I’m now working on the coat hem, and have finished binding the edge and basting on the strip of china silk that goes into the hem. I’m now catchstitching the china silk to the body fabric, by hand (of course!). I hope to finish the hem tonight, though it will more likely be tomorrow morning. Then I can turn my attention to the coat lining.
I’m also starting prep work for the CNCH Fashion Show. (For those who aren’t familiar with it, CNCH is the Conference of Northern California Handweavers, the Northern California regional conference.) The organizing committee and I have been discussing the best way to display the dress, and keep it safe from grubby hands while allowing people to view the details. At this point we are thinking of displaying the coat and dress on dress forms, raised high enough that the garments don’t touch the floor, and roping off an area so that people can see it, but won’t be able to touch it. I’ll have touch swatches available, and a book of detailed photos so people can make out any details that aren’t visible at a distance. I’ll probably also write up a brief history of the project for people to read.
For the dress forms, I plan to cast a mold of my body using plaster bandages and polyurethane foam, using the My Twin Dressforms method. I have a copy of their instructional manual, and Mike will hopefully be nice enough to turn me into a plaster mummy, then help me fill the form with foam, saw it down, etc. This will take awhile, but will result (I hope!) in a high quality dress form that will mimic my body precisely, allowing the coat and dress to be displayed to best advantage.
All this will likely take enough time that I need to get hopping again. It’s been nice lazing about for a week or two, but I need to get my nose back to the grindstone and start working!