Pumpkin time!

It's that time of year again, our annual trek out to Jubilee Farms for pumpkins and trebuchets!



This year we managed to snag a ride on the horse-drawn hay wagon out to the field:

On a Hayride by *dbvictoria on deviantART

 The munchkin found her perfect pumpkin, long and skinny:
 

 This year she wants a ghost pumpkin, we were told. I have more sinister plans, and I needed as round a pumpkin as I could find.

 

 We warmed our bellies on tamales and some of the tastiest roasted on the planet.

 

 It was rather chilly, although fortunately not raining, so we stayed for just one pumpkin launch and a pony ride.

 


 They were down a pony this weekend, as one was feeling a little too frisky apparently.

 

 We've been coming to this patch every October for the past 7 years now, and hope to keep doing so when the munchkin is grown and has kids of her own. Always so much fun! The rest of the pictures from the day can be found here.


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Untwisting my knickers

I was dressing for a skit I was doing last Sunday, an announcement for a charity auction I am co-chairing. It's a Roaring 20s theme, and I was supposed to be a newsboy selling papers. "Extra! Extra! Our auction is only 5 weeks away!" etc, etc.

I have a pair of cheater knickers I made some time ago, which I couldn't find. And even if I had found them, there's a good chance they wouldn't fit anymore, as the little calories that live in your closet and shrink your clothing have been hard at work on my wardrobe this year. I ended up pulling the legs of my pants up inside, doubled up, and tying them off just below the knees with ribbons, which worked fine for that day, but that won't do for events.

This evening, I picked up a pair of slacks at the thrift store. They're a pair of Dockers that were altered for a woman who was ~5' tall, apparently. Knickers, ho!

First, I cut them off at just below my knees:



Then, I cut the hemmed portion off the remainder of the legs, cut out one of the seams and sized them to my legs just above the calves, with a seam allowance of 1/4" on either end:



Sewed down the edges of these pieces, then pinned them to the pants legs. There's now a bit of a gather:



Sewed the cuffs on and topstitched down the seam, and for fasteners I picked out a couple of antiqued silver buttons and made two loops with elastic cord:



And here you have it:



This took me about 30 minutes altogether, including the time it took to start my daughter's bedtime shower. Easy peasy!


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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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