Jampagne.

[nuranar]

Okay, who on my f-list besides koshka_the_cat is definitely doing Jampagne at Costume College?  And if you are, are you doing 1910s, 1920s, or 1930s?


I have a really pretty 1915 outfit planned.  I also have only two and a half weeks to do it, finish the Gala dress (the 1860s Star) with accessories, and everything else I want to arrange.  Like changing up the white Regency a bit, and working on the 18th-century.

This is starting to look unattainable.

I freely admit I'm a perfectionist.  At the same time I'm naturally lazy. Those traits balance each other, and tend to result in pretty decent costumes.  Sometimes the balance slips to the perfectionism side, in which case I end up with the handsewn Regency and undies.  I'm immensely proud of that accomplishment. At the same time, I fully understand the cost of letting that one project take 2-3 months of sewing time.

At other times, the laziness triumphs a bit too long, and I end up with the 1770s-ish indienne print gown and ensemble.  It is super cute and I love to wear it, but the gown isalmost entirely machine sewn, skirt machine top-stitched and wholly unbalanced, and completely untrimmed.  The machine-sewn, unlined stays are still in the very slow process of being bound.  (I keep breaking the eyes off my leather needles - any ideas?)  The only items I'm truly proud of are the cap, fichu, and petticoat, which use correct materials and techniques.  I'm not stressing about the gown so much, but it looks unfinished and needs much hem fixing and possibly neckline tucks.  And it will never be quite the quality job that I would have liked.


What I'm getting at:  The 1915 dress is going to end up worse than the 1770s outfit.  Worse in that it will take every last second of sewing time, be less-carefully sewn and fitted, the corset will be slapdash and not fit as well as it could, and the hat, shoes, and stockings will be make-dos.  Overall, it will completely stress me out AND it won't be a finished project I'm really proud of.

So why am I doing it?

To be part of the Jampagne group?
 - Most people are doing 1920s.  1915 won't fit with that anyway.

To make a longed-for 1910s outfit, and have the undies to do more Edwardian in the future?
 - With so little time, I won't like what I end up with. It will all need redone anyway.


If I scrap set aside the 1915 stuff for a time, I could do so much more.  The Star is the really important one, for the Gala; and although it's 1860s, and I must do 1860s right, it's my home ground. It'll be awesome.  But I could maybe do an early 30s gown for Jampagne and call it good enough.  Then I could also work on the 18th century outfit and get that right. Maybe even finally get good shoes for it from B&T, instead of spending money on makeshift 1910s ones.  And I could trim the white Regency with color; I've seen a lot of plates that have fun trims on white dresses.  I'll have zero chance of doing any of that if I focus on the 1910s.

But it still seems pretty lame for participation in Jampagne.


What do you think?

Comments

[fancyfrocks.livejournal.com]

It looks like with both the classes that I have to do I'll be in 1900s until I can change into something (probably 40s casual) to hang out before going home. Since we're checking out on sunday, too, I don't want to add another change to that cause I think it will stress me out. Although I would love to do jampagne :(
If you're already having second thoughts I vote skip it and wear one of your pretty vintage things, or another period you've already made. No use stressing out over all the things you have to do, and if you end up having time left over after you finish your gala gown then think about if you want to come back and revisit it. You can always sew when you get here!
*hugs*

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

oops - I tried to post from my iphone earlier today, but I guess it didn't work. I vote for picking your battles and focusing on the stuff you know you can finish. The Edwardian sounds like too much work for such a short amount of time. Those things are deceptively complicated. And if it makes you feel any better, we are going to try to have either an Edwardian or jazz age (late 10's-early 30's) picnic with the guild next year, and your dress would be perfect for that! And if you wear 30's for the jampagne day, I could wear my new 30's dress too. There's no way I'm going to be able to pull off that 20's dress in time either, and this would reduce my temptation to try. ;)

[msmcknittington.livejournal.com]

I think early 30s would look super cute on you, and you'd be able to use a vintage pattern that would save a bunch of time. (In theory. I know that using vintage patterns doesn't always work out better than custom-drafted or draped things.) Honestly, I think you should choose the least stressful route for you, because I know I always enjoy myself more at events when I haven't stressed myself out a lot preparing for them.

If you want color for Regency, I really admire this fashion plate from 1799. (http://msmcknittington.livejournal.com/236664.html) You could just use the bodice pattern from the Regency for the demi-corset. There's another fashion plate here (http://regencyramble.blogspot.com/2009/12/regency-fashion-for-december.html) showing the back of a demi-corset.

[jordannamorgan]

I apologize that this isn't really related to anything you're discussing here. I wanted to make note of it to you in regard to the FMA coat, though.

