Progress Report
Less than a week to go…and I am so excited…and I’m getting just a little bit stressed.
So, come Saturday morning, will I be all happy smiles or will I be stressed an grimacing….you will have to wait and see…!!
Anyway, here is a progress report:
PLAN A…was to make the dress, minus sleeves, to be worn with a cream satin spencer.
PLAN B…in the event that said spencer does not turn out right, add sleeves to dress and wear with shawl instead.
Having got the collar on to the spencer (short jacket),
I have been attempting to add the lining…and I’m beginning to wish I had chosen a more sensible fabric! Satin is so slippery, that it is difficult to keep straight, and I have had to re-do one sewing line already. And, looking at the photo, one of the bust darts is not straight, so am ‘undoing it and doing it again’!
Anyway, I am currently wondering if I should top-stitch the seams before stitching the lining in…it might look better, actually….so I will. Then I will add the sleeves. I still haven’t made up my mind about the peplum, but I am adding a ‘belt’ with a square brooch to look like a decorative buckle.
In the event that I am totally dissatisfied with the whole effect, I will go with Plan B, so…
Watch This Space…as they say…or wait until Saturday!
Diary of a Madwoman! 
That duct tape looks more appealing by the minute. Rocket Man (why do I always start singing Elton John……..) get out of the corner and get busy with the staples for us. Pretty please?I have almost finished the beak (it\’ll be that by the time I finish as it\’ll be pecking the walls as I bang my head against them!). Recipe calls for wire Sandi!!!! Strewth, I haven\’t used any! Eeeek!I have an amazing head-ache from sewing all those tiny stitches, I need a massage and some chocolate.This one\’s me …………… (=_=)
I know what you mean about headache from sewing all those tiny stitches!As for wire, I guess it depends on what you use for the brim…and to be able to bend it into the shape you want…maybe Rocket Man has some wire stashed away in his workshop…?
Hope things are going well with the outfit, not long to go, ooohh!! am getting excited for you all. Make sure you charge your camera. Weird that all those months ago it was only in the thought stage and by this time next week we will all know and see more about it!
I\’ll join you with the headache.. very sore eyes from typing like a woman possessed all day (unfortunately the joys of spending time doing accounts mean the boss is off on hol on Thursday and we have to write a bq to go to tender before then.. oh how I hate setting them up :o(
Group hug for Eileen. A nice refreshing glass of wine is in order for you this evening.The bonnet is progressing surprisingly nicely. I\’m waiting for something to go wrong with it. Only got the ribbon to sort and it\’s done. It\’s not a patch on yours Sandi and is only very basic, but I\’m pleased with it. Sorry Rocket Man but I won\’t be needing those staples after all. Still need the chocolate and the massage though 🙂 Never refuse them!
What about the glass of wine…who\’s got a nice bottle of white? Or red if that\’s what you like.Big hug for Eileen (((HUG)))Well done Rachel…if they are that quick to make, I will do a few adjustments and changes to the design and make a few to flog…ha\’baht that…?!! Good idea or wot?!!
Got a load of home made wine. The blackberry is rather nice, if I say so myself.Excellent idea Sandi. With your expertise, they\’d be worth a fortune. My ribbon is puckering. If I re-do it any more I won\’t have any brim left to sew it too. It\’ll have to do as it is now. Cheers.
Could do with that wine now, Rach…had enough of sewing for one day!! Oooh, me back!!Peplum? Or no peplum? I decided against making one, and was just going to do a straight waistband…so why have I spent the last hour or two cutting and folding endless bits of paper and calico until I got the shape right…errrggg!! (@_@)
Am I allowed to panic, yet…?!
Aw thanks guys for the hug :o)Group hug back… can\’t stop just checking emails… am being torn into 4 workers today (is it the weekend yet?)(Oh think I managed to upset Brian by telling him I wouldn\’t be staying at his on Friday because I had some really good friends I was spending Saturday with and needed to be in town for 10.30am.. not sure what\’s happened because he\’s talking about finding a flower shop on his way to mine tonight!)
Ooh, er…flower shop? Keep us posted on that one, won\’t you.After deciding against doing the peplum, I have now done it anyway! I need my head examined!!
