Friday, May 13, 2011

Starting sewing for faire

Came to the realization last weekend that the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire is only 3 months away. Oh, *bleep*! Gotta start sewing. I am completely in arrears for my 12 costumes in 12 months challenge. I am a bad, bad costumer. So this week I put together a gypsy type outfit. I cheated and re-used the tea-dyed chemise that is the basis for one of my elf outfits from years ago instead of making a new blouse. I also managed to make this outfit entirely from the stash, which makes me happy.

The outfit consists of pantaloons, a full-circle skirt, cincher, and a vest. Here's the fabrics I used:

gypsy fabric

There is a burgundy taffeta, embroidered with dragonflies in antiqued gold thread, a celadon shantung satin, a nubbly olive green fabric of uncertain composition (a thrift store drapery find) and the leftover corduroy fabric from when I made the holsters for my Lara Croft: Tombstone Raider outfit for last year's Steamcon.

Here's the outfit in its various itinerations:

gypsy outfit

And here's a bunch of close-ups of the vest, because I love how it turned out. First, the corduroy side:

gypsy vest cord side 1

I hand-sewed the trim on either side. This side has an olive green and ivory braid.

gypsy vest cord side 3

gypsy vest cord side 2

And here's the flip side, the same taffeta I used for the skirt, with some vintage gold trim:

gypsy vest satin side 1

gypsy vest satin side 3

Close-up of one of the dragonflies, just because!

gypsy vest satin side 2

So, one more down. Will have to do the count to see how much make-up I have to do if I'm going to finish this challenge by the end of August. I may fail, but I can always extend a few months and include the outfits for Steamcon III!




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