When my Regency obsession and Goodwill bargains collide...

I'm supposed to be working on Christmas gifts. I have a 16x20 counted cross stitch that is only 1/4 of the way done.I have a lap blanket to crochet. I have felt dolls, stuffed purple elephants, tins of cookies, glass bead bracelets and historic accessory replicas to make. I have only 2 weeks left, and I only have limited hours in the day because I have a job and I have kids. And I have ADD. (When pastor said at Thanksgiving to be thankful for all the things we have, somehow I don't think this was quite what he meant.)

But I love to sew soooooooo much. And I love Regency costumes soooooooo much too! So when I was at Goodwill yesterday and found these curtains/drapes for less than $10/pair, I just couldn't say no...

I've made 2 Regency dresses so far. The first one I ever did was for Halloween, to wear to the GA Tech October dance. (For more about the Tech dances, click here.) The dress took 2 days to make- well, a day and a half, actually, since I cut it out on Tuesday and finished it on Wednesday. I'd say total construction time was around 10 hours max. Here are a few pics of it:

I haven't had time to do any professional photos of me in it. (If you've read this far, I really don't think I need to explain why...) But I'm hoping to do some in the new year and also in the spring.

The second attempt at it was much easier after making the first. I made this purple one for a dear friend of mine who shares my Regency/costuming addiction and regularly supports my habit by letting me borrow the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice, etc., etc. I also haven't been able to take any photos of her wearing it, but those will come later. Here it is on my dress form before I gave it to her:

The construction time for this one was roughly 5 hours.

I have to FORCE myself to work on Christmas gifts instead of cutting out a Regency gown pattern from the new fabric! It's an amazing motivator. Which puts me in a rather desperate and pitiful light, but- meh, I don't really care.

So there is your sneak peek at what's keeping me busy. And a caffiene sustained insomniac. ;)

Stay tuned- I'm not going to be able to resist sewing the new gowns and posting pics for very long!