Don\’t panic Mr Mannering! You aren\’t called Madwoman for nothing Sandi! He does mean flower and not flour doesn\’t he Eileen? Perhaps he fancies a nice home made cake (please don\’t hit me too hard). What a co-incidence Eileen, I\’m meeting up with some loony friends too!I\’ll be in Bristol for 2 o\’clock on friday now as I\’m catching the earlier train that goes straight through instead of having to change. Poor Natalia\’s going to be worn out by the time I leave! I also have an open ticket so I can go home whenever I want within a month. So, it\’s the first week with Natalia, then I\’ll move in with you Eileen. Any more offers? Kids can look after themselves til I get back, can\’t they?Progress report (hijacking Sandi\’s blog). Bonnet is all done, I hemmed the fourth dress before I even finished my morning coffee and that\’s now drying on the line, boning is now done on the second and better fitting set of stays. Just the binding to do and I\’m done there. I need to make a trip into town as I saw a pair of over the knee socks last week that\’ll do nicely thankyou. Apart from ironing and packing, that\’s it! (I think). Have I forgotten anything? Oh yes, must bring some marbles for Sandi, she\’s lost hers.
Thanks, Rach…can\’t find \’em anywhere (maybe Peter Pan will find \’em for me…?)I got some white knee-high socks from M&S (age 7-11!) which are just right (my shoe size is 4, and the adult socks are far too big!)I still have to hem my dress and get it washed…am doing the belt bit now, of the spencer, that will have a couple of buttons at the back…then I just have to get the lining in straight, so it does not crease or pucker. And if I have time, I will run up a reticle to carry my bits in (oooh-er, missus!!)Guess what…I have a date with some barmy friends this weekend, too! That is a co-incidence!! ;-D
And I forgot to mention that I still have to hem the cuffs…what else have I forgotten…?!!!! Don\’t panic! Don\’t panic!!
Hiya Sandi, looking forward to all your blogs (and pictures ofcourse) when you all get back! I\’m getting visions of you sat in the back seat of the car still doing minor adjustments to the costumes on the journey there! You can put me down for the third week Rachel….just supply me with your cornish pasties and blackberry wine, that\’ll cover the keep! 🙂 xxx
Hiya Mike…I bet you\’ve rostered yourself on for Saturday…haven\’t you? Naughty boy! Natalia…where\’s yer whip?!!!!
Yep…pictures and blogs will be added afterwards…you have a years notice of the next meeting in Bath…!
I still don\’t understand why y\’all get all dressed up for a bath. Over here we get nekkid!
Yes but what we do over here is get all dressed up and then parade around Bath and then get nekkid 😉 Mike the Blackberry wine is disappearing at an alarming rate. Making pasties today though to bring up. Didn\’t know you lived in a castle! I\’ll never make enough pasties to cover the keep and why not just eat them?I\’m all set with the sewing, it\’s all done. My finger is killing me from pushing that needle through so many layers; the canvas lining I used made it worse. Wonder what flowers Eileen got last night. Exciting stuff!!!Right, lots to do today. Laters. xx
Lol, I\’d get arrested if I paraded around Bath nekkid!I didn\’t actually get any flowers in the end – he decided I\’d prefer a very nice bottle of Sancerre and some chocolates that I can actually eat (nut free) which is much nicer :o) Oh! Rachel\’s providing dinner then? Yum!
I\’m goin\’ fer a bath later….a good old fashioned pampering sesh!Right, I have checked train times from Trowbridge, and we can either get the 09.44 that gets into Bath Spa at 10.07 or the 10.14 that gets into Bath at 10.34…hmmm…!Right…back to my stitchery….
Ok so 10.34 would mean you\’d get to the Abbey about 10.40, but knowing the trains may well be late?It was rather cold this morning so I wish I could dive in a bath now to warm me up.. office is freezing! Need coffee to warm / wake me up!
It\’s cold here, too…and grey…but at least the wind has dropped. I do hope the weather improves for Saturday! I\’ve not seen a Promenade picture, yet, that didn\’t have sunshine…fingers crossed!!!OK, the earlier train it will be, then…I think I shall go and put a tee-shirt on, now…!
