Technical difficulties

I’ve been having problems lately with WordPress, ever since upgrading to 2.9.2.  It keeps rewriting my .htaccess file, turning it into garbage and bringing down the site.  I have inquired on the WordPress forums for help in fixing this, but be aware that the site may go down occasionally.  If it does, check back in a couple of hours – I’m checking my blog every so often, but of course I can’t check it continuously.

I’ve now completed three lining hem samples: two with horsehair in the hem – one slipstitched and one catchstitched – and one with a china silk edge finish, catchstitched at the top.  I like the third one best, so far, but I want to do one or two more lining samples so I can bring them to Sharon to compare.

I’ve also cut out the second lining.  This solves a problem we had earlier: the edge of the interior corset was showing through the dress!  By putting a second lining over it, we’ll smooth out the edge (I hope!) and make the corset invisible.  I’ve cut the second lining out of the same sandwashed silk charmeuse that the primary lining is made from, but because it will be going onto the corset and not the entire garment, I’ve cut it out only from the bust down.  We’ll probably sew it on at the waist, but I wanted a little extra in case we change our minds.

I’m getting nervous about time again.  The dress needs to be appraised before CNCH, and the appraiser (Melissa Leventon, former textiles curator of the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco) may need a couple of days to finish the appraisal.  So it seems likely that I’ll have to finish the dress by the first weekend in April.  Which means I have just about one month to finish the back lace, all the hems, the bottom hem of the coat, and put in the sleeve linings.  Etc.  (Lots of etc.)  It’s going to be tight, any way you cut it.  But I have a pretty good track record for these things, so we’ll just have to see what happens.