Small costuming update

My sister gave me this awesome brass ball pocketwatch which will become part of the outfit.  The lid is empty, so I may come up with something awesome to put in there.  :D

My ties came in the mail the other day, and I like them a lot more than I thought I would!  I'm excited to figure out how I'm going to end up using them.  Decisions, decisions!

I also found leather wings at the Steampunk Artisans Promenade yesterday - It's down to those, or a pair of white doll wings my sister spotted at JoAnns the other day.  I'll paint both of them, and once the hat arrives, I'll figure out which one looks better.

Just now I went through my stash to find some fabric for the bustle, and wouldn't you know....I can't find fabric that I'm totally in love with.  I found a few options that will work in a pinch, but since we sold some fairies over the weekend, I might take that money and see if I can find the fabric on sale.

To Be Continued........

Steampunk(ish*) Genderswapped Cosplay

“What kind of man would put a known criminal in charge of a
major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter.” 
― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

Despite the slightly disturbing title, I am pretty excited about this project!  There are a few events coming up this year that would call for a victorian/steampunk outfit, so this may fit the bill.  (Also - my intense desire for yet another bustle.....!)

To bring it all up to speed, I'm planning on doing a femme version of Moist von Lipwig - specifically, the 2010 British TV version (It's fantastic - watch it ASAP!) post-dastardly con man Spangler; pre-suit of gold Post Master.  To that end, I've been shopping!

The exact design of the jacket/vest/skirt is still on the 'to be determined' side, but to give me a head start, I ended up purchasing a selection of Truly Victorian patterns to hack and slash and smoosh together to (hopefully) come up with something that'll work: (.....and has nothing to do with the fact that these have been on my wish list forevs...!)

TV163 1887 Imperial Tournure
TV403 1872 Vested Bodice
TV290 1889 Draped Skirt
TV428 1880 Jacket Bodice
TV560 1880s Late Bustle Coat
TV464 1883 Riding Habit Bodice




As far as the hat goes, I've been torn between taking a pre-made hat and gold-ing it up, or making one from scratch.  I've been perusing victorian-era hats on teh interwebs, and haven't found an appropriately feminine version that I like yet, so I may just go with it!  I'm particularly concerned with the hat, as it is most likely going to be the one defining characteristic between "eccentric female explorer/victoran catlady" and actual cosplay.

I ended up purchasing a plain black cap from Costumes International - if it doesn't work out, I'm only out about $20.  I'm probably going to be making the medal out of Sculpey or something similar.  I'm still trying to find a close-up of the front of the cap from the movie, or 'official' badge, so I can get a better idea of what the badge actually  looks like, but so far, no dice.

'Going Postal' movie poster art

'Official' City Watch badge

Badges of the GPO

'Official' Post Office Regulation Key fob

If I do end up making something up, I'll be using this collection of real Royal Mail badges, the 'official' badge of the Watch, the 'Going Postal' poster art, and the 'Regulation Post Office' key fob (which I may need to complete my outfit anyway...) as a starting place...

For the wings, an extremely important part of the whole ensemble, I'm going to try to find at a craft store for a (not necessarily a real) wing set, but something that looks like wings. If not, there are plenty of more options of the real/taxidermy variety (albeit most likely more expensive!) on etsy - so all is not lost, I think.

I've been on a mad hunt for the perfect fabric or tie for the neckerchief for quite a while, but have come up empty.  The closest I've been able to find (at an affordable price, that is!) is this one:

...the underdog can always find somewhere
soft to bite.
― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

An ebay find - from 'Goodmaker'

I wish the dots were bigger and /or paisley, instead of dotted, but alas and alack, it is not to be.  I'm getting 2 ties to franken-tie into the final neckerchief. Not too bad for under $20!