Oh we have sunshine here.. just damned cold!I do hope you\’re wearing something Sandi.. we don\’t want you getting ill before Saturday
I have got my shirt and jeans on, but the tee-shirt is also needed now….it\’s not warm enough, any more, to get up and wander about in just a long shirt.Right…getting gear sorted…shoes and stockings (white knee-high socks), bonnet….oh, and shawl…
Shirt? Cor! I\’ve got a jumper on (and still cold).. what time in the year is it acceptable to put the heating on?Are you all going to catch the train in your costumes? It\’s going to be fantastic isn\’t it?
Heating on?! I\’ve still got windows open!! I prefer to have air flowing through…better than the place ending up smelling stale…especially if the pongs seep up from downstairs…eeew!Rachel says she is wearing her costume on the bus from Bristol…she has Natalia to hold her hand. I will be travelling on the train in mine, and will take my jeans and stuff to change into afterwards…must remember to get the little rucksack down from the loft, too…! It will be great to actually take part, this year…when we were there in 07, the atmosphere was wonderful…so much fun!!
In my college days the thing to do was get nekkid and streak across campus to cheers and applause from spectators. Nowadays that streak would be more of a stumble and the cheers and applause would be replaced with screams of "I\’M BLIND!"
LOL RM!!!Sandi, my office is really really high ceilinged, lovely when it\’s hot because it\’s never unbearable, but really cold in the winter. I have the windows open at home almost all year round (teenage boys get stinky feet).
Not just stinky feet, Eileen!! LOL!! Don\’t you mean "I wish I was blind!" RM…?!!I keep meaning to put that tee-shirt on, but haven\’t got around to it yet…!
dut dut …………….. dut dut dut ……….. dut ……………….. dut dut dut (that\’s the good old fashioned news machine going off – just in case you thought I\’d lost it again) Tis ansome down \’ere. Blue skies with the odd fluffy cloud for effect and nice and toastie. Only got the t-shirt on, with the jeans of course. According to the wonderful and always accurate Met Office, the weather is going to be sunny with the odd cloud here and there on saturday. I\’m bringing it all with me in my little kit bag.Chocs and wine instead of flowers are great Eileen. Could murder some chocolate right now. I am really glad that he sees you as a priority over other things. Wonderful!Ummm Mr Rocket Man sir, shouldn\’t you be in bed getting your beauty sleep or are you up because you\’ve obviously had far too much (or am I loopy because my little head only acknowledges California time?)Ok, just plain loopy will do.Talking of loopy. Sandi! That blog about men being agony aunts sounds interesting. Got time have you?
Have just had to give up on trying to get If Men Wrote Problem Pages as I have it in My Pictures, but when I tried to add it to the blog thing…it wasn\’t there. Will sort it out and post it later…if I can…!
Question: My husband wants a threesome with my best friend and me.Answer: Obviously your husband cannot get enough of you. Knowing that there is only one of you he can only settle for the next best thing – your best friend. Far from being an issue, this can only bring you closer together. . . . . .Plus various others…
Huh! You already know it! I\’ll have to find something else, then, won\’t I!!Woo hoo!! I don\’t have to get ready for work today…woo hoo!!!!
I was wondering how you were going to post it . . . . Do you think all men are like that?Yay for Sandi having a day off
I\’m skiving. Nobody knows I\’m here do they? I\’m straightening a few things out with the misery board and I got bored so I thought I\’d pop in and make sure you were all behaving. And I can see that you are which just isn\’t right!
It sure felt like it when sorting the wheat from the chaff….certainly, at one stage in my life. I was beginning to think that ALL men were the same…but they are not, I\’m glad to say.Not just one day off, Eileen…seven whole days. Wow! This is the second full week I have had off this year…normally I take days here and there, so I have a series of long weekends.
Oh, is that Rachel…er…not here?Behaving? We\’re behaving…but you do not specify whether we are supposed to be behaving well or behaving badly…!! 😉
We\’re always behaving Rachel! (Honest.. shuffles from side to side looking as if butter wouldn\’t melt)Oh wow! A whole week! That\’s great Sandi, and well needed I think
Right kettle\’s on, biscuits are in my drawer (as always).. tea or coffee anyone?
