The process of turning an old trenchcoat into a cutaway tailcoat.

I need more excuses to wear my vintage crinolines after all, don't I? I was lying in bed this morning, because for some reason I woke up at 6am, trying to convince myself there was absolutely no reason whatsoever that I should be awake and that I needed to go back to sleep, but my brain wouldn't cooperate, and instead it went off on costuming tangents. Why shouldn't the husband and I have matching outfits? (That's how a lot of my outfits begin, actually.)

I still have oodles of the brocade from which I made my husband's tailcoat.

I treated myself to this corset as a Christmas present to myself, as well as swooping up a tophat from cupcake_goth's last wardrobe culling sale. The stripes on the corset are a bit darker than the brocade but it was close enough, I decided.

Started cutting out the pattern before church this morning, and finished sewing the skirt at about 6pm this evening. Paired with the corset and the vintage crinoline I bought last year, and voila!





I still haven't finalized the decoration for pinning back the front of the skirt yet. I've got some trim bows pinned in place for now, but may change my mind after a trip to the store this week. Will still also be making headbands for both our tophats as well. Oh, and by the way:

I promised the husband a tailcoat. Silly me! I had planned on using Butterick 3648, but when I went to go cut out the pattern pieces for the jacket, I realized I only had it in the XS/S/M size. The husband has a 42" chest. I'm guessing I bought the smaller size because I was thinking about doing Victorian drag at some point. The pattern is out of print, of course! I made a trip to the store, and the only tailcoat pattern I could find is a silly costume-y one for Uncle Sam, but I worked with it, added lining, and actually came out with a piece that made both of us happy.



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I was sitting on the sofa working on my newest piece and I just leaned it up against the back of the sofa and opened the solid curtains behind it. The sheers diffused the morning light. No touching was done in in photoshop - this is the raw shot.


Purple and Black Lace Parasol by *dbvictoria on deviantART

Click on the picture to go to the item listing in my ArtFire shop:

Here's a nationwide list of services who provide ways home for drunk drivers. Please contact the serviced in your area BEFORE YOU NEED THEM to find out if they are still operating and what restrictions they might have! And spread the word!

A piece whose design has been percolating in the back of the brain for some time now finally came together last night, and this was the result, old and new crystal, opalized and clear glass:



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