The Grand Elegance of the Nevada Governor's Ball at Virginia City, Or, Holy Shit I stepped on the back of my hoopskirt

I have been sewing a lot lately. Until wee hours of the night/morning. I have been procrastinating. I have been hoarding lace, ruffles and satin. I have been spending more time with my Brother sewing machine than with my husband. 

All of this effort culminated in last night's Nevada Governor's Ball. The Governor's Ball celebrates Nevada Day, the birthday of our great Silver State and it's journey into statehood, on October 31st, 1864. Hence the Victorian/Civil War Period Clothing. Western Formal attire is also included, because, really what would Nevada be without a good pair of cowboy boots?

There was quite a turn out. Ball gowns, hoop skirts, top hats. Silks, satins, taffeta and crinoline.

Quadrilles, waltzes, a grand march,  and lots of dancing.

Andrew and I had a blast. It was just about the most fun I've had in a good while.

 Even though I stepped on my hoop doing the Virginia Reel, and lost the bottom half of my gown temporarily. Wardrobe malfunction. After acquiring some safety pins, I was up and reeling(?) again. 

Note to self: bring emergency kit into ball, do not leave at Cobb Mansion.

To top it off, we went with a great group of Reno friends, some who ad attended before, and some who were new to the Ball just like we were. 

Francis and Zo

Tony and Nicci, and Mr. Mark Twain

 I can't wait for Next Year.

A very long night

It ain't curtains. Yet....

I promised pictures. So, here they are.
If I have the time before the Governor's Ball, I might resew the pleats along the top of the waist.

Now, just a bodice, and a camisole left. Fwew!

16 yards of satin later

 

Home Sweet Home

It all started when I went to a quilting party at a friend's house a few years ago. 

So, Kelly, thanks for my newest obsession. 

My sewing machine had traveled from apartment to house and didn't do well in the trip.  The needle was broken and it was desperate to be cleaned.  I replaced the needle, and cleaned the machine of dust and bits of thread. I even oiled it

I didn't get much sewing done that day, but it started me solidly down the path of figuring out how the damn thing worked, and of using it enough to make figuring it out really worth my while.

Quilting seemed like a good, solid place to start. I greatly enjoy geometry, pattern and color. I really hate measuring, using a ruler and making straight lines. 

You can probably see my conflict rising.  

For those of you who haven't quilted, it's kind of like baking. 

Measure, mix, measure, mix, and if you got it all right, bake, and then you have something delicious. Quilting is, measure, cut, sew, measure cut sew sew sew sew, ta-da!  I am by nature very patient with kids, animals, kids with animals, kids who act like animals..... not with adults, and definitely not with machines or processes that involve measuring. Measure twice cut once? How about observe, estimate and try not to cut yourself? That's why I only cut mattes once n my entire college career: The night before my senior show. And it took me 6 hours... and a lot of swearing. (no blood though, thankfully)

After a while I got into the whole process, as always happens to me. Process is the greatest of my loves in art.  The method, is the entire purpose of the madness for me. I made quilts, pajamas, blankets, stuffed elephants and more quilts. I planned even more, my bins of fabric are proof. 

Then I decided clothing and costumes would be fun. I started small, with a medieval wedding gown, in black tapestry styled paisley brocade, lined in magenta and silver metallic fabric.You know, something EASY.  I make a french hood with horns to go with it, and I was my favorite Disney villain of all time, Maleficent. It turned out alright. Since then, I have continued this obscene obsession with biting off more than I can possibly chew. Now I am making an 1860's period ball gown and under pinnings. 

What follows is a tour of my sewing space, and my current project status. 

Primarily because Steph Laberis told me to post it. 

So, here Steph, this is for you.

Check out my tractor chair. Got it at Target! Love it! My sewing desk I bought for $10 on craigslist. It's a piece of crap, but I repainted it and pulled the drawers out to put one of my sewing cabinets in it.

These are my hoopskirts. They are 135". I did not make them. Hahaha.

I did make this. These are the bottom of my drawers that go under the hoops.

The first quilt piece I made, and Wall-e. 

(My dad gave me that backpack when Wall-e came out, and I take it with me when ever we move)

My beautiful sewing machine, a Brother machine, with quilting bits. She is perfect.

