Victorian Dust Ruffle Bustle Skirt

So what happens when your parents move out of the house they've lived for 30 years?  Turns out, they give you a lot of random stuff!  Some of this stuff can be useful for costuming... if you're resourceful.  Take this old dust ruffle, for example:

Ignore the rulers (for now)

It has a beautifully pleated ruffle around three sides, which means I *have* to use it for something... right?  Something ruffly, something fun, something a little bit ostentatious - I got it!  How about a Victorian bustle skirt with a train?

Perfect.  This will take hardly any work at all.  :)

...And Again

So it might seem like I have blog title ADD, but this time I'm going to stick with it!  I've also started a new Facebook page, and the Etsy store is still in the works.

New Look and New Name!

I've decided to rename my blog to something a little more sophisticated than "Chelsea's Costume Blog." And I've updated the look to go along with it!  I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion.  "Gierelian" is an Old English word meaning "to clothe."  This name change is taking place to correspond with the opening of my new Etsy store, which is coming soon!  Watch for some vintage items that I'll be listing along with miscellaneous fabrics and other sewing/crafting supplies.

A small sampling to whet your appetite  

American Duchess Shoe Giveaway

If you haven't already seen the new 23Skidoo shoes over at American Duchess, now is a great time to check them out!  They're up for pre-order, and a giveaway!

These also come in all white, so you can paint your own color(s)!

You can find instructions for entering the drawing on the American Duchess blog.  Enter today!  I have two pairs of American Duchess shoes, myself.  They are very high quality and extremely comfortable. And their customer service is fantastic!

Update on my Curtain-Along Cloak

So far I have been unable to find a suitable lining for my Lowe's curtain cloak, so I'm still at somewhat of a standstill on that project.  I had hoped to use this brick red wool gabardine:

It matches the red flowers in the curtain fabric perfectly!

It's the right color and the right fiber content - 100% wool - but upon further research I discovered that gabardine as a weave was not invented until 1879, which puts it 100 years too late for my 18th Century cloak.  Boo.  It had two out of the three!

Oh well.  My 2 yds of 60" wide gabardine is now for sale, along with several more fabrics from my stash:

Some of these are free!

I'm sure I'll be adding more fabrics and trims to my For Sale tab in the near future, so keep checking back for more treasures!  Unless noted, there is nothing wrong with these fabrics - I just want them out of my apartment.  :)