Pleated ribbon watch band

My next project is a watch band. I have my sketch and all my pieces, and I am ready to start! Slowly over the spam of the week I purchased my items one by one (coupons are a great thing!) so this watch is going to cost 40% less! I'm not one of these crazy coupon people from that show on tv! I have an app on my phone for the craft store near my work and would drop in at lunch and scan my phone! So it was worth while!!

Back to the matter... Ahem.. For this project I have two widths of black ribbon, the watch face, a clasp, some black and white pearls, and silver spacers. The wider black ribbon will be the pleated ruffle under the thinner ribbon, and I will stitch the beads on top of that to give it some sparkle and interest. The watch itself is plain silver with a black face and silver numbers. This is going to he something I might wear more on weekends.

So, I haven't figured out yet how to format my posts yet on my phone, so my pics get dumped at the end, so here are my supplies and the sketch!

Night time photo

I decided to try my hand at night time photography. After picking up a tripod earlier this week, I have been super excited to try it! I managed to find out what the most used view point is for taking pictures of downtown. At this point, I am not trying to re-invent the wheel! When I get better with other aspects, I will start scouting new locations!

So, Rotary Park, just off Memorial Drive is one of several highly used sites for taking pictures of downtown Calgary from across the river. The parking lot was much further from the treeline than I thought, and I was glad that I wore my ugly winter boots that I usually keep in the trunk of my car for emergency! I had to trudge through the snow to get past the trees, and there I could set up my camera with a clear view across the river. This was the result!

I had the shutter open for 4 seconds, at 5.6f, iso500. It was cold and I forgot my flashlight, so I was having trouble seeing and pressing buttons, or I might have spent more time adjusting things and experimenting to see what would happen. I am not sure at this point if my settings were even close to ideal, but I think the end product turned out pretty nice. I plan to go out again to another location just down the street where I don't have to hike through snow! Hopefully, I can get there a little earlier and get some wonderful sunset colours. That might have to wait until the new year!

Now, I think I would like to curl up in a blanket with a hot cup of tea!

Wraith Queen - Finished!

The fingers are tired, and the job is done! My Wraith Queen walked the halls of Grant MacEwan University for the Pure Speculation Festival.

That was about three months of work! I can only imagine how long I am going to have to work on my Queen of Hearts to get her the way I want! Now that my wraith is done (for now) I will be focusing my attention back to that monumental task of sewing that big ol' dress! And it's disaster crinoline!

A guess the make up warrants a closer look.

I have trouble with prosthetics, getting horrible rashes from the adhesive if I use it on my face. Past experiences with Klingon ridges taught me that one! Ideally, I would love to have had the little slits done in latex, as well as my brow bone. I tried my best with what I had to lighten the eyebrows, but with my dark hair that was going to be difficult.
I must say though, the shading turned out very well! It almost looks real! Admittedly, I did practice on the back of my hand several times with different colours to get the right combination before attempting this on my face!

I would say that all in all, this was a huge success! I see all the little flaws in it because I put them there, and either didn't know how, or didn't have time to fix them. Mostly the time thing... I strongly believe that given enough time you can figure out anything! There were a few late nights in that last week!

One little request??.... If anyone was at Pure Spec, or knows someone who was, who has pictures of my Wraith, can you please get in touch with me? This is the only pic I have! I didn't stick around for the costume contest, because of other commitments, so I have had no luck yet in finding any shots! Thanks so much!

Wraith Queen: The Dress

This is pretty simple... I found a pattern last year that I used for my Vulcan costume.

The one in the middle is what I am doing for the Wraith dress. This is the inner-most layer, and pretty much the only parts visible will be the high collar, the sleeves, and the bottom half. I am moving the slits to the front and back, instead of being on the sides, to look more like a jacket.

Other than that, I am just following the instructions in the packet. Pretty simple, and not much else to share, other than the finished pictures! The fabirc is white, with a rough texture to it, and the lining is shiny with a lined pattern to it.

Wraith Queen: The Bodice - Step Four

Once the surface details were finished I began working on the tabs along the top. First I cut out rectangles, about 2" x 1", with rounded corners on one end.

