also cut out a little rectangle to sew to the top of the pocket, which my waist tape will be threaded through. 

I then pinned the twill tape to the opening slit of the front of my pocket, making sure the fabric was sandwiched between each side of the tape, especially at the bottom of the slit. Then I used a back-stitch and hand sewed the tape down. 

When that was done, I pinned the front and back together flat, with wrong sides touching. I pinned the twill tape around the edges, careful to get the fabric secure at the curved corners. Then I used a running stitch with the occasional back-stitch.

I finished the edges on the short side of the rectangles, and folded it in half. then I made a small hem on each long side of the rectangle and pinned the edge of the rectangle (hem pressed underneath), and top stitched it to the top of the pocket.

Ta Da! A finished pocket!

Super easy, huh? 

I'm going to purchase more of that twill tape and use it as a waist tape. I'll just feed it through the rectangles and tie it around my waist. 

Next post will most definitely be on my jacket!

Thanks again for reading :)

Until next time!