Strangely enough (or not, since I cannot throw out old clothes to save my life), I already have a bright-ish yellow shirt that may fit the bill, as long as it doesn't clash terribly with the yellow of the tie.  (I'll find out once the ties arrive)  If it doesn't work, I am unsure of whether I'd go looking for a pre-made shirt, or if I'd actually go through the trouble to make one.  (I'm thinking.....not)

Shirt: Some sort of button-up yellow shirt from the depth of my closet
Waistcoat: Red brocade with a slight diamond pattern and chenille warp
Jacket collar:  Purple velvet from the depth of my stash
Jacket body:  Brown wool with slight pattern & flecks of red and purple
Skirt/Pants:  Lightly striped brown linen
(I'm not quite sure on this one! If I find a different fabric I like better,
I have another project in mind that will be perfect for it, so I don't feel bad having it in the stash!)

Now, to actually start working on things!  I have the patterns and the fabric, now I just need to figure out some solid designs and find the time to start working on it!**

And, finally, for your viewing pleasure.......(I dare you to watch this and not smile, at least a little bit!)

*The exact nature of the 'Steampunk' element is yet TBD.  It will be something clever and fabulous.  I hope.
**This post brought to you by being stuck on the couch working all Saturday long.  Win?  (At least I'm almost done - I may have Sunday free and clear!  Too bad there are a million other things I ought to be doing before digging in to a personal costuming project.......

Pinterest and the New Project

I have seriously found my favorite use for Pinterest!  (my least favorite* being the addictive, hoarders-esque gathering of all the 'beautiful people' blogs and all their darn talent that I'll never be able to match!)

In the past, I've made excel spreadsheets, made folders of links, printed out lists, made electronic and physical inspiration boards, kept mental checklists, and any and all of the combinations of the above to make an 'inspiration board' for current and future projects, but Pinterest just blows everything out of the water.  (I wish reorganizing the location of things were easier, but alas, some bad with the good!)

Visual references, direct links to the products I'm looking at buying - pretty much all 'round awesome.  (It also doesn't hurt that I can bring up Pinterest on my phone while out fabric shopping to do some easy reference work!)

Anyway, all this to say, I'm thinking about starting a new (non-SCA, not-period-at-all) cosplay/steampunk-ish outfit.  I'm kind of excited!  But first, before I continue - have you seen Going Postal?  You haven't?!  I'll wait.  (It can be found on Netflix.  If you don't have Netflix, it's worth a one month subscription just to see that one movie!)

Ok, back?  It was AWESOME, right?

As much as I love 'Ms. Cripslock' and her fabulous hat and awesomely ridiculous puffy-sleeved patent-something purple dress, I am obsessed with doing a femme Moist von Lipwig.  Specifically the post-dastardly con man Spangler; pre-suit of gold Post Master.

I'm pretty sure I've seen other blogs have a pretty little link (with pics) to specific boards, but I'm having a hard time figuring it out at the moment.......Anyway, here's the board I'm using for Lipwig.  With any luck, I'll actually get some traction on this project, and have updates soon!




*Least favorite in the manner that too much of any one good thing is!

Dickens Ponderings - Continued....with pics*

Met: Gown 1840-45

Out of all the gowns, this one most closely resembles a dress I already have.  What can I say?  I love the checks, and gathers at the waist, and the nice, boufty, comfy sleeves!  Nice and simple, not too stuffy!  I might have some appropriate fabric in my stash, but would certainly need to check and make sure!  The good thing is, that if I decide nothing in the stash would work, it shouldn't take too much out of the budget to procure suitable fabric.

Met: Gown 1840

Oh. My. Goodness.  I L-O-V-E this dress.  Everything about it.  The jewel-tone color!  The sheen of the satin!  The cross front!  The sleeves!  The only satin I have in my stash is cream-colored, and I would certainly want to do this dress out of a nice, heavy satin.  No other fabric would do it justice, right??  (That right there may strike it from the list of possibilities!

Met: Gown 1841-45

A simple fan-front may fit the bill - although I'd certainly need to jazz it up with accessories.  I have some fabric that I could probably use from the stash for a similar gown.  (I think I've seen fan fronts in a plaid/stripe before too....that honestly would be my first choice, I think!)

Met: Gown 1841-43

This one is also kind of fan-front-ish, but mostly put it on the list because I adore the lace collar, and the muted plaid!

