Author Archives: kathousekelli70

Diary of Desire Pt 3

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Sometimes I astound myself and am feeling very pleased about the completion of the skirt for Texas Flowers gown.

Suffice to say it is looking very much like the original don't you think? Texas Flower will be very happy indeed.

 

So, only the lace to be done now.

The under gathering and pleating was done – I wasn't happy with the height of the pleating, so that got unpicked, moved and restitched. The back overskirt was hemmed, unpicked, rehemmed, pleated, undone and repeated at the sides. The ruching I could have done a bit more but left them and the origami pleats for a first time attempt turned out well.

 

The original gown and owner of said gown, Lonna Miller shared a picture of the stunning lace on Facebook for me. Lonna has used the original gold satin and lace from the dress, reworked in red.


In Texas Flower's and my look at this breathtaking gown at the 2014 Convention I neglected to see the beautiful detail in the lace which is actually beaded. Flower's lace will be full embroidery with just a hint of beading in the small flowers.

For now it's back to simpler tasks as I wait for my McDowell Drafting machine to come back from the US with a friend so I can start the next challenge of the bodice.

Stats: 51.5hrs, 18m/19.6yds hand stitching

 

Cheers

Kat xo

 

P.S. I think I have now finished the Historical Sew Monthly's February challenge of Tucks and Pleating, albeit a little late.

 

Practice, Practice, Practice

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Clearly that's what I need to do more of after today's effort, or at least pay attention to instructions!

Misses – 2, Procedurals – 1, Pistol Reloads – 2 very messy and uncoordinated, Shotgun inadvertently opening – 1 and probably a bit ragged on rifle on 2 stages.

Despite this, raw times were good but that makes not one iota of difference if you have all the other stuff going on, now does it?

 

Loads of fun as usual, plenty of laughs and good company, what more could you want really.

Congratulations to Mad Dog Tannen for taking out top honours at this weekends Gamblers club match and to Ex Sighted and Prairie Joy for clean matches!

Next club match in two weeks!

Cheers

Kat xo

 

Diary of Desire Pt 2

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It certainly has been a long time between journal entries for this one, however, it is moving forward.

The sourcing of fabric was eventually done and had to fall back on gorgeous faux silk taffeta from Bangkok Thai Silk. I have found the silks and other fabrics in the past to be of excellent quality and good pricing.

With samples having been sent off to Texas Flower the choice was made to go with a blue teal and creamy gold. The royal blue was a little too dark and I just couldn't find that elusive powdery blue that I really wanted.

 

Cool! Fabric ordered and arrived.

 

Now the February challenge for Historical Sew Monthly was pleating and the furthest I got with this during the upheaval of false surgery starts and eventual surgery for Jack was writing 3 pages of notes, working out depth, widths of pleats, where to join, how much fabric etc. so technically I somewhat completed that task.

Skip forward almost a month – clearing other 'simpler' work – and we have arrived at actual commencement of construction.

Step 1. Check all measurements and re-read pink ramblings in book. (Pink pen? Really Jo?)

 

Step 2. Clean table and commence cutting of fabric. Cutting main body of skirt and pieces for gathering and pleating.

 

Step 3. Just because it used to be done back in the 1800's and because now I would know it wasn't more authentic if I didn't do it properly, hand stitching hem facing to bottom of skirt front and sides.

 

Step 4. Toss up whether to do gather sections and pleats separate and then join………hmmmmm, nup, think I will join them all first. Pin ready for sewing.

Step 5. Brings us to today, Tuesday 29th, stitch all sections together, stitch hem facings to back gather section and pleat section and all 19 front panels.

 

Step 6. Hand stitch hem facings down. Back sections done (2.5metres) now to do the front – approx 6metres!! Yes I did say hand stitch.

Now I've mentioned a back gather section and pleating. A quick glance at the photo and you'd be forgiven for saying, 'what the hell are you talking about?' But on closer inspection I realised that there is indeed an under section, just in blue, of a gathering layer and a pleated layer. Of course I can't leave it out, it's there so it has to be done.

 

Anyway this is where I'm at with the lovely Texas Flower's dinner or reception gown. Still trying to find more information or museum critique to know exactly what it would have been worn as.

Time so far – 13 hours

Needle and thread are calling me!

Kat xo

P.S. If you click on 'journal entries' above it will take you to Pt1 in case you missed it. 😉

 

Taste The Rainbow!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Well it might not be as tasty but the latest colour explosion would definitely rival any handful of Skittles!

It's been a few weeks of colourful and interesting patterns for Adelita skirts, corsets and tops.

