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!

~

Friday Favorites!

Dropped the ball on these the last few weeks, but just in time for Black Friday!

Pink Topaz and Peridot Wire Wrapped Vine Statement Necklace in Sterling Silver, by nikhajewelry




Bandolier of Vintage Brass Casing in Machinegun Belt 60in, by eveningangel



Vintage Ecru Colored Gown..Classic STYLE 1930s Vintage, by VintageStarrBeads



BUTTERFLY - Sterling Silver Necklace, by efratjewelry



Bird Skull Cuff Links in Antiqued Silver, by billyblue22



Sadie - Hand Crocheted Skirt and Embellished Jacket, by AnnieBriggs



Zombies Ate My Brain Mug in Denim 16 oz., by KarinLorenc



Lush Gown, by HMSlatex

Sneak peak

Here's the fabric I'm using for my dress in progress:



I've got the pieces out and should be able to get the sewing done tomorrow. Stay tuned!

A Year in the Making, day 296

It's been a busy weekend - I had two social events on Friday, a promo photoshoot for Steamcon and a movie viewing party on Saturday, and today was Pride Parade!

For one of Friday's gatherings I made what I call my Lemon Dream Cake:



It's always a favorite.

I finished the dress for the parade Friday night, and made a hat from scratch to match. I've made one other hat from scratch, but that was with a pattern. This time I completely winged it, with the aid of a pre-made piece I picked up ages ago at Display and Costume. I still had buckram left over from my previous project, and used scraps from the dress-making for the fabric.

I started off using a hat I reworked for my daughter for the basic shape:



I did a double thickness for the brim, for stiffness:



Traced out the crown for the opening on the brim pieces:



Cut out the circle for the crown and tabbed it:



Traced out the top of the crown - the outer border is the seam allowance. Neglected to take a picture, but this piece was tabbed too after I cut it out.



The assembled buckram framework:



The line you see around the brim is aluminum wire tacked on for stiffness, to keep the shape of the brim.



Here's the underside:



The fabric was tabbed also, and sewn on:





I made a band of the contrast fabric from the gown for around the crown:



Here's where I stopped taking pictures because I was running out of time. Some black cotton was used for lining, and the edges finished around the inside of the crown and around the rim of the brim with black bias tape, and then I finished it with daisy gimp:





And here's a shot of me in the dress and hat, and the necklace which inspired the gown, from today's Pride Parade in downtown Seattle - unfortunately I blinked.

A year in the making, day 292

A few pictures accumulated in the camera, but I neglected to download them yesterday.

To start off, a picture of Sunday's dinner, the savory bread pudding:



It was quite tasty, let me tell you.

And more tastiness was made yesterday, a new batch of jam, with strawberries, cherries, and peaches:



Yesterday, I also cut out the pieces for a new dress for myself. Ever since I received this necklace, I've been thinking I needed a spectacular dress with which to showcase it. I had some black on black fabric already, and when I went in search of a contrasting fabric for it, I found this wonderful white taffeta with a black velvet pattern:



The dress I'm making with it is McCall's M6097. For some reason, they have this labeled as a "Victorian" pattern.

...

*blinkblink*

...


Ooooooookay. I guess maybe because the back has a bustle? Even though the naming boggles the brain, it's still a lovely dress, and it's not the pattern's fault someone labeled it so ridiculously.

All the fabric got cut out yesterday, and I got the bodice together today. It's being modeled by Phyllis, my new dress form:





Tomorrow I'll tackle the skirt. Tomorrow afternoon, that is. Late tomorrow afternoon, most likely. I have a lunch date with a friend and a strawberry margarita.