Met: Gown 1850

And last, but certainly not least, a dress from further out of period than I probably ought to do, but, oh how I do want pagoda sleeves!  Delicious, swoopy, awesome pagoda sleeves......nom!

*Clicking on the caption will redirect you to the source image on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website

Costume Ponderings RE: Dickens

I just found out the other day that my sis and I got into Dickens this year - and what am I to do?!  I don't have anything appropriate (that will fit)!  Without resorting to a crash diet, the options are:

1. See if I can alter either the Cranford or Tea & Skate dress to fit (Boo!)
2. Make a whole new dress (Hurrah!)

While I've *cough* outgrew the dresses, I think it would be a relatively simple thing to alter the underthings to fit properly.  I'm pretty sure that it's not as scary as it sounds to make a whole new dress.

The other hurdle (at least for me!) is that there are absolutely no guidelines on time period, at all.  And I very much care.  (The rules appear so far to be "no tennis shoes, no jeans, and skirts for women.....broad strokes much?)

In the handout for vendors, there is a page of 'hat ideas' - and each and every illustration is NOT from even a remotely Victorian time period.  (Seriously.  There is a 16th c ish man and woman, a couple of 18th c ladies, and a .....I don't know what the other one is supposed to be, but it looks early 'teens to me!)

As soon as the Wonderland costumes are taken care of, I think it's time to tackle the Great Dickens Beast!

Alice in Wonderland Tea - Melia's Dress

Sis and I started in on her Tea gown in earnest last night, and got amazingly far!  The plans (as they are wont to do) got bigger the more we looked at stash options (we're both still very much on a from the stash kick!), the more ideas came together to make a whole new outfit.....mostly because I happen to have this red silk, and an awesome patterned and textured red and black organza fabric that has been waiting patiently for the perfect project......

Can you guess who she is going to be??  :D

Doing a whole new outfit is less scary than it sounds, as we've already figured out the patterns that we're using, have already gone through all the fitting hullaballoo, and all the underthings are done and ready for wear.  Last night we got as far as cutting out nearly all of the bodice, and the entire skirt is sewn together (it just needs waistband and hem!)

Some thoughts RE: Body & Costuming

1) Sewing can be physically demanding - bending, sitting, then standing repeatedly, folding, crouching....I had forgotten how hard it can sometimes be. (Especially after a year-long sabbatical -- I am positively aching right now.  But that also could be due to the fact that my body has decided that I have ridden the 20's train for far too long, and it is high time for me to start to feel my age.)

2) I almost always feel better about my body when I am in garb/costume - it makes a world of difference wearing things that are tailored.  This is a lesson I ought to bring into my every day wardrobe, but thus far, have been too afraid to do.

3) Conversely, most of my body issues are wrapped up in costuming, rather than every-day clothing.  Yeah, I hate my arms, but with my daily standbys of stretchy cotton wraps and cardigans and hoodies, who cares?  Fitted, non-stretch silk sleeves.....another matter altogether.  Flabby tummy and fitted cotehardie?  Only  when desperately cold/muddy/lazy.

4)Yet all the while, most of my (sporadic) weight loss*  has been at least indirectly related to wanting to look better in costume or being thin enough to be able to 'pull off' a particular thing without looking hideous and/or laughable.

*and eventual re-gain, plus more

Oh my gaws this dress is Faaaaabulous!

Dress, ca 1867, Kent State
I now know what I am going to do with that million yards of black lace!  (But now to find striped silk satin.... Woe is me!)

Totally Creepy, or Cute as a Button??

aaaaand, I made a .gif!

How do i make a gif

Another Post of Many Things

-Bethaval and CeeCee are heading over in a little while to come and play in my sewing room….I’m so excited!
-Holly may be able to come down and visit for a few days next week; there are so many things that we’ve been talking about doing, we seriously need to write up a list and prioritize our various projects!
-Because I had to skip Costume College this year (BOO!), I'm going to re-think my costume calendar for the rest of the year. I’m hoping to be able to make it out to Dickens Fair this year. It’s been on my ‘wish list’ for a long time, so I think this year may be the year! I have a couple of gowns in my closet that would work, but really, any excuse for a new dress, right?

