Wow, I have been away a long time…..

Or at least it feels like it. I am still rehabilitating my body after the last six months of inactivity due to the sinus infection. I am not sure if I have cleared it but I am able to sit up, look at a monitor for more than five minutes. Except today. Today I am zombiefied because of the two steps forward one step back pattern I am currently in.

But I have had a chance to clear out several projects I felt hampered by, knowing I would never finish them or lost the desire to finish and so felt a bit disloyal to part with them.

This has left me with a much more manageable pile of stash fabrics and in progress costumes. I am also going to clear out some more. I really do not “need” everything. I like having a rnage of costumes but I am at the point where I have so many to choose from I feel held down by the weight of them as well.

So this year I have decided to make a final list of Must Do/Finish?repair and they should fill the next five years nicely.

1) Think of Me Gown, the full kit from slave girl through to dressing gown. I have the dressing gown, pointe shoes (I want to soften them a little more to be able to wear them and strengthen my ankles back to the state they were when I first bought them) and most of the fabrics and trim to make the overgown.
Aim to finish this year for Auckland Armageddon.

2) Cleves gown overhaul. The gown was decimated by the dry cleaners so I have totally recut a new shell of maroon faille (perfect for a Cercei gown if I can bare to face that embroidery) and black silk duchesse satin. The bodice is still the came canvas and I will be able to line the sleeves in vintage bordering on antique tube rat. I never use new fur, and tend to buy seconds or recycled animal products and I hate the smell of tanned skin but for this gown I really do aim to make it as accurate in materials as I can.
Aim for possibly next year? Would love to get her finished for the Bloth/Baronial Anniversary but I really am having a very slow recovered back to good health and this is a project that will require a lot of handsewing.

3) Worth Sunburst gown. If I culd get this finished I would get my butt to the Oamaru Hertiage festival. If not I’m going to Howick and posing the plce up due to the beautiful atmostpheric lighting. This has a tablier of cutwork and beading. I am going for a blend of the two variations so I can use glass pearls for the clouds. The Met clouds are formed from cut glass beads. The Kyoto gown though is pink. So Met base colours and trim and shape, Kyoto beading. On hold for about 6 years. Time to actually transfer the pattern (currently on paper ready to pin and machine the pattern in place- I plan on machining the pattern to really stabilise the cut work) and then repair my stand up frame and get beading.

4) Silly spanish. This is actually the most doable as the linen thread to hold the trim is easy on my hands once waxed properly.
Again I’d love to get this done for BA, but I may wait until I have a Kingdom level event I can attend.

5) Nyreen. Luckily the pattern for the fabric parts are done. I have fabric I can use for the bodysuit but I may invest in a new can for my airbrush and airbrush the pattern to the bodysuit fabric. Then it’s a case of adapting footwear and making armour from foam- not fibreglass or leather!) simply because this is the first costume where I feel it an appropriate material that I have done.
Love to be done by WellyGeddon if I can.

6) Mon Mothma. I keep pushing this back but she is going to be a nice simple costume to wear even if no one recognises her. I just need to remold the brooches as the last set tore. I am avoiding epoxy though so this may take a while just to make sure I don’t trigger a big allergic reaction. I have some molds and costume pieces to repair so will save it all up for them.

7)c1600s Cleves style. So far just a swingy coat half made. All hand sewn though and fully lined so I have a reason for it to be held off 😉

8) super fine ruff and partlet. A hem of less and 2mm is still tough on my hands, but while my eyes are still good I’d like to attempt it!

9) Wedding Dress from Phantom. I have most pieces and have managed to salvage much of my original piece. I aim to make it hook up the front as per the very original and take elements from favourite versions from around the world. Including the super amazing bow trails from the Japanese production.

10) MLP inspired costume. Fluttershy is my totem (her reticence, surprising amount of understanding of things people assume she is ignorant of and her few glimpses of rage).

11) repair Shae, Talon and Shaak Ti, as well as redo the Mina bodice.

I also have my Tissot inspired dress to repair and the Green Spring dress to decide to finish or not. Both mid 1870s.

Wow, I have been away a long time…..

Or at least it feels like it. I am still rehabilitating my body after the last six months of…

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I don’t know how to caption this or to express why right now it is giving me courage to fight some inner demons. It is a phyical reminder to keep going.

A new start!

So by accident I made my sticky post publish immediately! Well, now you can see the work I have put in over the last few weeks to get my site updated and easier to navigate. I will be placing links to my Frazzled Frau and Saya Espanola site under the articles tab as well eventually. But for now I need a rest!

Welcome to my site!

Please note I do not take commissions. I have though included some information about my own processes and in progress photos in my blog.

scifigrl47:

ze-tarts:

Done doing these so here they all are in one place! Fully Dressed Redesigns of Superheroines.

Point of this: An exercise in character design, attempting to clothe the heroines nearly all the way and not making them painted-on, while still keeping the look of their original costumes in some way.  Hopefully keeping them looking as iconic as the originally were. Just showing what can be done with a costume breaking outside the barrier of the norm.

NOT the point of this: some moral code I’m trying to push on you

Sorry if there was a character you wanted me to do that I didn’t get to!

I cannot believe how natural and right Psylocke and Elektra look!  This is so neat!

Sorry, I had to bold and italic the really important point here and something I think people keep forgetting.

Does anyone remember when the first superhero comics came out? It was at a time decades before lycra/spandex was invented and even longer before it was available for the masses. Why is this important? Because we have an assumption that superhero costumes are made from this. No. The invention of lycra/spandex made it easier to recreate the look but the original intent was not for these costumes to be sexualised, that happened later, for men and women. They were meant to look different from the everyday and to show movement of limbs in an otherwise difficult medium. And the easiest way to do this was to make them look painted on. 

If anything they look like acrobat/circus performer costumes which were designed to show the movement of a performer which a lot of regular clothing would hide.

I appreciate the above interpretations on their own merit.

A new start!

So by accident I made my sticky post publish immediately! Well, now you can see the work I have put in over the last few weeks to get my site updated and easier to navigate. I will be placing links to my Frazzled Frau and Saya Espanola site under the…

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Welcome to my site!

I have been costuming for a long time, I remember even wearing “Leia” buns and a white skivvy for…

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luthiencaprae:

What is this from?!

Pretty sure from New Girl. Spoilers though for the context. I think wiki has a list of episodes… or imdb, I know I have read it somewhere. Fan site? As a Bones/Emily fan I was curious about Zooey and her show )

Also I have second ticket booked 🙂 I need Wicked in my life and the story of the two amazing and courageous women (in their own ways). It’s visually amazing but the story is so so very good.