 

Fulfilling others needs with bright and fun prints and plains, cotton and silks.

 

Gorgeous matching, small peacock feather detail for a couple. Noooo, not a new set for Jack and I, although I do have that fabric for me!

 

Enjoyed the “quicker” sewing, now on to “challenging” again.

Cheers

Kat xo

 

Shots on Saturday

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Yes, it was a down range kinda day yesterday with 15 Cowboys and Cowgirls turning out for The Gamblers club match.

With Jack sitting on the sidelines for now, he happily video'd (people say that but is it actually a word?… I digress) and kept score.

It felt good but had a few unnecessary misses, called 'must keep your eye on the front sight'. Never mind I'm on to that.

All times were decent however and had the Dog on the run! Nice shooting with all and thanks for the challenge 'Mad Dog Tannen'!

 

Click on this link to see Stage 1 Video (This link is mainly for Dad and Mums sake 🙂 )

Have a good week!

Kat xo

 

B-Western

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Miss 19 asked me one day, “Mum what is B-Western?” Well I could explain to her what it meant for Single Action shooters by way of category, dress, firearms etc but what did it really mean?

Now I also knew it related to the silver screen era, John Wayne, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and the like. So a little research got me looking further at the term.

In short, (because we don't need the full explanation on here) film production in the late 1920's and into the 1930's and 40's saw the double billing or short inexpensive films added to fill a program. Mostly due to rental of space to show a film and therefore to make it worthwhile not only for theatre goers but for the management and staff.

Western movies were said to be the most predominant in the 30's and accounted for 25-30% of production. Therefore the term, B-Western!

However, costume wise, it is all about the smiley pockets, piping, fringing, different coloured cuffs and yokes, bright coloured fabrics, embroidery and a little bit of bling thrown in for good measure.

There are many fine examples of such with the most revered being those created by Nudie Cohn. In particular to the country music artists over many years.

I found these little gems on some Grand Old Opry dvd's borrowed from 'Emerald'. Priceless! I'm sure I recognised one outfit on a DVD that we saw at the Ryman Auditorium when we were there in 2014.

This one of Ernest Ashworth wearing his 'Talkback Trembling Lips' outfit that matched his song! What a classic! Blinged up bars of music, the writing and of course the lips across it.

 

I think it was this one of Porter Wagoner's we may have seen at the Ryman or at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

 

In the realm of costuming I have completed a few B-Western outfits now and think there will be more to come.

Here is 'Lil McGill' from Texas, in her Annie Oakley inspired outfit (as worn by Gail Davis in the tv series of Annie Oakley in the 1950's). We saw the original on display at the Oklahoma National Cowboy Museum and Hall of Fame and it just had to become an outfit for Lil! She won best dressed B-Western Lady at the 2015 US Nationals – Winter Range, 2015 World Championships – End Of Trail and then the trifecta, 2015 South West Regionals – Red Dirt Rampage.

(2nd Place, Sonora Blaze, 3rd Place, Paniola Annie)

 

Our Aussies can be partial to a bit of B-Western flair as well and when 'Katie Younger' and 'Robb and Co' hit the USA in 2015 they wanted an Australian themed get up. So National emblem and flower with kangaroo's, Southern Cross and the Australian flag were the order. They won 2nd Place Best Dressed Couple at the 2015 World Championships – End of Trail. Katie has the first B-Western outfit I ever made in a red and black combo.

 

'Sonora Blaze' from Colorado also required a show stopper and we got to doing this Dale Evans inspired number but in the turquoise instead of the original coral colour. Sonora won 2nd Place Best Dressed at the 2016 US Nationals – Winter Range.

 

'Flat Top Okie' from Oklahoma, required a shirt to match the boots he'd bought and after searching for the right colour fabric came up with the perfect match! Add in some custom styled design and a little bit of bling and there you have it.

 

And so we come to the latest creation in this genre. Another beautiful outfit for 'Lil McGill' with bits of a Patsy Cline outfit and inspiration from Annie Get Your Gun costumes for Betty Hutton, Lil will be the ultimate ray of sunshine getting around the range in this number! There are a couple of things left to do, like pearl snaps, embroidered triangles for pockets and careful trimming of embroidery threads but I can't wait to see this one decked out with Lil's final touches!

 

Bling it if you can!

Kat xo

P.S. Weirdly, I am looking forward to more smiley pocket experimentation, I think I nailed it on Lil's skirt. Have to do pockets on shirt now!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_movie

http://www.nudiesrodeotailor.com

 

Chance For Practice

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We found out that a cowboy club match was happening up at Belmont near Brisbane today. So with a chance to get in a practice and the last shoot for Jack for a while we decided to go up to the Metro.