From Augusta Auctions - it appears the original image is no longer available online.

Also from Augusta Auctions (I believe!) - also no longer available online.

Women's Day Dress 1867
The Bowes Museum

A third gown from  Augusta Auctions (I think) which appears to no longer be available online. 

-I’ve more or less decided on doing a ‘fancy’ brocade gown for the ACC; now I just need to settle on a fabric and exact design details. More details to follow.
-I really want to make sure that another costumed tea happens before the end of the year, more on this to follow as well!

Sleeves update

So the sleeves are constructed.....just need to do button, lace cuff and figure out how the aitch-ee-doublehockeysticks to attach them!
My mom and dad spent the afternoon yesterday making yards and yards of velvet tubes (for which I am forever grateful!), now I just need to sort through the actual attaching! Hopefully with some sleep I can come up with something!
I had someone drop out on a piece of clothing earlier today, so I'm hoping I can finish the sleeves and the last minute chemise tomorrow, leaving me 2 days to do laundry, pack, and do any last minute stuff.......wish me luck!

In Which I Tell What I’m Gonna Post About Later:

1) American Duchess “Georgiana” shoes - After having them in my possession for almost a full week, I finally pulled them out and tried 'em on. I'll talk in detail about them later. (Probably)
2) Plan A B C D for Barons War Dress. Yes. I have found a solution to partlet woes, sleeve worries, and veil angst. Tis a cunning plan. (I’m going to pretend I meant to go this direction the whole time, no really.)
3) Awesomeness that I received today yesterday for Barons War
4) Ancient Greek "chopines". Awesome, right? Right.

Uh….if I told you aliens abducted me, so that’s why I haven’t posted, would you believe me?

What?  No?
Oh.
Um…..well, life has been capital C     C-R-A-Z-Y.
And then there’s getting ready for Barons War.  Which is only a few short weeks away.  Yikes!  Good news is, there is more or less only the whites for hubby and I to go (plus some other nit-picky things as far as the clothes go….I’ll get into one of those things in just a few paragraphs.)
But I should update on what I’ve been sewing on!  Although there has been silence on my end, and my steam is certainly running out, I’ve still managed to be somewhat productive.
Here’s me with tiredface and wild hair.  But look at my hair – not really the hair, but the pearls and bows!  Since all of my hairpieces match my old hair color, I also need to make more braids; I have two different shades waiting for me to test out and make up some hair pieces.  (The ribbons are gold….kind of hard to see in this shot, but are trying to mimic the pink ribbons in the portrait below….)



I didn’t have enough gold findings to do pearl-and-gold as I was originally thinking of, but I think plain pearl suits me better anyway.  I’m really mostly a plain-jane kinda gal.  Here’s one of the portraits that has the hair action I’m kinda going for:

Portrait of Isotta Bermbati Grumelli 1550-1555
Giovan Battista Moroni

Here’s one later than my target date, but is plain pearl, sans bows:

Portrait of Isabella de Medici - ???
(via Aneafiles)

And here’s the ‘big’ update……the Turkish coat is nearly done!  (I’ll explain the ‘nearly’ part in a minute…..)

Portrait of a Lady 1555
Titan

Over all, I’m pretty happy with it!*  It’s a bit shorter than I had originally planned, but what with limited fabric and somewhat wonky hem action, there wasn’t much I could do about it.
What is really bugging me, however, is the skipped space in the trim.  Of course it didn’t happen, yanno, on the hem in the back or something.  No.  Right.  Smack.  In.  The. Front.  See it?



Of course I didn’t notice it until all the trim was sewn on and I put it on for the first time and looked in the mirror.  I saw it and about had a breakdown. 
Anyway, so my options thus far are as follows:

• defensively walk around with my hand firmly placed like the portrait and cover up the mistake.  (Not too practical, I admit)
• try and forget about it, (Yeah.  Right.) and tell myself that no one will notice.  (See above)
• Re-do the trim from that spot down.  (Time consuming and especially difficult as it’s sewn down now.)
• Use that empty space for buttons.  (Most likely scenario)

I was going to put massive pearl buttons on the  edge like on the portrait, but because now of my epic fail, I may cut off the crystal spacers for 8” or so and pretend that I meant to put the buttons on the trim instead of next to it.  This seems like the least time-intensive option, though not perfect.  My ARness wants me to rip the trim off completely and re-do it all, but that is just not gonna happen.
Below is a detail of the trim on the portrait…..see how the buttons are on the edge of the trim?

