Monday, July 30, 2012

Monday Progress Update: July 30

I spent most of last week on vacation in Montreal (yay!) so I didn't get much done.  Here's what I did get done:



 I've done some dye painting on my Lake Dress fan.  It needs much more work.



Flower Girl dresses have skirts now.  The chiffon ones are sitting on my sewing table being hemmed.



I experimented with making blue glitter lipstick with blue and glitter eyeliner.  Not comfortable but it works.  Later this week I need to do a whole makeup trial for the Lake Dress as well as work out a good 20's look.


While in Montreal I got to visit the "Star Wars: Identities" exhibit.  It was not so good for costumes, and horrible for girls who love sci-fi (we can't use Padme/Leia as any example of choice and identity instead of Anakin/Luke?), but I did get a few pictures of the costumes.  They're up on my Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/30894859@N00/sets/72157630825759474/http://www.flickr.com/photos/30894859@N00/sets/72157630825759474/

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Creative Chat Wednesday - Advice

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This Week's Topic:


What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone new to sewing?


 
I think the best thing I ever did was to make lots of mistakes.  If you're not afraid to start things you can finish some spectacular stuff, but if you're always afraid of making mistakes or doing things the wrong way you'll never start something.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Monday Progress Update: July 23

I got quite a lot done this week, I really put my nose to the grindstone for WorldCon stuff.


Here's the start to my Regency short corset.


 I pretty much made the Green Tea dress from drafting up to almost done:


The skirt.  All it needs is a hem, right now it's pinned in place.


The shirt/dress in front of my pile of stuff I'm working on and spare fabric.  I really need a better system for spare fabric.


The back of the shirt and the coat over it.   The left side has been hemmed and is finished, I still need to finish the front and right side and do the neckline and cuffs.


Front of the coat.


I got a lot of work done on the 50's dress too:


It now has sleeves and a skirt.  It needs to be hemmed on the peplum and the armholes, the neck needs binding, and the peplum lace needs to be adjusted.  Then the skirt needs to be hemmed after it's hung.



The Stripey Steampunk corset, which now has sleeves with ruffles.  The left side has been bound and needs hand finishing, the right side needs binding sewn on it.  Then it needs a modesty panel and grommets for lacing.


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Creative Chat Wednesday - Machines

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This Week's Topic:


How many Sewing Machines do you have and what's your favorite?


 
I have  two sewing machines and a serger.  My favorite is my Husqvarna machine.  It has almost everything I look for in a machine and does everything I ask of it from corsets to chiffon.  My least favorite has to be my serger, it's very cheap and I hope to replace it soon with one that will do what I want it to do (like hold thread tension).

Monday, July 16, 2012

WorldCon Preview

Mostly for my own reference, but here's what I've got in the plans for WorldCon:

Thursday: Green Tea Dress

To Do:
Mock
Cut
Sew Coat
Sew Skirt
Sew Shirt
Finish Coat
Finish Skirt
Finish Shirt










Thursday Night: Silver 20's Dress


To Do:
Style!



















Friday: Stripey Steampunk

 To Do:
Bind Corset
Grommet Corset
Lace Corset
Mock Sleeves
Cut Sleeves
Sew Sleeves
Attach Sleeves
Ruffle Sleeves
Finish Top









Friday Night: Stripey Pirate

 To Do:
Make Hat
Make Cravat
Make Skirt















Saturday: Regency



To Do:
Make Short Corset















Masquerade: Lake Dress


To Do:
Make Bodice
Mock Sleeves
Make Sleeves
Attach Sleeves
Trim Bodice
Trim Skirt
Trim Sleeves
Make Ruff
Make Crown
Fan
Skirt Closures
Style Wig
Documentation



Sunday: Sandry


To Do:
Finish Bodice Piping
Finish Tab Binding
Make Modesty Panel
Make Spats
Style Wig














Sunday Night: Fancy 50's Dress


To Do:
Sew Peplum
Attach Lining
Bind Neckline
Cut Sleeves
Sew Sleeves
Attach Peplum
Attach Sleeves
Hem Peplum
Cut Skirt
Sew Skirt
Attach Skirt
Zipper
Hook and Eye
Hem Skirt


 
Later Sunday Night: 20's dress


 To Do:
Raise Waistline


















Monday: Circus Ringmaster or Merida

To Do:
Nothing!
















