A very good day

Today was actually quite magnificent really.

Found another big pink storage container- slowly getting a few as my bucket system is great for trims etc but most projects atm are BIG!

So after that I picked up two pairs of shoes from savemart as well as a sofa cover in faux suede, but the satinbacked stuff so is really  a peachskin. Frays like heck but sits so nicely. So that will be for Ahsoka

The shoes are for my elsa shoe makeover 🙂 Three pairs made into one perfect pair 🙂

I also decided to turn another three sets of shoes into two.

I also got Ahsoka’s montral cast. And they should cure overnight as opposed to a month for Shaak Ti 🙂 So if this works I may be able to help out some others by at least have an assemble your own kit.

But on top of this all…

Yesterday I managed the first walk I have been able to in over 6 months. I haven’t really spoken much about that as it really was just too hard to think about.

But today? I jogged. Not far, in short bursts. But I did it.

I hurt a bit. But most of that is muscular from not really moving much and some is still inflammation. The infusions are the best chance I have but they are still limited by my immune system just being so determined that it is right!

 

Photos of shoes and Ahsoka tomorrow as I am not really up to fighting WP media uploads right now!

|    

Bizarre jetpack issue resolved

Lj went down (502 error) and Jetpack’s “Publicize” went weird. Kept telling me to refresh connections. Seems to be okay now.

My PC also crashed the other day. I think it’s my UEFI setting- has legacy bios compatability mode for some boot types and given I get the classic BIOS screen and text type I think that’s what is being fired up when I crash. So I think I just need to make sure I have a standard boot after a crash rather than fast and to make sure everything is set to boot into UEFI.

Looking at online documentation, the year my PC was built, the OS installed and I think this is the issue.

I rarely crash now but I had the panel off the side of the case and was playing SWTOR. After a full day of it being on. And no screen saver. Might set sleep/hibernation mode on again I just mistrust it as that was what caused my netbook(s) to fry.

Just bought 2kg of Napisan! Yes!!!! Time to soak Elsa so she is ready for any more charity requests 🙂

Also need to get people to follow up on picking up stuff they have asked me to put aside. And then I can start figuring out how to get some pigment across the ocean. Contacted one courier company, a few more to go 🙂

Meanwhile time to go and work on Marie Antoinette.

Also, I finally worked out the pattern for the Freya cloak 🙂

Man, I had it right my first go, but then I doubted and tried all kinds of ways. Nope I was right the first time. Good news is I can perfectly work out how much leather I’ll need. And because I’d quite like to travel with this I can use double sided vinyl instead. It may wind up a little super shiny but hey. My stash of cheapie leather would have been great had I kept it all. Soaking the plastic coating off would have been okay. Darnit!

|     

Elsa textures!

Also a good guide to how very flared her gown is! Official source too 🙂 You can download the free, official papercraft doll of Elsa here:

frozen-elsa-papercraft-photo-420x420-img_3597

https://family.disney.com/craft/elsa-papercraft/

But this is why my gown really works so well. I zoomed the PDF to grab this little corner:

elsatexture

What you are seeing is a fabric with vertical chunky striations- light reflecting back to different degrees- AND an overlay of tulle! You can see it right in the middle.

If you are viewing this post on my site my background image is a close up of my fabric layers showing how micro-sequins sewn in vertical lines give the same effect as well as the tulle overlay which cuts the shin down towards the hem of the skirt! This is a bit like the effect seen here- when the light bounces back directlyy (like on the hips or outer folds of the skirt) you can’t see the tulle, but where the light doesn’t shine back directly the tulle is visible and the background appears darker.

 

This is a classic theatrical technique. It not only controls how sequins sparkle but protects them from scratching and being pulled out.

Also note how the paper skirt is a cone but the texture pattern clearly also shows folds in the hem. This is absolutely true to her film gown (just watched the transformation scene on blu-ray while making this post 🙂

 

So I love this gown for all those reasons. Clever patterning based on pre-modern shapes, use of layering textures to hide what they really are because that’s what you do for high end couture and theatrical costumes 🙂 Basically what we do in the real world to make magic 🙂

|    

New cape!

