Friday Favorites!

The "Halloween is Coming!!!" edition:

Evil Eye Ring - Glass Taxidermy Eye Bezel Set in Argentium Sterling Silver, by thatSandygirl:



Red Gothic Masquerade Mask, by VenetianArtiquity:



Dollface Twisted Metal Leather Catsuit, by chrisst:



The Queen of Diamonds Black & Red Gothic Tiara, by angelyques:



Vintage Red Lace, from REDmakeup

Photography, ho!

An anxiously awaited box arrived from Amazon today:



That's right! I finally treated myself to something I've been wanting ever since I first bought my Canon - a telephoto lens. As an added bonus, I also got us (myself) a newly minted reprint of the game Cards Against Humanity (which is basically an un-PC, adults' only version of Apples to Apples). Looking forward to breaking it in soon.

Have already given the new lens a go - here's one of our local murder of crows, preening on the lamppost down the street from our back deck:


Crow Preening by *dbvictoria on deviantART



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Winter is coming!

I was trying to figure out why the air conditioner was coming on last night when the temperatures weren't high enough to trigger it, and then I realized it wasn't the AC - it was a much cooler than expected breeze coming in the patio door! (Also couldn't resist working in a Game of Thrones nod!)

Aurora Borealis Crystal Necklace Earring Set Sterling Silver



I actually made this a few months ago, but had forgotten to list it. Enjoy!


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Friday Favorites

Ann Koi's Nightgaunt, by mrsoles:



Original Illustration, William Shakespeare quotation, by ObviousState:



Steampunk Victorian Bolero Crop Jacket Denim Airship Captain Industrial Coat, by ItsNotPajamas:



Medieval Black Cotton Dress with Bodice Vest "Lady Hunter", by armstreet:



Union Jack Mens Leather Diamond Jubilee Exclusive Steampunk Tail coat Impero London, by ImperoLondon:

Another project in the works

No, why should I finish one project before starting another? That's just crazy talk!

Yes, I'm making another dress for myself. The closet gnomes have been hard at work shrinking my collection of my favorite gowns, the swoopy faux-medieval, straight out of a painting gowns that I love so much. Sob. So time for a replacement!

This is shaping up to be a bit on the gothy side. For a variety of reasons, every trim I looked at just didn't seem right, so I ended up making trim for the sleeves by sewing chain onto strips of leather:



I'll take better pictures of the fabrics for a future post, but the outside is a tattered stretchy fabric with a subtle skulls pattern, and the inside is a black sheer with a sparkly burnt velvet pattern.

Here's the trim on the sleeve:



And the completed sleeve - the hem is finished with a strip of dragonskin fabric, gunmetal grey metallic:



Lining a stretchy fabric with a non-stretchy fabric has been fun. I've flat-felled the two layers together, and used a French seam on the straight side, which serves a double purpose of keeping the shredded bits from straying too much and also putting the contrast fabric forward for the seam on the straight side.

I've got the second sleeve half assembled, hoping to finish up and start on the body of the dress. The goal is to tweak the back so I can wear a wing harness under the dress and lace it around the wings. This will mean twice the grommets, of course!

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Friday Favorites!

Shakespears in Love Elizabethan Princess Cinderella Deluxe Fantasy Gown , by Romantic Threads:



Poseidon's Garden Beadwoven Necklace, by HauteIceBeadwork:



Rib Cage under bust leather corset, by ravenmountain:



Hillside tribal Bracelet, from judithdervish:



Beaded Crocheted Choker Vintage Style, by OakliesFashions:

Guardian of Enasalin Cosplay, Part II

It's been a bit, but I finally got another huge chunk of work done on this outfit. Part I is here for reference.

The pants have acquired a nice aged look after hanging from the eaves on our back deck for a month or so:



Here they are with a shirt I've made from the same fabric for comparison:



This time I concentrated on the padded underlayer for the vest.



To reproduce the look of this fabric, I used some higher thread count cheesecloth, dyed pale blue, with a piece of the same navy broadcloth I used for the pants sandwiched in between 4 layers of the cheesecloth, with black stitching:



There's also a front panel in a pleated red fabric.



I used a piece of red satin from the remnant bin for this:



To try to get the wrinkled look, I treated it like one of the silk broomstick skirts I used to live in in the '90s, dampening it and twisting it up to dry:



Once I started trying to assemble the padding, I realized that my 10-yard order of cheesecloth was about 2 yards short of what I needed for a full length underpiece. Bother. So I've ended up with a quilted bolero jacket. At least once it's on no one will know but me:



I didn't take the stitching far enough along on the back, so I'll be adding to it a bit:



I used the same red embroidery thread from the vest to finish the sleeve hems:



All put together:



The next step is the collar.



To get the same look, I used embroidery floss.



There's actually three slightly different shades of brown floss. It took six skeins total to completely cover it:


Still needs the black details, and then I'll bind it with more of the corduroy fabric.

Next steps - the greaves and harness.



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