Detail of:
Portrait of a Lady 1555
Titan

So, opinions please:  Just how dorktacular would it be to move the ‘buttons’ over to the center of the trim to hide my boo-boo?  Like so:



Ok, enough angsting about that for a minute.  Here is a close-up of both the neckline and the sleeve:



ETA:  I should mention that the reason I’ve not listed re-spacing the beading as an option is because the trim has little spaces for each of the elements, so I’m not sure if I’d like putting the crystal in the ‘X’ of the undulation rather than in the center as the rest of them are.  Dunno.  Does that change anyone’s opinion?  (Um, yeah, it is much more obvious IRL than it is in this crappy pic.)



Also of note, whether I end up using the partlet I’m not-quite-in-love-with-for-this-outfit is done, thanks is large part to my momma and Elizabeth!  I do like this partlet, but maybe just not for this dress.  I’m still undecided!



Also of note, I picked up the blackwork for my camacia (potentially new/4th partlet) from the ever-fabulous Jaquelinne this past weekend.  It is smashingly awesome.  Seriously, you have no idea!  My goal is to get that piece into a finished garment by the end of the week!
I also dropped off linen with my Apprentice sister at fighter practice yesterday and she posted last night about her blackwork progress for my hubby’s shirt.  Holy cow can that woman embroider!!!



*It’s short, the sleeves are much wider than I had intended (but look less crazy big when my arms are in there), the bust/waist are not as fitted, but hey, that means it’s more comfy? 

Little Girl Dreams

The purple silk gown I made for my niece a while ago still fits, but isn’t *new* any more.  I saw this little girl dress on “OMG that dress!” tumblr a little while back, and decided this needs to be the next ‘pincess dess’. 
As it is velvet, I’m going to hope that the current silk & embroidered net dress holds out through the warm season so I can whip this one up when it gets closer to winter and cooler temps.
Anyway, here it is!

Child's Dress 1870.  V&A Museum

Cute, no?!

Partlet(s)

I’m gonna be kind of full of woe for a minute here, so apologies in advance!……………….I’m feeling massively uninspired RE: Partlets. 
I’m nearly finished, but not so much in love with my first attempt:  (It’s nearly finished, so I’ll probably just finish it off and hide it somewhere in the back of my closet just so I have it if needed.  (One can never have too many partlets?)  The original plan was to put spangles all over the edges like in a bunch of portraits in Moda, but I chickened out before I got that far.


Which is meant to be kind of if these two had weird, fugly babies:

Portrait of a Florentine Lady 16thc
Allesandro Allori/Workshop of Alessandro Allori

Mother and Son 16thc
Sofonisba Anguissola

          















At any rate, I decided I didn’t like it (too many things wrong to detail here.), and was going to start again, only this time I was going to try a different style.  I think I stopped myself from committing too much time to this one before I realized I didn’t like it…..and I’m not liking it.
I’ve gotten as far as gathering up the entire yardage on gold cord before I hit the brakes.



It was meant to be somewhat like this one, only a bit more-different-other.

Giulia Varano, Duchess of Urbino 1545-47
Tiziano Vecellio (Titan)

I really need to sleep on it and see what I think in the morning, but my next attempt will probably be either a simple collared one:  (I’ve actually made the one on the right for Aine, so I know I can do it, as long as I get out of this weird funk)

Portrait of a Lady 1550s
Jacopo Robusti (Tintoretto)

Portrait of a Woman 16th
Unknown?

    















Or a gathered-neck style:  (Only probably less crazy than this one, I just like the black spangles!)

I’m taking a break tomorrow to go to my baby brothers wedding reception, so I’ll have plenty of time to take a break from sewing for a minute or two, recuperate, and ponder my next move!