Tea please, Eileen…level sugar…and just show it the milk. Oooh, and can you do me a favour? On Saturday, will you be in Bath before 10.00am?
Or tomorrow afternoon?
I\’m in Bath at the moment! What do you want?
NO,NO,NO,NO,NO! A three way never works. Someone always gets jealous and things go to hell soon after. Lesson learned years ago, the hard way as usual, not just once but in two seperate relationships, when I was still single. Part of the reason I remained single for so long between marriages 1 and 2. Friends who learned the same lesson, the same way, all say the same thing; It NEVER turns out well.
RM!! I\’m shocked!
Back in the day I was a party animal and a ladies man. Frankie got a rope around my neck and saved me from my evil ways. I haven\’t even had a drink in 18 years. Of course, before that I drank enough to last 2 lifetimes but…….
What?!! Oh! The Problem Pages thingummy…very t-i-c…! Have you not seen that one RM? If Men Wrote Problem Pages…Q. My husband is uninterested in foreplay. A. You are a bad person for bringing it up and should seek sensitivity training. Foreplay to men is very stressful and time consuming. etc., etc. Or…Q. My husband has too many nights out with the boys. A. This is perfectly natural behaviour and it should be encouraged. Blah, blah, blah.
No, I haven\’t seen it and I had better not comment on the rest, lest other men hunt me down and stone me to death as a traitor.
Hmmm…well, it is very…er…saucy (Sandi blushes), as all the answers boil down to the same thing…cook him a nice meal and give him a BJ…!
I have a real life dilemna……..work have offered me one, two or three weeks work away in Wales from the week after next. Leave Mondays home Fridays. I would love to do it but dread to think of the mayhem I would come home too. Any thoughts?
@ Sandi – Well RM is an excellent cook but he and his roomate, Mad Max, lived in a beach cottage known far and wide as the Snake Ranch. We then moved to a larger house known as Animal House. There were people all over the city who knew of us even if they didn\’t know our names. The party started in 1976 and ran pretty much wide open and non-stop through most of \’86. I think several breweries went out of business when Frankie settled me down and Max got married.
Hmmm…that\’s a difficult one, Anne, and I think that only you can decide on what you want to do. I think that you would be worrying about Kath more than anyone else, wouldn\’t you.
Yep I would. She came home yesterday and seems ok. But the lure of £600+ a week wages is too tempting. And all accomodation, meals and travel paid for by the firm. Really though, what appeals is the fact I would be out of reach and independant so any problems would have to be sorted by someone else…is that too mean of me? I just need a break before I break.
I think the change of pace, not to mention the money, would be irresistable and it\’s not like you\’re going to be doing it forever. Go for it if it\’s what you want. You have to take care of you first and foremost and we all need a break now and then,
Going to work for a break says a lot about my home life doesn\’t it!!
How about getting someone on standby to help out with Kath. That way you\’ll know she\’ll be in safe hands if necessary and you can get away for a bit.Rocket Man, those are the sort of tails that I love to hear; someone getting out there and living life to the fullest by having a great time. American Pie also springs to mind.Right, I\’m packed and ready to go. Fourteen hours and forty minutes til the train leaves (not that I\’m counting).
LOL! Rachel, you are like a little kid standing at the door ready to go…a day early!! Have to agree with RM when he puts it like that…you were kept real busy during the summer hols, running around after your extended family, that it\’s time for you to have a break from everyone…even a week will do you the world of good…and all that wonga at the end of it can\’t be bad, either…!!
American Pie???? Rachel, to paraphrase a former US President, I never had relations with that pie!
I suppose Anne, would life be awful from the man in your life if you went?We all know you would worry about Kath – as you also know full well, I don\’t think that\’s the issue though somehow.RM.. bad bad man!!! Glad you have Frankie to keep you in check now!
American Pie…is that the one where the kid is trying to lose his virginity…and his mum\’s pie gets it…?!! Eeew…!!!
