The final stretch -Jane Porter WIP

by
No comments yet

With all these snow days here in CT, I was able to get a huge chunk of work done on my Jane Poter costume. Makes me wish I can quit my day job and just spend time in my studio.  A girl can dream. :)



And here it is. I'm so excited for this costume. This has been a great learning piece for me. With Anastasia it was the bare minimum with no lining or interfacing, all of my edges were unfinished ( I know all of you pro out there just shuddered). It was just a basic,yet huge, dress. With this costume I learned how to draft my own pattern, line the dress, and all of my edges are finished (yay). Not to mention I made my first bustle pillow. 

Now this bib thing was the bane of my existence for a week and a half. I drafted six different patterns to get one that would work right with the costume. At one point I thought I should make a paper mâché version of it. Boy that was one messy mistake. But practice does make a difference and the sixth version ended up being the perfect one. 


I had many ideas on how to make the bib close. I finally went with one that was more Victorian to go along with the costume. As you can see, I went with the classic buttons. 

All that is left for me to do are all of Jane's accessories. More on that later. ;)

See you on the other side of the snow!
Amanda 

No, I'm not dead

by
No comments yet


Welcome to 2015! Hope your new year is treating you well! Mine is going better now that everyone in my household is now over being sick. There was a point where all of us were down for the count starting at Christmas. Lots of orange juice was consumed to battle the virus. 


Now that I am all healthy, I started working on my Jane costume for Connecticon 2015. I will have to say that it is very nice to get back in my sewing room. 


I couldn't find any blouse pattern for the top of the costume. I truly searched and searched but could not find one. So it came down to me having to draft my first pattern. Yieks!  But it was a good learning tool for me. I was able to see how certain lines tailor the top beautifully.  Before, I never really paid attention to what I was constructing. Now I will be more aware of how patterns work. 



The first image was my draft/scratch top that I made using an old t-shirt that I loved as a pattern. For the sleeve I had to do some research on to see how to create that poof in the arm. The sleeve choice that I decided on was called a "leg of mutton". I'm not joking. That is really what the sleeve is called. Thankfully there was a tutorial out there that showed me how to create this look. And presto! The leg of mutton sleeve is done. 


Ta-da! The main part of the blouse is complete. I still have some minor tweaks to do to the lines for the chest.  All in all, I feel this is my favorite piece of clothing that I have made. I made everything from scratch including the pattern. It was a big step for me in my journey in costuming. 


Hope you are enjoying your year so far!

WIP OUAT Snow White

by
No comments yet

The rennisance faire is only a couple of days away now and I am rushing to get this completed. I'm the silly one and decided to add more quilted detail to the jacket than I originally planed. But I am so glad that went though the extra pain and added it in.  



Here is the jacket before incase you don't remember it. 

And here is a photo with the added quilted details. 



My next step is to add in all of the beads to the jacket. I couldn't tell by the picture what color the beads where. Some look green, others brown, and some blue. So I bought brown and blue beads to see which one I thought looked better. 


And the color i chose is....

The blue! I loved the contrast that it had with the sleeves. 

4 days and counting until I am on my way the the Renaissance faire. 

WIP Snow White

by
No comments yet


Most of the sewing is done for this costume. It was such a heavy sewing costume. I learned so many new tricks while sewing this. 


Next on my list for this costume is all the hand sewing. The lining, beading, and hooks for this. Another new experience for me to learn from. 


Also on my plate is to finish the under shirt for the costume. Again, more hand sewing is needed for the neck facing.  But I love the way this shirt fits me. I may have to make more for everyday use. 

OUAT Snow White Costume

by
No comments yet


With four days off this week (shocking, I know!) I decided to get to work on my new costume for the Renasissance faire. I am glad that I waited because it was a huge challenge just to cut out the pattern and fabric.

I first had to plan out what fabric had to go with what parts of the jackets. Here is my swatch paper. 


Pinning this bad boy to the fabric was next on my list. I felt like I want pinning forever. Not only did I have the regular fabric, but I had lining for the jacket too. 

Excuse the horrible hair and clothes. I wanted to see how the collar would look. It is pretty epic is it not?


I didn't think that the puffy sleeves would be so hard to make. In fact, I thought they would be the easiest. Turns out I was completely wrong. The lower puffy sleeve has four layers then the ribbon detail. It was well worth the effort because it turned out so puffy!

As you can see, I have a new friend in the sewing room. My new dress form! I am so happy that I found her at a good price. Definitely makes things easier to fit when I am not doing it on me. Now I just need to think of a cool name for her.


WIP Photos of Anastasia Crown

by
No comments yet

This weekend I wanted to start on my crown for the Anastasia costume. I could have waited until it was close to the convention...but I love crowns! I mean, who doesn't love looking in the mirror and seeing a bright shiny object on your head.


 This photo amuses me. The crown is suppose to be "crystal", but because I am a poor working girl I use glitter. Hence "Faking it for the Camera". No? Not funny? Well, it was in my head.


Anastasia Costume WIP: The wig and bodice details

by
No comments yet

Today my day was spent cutting out many many circles for the bodice detail on my dress. There were 16 dots that I had to cut out and then hem. This is just the first step in the bodice detail. Next up for me is to hand stitch these dots to the dress. After that is the step that I am looking forward too. GLITTERIZING! I can't wait to make this dress sparkle! 


In between doing all of these dots, I decided to work on my wig for the costume. I was tired of trying on my dress and not seeing the complete look. This is just a temporary styling of the wig so that I can try the whole costume on. While doing this I realized that I need to brush up on my styling skills. Anyone have any good tips and resources?



Anastasia WIP Costume

by
No comments yet

Who else is  dying for spring to get here? I am tired of bundling up just to head out to my craft room. With cold fingers and toes, I was able to get some progress done on my Anastasia costume. Yay! The major points of the costume are now done. It is just time for some fine tuning. 


One of these days I promise to get better pictures. I just need to come up with a plan to get my boyfriend to help me take pictures. 

Also, I tried on my wig today. It needs to be put up into a bum, but I couldn't resist trying it on. 


Yzma Cosplay WIP Photos

by
No comments yet

Here are some past photos that I have taken of the progress of the costume. Some of them are not pretty. Consider that your warning.


This is the costume that I am making. As you can see, there are lots and lots of feathers which should be a ton of fun to create. The main challenge in this costume would be the headdress that she is wearing. I wasn't sure how I would go about making it curl. 

The very first thing that I did was working on the collar of purple feathers. I made the base out of wire so that I can get the point in front. I couldn't find long enough feathers to make it flare out, so I just attached three feathers together.



Progression of the headdress.  As I mention before, it was going to be the most challenging aspect of the costume. I made a wire form for the hat and swirl. Then to add strength to the whole thing, I covered it in duct tape.  The purple is just painted fabric to match the fabric.