Using one piece, I marked the location and depth of each tab along the top, keeping my spacing even.

I then glued all the tabs in place.

Once the glue set, I ran a stitch all the way across, firmly attaching the tabs in their place. Using a hole punch, I then put a small hole in the top and base of each tab, and inserted the white brads I had used in the head piece.

The exterior of the bodice is finished! Next up: the inside (that blue test run I did a couple of weeks ago)

Time is quickly running out to get this project finished. I need to be ready to wear by Friday, when we drive to Edmonton for Pure Speculation. I began as a volunteer there several years ago, and have watched it grow. Last year I went as a pirate, a chance to wear my costume for the second time (the first time being my own stagette!), and in the years that I volunteered, I was a Klingon. 

Without further ado, I will get back to my sewing!

Wraith Queen: The bodice - Step Three

I stitched each piece together carefully matching up the marks I made. Once all the pieces were together I began to add details.

I sewed all the details first then attached it in one piece to the main structure. I will repeat this for the back side.

Wraith Queen: The Bodice - Step Two

So, once I had my paper version drafted out, it was time to work with fabric. I used some stuff I had kicking around from the bins my Mom gave to me once upon a time. I cut all the pieces out, adding my seam allowance of course!

After cutting out all the pieces, I copied my marks from the paper to the fabric, getting both pieces.

This is important. The pieces need to line up, and you can't trust the edges to line up perfectly. You have seen the little triangles on most commercial patterns, and how they have corresponding triangles on the matching edge on the other piece? This is my version. I marked the waist, and my "position" line. And numbered them, and put my arrow so I know which way is up. Trust me, it gets confusing, and it can be very easy to stitch a piece into place upside down or backward, and that screws up the whole line of it. I've done it, and it sucks. I actually just started all over again from the beginning of a project, because it was easier than undoing the mistake.

Anyways, so once all the pieces are marked, I ran them through the sewing machine, and voila, my draft-bodice was done!

I tacked it up to the dummy, to test the fit, and I must say, it fit fairly well. Just to make sure though, I wrapped it around my waist too, and checked it out in the mirror. It fit pretty well the way I wanted it to. I sat down in it to make sure that it wasn't going to dig into my legs or get sat on. Sometimes, something that looks super cool is really uncomfortable. I don't want this to be one of those! Is it a sign that I am getting old when I start making comfort a part of my decision making in drafting patterns? Hmm...

So, the next step is to cut the vinyl and begin sewing that together. I will be working on that this weekend. Stay tuned for Step 3!

Wraith Queen: The bodice - Step One

Step One: Drafting the pattern. This I am doing from scratch also. I have a couple of articles I had made before that I thought of using as a base, but then thought, what the heck! I'm pretty much making every other part of this from scratch! Why not this too! Besides, I have never had to make something so close fitting before without the use of a store bought pattern. This will be a learning experience!

Having made corsets before, I am already familiar with how they are constructed. This is going to be a little less formal and structured, but the principle is the same. It is close fitting, and needs to have lines that make sense. This is more of an underbust style. I started off with the front centre section, making that shape the way I want. It is probably the flattest piece of the garment, so it makes sense to start there. And the most visible, so you want it to be perfect.

To start, I cut a piece of paper that was bigger than the piece I was going to make, but not too much bigger. I drew a centre line, and matched up the top with where I wanted it to sit on by belly. Just under the bra line. Pinning that to the form, I measured and drew out the rough shape I wanted, cinching in at the waist to enhance the curves, and flaring out at the bottom. Pulling the piece off the form, and placing it on a flat surface, I measured and straightened/refined the lines, until I was happy. I then cut it out, except for the bottom, which I left loose.

You can see in the picture what I mean. I left the bottom line until the very end, so I could shape the bottom in one sweep. This keeps the line consistent between all the pieces. Each piece followed the same steps, pinning tissue larger than what I wanted, drew the lines, refined, cut, pinned back on, and moved to the next one, all the way around. I drafted the final back piece the same way as the front, with a centre line drawn to keep it even.


Once I had all the pieces done, I went back to the bottom line and drew the even curving line I wanted.

