Evenstar Designs

Who else relates to Wendy? Caught between childhood and becoming an adult - do I move on or can I stay longer? I know I related to her. And no matter how old I get, I don't think I'll ever grow up entirely ♡♡♡ So I made a Wendy dress at the beginning of the summer and forgot to post about it... oops :) I used a simple pattern for this dress and put elastic around the waist, neck, and sleeves. It was a super simple project I made in the first few weeks of summer after finishing my sophomore year of nursing school, but it pleased my romantic side ♡♡♡ I hope you have a wonderful fall and no matter what happens, remember the second star to the right shines in the night for you... to remind you that your dreams really can come true ♡☆

I'm not dead!! I started college, so sewing has kinda taken a back seat to nursing school. But I got a nice long Christmas break, so I decided to whip up a new gown. It's inspired by the Sissi Movies like my pink one . I think I might decorate it more when I come home again in the summer, but I didn't have enough time to hem yards of ruffles and bows. Also, my mom got me a "Sissi Star" necklace from Vienna for Christmas. Empress Elizabeth was known for the star jewelry she wore in her hair. Jewelers in Austria make star hairclips, necklaces, brooches, and earrings to commemorate the Empress. I was hoping for snow to take pictures, and two days before I left, it did! Oh, and I finally cut my hair! I donated 14 inches on New Year's Eve.  New Year, new hair.

On day two, I wore the riding habit. It was overcast all morning, but it held off long enough for the fife and drum march - we got to see Clare again! Even if it was overcast, it was HOT, m ostly because of the humidity. Kristi and I retreated to the cool shade of the Carpenter's shop to play the harpsichord again.   Clare knew more about my riding habit than I did, and tied my scarf for me Never mess with a girl with a musket ;) Lunch at the King's Arms.  We got to see our waiter from last time - he remembered us!  Stuck a feather in her hat and called it macaroni! Next we decided to do something crazy. It started raining cats and dogs at lunch time. My parents went back to our hotel and left Kristi and I do have are adventures in the rain. We decided to walk to Great Hopes Plantation. Yeah. It's over half a mile in the pouring rain. We had one umbrella, but it didn't do much good. Our petticoats were soaked up to our waists, but ...

Look what's finished! I finished the habit shirt and made the collar from some black faux leather I found stashed away. I also added some fancy red trim onto the sash.  I made a cockade from black ribbon and an extra gold button.  I hope you like it!

After watching a Facebook live stream of the milliner's at Colonial Williamsburg making a Robe a la Francaise in a day, I was inspired to make a pet en l'air . What is a pet en l'air ? Glad you asked. A pet en l'air is similar to a Robe a la Francaise , but it is shorter. I guess you could call it the 18th century "mini dress".  Pet en l'airs were considered "undress" (   deshabille in French) or in other words, casual attire . One thing I noticed that the mantua makers in CW did was that they started the gown in the front, and worked backwards, whic h makes sense. (I've had great difficulties in the past getting a gown to fit properly in the front because I had already finished the back and sides.) So I draped the pleats in the back, basted them in place, then un-basted them a few days later because I didn't like the way they looked, and then re-basted them. Story of my life. Next I made the stomacher. It attaches with hooks and eyes ...

I'm so excited to have the amazing opportunity to be a part of a local theatre group's production of Oklahoma! Last week we had costume fittings. The group had a good collection of costumes from previous performances. My younger sister got this gorgeous lavender gown with a pink sash, a circle skirt, and lots of lace. The dress intended for me was... green. That's it. Plain green. No lace, no ribbons; nothing. But who am I to complain? After thinking about it for a while, I remembered that I sew. (yeah, I forgot for a minute there ;P ) I emailed our costume mistress that night, then made sketches on a napkin (all I had available at the time)  and a mockup of scrap fabric. yup. napkin sketches. I came back to dance practice the next day with the mockup, and got approval to go on with the project. We talked about color - I really wanted a pink calico. About half an hour later, I came back to the studio where the costumes are kept. God had done something amazing....