Itty bitty details of no consequence

I spent all yesterday making the underskirt lacing string because I am silly. I also worked for quite awhile on the waist band. This was also a ridiculously silly thing to do.

My backstitch has gotten better recently. It is much more regular and even, not to mention straighter, than it used to be. I taught a class on trapunto quilting at an SCA Collegium a couple of weeks ago and sewing up the demonstration samples and practicing so I could teach it really improved my sewing. So, I figured I should use the skill and sew the seams for the waistband by hand. Yeah, probably not my smartest move for time management. No one is ever going to notice as they are all hidden seams. Ah well, I guess I know.

I also decided to braid the lacing string for the skirt. I already had my marudai set up to do one of my favorite kumihimo braids and the colors just so happened to be red and gold with black They're my heraldry colors so that's not really a surprise, but they do match the dress nicely. It's one of the braids in Jacqui Carey's Beginning Braiding (which has been retitled in the new edition.) So, that's what I did with my day, I braided and backstitched, and suddenly the day was gone.

The braid came out nice, but I wasn't thinking about the fact that I needed it to fit my aiglets when I rejoiced over the fact that the braid was already set up. The braid came out quite a bit too thin for the hardware. I sewed it in and the ends aren't going anywhere, but its not a smooth transition between the braid and the aiglets. They're more like little baubles dangling on the ends. I should have put twice as much thread onto the bobbins. I guess its a good thing no one will be noticing the tie on my underskirt, because I'm not replacing it after spending hours making it. I feel like a total loser for deciding to braid it and then doing it wrong, when I could have just grabbed a piece of cording and accomplished the same thing in under 5 minutes. PPPHHHHPHPHT. Let it go and move on I guess. I still have 5 of the 6 eyelets on the waistband to sew and a day or so of cartridge pleating to do once I finish the seams on the skirt, because now that I handsewed the waist band, I felt duty bound to hand fell the skirt seams. Not to mention the hem that has to be sewn. I'm considering cording the bottom of the skirt as well, in addition to stiffening the hem with braid since I'd like to be able to use it for double duty under my Elizabethan loose gown.