Starting Spring Break in the Garment District

So by the time you all read this, it will be a couple days later than I would have liked to have posted this, but I didn't have wireless internet access in my grandparents apartment.

I finally made a thorough trip to New York's famous garment district today! For me, it marks a couple milestones - first is that it was the first time I got to actually explore the garment district and go to all the stores I wanted to. A couple weeks before my trip, I followed the advice of a very informative garment district blog and made a google map of all the stores they suggested which I later followed in order to find some of the coolest stores. The second landmark is that I navigated the city of New York all by myself. Surprisingly, I have never had the guts to travel to the city and walk around it all by myself, so this was a very exciting trip for me. I managed to get myself on a train from my grandparents apartment and walk from Grand Central Terminal to 39th street at 7th ave with minimal interference (especially considering the streets were packed with too many St. Pattys day celebrators). Step one to adulthood is now in gear!

Anyway, I made this trip to the district because I was looking for fabric for a couple projects I've been considering for a while (a cinderella costume, a summer shirtwaist dress, a summery skirt, and a bathing suit). I only managed to purchase some fabric for my cinderella costume, even though I highly considered a blue polka dot spandex for a new swimsuit (and am still considering ordering when I arrive home). 

Finally Something Good

As most of you followers realize, I haven't had the chance to post on here in a long time, mostly because I've had lots of work to do, some health issues, as well as a lot of rejection - never fun. Lately I've applied for a number of internships and jobs and haven't gotten any of them - which was especially frustrating when one of them totally flipped around my upcoming fall semester plans. Grrr. But on Saturday, I finally got an email that I had been accepted as an interpreter at a local museum! Yay! So it looks like I will be spending my summer dressed as a historical interpreter presenting historic trades for the public (including my favorite pastime, sewing). It looks like everything is finally falling into place!

Revving Up...kinda

I'm officially off and running! The semester has started up and is slowing starting to build, so I figured I'd get a post in before it gets crazy in the next week. I've figured out and settled all my classes which is usually the first big change each semester. I'm taking Material Culture of the Victorian Era, American Lit, Musical Theater Jazz, a lecture series on Disabilities, and a self-designed special studies which will look at the change in women's clothing from 1915-1920ish (second season of Downton Abbey anyone?). It certainly looks to be a good semester.

I'm also working on a number of internship applications and I'm hoping to land one of them for this summer. I'm also working on an application for studying away from campus this fall, so all of these will keep me busy over the next couple weeks while I complete them and also deal with homework, social events, and auditions for Leading Ladies spring show Godspell. 

End to a long day

So I had my first real day of classes today (as in multiple classes that I am actually intending on taking).  I started my material culture class today, which seems somewhat promising, except that it will be taught like a lecture in art history and very little of it will be about historic dress. Neither of which I am totally thrilled about, but will deal with. I also had my musical theater jazz class today which was excellent, except now I am very tired and a bit sore. We are starting with a Fosse style piece choreographed to "Two Lost Souls" from Damn Yankees (which I know little about). The grad student who is teaching it also announced that we would be working mainly in character shoes, so I'll have to go on an adventure to find a pair this weekend. I have never owned a pair of character shoes that actually fit me well, so this will be a fun adventure.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to go back and talk to my advisor about the special studies and hopefully solidify things before online registration ends. Good night!

Changing Plans

Ok, so maybe my schedule will be changing after all. I attended my first class on Thursday and it turned out to be a bit of a flop. Not the actual subject matter, but the class itself. There were over 60 people registered, with discussion groups that would be half that size. No thanks. I don't do well in large classes or discussions, so I'm not taking that course. Instead, it looks like I will be doing a special studies about something related to historical dress or clothing. I have a bunch of options, so I'll need to make a decision and report back.

My biggest news is that I was accepted into the museums concentration!! Yay! I'm even more excited because my advisor is the professor who taught my costume design class and will be my supervisor for my special studies! How cool is that?!?

Now I'm back to getting some work done for my American Lit. class, as well as maybe ordering some new makeup.

Prepping for the Semester

Like most breaks, I didn't totally get done everything I had wanted to (like part of my corded petticoat). Nope, I've been busy getting my life in order to pass the museums class on collecting I took this J-term. But hey, plans change right?

Tomorrow marks the first day of classes and I don't totally feel ready. It's very strange. Perhaps it is that I only have 2 classes between today and Saturday, or that I have to be up earlier than my only class tomorrow to meet with an advisor at the Career Development office about resumes and such. Either way, I am determined to make this semester much more controlled than the last - and to start, I have organized all my notebooks and binder (as well as photocopied some readings for my American Lit. class) for tomorrow and next week. Aren't I good?

Potential Progress

So I've headed back home for the weekend so I can celebrate my upcoming birthday with my family and friends (after spending over three hours on busses and in terminals today). I'm planning to visit with friends, pick up my birthday freebies at the mall (little indulgences here and there never hurt anyone), email a couple professors, and knock out a sewing project. All before I get out of my teenage years.

A while ago my mom and I visited the New York garment district in search of a green coating wool for my regency pelisse. We did succeed in finding the wool, but also came across other treasures, particularly a soft cotton print with a pink background and desserts all over. We discovered it was a print by Nick and Nora (high end pajama company) and bought six yards of it. Now, this yardage has been sitting in the closet for a while and I've been dying to make a nice nightgown or pajama shorts with it. So I bought a pattern a couple months ago, looked at it this evening, and discovered I had bought the wrong size. Ooops. There's no chance the size large will come close to fitting me properly. It looks like I'll be off to JoAnn's sometime tomorrow to switch out the sizes.

Now on to finishing this museums studies paper. Tally ho!

New Year, New Goals

I realize I've been neglecting this blog, which is entirely because of large amounts of schoolwork, as well as stress and health issues. Lots of fun.

Anyway, with the incoming arrival of my American Duchess "Pemberley" shoes, my brain has been cranking around the clock ways that I can wear them. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that my very first sewing project was a regency dress made from light blue linen out of the Sense and Sensibility "Elegant Ladies Closet" pattern, sewn entirely by machine. Of course, since then, my sewing has improved by leaps and bounds and naturally I'm aching for another gown...or maybe another 5 or 6 gowns (of all different eras).

Like most costumers at one time or another, I'm currently suffering from costume ADD, with piles of goals I want to achieve. As of this second, I really want to make a new regency gown, but that would require a fresh new shift, a set of short stays, as well as a new pattern (I like the S&S patterns, but I feel like I'm ready to graduate to a better pattern, like the La Mode Bagatelle set). I'm also really yearning to make a pair of 18th century stays and a beautiful petticoat and short gown to wear on top. I'd also love to vamp up my wardrobe with 30's and 50's style clothing (which is extremely difficult in the middle of New England weather without tights and such). I can't make up my mind.

So yes, I have a bunch of goals for this year - here are the most reasonable ones (in no particular order):
- sew up the 30's circle skirt with the green cotton sateen I bought this summer
- finish the corded petticoat I started months ago
- sew a new regency shift
- make a nightgown from the Nick and Nora fabric I got in NYC a couple years ago
- fit the cover for my dress form (it's about time - I've had it nearly two years!)
- hem up the dotted 30's skirt so it's more wearable
- finish the christmas gifts I started
- sew up a wrap style vintage dress (using a pattern purchased on Etsy)

Of course all of these would be a dozen times easier with my own machine, but that can wait until I get a real job.

Oh and on top of all these, I need to apply to all of the internships in costuming/museums (especially those with a living history component) before early March.