My face is puffy from my cold. Bah. But I like how the hat turned out.
Sep 032010
Sep 022010
I’ve been quite the past few days, I know. Reason for this is mostly Kumoricon — I am still working on my panels and costume, though both are significantly closer to being finished than they were a week ago. Another point against me: I caught myself a lovely cold. Blegh. Sincerely hoping that it’s gone by Saturday!
Almost done with outfits for kcon — I wasn’t able to pull off the Lulu outfit so it looks like I’m going to be in gothic lolita most of the weekend. Here’s an outline of my outfits:
The Grey Ensemble
- Grey Haunted Mansion skirt (needs to be hemmed)
- Grey cutsew (Not made by me)
- Black corset with grey buttons down the front
- Miniature tricorn (needs skull & feathers sewn down)
- Petticoats!
The Classic Ensemble
- Flower and striped corset-skirt (needs to be finished)
- Black petticoat (not made by me)
- Black cutsew top (Need to replace buttons – not made by me)
- Head bow of some sort with the stripe fabric
Supargawfic
- Dress
- Petticoat
- Throat tied sweater
- Muskrat Glower!
Aug 272010
Worked on my hat rehab panel today — got a fair bit done! Got at least halfway done, and I have a week left (Though I guess I should also mention that I have to do the Victorian panel, too. Eeeeek). Spent so much time with this bouncing around my head trying to figure out how to put it into panel form and it’s really nice to finally see results! After the con I will probably post a condensed version here and have it available for download.
Meeaannnwhile, one of the things I had to document was adding pleats to the inside brim of a hat. What does this mean? Well, I had to do it, of course, since I had to take pictures! I had attempted to dye a straw hat I had picked up black, which failed. Curious, I dunked a piece of silk cloth into the dye bath to see what would happen. Interestingly enough, it turned PINK! So I decided to use the pink silk on the inside of the not-so-dyed hat. So what we have so far is…
Image on the left shows the hat after I had originally shaped it, and the dyed silk (pretty accurate color representation here). On the right is where I had pinned down the pleats and snapped a picture. I’ve since sewn the outter edge of the pleats down and pinned the inside. I’ve decided that I’m going to cut off the back edge of the hat (Currently have it folded up) which I’ll be tackling tomorrow because I don’t want to stop in the middle of it.
And for now? Sleeeeeeeeep.
Aug 242010
Just finished the miniature top hat I had been working on since mid-July. It kept ending up as my back burner project but I finally was able to finish it and use part of the process for my Hat Refurb panel at Kumoricon. It’s a flat patterned buckram frame with wire at the inside and outside of the brim. Per usual, covered in fleece and then black silk dupioni. I wanted to give it a spooky vibe, so I made a fabric cameo of sorts out of the red/black silk, framed that in black pleats, then secured the muskrat skull inside of it. It’s also got a cream gathered lining on the inside, and elastic to secure it to the head.
I think my favorite part about the muskrat skull is how it looks like its glaring. I found this particularly charming with the red silk peeking out from the eye sockets, thus the name.
And now I shall work on my hat refurb slide show for kcon!
Aug 182010
Today has been wonderful. We dyed hats in the morning, I finished my felt cake, then we ventured off to Pacific Wool and Fiber where I promptly discovered my love for top whorl drop spindles, and picked up some delicious fiber to spin (80% Merino and 20% silk) in a lovely purple/red/grey color called Poppy Seed. Was delighted to find that I could spin in the car and have been enjoying watching my spinning advance and the colors that come from this fiber. Following that we got to hold a Cavy, pet a puppy, and admire tortoises. And last but not least on this day of excitement — we got to go roller skating! I had initially planned on watching and spinning but was lovingly harangued into finally going out which was faaaantastic. Walls are still my best friend, but I plan on advancing.
The day in pictures
I was about to bite her ear
Taking a break
My random projects of the day
And lastly, some very serious pondering
I’m going to go sing more Muse to myself now. G’night all!
Aug 132010
Got some unpleasant news today — my dad is in the hospital. They’re still trying to figure out what’s going on, but I’m worried sick and incredibly distraught since this is going on a state away and I’m not there.
In an effort to keep myself occupied, I decided to sew something small, since I was in no mind for a brain intensive project. As such, I bring you the Elder Sign Dice Bag.
It was initially supposed to be the Monster Cup for my copy of Arkham Horror, but I made it too small so I decided to put it up on Etsy as a dice bag.
Once things settle back down I have many things to tell you about, interwebs! I have a friend in town (though she’s currently on a brief escape up to Seattle to visit family) and we’re going on wonderful adventures and plotting to sew beautiful things.
More later.
Aug 062010
These last few days have been full of lots of productivity! I finally got my room into working order. I did the dishes. I did all my laundry. I finished cutting the fabric for the lolita corset skirt, and started basting that together. I studied (finals next week! eeek!) and did hours of homework. I also paid rent, called my grandparents, read most of a book (Strom Front by Butcher) did some student services research. And the best part of all — I played lots of board games (over the last two weeks)! That counts for something, right?
So — things I’ve been working on! Okay, mostly thing, since the Lulu outfit is on hold until I draft a bust to the corset pattern, and I’m still kind of mentally flailing over my panels. Right, the thing: my Lolita corset and skirt combo! It’s basically going to be a high waisted, corseted skirt with a slit back to show off my super fluffy underskirt. I’m going to make a matching tiny hat to pair it with, and use a cutsew I already have and pin a bow to it to make it all match.You can see my sketch, corset pattern and fabric of choice below –
That’s the same corset pattern that I pictured as a mock up on a previous post (though I did extend the bottom front to a point, rather than a notch). I snapped the following pictures while working today; mostly just progress pictures. I still have to baste most of the cotton to the coutil, and then I get to sew the corset itself together, then figure out how I want to construct the waistband on the skirt. I am considering a waist band that is on the inside, so it can appear as if the skirt is coming straight off of the corset and tacking the back edges of the skirt to the corset. . . Yeah, I think that will work.
One other, slightly unrelated thing: my tutorials have been a bit fewer than I would like, but once I get past Kumoricon and my finals I should be able to start up on tutorials again! If there is anything anyone would like to see, leave me a comment and I’ll see what I can do.
Alright ladies and gents, I’ve only got about 20 pages left in Storm Front and I’ve been trying to make time to read them all day and so, that time is now!
First of all — I’m working on my Victorian costume panel for Kumoricon. What fun! I don’t think I’ve ever had all my historical reference books spread out like this before. I’m currently working on the headwear and hair portion of it for each era (which I hope to at least have a complete rough draft of tonight). Next: The under pinnings! Once I present this at Kumoricon, I am hoping to post the presentation here. Anyway.
And most fun! Here’s a picture of the mini-tophat I started oh-so-long ago:
The skull was a test, and the band through the eye sockets was just to hold it in place
And with that, I’m going to go listen to The Smiths, eat cookies, and drink coffee. <3
Jul 262010
So this is completely unrelated to sewing but. . . I tried fire breathing this weekend! It’s something I have wanted to try for years, and I finally accomplished that goal! In fact, I found it so fun that I’m going to start practicing.
I also had an excellently nerdy weekend full of board games. So. Much. Fun.
This afternoon I should be back on track for sewing, so keep an eye out…