Happy with the shape of the line, I cut the dangling pieces off.

Then I numbered all the pieces, marked the waist line, and drew a arrows pointing up on each piece, so when I am cutting my material and putting it all back together, I know which is the bottom and top of the pattern! That is important. When sewing something where all the pieces look very similar, you need to know which end is up. I learned that when sewing my first corset! One piece upside down and it won't fit anymore!!

There we have it. One hour later, I have my first draft of the pattern for my bodice. My next step is to cut it out of scrap fabric, baste it together, and try it on. If the fit isn't quite right, you can keep refining it, testing it, refining it, until you have it right. I have lots of scrap fabric to test this on, and I would rather waste a couple of dollars of cheep remnant bin stuff than my expensive vinyl!!


My sewing room foreman watched from her office chair...

Wraith Queen: Shoulders Done!

With calloused fingers, I present the finished shoulder piece!

This was all sewn by hand, like the head piece. I went this route because I imagine everything about the wraith is very organic. Their ships are grown not built, and much of their technology seems to be some structural organism, like growing a tree with a hollow for you to live in. At one point, I considered that their clothing might also be grown. I have gone with all organic looking materials, like the lizard skin, inspired by the costumes on the show. To machine stitch something like this would be tacky, I think. Another reason is, I wanted the stitches to be almost invisible, and a machine sewing vinyl just doesn't do that well! I am very happy with how it has worked out! The only thing that I might revisit is some upper arm plates. I originally planned on doing them, but because of time I am skipping them for now. They are not essential to the costume, but I think they are a nice touch. This weekend, I will draft the pattern for my belt, and begin sewing that. For the most part, that too, will be sewn by hand. The parts where stitching will be seen, anyway!

Wraith Queen - Head Piece

I have finished working on the head piece. My head is a little bigger than the foam one, so it sits a little higher on the head than in the picture.

As you can see, I found a nice bright red wig! This should be very striking against the white clothing and pale greenish face. So far, this seems pretty promising. The construction was a little more challenging than I had thought, but I think I found my solution. After testing a few different adhesive methods, I found simple craft glue to be the best way of initially sticking the layers together. Once the glue dried, however, the pieces lifted apart at the edges, so I carefully stitched the edges down with white thread, using very small stitches. Once everything was nice and secure, I punched small holes along the top edge, and put small white paper brads in the holes.

The material is a polyvinyl, with different lizard textures in various shades of "vanilla" or as close to white as I could get.

Now that I have figured out how to keep these pieces together, and have successfully completed one section of the costume, I will continue on with the yoke and belt!

Wraith Sketch

So, I have pretty much all my fabric now, and I have some shoes that will work (though I will keep looking!), and my dress form is in. I have ironed out the general look of my wraith:

Basically, I will have white pants, over which I will wear a fitted white dress. Instead of having slits up the sides, I will put the slits in the front, so it will look more like a jacket than a dress. It will have a simple collar.

Over the dress, I will wear a corset type belt, with lots of layers of vinyl, and buckles, and straps, and whatever else I can put on there. I am hoping to find some nice white or silver coloured rivets, but eyelets will work if that is all I can find. That is what all those little dots are.

Then, over the shoulders, I will have a yoke made of several layers of vinyl, and plated covers for over my upper arms. I am thinking that I will make something to go over my lower arms as well, but we will see.

And on my head, over the wig, I will wear a headband made of the same material as the belt and yoke. I want that to cover what usually appears as a very fake hairline with the cheaper wigs.

Of course, I will share pictures of the pieces as I work on them!

Dress Form

I have a duct tape form that I made a couple of years ago, and it has served me well.

She was a wonderful replica of me, had the same bumps and lumps, and was the same height as me in my short heals. I could make costumes to fit me perfectly! I loved her!

Time is not always kind, and this was certainly true of my tape copy. The glue on the tape has started to decay, and the layers are pulling apart, allowing the falling stuffing to droop even further. She is probably a good couple of inches bigger than she was when I made her. Add this to the fact that I have lost a couple of inches, you can see that she is almost useless now for anything but the most casual of fittings! There is no way I can use her for drafting anything from scratch...