The sculpture of Mr. Turtle that I made 7 years ago. He needs some gluing, but watches while I sew.

I have the skirt of the ball gown about 70% finished at this point, and I will post pictures of it on Saturday when I start the bodice.

The Squash that Took over the World.

So, in my previous post, I mentioned that I had a crazy squash plant. Huge, monstrous, taking over whole garden growing in three separate cardinal directions, squash plant.
 Specifically, this plant is:
Cucurbita Maxima

It looked like this when I bought it, man that guys who sold it to me was weird. 

"Hey, wouldja mind taking a picture of me kissing this plant before you take it? I'm a little attached... emotionally."

Also known by its common name, the Hubbard Squash. It is a winter squash that I picked up at some point early this spring. I didn't choose it because of it's taste, or because I had a burning desire to see my three plot square foot garden overrun by a monster, but for a very, simple, reason.
It's called a Hubbard squash, and I was homesick.
Ker-what? You ask.  You see, my dad's side of the family, well part of it, was Hubbards. And because I know it was the Bixby part of the family that grew the fabulous, so I have heard, Bixby Melons, I thought that, in a round about way, maybe their adopted daughter would stretch her green thumbs and do her family heritage right. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Well. Did I ever.
Holy hand grenade. This is my garden squash plant.

This is the one Squash currently growing on it.

 There were two other, smaller squashes, but I think this monster devoured their souls. You did know that squash go to heaven, didn't you?(but that's another topic for another day)

Monster, alien, soul devouring squash.

Man, I can't wait to pick it and chop it up and roast it in my oven.

The Fruition. Or The time that I realized I grew stuff I could eat and it wasn't dead by accident.

 This is the first year since living in Nevada that I have been able to have a successful whole garden. I've used containers. I've planted in the ground, buckets, a really cool self watering garden. But they all kind of ended up a lot of work, but with no real end result that was in anyway satisfying unless I was a triage doctor in search of good one liners to use before sending a patient to the morgue.

In other words. They were usually dead by the end of July. Very dead. Desiccated, and very dead. Dust in the wind dead. And blown away by the wind dead. Get the picture? Kind of like this...

 

Yep. That's my garden in Fernley, 6 years ago. It was a little breezy that year.

Thankfully, this year I was able to actually grow things. Green things. And even to the point of eating some parts of these green things. HA-HA HA-HA. I built three 3x3 square garden boxes out of redwood, each 8 inches deep, lined with weed blocker, and then filled with Mel's Mix, which I mixed myself. The stuff labeled "Square Foot Garden Soil" was more expensive that making it myself, although would be a good time saver for someone making a smaller garden.

I bought most of my plants at the UNR Master Gardening Plant Sale in May, and they have done the best out of all my plants, excepting the Hubbard Squash, which you will see in a minute. That sale is the BEST garden plant find in the Reno area. I highly recommend getting in line that weekend morning. But please do so after I and my friends get there.

So, here are some pictures of my garden, currently. I have a giant sunflower that is about 8 feet tall with no flower yet, as well, and a giant bush of mint. Pictures of those will follow, next time.

 

Verbena.

Apparently my neighbors had Nasturtiums last year, because they grew up all over the edge of my boxes. And my tortoise, Fergus is pleased by this. (He eats them)

 My tomatoes are even starting to ripen! How exciting is that? I have green tomatoes, and stripey tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes, and salad tomatoes.. and...Now if only I kept the little popsicle stick with each of the plants to tell me which were which..... I guess, I just expected them to all die, regardless.

 I had to plant my favorite flowers, too. Gerbera Daisies. Got lots of flowers on this one little plant, each of those bare stems are from earlier this season.

 More flowers.

 This is a Cayenne Pepper plant. For once, there are more that one pepper, and the plant has FLOWERS for more. How crazy is that?

Ok, this is the Hubbard squash that has taken over 2 separate garden boxes, and ran over my yellow onions. I'll try to get the whole plant in a picture this weekend to show you how big it actually is.

 

  And, lastly, my basil.

I can't wait to see what the tomatoes look like when they're ripe. Nom Nom.