Tiger Lily's Threads

To end the year out, I decided to crack open my fabric stash I bought from my birthday trip to Colonial Williamsburg and make myself a new Robe L'anglaise. Now, as many times as I have made them, they mostly end up looking funny around the shoulders due to the pattern's construction (Mill Farm). So what I did to fix that was combine the pattern from Mill Farm and J.P.Ryan in order for it to look a little better than the previous jackets. Thankfully, I got everything on point. Hung remaining 3 yards to gage what I would need after the bodice was made I made a mock-up of the modified bodice and tweaked some things to make it look more form fitting. Thankfully it worked.  My mock-up Long story short, I added the proper pieces to their places and even sewed the bodice overnight. By Monday, I got started on the skirt. Instead of sewing with the machine, I decided to take a more traditional approach and sew it all by hand; each stitch was very small and uniform to ens

                Last month, I decided to try something a little different to challenge my sewing skills; boy was I right on the money. I've never made a spencer jacket before and while I've often considered making one in the past, I'd end up not going through with it. So, this time I decided to challenge myself by jumping in and doing it. Besides, with all of the other things I've made in the past, this couldn't be hard to do right? Aside from that, I just love the silhouette it gives when it's put over the day or evening dress.                  The fabric I chose for this project was the black Waverly print from Lowe's  for $27. When I paired the fabric together with a 2 of my regency dresses, it matched wonderfully. The colors absolutely popped when I paired it with the brown empire gown, and the Chemise La Reine I made back in September; it just gives it a great fall/winter festive look.                  Now the challenges I did have with