sigh

[swan_tower]

I'm learning to expect that, when the thing I'm sewing becomes recognizably the thing I'm trying to sew, I may still be nowhere near done. When I last worked on this costume (circa March 11th), my coat looked like a naval coat, minus collar, cuffs, and buttons. Many hours of work later, it has a collar and cuffs, no buttons -- because a fair bit of that time was spent on the fiddly little finishing details, like stitching down the edges so they'll lie flat and the lining won't peek out. (And I'm not even done with that.) This is the crap that takes forever for little noticeable result, but the garment just looks better with it done.

Buttons will be my next priority, since the coat will look dumb without them, but once they're on, it will be back to stitching all the rest of the edges I haven't gotten to yet, finishing my pants, and retrofitting a collar onto the vest; the pattern doesn't give it one, but in period they had 'em, and like an idiot I forgot I was going to add that on until the vest was done.

Game's Sunday. Will I be done in time? I had better be. Here's hoping this doesn't turn into a Saturday night button-sewing marathon.

At least there aren't any zippers in my immediate future. It would be a shame to torch my costume, so close to game date.

Oh, and? khet_tcheba is the awesome, yet again. You'll see why, on Sunday.

Comments

[metagnat.livejournal.com]

Remember, all the fiddly details that don't produce much of a noticeable result (like sewing down edges) also make the costume more durable and able to be worn in a more carefree manner - if everything is done well then you can move the way you're supposed to be able to move without concern that some ragged edge is peeking out somewhere!

Good for you for putting this much effort into it!

-E

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

True, though when I'm not likely to have a second use for the costume, it's deeply tempting to cut corners.

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

Any chance we could see pics of your progress?

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I didn't take pictures as I was going along, and pics of my progress now would be deeply boring. "Here it is with one button . . . okay, now I have two . . . ."

[teleidoplex]

An old historical re-creationer's tip regarding buttons that was passed down to me:

Rather than sewing buttons on, pin them on. This makes it much easier to remove them so that when you have the costume cleaned they don't get lost/damaged/loose their sheen/cause permanent damage to the fabric, etc.

Just a suggestion.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Pin them on how? Safety pins? I'm worried that wouldn't look very good, though.

I'll definitely need to sew on the ones that are going to hold my vest shut, but those will be cheap and plain anyway. I'm somewhat tempted, though, to pin on the coat buttons, since there will be approximately eighteen to twenty of those.

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

ooo, check this out!
http://www.steinlaufandstoller.com/73.jpg
They're called "button pins." I think I'm in love.

[kurayami-hime.livejournal.com]

Depending on the type and quantity of buttons, you can also glue them. Hot glue can be your friend.

Of course, I'm betting in this case, the buttons either aren't flat or need to be at least semi-functional, so that's probably a no-go.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Nope. The coat buttons are decorative shank buttons, and the ones on the vest need to work.

[laurelwen.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's been my experience with sewing. Tedious little details taking up half the time I spend sewing.

And then of course, there's ironing...I spend more time ironing than I do sewing sometimes.

I must see pictures.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I am sure there will be pictures from the game.

If there aren't . . .

. . . I won't be quite as upset as I am by the lack of pictures from the Days of Future Past game. (Seriously. A full hour of makeup for that game, and there are no pictures of Zombie Ree.)

[unforth.livejournal.com]

I tend to spend a lot of time on the little details for precisely the reasons that people have already said - particularly the durability aspect - if a thing is worth spending 8 hours to do poorly, it's worth spending 12 to 15 to do well, in my experience, unless the time just isn't there. Cause if you put it in and make it as well as you can, you'll still have a great costume years later, whereas if ya cut corners and such, the costumes tend to start falling apart pretty quick, and you end up losing all the time you thought you saved to maintaining the outfit.

Best of luck with the buttons!