There were no pastries molested in any of my former residences while I was living there!
Have a fantastic few days Sandi xxx
Thanks, Mike, I will…so will Rachel, Natalia and Eileen…must go finish my costume….yes, I\’m still working on it…and it\’s crap…!!RM…I\’m sure there would be photographic evidence…somewhere…if there had been…! Hehehe!!
I\’m sure it isn\’t crap!I\’ve got the camera (well my phone) charged ready to take lots of photo\’sAh.. not of any recriminating pictures of pastries I might add.. but of three wonderful women in regency clothing!!
Three? Who else is dressing up apart from me and Rachel? Natalia didn\’t say anythin about dressing up, did she? Hey…the more the merrier…especially as they are trying for the Guinness world record this year!
It is going to be a quiet weekend here with you all off to the parade. I wonder if Bath know what is heading its way….watch out! watch out! it\’s Storm Sandi and her Space Sisters!Sandi, don\’t forget the Jane Austin look is \’demure\’ isn\’t it?Sure you will all have a great time.
Hmmm…the Jane Austen look…yeah, sure…but…the Regency look…!! Lady Caroline Lamb…Emma Hamilton…Caroline of Brunswick…Mary Anne Clarke…Harriette Wilson…need I go on…?!!
My butterflies are stamping their feet!
Ah! I thought Natalia was dressing up too my mistake!I don\’t think Bath have thought about it properly Dorchester St (which is the main road by the train station and bus station) is going to be closed for the weekend to remove the huge cranes inpreparation of phase 1 of the opening of the new shopping mall Traffic will be hell!!!
Lovely! That\’s the kind of thing they could have done at night, isn\’t it! Ne\’mind….one more day to go…!!! Two years to demolish the old shops and stuff and build a new mall…when we arrived at the station in 07 we were confronted by a mountain of rubble and a huge empty space…and the fact that they had moved the bus station…further to carry our bags, too!!Rachel, can\’t you give your butterflies something to calm them down…?! You\’ve heard of the \’butterfly effect\’ haven\’t you…?!!!
Brain\’s a little fuzzy this morning. Isn\’t that some sci fi film to do with time travel?
Oh the butterfly effect – great film!Sandi, it\’s been 3 years to demolish and build – a constant source of frustration for all with road closures etc.
Eileen…thank you for running the errand for me….big, big (((HUGS))) XXX
You\’re welcome :o) Lunch break is at 1 so I\’ll pop up then for you xXx
Really hope you all do have a great day. Looking forward to hearing all about it and the pics. Take loads!
Wa-hay!!! It\’s only taken me an hour to get signed in and get this far!!!Yesterday\’s weather was absolutely beautiful, and it was really great to meet up with Eileen, Natalia and Rachel…had a fantastic time! It was a shame that Eileen left us so early, though.Those of us in costume were counted into the Assembly Rooms in groups of tens, where we had to sign our names and stay put until everyone was in and they shut the doors…it got a bit warm, it did!!Anyway, will blog about it all when we get home tomorrow…including Tiny Tim, Queen Square, Catering…Regency Style(?) and the \’Regency Speedway\’…there was so much to remember…!
Darn you woman!! I have spent the last hour or more at the pub with Barbara and her hubby looking on my mobile for news from you and whadya do …… wait till I get home and then give us news!!
Have looked already at the Bath site and seems to have been a great day. 450 in the assembly halls beating the 200 record from America. Well done!
Sandi, I am still laughing to myself over Bob\’s regency Speedway comment. Rachel is todally pooped and so am I, but it was worth it, you old tree hugger you. xx
Anne, I sent you a photo from Queen Square, yesterday…didn\’t you get it?As I mentioned…took me an hour to get on here!! What Bath site? Robert checked out the Jane Austen site, but they haven\’t posted anything yet.Natalia, I loved Rachel\’s pic of Robert in my bonnet…LOL! Of course, he meant The Dandy Chargers…Regency Speedway, indeed!!