 To Do:
Color Snap Tape
Fix Arms
Attach Dress Shields
Make Belt
Make Quiver
Buy Bow
Paint Bow
Decorate Quiver
Style Wig

Monday Progress Update: July 16

I got almost nothing done from my list last week, but it was still a pretty productive week.

What I did accomplish:


This is the mock-up of the wedding dress bodice for my future Sister-in-law.  I'm sending it out to Kansas today for a fitting.



I also made two adorable flower girl dress bodices.  I'm so lucky that the two girls are the same size, even if one is about 6" taller than the other :P


What I hope to accomplish this week:

  • skirts for flower girl dresses
  • bodice for lake dress
  • mock up sleeves for lake dress
  • mock up green tea dress 

I can't believe the wedding is getting so close!  I'm going on vacation next week, so really I only have two weeks left to finish the wedding stuff AND WorldCon stuff!  Ack!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Creative Chat Wednesday - Costume Movies

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This Week's Topic:


What are your top 10 costuming movies?


10. Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window






I know this wasn't originally a costume movie, but I find Grace Kelly so inspiring, and I love her Paris Original dress!


9. Vanity Fair





I don't know why I love this movie, because the source material is downright boring to me, but all the pretty clothes are so inspiring!


8. Shakespeare In Love





This is one of the first movies that really inspired me to start sewing (even if it was just a wedding veil).


7. Romeo + Juliet





This movie came out while I was in high school, and I still have a teenager's sappy glee for this movie!


6. The Duchess





The costumes in this movie inspired me to try out 18th century. I still go back to it when I need a historical kick in the pants.


5. Dangerous Beauty





I found this movie when I was in my renaissance phase, and I've always wanted to make some of the costumes! I love this movie for more than just hte pictures, though, I love the story of Veronica Franco and her strength and courage.


4. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves





This is one of the first historical dramas that I latched on to as a kid, and I've never fell out of love with it.


3. Star Wars Episode II





This movie pulled me into recreating movie costumes! My first non-renaissance costume was from it, and I haven't looked back since.


2. Labyrinth





A movie I grew up loving for its costume, the cute muppets, and the strong girl story.


1. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen





Ever since I found this movie in college I've loved it. It has some daring costume choices and so much imagination, it always inspires me to push my limits!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Monday Progress Update: July 9


I finished two more rows on the piping-of-doom bodice!  Only two more and the bottom to go!



Here's my big project for the week:  I made pocket hoops and a regency shift.  I need to make an 18th century shift, I'm going to use the same pattern and just make the sleeves longer.



Here's last week's stripey dress (a houseguest said it looked like candy so in my head it's now the candy dress) over the pocket hoops.


And the front over the pocket hoops.  I did reset the skirt so that the front ended at the sides where it should.


This week I hope to:
  • make an 18th ct. chemise
  • make a petticoat to go over my pocket hoops
  • at least start on the pink underskirt for the candy dress
  • make a mock up of the bodice of the wedding dress
  • get at least another row done on piping

Monday, July 2, 2012

Monday Progress Update: July 2

I got a few more of those blasted piping seam allowances sewn:


Only four more of them to go, then I can finish the waist!  The only thing I have left on this costume is to either buy boots or make spats to look like boots.


I did a bit of work on the Lake Dress, cutting the lining and interlining, but I didn't take pictures because it's a quite boring stage of work.


So boring, in fact, that I quit partway through to make a new dress.  I got this lovely stripey silk taffeta from puresilks.us that's been dying to be a Robe a l'Anglaise.  Unfortunately I had to work around this huge pen mark on the fabric:


At least I caught it before I cut anything so I could work around it, and I ordered an extra 2 yards in hope of making an Anglaise and a jacket out of the same fabric, so I had some stuff to play with (although I don't know if I can do the jacket now :(  ).  I used the JP Ryan pattern and mocked it up in cotton, but for the actual dress I cut the interlining in linen and flatlined it to the silk before sewing the dress.





I'm really proud of my pattern matching with the stripes!  Looking at it now I think I sewed the skirt on wrong (it shouldn't meet in the center) so I need to go back and re-set it.  I also have to finish all the inside seams and then turn and sew the edges and it needs sleeve ruffles cut and attached, but I haven't decided if those should be linen or silk yet.  Of course the skirt looks a bit wonky over my Lake Dress instead of pocket hoops, but I really didn't want to change the dummy for the pictures  : P