and trying my hardest to deal with the horror of Hurricane Katrina. I have found the images and stories I’ve been hearing so disturbing that I’ve had to struggle to clear my head and try to lose myself in my work. That’s why I haven’t posted.

The brides and grooms are almost done. I just have to fix some mistakes, do some finishing work and add some color with details (brides).

I really like how the guys look- I guess it’s true that all men look good in a suit!

some of the fabrics I’m using for the brides-

The pintucks at the bottom of the pantaloons are from an antique shirt (bodice) front. I only had one side of a front of the bodice- makes you wonder! The lace is added seperately.

The over-dresses are made of lace pieces- this one was the bottom of a petticoat, I think-

This one is pieced together from some fancy cuffs- I also have a collar that matches, but I didn’t need that much-

and this last bit was something out of an old friends dsess-up trunk. I have no idea what it was originally-

One more atc- from Hil at Spirits Dancing in Australia. Isn’t it wonderful- It’s a computer bug!

This is my desk today-

It is piled with reference books, dolls, fabric and lace. The brides are coming along. The challenge with them is to make myself use some of the beautiful antique and vintage textiles and lace I collect- after all, this is what I am suppose to be collecting it for! The 3 ladies have their pantaloons, petticoats and their underdresses. I am now working on the over-dresses of lace.

The groom costuming is also moving along. I found (on my bookshelf) this book by Susan Sirkis. It has historical fashion drawings and patterns for dolls. I was able to modify one of her frock coat patterns to fit my groom- so helpful to have a starting place. I found the sewing instuctions hard to follow though and gave up trying to follow them.

Here is a fantastic and fun site– it is the Chomick and Meder Cafe Press Shop.