I considered rebuilding her. The post and base are still good, I would just need to replace the tape form. And I had been wanting to attach the foam head I have so I could work on things with hoods, or other head-involved pieces. But, that much tape gets expensive, not to mention I would have to convince my husband to spend an hour wrapping me in it. Having done it once before, he knew exactly what he would be getting into, and asked me if I really wanted to do another one, and would it be worth buying a proper one. I had to admit that I had looked into it, and told him the approximate cost of purchasing one. We agreed that it would be a good idea. No risk of the form sagging and expanding with age, I can adjust it to the measurements that I am at that moment, and if I ever agree to sew something for someone other than myself, I can adjust it to them, provided that they are similar in build to me! She will only adjust so far in either direction, right?

So, I ordered one from the fabric store, after searching several other sources. Buying used is always an option, and would come with a much lower pricetag, but uncertain on the timeframe... Nothing currently for sale in my area. Ebay came up with similar pricing as retail, once you factor in international shipping. My local fabric store still has to have one shipped in special, because they don't carry them as regular stock. They just don't sell enough of them. But, their shipping costs are much lower than any I could hope for from Ebay.

So this is what I have ordered. A Diana dress form, not top of the line, but for my price range, she will do just fine! There are much much nicer forms out there, and as much as I would love to have one of those, I just can't afford $1000 + for a dress form!

Once she arrives, I can begin drafting my Wraith Queen! Super excited!

Halloween Fever

That special day is still two months away, but anyone who has made their own costume, or at least attempted it, knows how long it takes... and it is usually longer than you think. Even after making many many costumes, I still often underestimate the time I need. So, now that I have my idea, some preliminary sketches, and the eagerness that comes at the beginning of a project, I am almost bouncing out of my chair. I have seen the signs going up on the fronts of empty stores, and am taking mental notes on their locations so when they (finally!!) open, I know exactly where to go. And I tell ya, they can't open soon enough! At lunch, disappointed by the fact that the Halloween Distributers I saw was NOT open yet, I went to the London Drugs across the street to get my fix. They still have the remnants of summer sales in their seasonal aisle. I am getting restless! Maybe Zellers or Walmart is starting to put their Halloween stuff out...
And just the other day, I was thinking how absurd it was that the Dollar Store has their Halloween aisle in full swing!

New Costume Idea

I am putting one queen away in exchange for another.... my queen of hearts will retire to a bin for a few months, probably February, when all the heart shaped stuff comes out again. I am having a heck of a time finding what I want for the details, and I really want to have a full picture when I start back up again.

So, my new project is another queen, of the alien variety. I love Stargate, and have been watching Atlantis, which I didn't have time to watch when I was given the dvd set for a wedding gift from my hubby.
For anyone who doesn't know what a wraith queen is, here is one of several from the show:

They all have different outfits, mostly kinda gothic looking. Some wear black, others white. Some have bright red hair, white hair, and one even had just plain brown. I think I want to go dramatic. I collected all the white fabric I have, and put it in a pile, along with all the zippers, fasteners, hooks, and whatever else I had that wasn't lacy and girly. They may be queens, but they are nasty. I am going to start looking for a red wig. (Another reason I want to start working on this one now, the halloween stores are starting to open, so I have a nice choice of props!) They don't wear jewelry, so that will be easy. I found a couple of patterns to use as a base, but I think this is one project where I have to wing it most of the time. That should be interesting!

My hope is to have the costume done in time for Pure Speculation, which is usually held in October-ish. Late fall, anyway, so I had better get started! Concept sketches in next post!

Pixel

I recently purchased a new camera, and have been playing around with it. Ok, so this isn't about sewing, but I couldn't help sharing this too. My cat is my most willing (or least objectionable, anyway) subject. She is also super duper cute, and I have loved photographing her since she was a tiny kitten. So, I was playing with my new camera, testing its limits to see just how close I could get, and how far I could be with the simple lens it came with. I need to know, after all, what I want in a new lens. They are a little too expensive to be purchasing willy nilly! This is one of my fav close ups of Pixel!

