Valenzuela Designs

3 sketches under the cut -- one casual outfit, one shirt, and one 18th century ballgown.

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I’ve been doing a lot of sewing these past few months. Unfortunately, I can’t quite show you pictures for all of what I’ve done yet, but as soon as I can (and get some), I will. Most of my time has been dedicated to Comedy Central’s The Legend of Neil, which has been a very intriguing and rewarding learning experience. It also means y’all don’t get pictures until after the show comes out, which won’t be until July. I worked with Jenny Green as Assistant Designer for the show… made a ton of costumes, and had lots of fun.

The other big project I was working on were a few costumes for going to Colonial Williamsburg. Those were done in secret, as most of my friends didn’t know I was going. So, I now can actually get around to taking pictures of them and posting them for all y’all to see. I’ll get my day dress post finished this evening. I just need to take a break from it as I was busy listing it on eBay.

That said, I want to spend some time doing something just for me. Something quick and dirty that doesn’t take talent or time. I realized I have this old pair of jeans that no longer fit and the thought struck me. I’ll make stuff out of them!

So, I shall be making myself some type of jean corset-style shirt, and a jean mini-skirt. If there’s still jean leftover, we’ll see what happens. But, for now, that’s what I’ve got planned.

Now, I should probably go check my mail and stop surfing threadbangers.com…

Inspired by gowns from the mid-18th century Colonial period, I made this ballgown loosely based off of Simplicity 3723 View D.

( Pictures and description below cut. )
I used the Simplicity pattern merely for fitting the sleeves into the bodice and the basic creation of the bodice. I made the stomacher separately from the bodice and closed the back where the pattern placed a zipper. I did not follow the pattern for a sleeve ruffle and instead simply made my own. I pleated the skirt by hand into the bodice and only brought it as far forward as the edge of the bodice came. For the gown fabric I used a cream cotton brocade I found at JoAnn's.


I made the overskirt out of two panels of fabric, sewn together in the center back by a seam. The underskirt is made out of a dark purple polished cotton in a floral pattern. I hand-pleated the underskirt to bias-tape, leaving about a 7-8" slit on either side for pocket accessiblity. This gown was not designed to be worn over hoops, but was worn over several petticoats in these pictures.


I hand-stitched the ruching for the sleeve trim out of the same brocade as the rest of the overgown. I used a lighter purple satin ribbon to create the rosettes and sewed those into the middle of the trim above the sleeve ruffle opening. For the stomacher, I took strips of brocade and machine-stitched a hem using a decorative stitch in a dark purple thread. I then pleated them and sewed them onto the stomacher by hand in a pattern similar to one I had seen on a gown in a museum. The stomacher is made to be pinned to the shift and then the gown pinned to the stomacher.

The gown and petticoat took me about a day to put together, and the hand-stitching and ruching took me about another day (yes, I was busy doing other things ;)). I really loved working with the brocade and would do so again in a heartbeat, although this time I would definitely make use of dyes to get some different colours. This gown was sold on eBay in the Summer of 2007.</div>

I thought I'd post to let y'all know my current up-coming costuming plans.

I am taking a draw-string skirt I had made, and pleating it onto a waist-band. I've found pleating looks so much nice, and can still be somewhat adjustable. This is a dark blue, sort of navy colour.

Using the JP Ryan jacket pattern, I will be making view B out of an almost cranberry red fabric. This will go with the navy skirt. :)

With a light blue, tiny floral print fabric, I will be making a regency gown based off of Jennie Chancey's patterns.

I just picked up a bunch of stuff yesterday from JoAnn's. :)

Firstly, patterns (go Simplicity $0.99!!):

9891 - It's a decent base for LotR, CoN, regular fantasy etc. until I can get the McCalls, etc.
3519 - Poet shirt based, very useful
3677 - I like the bodice in this, and I have some ideas for it
4059 - Doublet, very useful

I was gonna get the guy pirates one because I liked some of the stuff in it, but they only had it in XL sizes. :P Same with the LotR based pattern for women, though I think I prefer 9891 (and that's with never using the LotR one). There are some parts to the LotR one that I would like, however, so I might stop by again today to see if they have it.

Fabric:

Brown Linen - 3.5 yards
Black Linen - 2.75 yards
Red linen - 2 5/8 yards
Ivory stuff - 3 yards
Peacock blue/black satiny stuff - 4 yards

And, of course, thread to match everything.

Valenzuela Designs is run by me, Alessandra Valenzuela. I have been a self-employed costumer/seamstress since early March of 2001. My interest in costuming began with my first trip to Colonial Williamsburg and experiencing reenacting with a friend's borrowed costume. Since then I have expanded my horizons and created many different costumes as gifts and to sell, as well as for my own use. Now newly married, newly moved to Los Angeles, and finishing up my B.A. in Literature, I'm looking to expand my horizons in the costuming field and advertise my skills more readily. I am dedicated to providing my customers (and myself) with quality products, be they modern wear, original creations or costume reproductions.