Oooooh DEFFO in need of some Photo Evid here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *Froggie sits twiddling her thumbs eagerly awaiting*
Anne and PF…the photos will be added tomorrow, when we get home, as we have borrowed a laptop for while we are here, and don\’t have the relevant cable thingummy…so you will have to be patient, won\’t you! I can just imagine the pair of you, looking as if you\’ve got ants in yer pants…hehehe!!
I put in a search for Regency Parade Bath and it came up with a report from the Bath Chronicle i think.Yes Sandi, I did get the pic on my mobile but it was a bit small so could not make out much detail.Patience is not a virtue of mine………hurry up!
Regency record set in Bath. Saturday, September 19, 2009, 18:56 … Mr Darcy joined Catherine Morland and Emma Woodhouse to parade through the streets from …http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/…/Regency…set-Bath/…/article.html – 23 hours ago –
I can\’t…sorry…got to wait until we get home, then the photos can be up/down loaded (whichever it is…keep being told, but can never remember!) I am also getting impatient to see the photos, that Robert took, properly…I didn\’t get to take any, and I saw loads of lovely costumes and bonnets/hats that I would have liked pics of. Hope he got some of them!Then there is the waiting for the Jane Austen Centre\’s photos to be featured on the website and in the magazine…! I just can\’t wait!! I hope Rachel and I are in there!!
Have read it…little Braden was so-o-o-o sweet…we were standing there when people started taking photos of the little chap..and when he broke into a smile…!!!
Could\’ve sworn they were Canadian. Didn\’t realise they were from Pennsylvania(sp?). He was a real show stopper, wasn\’t he? Gorgeous.
Morning!!It was fantastic to meet you all, can\’t wait to get some pictures up.That little Braden was such a cutie
So I take it that next years shindig will be \’bring baby too\’! I could bring Mo, she would look quite fetching in a little bonnet and doggy cape. Bound to be front page showstoppers then!I am going nuts waiting for some pics, someone please put some up soon.
I\’ve put all mine up on FB, but Windows is being a pain and taking ages to put up even 5! There were quite a few kids dressed up Anne – I was surprised at the amount of men in outfits!
Do not use FB.
Love the pics Eileen – but where are you? Worth waiting in for, now I can get cracking and go out only to hurry back for Sandi\’s pics.
There are more Anne, but I really don\’t have the time today to put them up – I\’ll post more tonight.I didn\’t take any of me, but Natalia managed to get a couple of snaps – I\’ll see if I can grab them from FB tonight
I\’ve decided that my photos are the best; because I\’m not in them! Now then, apparently the festival was on the news on saturday but my mother can\’t remember which channel it was on. I\’ve looked on the BBC site but the iplayer doesn\’t show news programmes and ITV are rejigging their news website so there\’s nothing on there either. Maybye there will be something on this evening. If they show the bit in the blue room with everyone cheering then you\’ll all find Sandi over to the right and almost at the back of the room, next to the musicians almost. Best of luck and videos at the ready peeps. xx
Pft! You looked wonderful Rachel!I looked to see if I coud see anything on the news and nothing as yet – even our local paper doesn\’t have much!
I\’m gonna row in with Eileen and agree that you looked great Rachel…..almost convinced you really are 21 and teeny weeny incy bit years of age! 🙂 Very impressed by both your costumes, nice to see such long hours of work come off…..plus it was good to see Sandi soooo full of energy…..strangest and almost x-rated form of Leap Frog i\’ve ever seen! 🙂 xxx
For what it\’s worth, I agree that you both looked just great! The dedication and skill that went into making the costumes and planning for the day are something to be admired.
X-rated? Leap frog?! Nah! I wanted to ride around on a horse, but there were no horses to be had…! Mike, you should have been there, too! How about next year?!Yeah, Rachel, you looked great! I will have to get my…er…under-things…made for next year, now, won\’t I!I guess I\’d better get a blog written and put Robert\’s photos on…as I didn\’t take any!
The pics are fantastic and your outfit perfect.
You could have gone around town on one of those bikes Sandi. After the way you mounted Bob, I\’m sure they\’d see you\’re more than capable!Thank you all. I wish I\’d chucked that bonnet in the bin though. It made my chubby chops look even chubbier and I don\’t need any more help there! As for those bad boys ……………………… yes, well.