She has the most beautiful eyes! I am working on getting a good picture of her spots, and I would love to capture her "glitter" in her fur. Glitter is what they call the sparkly quality in a Bengal's coat. When the light hits them, they shine like crazy! In the sun, especially, she gets nice and glittery! 

Well, I hope to get back into the sewing room this week. The hoop at the knee is starting to push forward, making the front part of the skirt stick out too far in the front. The weight of the material in the back is causing this, and I am thinking that the solution might be to remove the hoop from the knee. I have a fair amount of "poof" with the layers coming down from the waist and hips, along with the bumroll, so really, I just need the hoop near the bottom to make sure the bottom of the skirt doesn't flop. I hope that works! 

While I have been typing this, Pixel has fallen asleep on her table near the window next to my desk. I reached over and pet her head, and she opened her mouth, let out a silent meow (just the sound of her breath!) and rolled her head around so her chin is up. She loves her Mommy!

The Disaster Crinoline

My first attempt at this costume had me running out of time fast. I discovered that my thread kept knotting up when I tried to sew tulle to a slip by machine. That left me stitching ever last fluffy piece of that crunchy hell by hand. Hence the very sparse, not so productive item below:

So, when I decided to re-do the whole thing, I spent lots of time (I mean LOTS!) hand sewing a new one. It is almost finished, and still requires a bumroll underneath, and some light boning in the slip to get the fullness I was looking for. I still have one or two layers of crinkly tulle, and probably a light cotton, to smooth out the ruffles. Yes, I could have gone with hoops, but I want to be able to sit comfortably. And I need to be able to get in and out of an RX7 while wearing this thing. (The RX7 is my husband's little red car, and you need to be able to get very low to get in and out of it! Hard enough to do in a corset, never mind huge rings hanging about your legs!) 

The construction started with a tube, gathered to a waistband at the top, with two rings of lightweight boning, one just above the knees, and one near the hem. This was to get as much volume out of the bottom layer of material as possible. 

I then drew rings around the skirt, marking the areas where I wanted to sew the gathered layers that would add more volume. The bottom ruffly layer is some fabric I found in the bins my mom had given to me. Now that crazy mix-matched patterns are back in fashion, maybe this fabric could have gone to something... nevermind! It works in this invisible, yet so important piece of clothing! On top of that, I hand stitched a layer of tulle. And under it. And above it. There are several layers of this stuff! This is where I am now. All around the skirt, from just under the waistband, I intend to sew another layer of tulle, and then on top of that, a layer of something else, perhaps cotton, or maybe more of that crazy 90's fabric, to smooth it out, and I should be done. So far, so good! (What I failed to mention so far, is that I stitched several layers of tulle that I had to remove because they didn't do what I wanted them to! A pain to sew on, and a pain to remove!!) This should give it enough poof to look quite grand, without being too awkward to sit or drive around in. I don't have a nice roomy carriage to ride around in!

A Project Fit for a Queen... of Hearts that is!

I decided I wanted to chronicle the journey this costume is taking me on. What began as a great Halloween costume two years ago (and was successfully worn that year) has become the most extensive and most researched costume I have ever done. 

To start, I will share some history on this costume... As I said, I did wear it one Halloween, almost two months after I started it. Being more than I could chew in that time, and also working on the accompanying Mad Hatter for my fiance, the dress was rushed. There were many late nights, and many compromises made, and in the end the outer bodice had to be safety pinned to the corset beneath to stop it from gaping open, and the skirt was limp with little support from the rushed mess of tulle under it.  I enjoyed the evening, and put the dress away, and for several months, it sat. But something kept nagging me. I put so much into it, and sacrificed so much, it was not my vision... I would rebuild it... better, bigger, something Queen Lizzy the First would have worn! This is going to have embellishments, and lace, beads, everything a Queen would have! Now, I am not aiming for historically accurate Elizabethan fashion here. But I love how wonderfully adorned her outfits were, and I believe the Queen of Hearts, what ever era she might live in, would have made Lizzy proud. Or put her to shame, perhaps!!  So, I will share this journey with any who might care to follow. If my history with this project stays true to form, there will be good times, and bad, and I intend to share even my most horrific mistakes, as well as, of course, my triumphs!