This black silk robe a la francaise is about 80% hand-sewn, more than I ever intended. I've retrimmed it 4x now!
Recreating the pink portrait of Mary Queen of Scots had long been a dream, & I finally did it for my birthday.
My drag alter-ego is Leonard Autie, hairdresser to Marie Antoinette. He sometimes gets a new suit for Carnevale.
Grrrr… my second renaissance corset SUCKED ASS. The tabs looked like mutilated little fingers. But they looked so nice on paper! So now I’ve wasted the last of my black coutil, phooey. I went back to the original pattern and drew out three basic square tabs on each side, following the image in the instructions.
I hath trekked all about south San Jose, and I hath procured many fyne stuffs for mine gowne of 1580s indeed forsooth perdee certize. Ehem. I took light rail to a bus down to Blossom Hill to the World’s Lamest Jo-Ann Fabrics. I thought the Jo-Ann on Stevens Creek was kinda weak, but omg, this
Jeebuz, but I keep buying stuff for this Elizabethan gown! I just can’t stop. Oh I need casings for my farthingale. Oh I need some really fine cotton stuff for a chemise. Oh I need some twill for interlining. Oh I need aglets for the sleeves. Oh I need eye pins for the hat trimming.
I’ve never scaled up a pattern from a book. This year, I made a point of acquiring all the biggies of the historical costuming library like Janet Arnold and Jean Hunnisett. They’re chock filled with patterns on teeny grids that you’re supposedly able to use. But how? Nobody would fill me in on that part.
Why is it that every time I’m sick at home, Anne of a Thousand Days is always on cable? Of course, I have to watch it. Richard Burton is a kingly, studly Henry, and the movie’s portrayal of Anne Boylen is smart and sympathetic without being too sentimental, even though it’s all a big fat
Much corsetness achieved. Cut everything and sewed endless boning channels (though for once, the bobbin was kind enough to run out at the end of a channel instead of in the middle). Even made a strip of matching bias tape. Might put in the grommets tomorrow, whilst I wait for the boning order. Got an
I actually started something last night! Whoo-the-hoo. I cut and tweaked the AlterYears Renaissance corset pattern to what I hope will be my size and shape. After doing all that, I kinda think I could have used the free corset pattern generator on the Elizabethan Costuming site. The corset shape is so simple. But then,
Whilst laying semi-awake on Sunday morning, I decided what I will be for Halloween next year: Jean Grey as Phoenix from X-Men: The Last Stand movie. No, not the comics, just the movie. See, I have an ulterior reason for this. When I first saw that yummy red costume, I thought, hey, that’s pretty much
Between finishing Aouda and the impending start of NaCoFiMo, I’m feeling fairly inspired to costume right now. Except the next thing on my docket is an Elizabethan corset, and I hate making corsets. It shouldn’t be that hard, that’s not the problem. I just find corsetry terribly boring and annoying. Stupid fiddly bone casings, then
I do believe the event was a success! People came dressed in a fun variety of costumes and seemed to have a good time. The food and drink were excellent, and one person said “great idea to have an event in a bar!” Everyone was enjoying chatting so much that we didn’t do any organized
I finished my outfit today (whew!), and I’ve made some, IMNSHO, kickass party favours. Just gotta print and assemble all today. I also hope to finish one or more photo albums of our travels. I’m encouraging everyone attending to bring their own travel photos, scrapbooks, or memorabilia to share! It’s going to be an afternoon
Man, it took a heck of a lot longer to make this skirt than I thought it would. And I’m still not finished — have to hem the lining. Tomorrow, though, because I’m beat. Aouda’s skirt in the solid grey part of the sari looks beeeeeeeyoooouuuutiful. So much better than using it as an overskirt.
OMG. I can’t believe I didn’t try this in the first place! A comment from Kendra made me realize I hadn’t really tried the grey part of the sari as a full skirt on its own. I knew from the measurement it wouldn’t work with a hoop, but I hadn’t tried it over just a
I fixed the sleeve-poufyness (mostly), but now I can’t decide what to use for Aouda’s underskirt — black satin or burgundy silk. So I pinned ’em both up and took pix to compare and contemplate. Both of these are just pinned up (so they’re a bit messy), and both would, aside from the fabric color,
Hmm… seeming success is a bit thwarted… While laying awake at an ungodly hour, I had debated the sleeve shape. The more I doubted having enough sari fabric for a hoop skirt, the more I felt that a narrow sleeve would look better, more balanced. So when I got out of bed, I poked through