The latest word I've gotten is that the new FMA movie is supposed to be released in this country "early next year". Obviously, IF you're able to find the time, it would be utterly awesome to have the coat in time for that. :)

I absolutely don't want to stress you further! Since that timeframe is months away, though, I just wanted to throw it out there for your planning purposes. (And I should add that, as a complete idiot when it comes to sewing, I probably wouldn't know or care whether it's sewn by hand or machine unless you told me. Whenever you can work on it, do whatever balances best for you between easiness and your perfectionism. *g*)

[suededsilk.livejournal.com]

I think you answered your own question. ;) If it's going to be stressful *and* you know you won't be proud of it, you'll probably be happier with everything if you let go of the 1915, and focus on the other costumes. A dress that will be worn for (at most) a few hours, right after the big Gala evening and before the pool party, isn't a good return in exchange for hair-pulling-out stress!

(And in response to your question: I wanted to do Jampagne, but now I'll be lucky if I can get the Gala dress and a 30s-40s playsuit/sporty outfit done. :p)

[miss-elisabeth.livejournal.com]

I've done 20s dresses in two to three days. I don't recommend it, I had patterns and fabric on hand, a huge deadline and there was no embellishment. Also, nothing had to be resized. However, depending on what fabric you have in your stash, I could give recommendations on the 20s patterns I've used (about 10 in the past year).

[jennylafleur.livejournal.com]

I've dropped Jampange from my list for similar reasons. Like Jen said - pick your battles. If it's going to stress you out, not allow you sleep the week before CosCol and risk other costumes you have your heart set on - drop it. As much fun as Jampange is going to be it's not worth any of that in my experience.

I struggle with the combination of natural perfectionism and laziness too - it's a brutal combination isn't it?! *sigh* Try not to get too wigged out your CosCol outfits having to be perfect. Whatever you wear will be lovely and as long as you have enjoyed the process (or maybe enjoyed the challenge! :>) and you feel great in what you are wearing that is what really matters.

I'll be in Regency on Sunday, for all those and other reasons, watching Jampange unfold with glee and taking tons of pics of it. So if you decide to drop Jampange you certainly won't be the only one. :>

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

That's a good point; two changes are quite a bit, especially with leaving. Thank you! I know I'll be sewing when I get there, at least to put the Star together - I don't want the foil squashed on the plane. :)

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

I think you posted the anonymous message. No worries! :) Thanks so much for the encouragement. I was hoping there would be a guild event or two I can wear this at! Right now I'm definitely thinking 30s. I'll try to get to an outfit post later today.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I've got an early 30s pattern that's quite simple, and I've actually made it up once before. So that should be taken care of. I'm all for the least stressful route!

I LOVE the idea of the demi-corset. I'm going to poke around a bit more and see if there's something else I like as well, and/or works even better with what I have in my stash, but I could very well end up with this.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

Your timing is actually excellent; I've been thinking of sending you a message. That timeframe works out well for me, too. Once I get this spate of stuff done, and the 1860s dress I'm hoping to do for the reenactment I'm hoping to go to in August, there's nothing on the immediate horizon. More importantly, I really hope to have bought and moved into a house by then. The biggest thing that's holding me up is painting the crest. I've got an excellent mockup of the coat itself from when I visited you, and I can manage the hood, but I really need to be able to lay it out and leave it out to do the crest. That'll happen best when I have my own place. So thanks for mentioning it! My goal all along has been for you to have it when it gets cool, and maaaaaybe in time for Halloween. But I'll definitely have it done for the premiere, if nothing else. ;)

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really did. When I broke it down into the the "Why am I doing this?" Q/A, it was pretty clear.

You should go 30s! That's my current plan; outfit post coming up. ;)

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

Stash is... kind of skimpy. Most things are dedicated to 1860s stuff. But I would love to have pattern recommendations. I may end up in 20s stuff yet, and that would be a big help.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

(((HUGS))) Thanks so much for your encouragement!

Perfectionism and laziness are exhausting! Finding the balance is so hard. I worked hard this weekend and I'm pretty tired, but it does feel good.

I know I'll be doing Regency at some point, but it looks like it'll be 30s on Sunday. Darn! But we can all be the cool Jampagne groupies. ;)

[jordannamorgan]

For some reason I didn't get an LJ comment notice in my email, hence the delayed reply. :Þ

I'm glad to hear that timeframe sounds agreeable! :)

The idea of having the coat in late October and wearing it at Horror Nights ("it's not really a costume, honest!") is very amusing. *g* However, since that's an outdoor event and we're usually still pretty hot in October, I don't even know if it would be comfortably wearable then. So no hurry!

(By the way, a trip to St. Augustine is on my schedule for September, so I'll see if I can't get you some more of those Library candles then. ♥ And if you'd like to look at more Lady Adventurer shinies from Sahara Traders at Universal, let me know and I'll remember to shoot some pics in October!)

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

Hehe, that's kind of what I figured. But yes, even we are still pretty warm in October, so I won't stress it. :)

(Yay! I LOVE those ones. I've been hoarding my second one. And again yay for Sahara Traders. I still get a lot of comments on the necklace with all the animals on it. :D)