stress relief?

The Polonaise dress!  Made it far too small but it has been an experience. The arm hole shaping was a challenge and the sleeve wouldn't fit no matter what I tried. At the moment one is gathered and the other trimmed down, I'll live with it for a bit and sort it out later. I think a larger scale would made things clearer.  The back shaping isn't giving the lines shown on the illustration and as for the little triangle bit! In spite of this the idea of working with blocks of fabric and from the outside of the garment is fascinating!

I still like the word, -it does sound like an interesting sauce- probably for fish? or a panto or fairy tale to appear in.  Perhaps another dress next - one without the bodice/full skirt  - regency? and BIGGER!

I started these as stress relief from work. Now I go to work for the stress relief from these.....

finshed it!

 At last finished it! One frock coat in the style of the French court c1700. Nothing like the right fabric, construction methods or even size... but I'm happy. Putting it together was quite quick - even with distractions. What has taken the time is the hand work and decoration but it was probably worth it. The chain stitching on the edge of the cut out trimming was a menace to do but I do prefer it now - it gives that bit of detail and texture.

Ok.
 it is done.
Hours of effort.
 Sewn the ends of my fingers more than once.
 For something so small it seems to have created chaos across the whole of the ground floor.
 Now what do I do with it - answers on a postcard please!


sorry! this just seems to want to be this way round....

detail of the front decoration and chain stitching

And what next? Time to be more adventurous?
A Polonaise I think. No real reason apart from I like the word. There will be plenty of time for regrets.
Will post progress next week end.

 Oh boy. Never choose fabrics by looks. The sateen frays, pulls, marks and has no emotional integrity - nervous breakdowns in every tight corner.
The coat did come together quite quickly- even putting in the lining was not so bad. Just love the shaping of the back. Have the hem and front decoration to complete-
 still, deciding to hand finish has added extra time to the make but it was fun re watching some old movies - ( spaghetti westerns!)
 Am trying to make a stuffed shirt to go in this - just how do I tie a cravat? Does anyone have any tips?

 The dragoon jacket survived washing but I decided to take the collar off - it wasn't sitting right. will post again when done.

fraught1 -cuffs -first try didn't go well....

Well this is just about made - it is now in the wash and then a little more hand finishing. Decided against the epaulettes in the end - might give them eyes and feet and invent a new breed of 'fraught'.

This the next one - a dress coat from c1700 but in floral with green facings. Even I think it sounds terrible.....but it is a fun pattern and will be light relief after the sticky calico.

Hope to have it done by the time I post again.

traumatic sewing

The latest experiment- this was meant to be a toile but I got carried away as usual. Still needs finishing and tweaking, about time I made a decision about the epaulettes - think it looks like dust mop or a sea dwelling creature-

A bit of a compromise on the frogging - love decoration but not gold braid!

Does anyone know a reliable source for patterns? This was a Dragoon's coat for a 29" doll - fun but fiddly.