Just a straight forward range, set up with a couple of stages, there were 9 of us turned up to shoot 5 stages with Carter Moss.

Here are the results from today, a good win for Jack! (aka Ricochet in Aus)

 

Good luck to all the Aussie's heading over to New Zealand for the Trans Tasman, Duel Down Under. Kick some butt and bring the trophy back home!

Kat xo

 

 

‘The Green Behind The Gold’

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Tuesday we took a short trip up to Mt Tamborine to take a casual stroll down 'Gallery Walk'. We wandered in and out of small boutique shops and stopped in at the Gallery Cafe for Devonshire tea.

 

After our coffee, scones, jam and cream we kept on up the street to the 'Fig Tree Roundabout'. As the plaque states, the fig tree marks the site of the original home of one William Henry Crawford. He planted the tree across the road from his homestead to provide shade for the many walkers who passed by.

 

Across the road we ventured into a little shop called 'Bygone Days'. I could hardly contain myself as I looked through the various laces they had. Gorgeous, beautiful stunning laces at decent widths that would lend themselves to the most gorgeous 1800's gowns. They also had the most beautifully crafted reproduction velvet flowers for hats. Prices were excellent. I will be back!

As we meandered back down the road we stopped in at Le Chile Cafe for lunch and had beautiful bruschetta. I wanted Empanadas but they had run out.

 

Onwards to the 'Castle Glen' distillery, 'Fortitude Valley' brewing company for some liquor and beer tasting. The Lazy Knight was a winner – whiskey, white chocolate and ginger. We had a tasting paddle of 5 brews at the brew house.

 

Back in the car and we headed for the Mt Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk. A 40 minute walk through tracks of trees, figs, vines, and overhead walkways through rainforest canopy. There were various trees from palms, figs to the straightest, whitest, huge and beautiful gums I have seen in a long time. There were no orchids flowering at the moment either.

 

The cantilever platform was fantastic and we could see down to the floor and trickling little creek, listening to the sounds of cicadas and other forest noises……probably frogs.

 

That's it, back into the air conditioned car and headed back for an afternoon swim.

Kat xo

http://www.tamborinemtncc.org.au

https://www.facebook.com/Castle-Glen-wines-and-Cocktails-Montville-350574531728427/

http://fortitudebrewing.com.au

 

Gold Coast Gamblers Club Champs

Posted on by kathousekelli70

The beginning of Feb saw a group of Cowboys and Cowgirls get together for the Gold Coast Gamblers Club Championships for 2015.

It was a hot and humid day for the 23 that showed up for some fun and action.

 

Five stages were shot and then it was time for pack up, dinner, bragging, drinks and awards.

It came down to inlaws and outlaws – seeing as there were some that weren't club members.

Jack and I were both awarded our trophies for our category wins in the Pat Garrett Champs. For the Club Champs, Jack finished 2nd in Seniors and 8th overall. I finished 1st in Lady Wrangler and 2nd overall.

 

As usual it was lots of fun, laughter and having digs at each other.

Congratulations to the overall Club Champions (the inlaws) for 2015 being Mad Dog Tannen for the Men's and Trixie for the Ladies!

 

They deal in lead friend,

Kat xo

 

January – Procrastination

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Procrastination – noun – the action of delaying or postponing something (and I liked this bit of the definition) your first tip is to avoid procrastination.

Now we all know that is sometimes easier said than done! I can find many ways to my delaying doing something that I should be doing. Sometimes it’s just not ‘to get out of’ doing it, it’s because I just need to wrap my head around the project a little longer.

So, I decided I would attempt the Historical Sew Monthly 2016 challenges, thinking it could help me stay focused on getting projects done while not in my ‘natural’ environment so to speak. Wink, wink. 😉

I did find this one a little hard as I really don’t have any here with me. There is fabric still in Oklahoma that I could pass off as procrastinating on.

So for this portion I managed to complete 4 corsets that really needed to be done as some needed to be sent to the US.

 

I also had in the list a version of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman dress for a Texas friend, Skedaddle. Now although I could say it is period, I would prefer to say silver screen inspired.

 

Needless to say it’s done and waiting on button pieces to arrive from the US so I can make the 45 covered buttons that will complete this dress. If you are looking for an awesome alternative to paying for a covered button service and still want metal shanks, I can highly recommend Button Biz

……..many days later, yes been busy with Jack trying to sort him out, cutting out, sewing and helping a friend get back on track with sewing. Procrastination at its finest.

Cheers

Kat xo