Corduroy and Velvet

Corduroy and velvet

This weekend I’ve been sewing the waistcoat to go with the Dorset buttons I made last Sunday. The pattern is McCalls 8285, and the fabric is a sage green cotton velvet. It’s almost finished – I just need to make the buttonholes, and sew a little silver buckle onto one of the straps at the back.

The trousers I actually made a few weeks ago. I didn’t photograph them because as soon as they were finished I put them on, and I’ve been wearing them (or washing them) ever since! They’re another pair of Vogue 1034, this time in black needlecord with a bit of a stretch to it. The pockets and waistband are lined with the remnants of the Sea of Holes fabric – just so I could feel amused by having pockets full of holes. (Yes yes, groan, I know.)

The trouble with wearing both cord and velvet is that they both act a bit like velcro when it comes to fluff. The cords accidentally went through the washing machine with a stray tissue which left them all white and fuzzy, and now they’re covered in green dandruff from cutting the velvet.

This outfit is two-thirds of what I’ll be wearing when I go out playing the recorder with the clog dancers. I now have just less than three weeks to either make or buy a shirt with long sleeves and no collar. I’ve got miles of white polycotton that’s suitable for shirting, and two patterns that would be fine. One is Folkwear 117 that I’ve made before, and the other is McCalls 5976. It just remains to be seen whether I’ll have time to make one of them, or whether I’ll need to dash down to the shops. Thankfully pintucked shirts seem to be in fashion at the moment, so hopefully I won’t have too much trouble finding one that’s suitable.

Three weeks until my first recorder-playing performance in about eighteen years. Gosh.

Violet Baudelaire.

Over Christmas we watched A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Lemony Snicket movie. We’d seen it before, but it’s a film that I’m always happy to watch over and over again, so that I can get a really good look at Violet’s costumes.

There are so many things about the dress that I love. The layers of translucent burn-out fabrics, the stripes, the lacing, the little puffy sleeves, the asymmetric hem with its slightly scruffy-looking ruffle… everything about it is just gorgeous. Pretty without being little-girly, grown-up without being sexy. Perfect.

(If nothing else, I need to make myself a Violet costume simply so that I have an excuse to buy those gorgeous boots I spotted the other week!)

Nymphadora Tonks.

Too tired to make anything today, having been at work until 2am selling the new Harry Potter book.

We all went in costume, so here’s what I put together:

Tonks is described as having bubblegum pink hair, and wearing a purple t-shirt with “weird sisters” written on it. She also wears heavily-patched jeans.

The boots are Doc Martens, the hair’s not a wig, and the t-shirt says “Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows” on the back. Given the number of small girls who shouted, “hey, it’s Tonks!!” at me from the queue, I guess the costume was at least recognisable!

I need to get myself invited to more fancy dress parties. I love dressing up. 🙂