I think the work to make a new one so as to keep my original one nice and safe has been worth it!

sm_dsc_0955 sm_dsc_0953 sm_dsc_0951 sm_dsc_0948

This is one of the reasons I have been quiet on my blog- this has been just so much work!

|   

My poor blog!

I’ve been doing things, just posting through instagram as it’s an easy app. to use on my itty bitty phone, it can cross post (can’t be crossposted to, which is annoying) so there is a fair bit of backlog!

Before I do a few updates on the state of the current projects I need to get my Elsa cape redo done. So I’ll be spending the day pressing the appliques 🙂 Also the cape fabric which is what is not so fun!

I will be at the Farmer’s Santa Parade this weekend, I wanted to go to the MoTaT time travellers event on Sat but I am in that fragile zone that makes that a bit of a difficult choice.

I can’t really risk another short prednisone bump for general health reasons but I really need it. As I was told by my rheumy to double my Arava but didn’t prescribe it I need to bring my letter to the pharmacy to get my next dose early. LFN has a long half life so it should be okay if I go in tomorrow.

But because I am not controlling the disease as effectively atm I am more likely to trip some inflammation with activity that goes beyond a limit I can’t actually find without going past it 😉

|   

inspiration hit hard!

Over the last few days I have been quiet here as I have been a bit busy and tired in what feels like equal proportions! It’s been skewed more to tired, strangely enough. Though I have four events and two hospital daystays in the next month so yes still to being busy. All charity events btw. Tis the season!

My Elsa cape is ready to press- this time I get to avoid side seams! But it does mean being very very careful indeed with not stretching the fabric out as I press. Also it seems heat changes the blue tone and shifts it slightly to a more neutral than purple tint!

Did a display this weekend and got to see inspiration bloom in the eyes of a few people who had only really seen characters in film/tv/games and getting to be hands on with the materials was just the start of what could be a long interest.

Also spent the last two days wrapping my head around a costume that I should have seen before but this year has been very… well not much has panned out well and my goals have mostly shifted and so I’m playing catch up.

I found the maker of said costume and the final pieces of the puzzle fit so I sent a thank you email as I have not been this inspired in ages.I would say obsessed, but yeah it is really firing up some grey matter that really needed a bit of a prod! So my next year is definitely filled with projects and inspiration!

Trying to find a maker of a particular garment in a film can be a challenge. Unfortunately google is fast becoming a tool only to buy ready made gear or is flooded with pinterest links (usually not the main pin either but one of what may be hundreds of linked pins!) So it was a bit of effort. I know my own site is starting to fall again in hits from sites WP recognises so it means very soon I’ll be trying to do some rearranging of my site to make it even easier to navigate and find information. I mainly want to tweak the search php file to display full posts not previews- for some reason images don’t appear in previews which makes it less useful.

And finally I have been a bit busy trying to find quality of life options to be able to continue to use my computer and in doing so have been joining up with accessibility social networks and trying to get ideas on how to really make my site more accessible. I am not sure what the overlap is for my site, but it’s not like I’m the only person who is looking for costume information and having accessibility issues 🙂 So I may not be able to do much to the huge number of blog entries but I can try to make my thumbnails have alt text and use the footer for page lists/menus in case my menu is not easy to navigate with specialist browsers or devices.

I’ll be looking for specific requests for img alt text, and will get it checked by sites that offer to look for issues.

I do very much try to avoid having ads, or anything other than the information right there. I know some readers get stuck in certain kinds of layouts. Especially pop up ads or content off site in general.

|    

Wig frankensteining

I have three lace front wigs that were not entirely perfect. The first was just a size too small for my head, the other two were slightly too dark for Elsa.

Step One: A new wig cap.

 

sm_dsc_0929 sm_dsc_0930 sm_dsc_0931

This is a strip of high quality powernet (the rest is set aside to redo my Pink Diamonds costume) with the lace top and strips from one of the wigs I cut apart. There are strips of the wig powernet in peach on the sides.

Step Two: Add the lace front to the nape of the neck.

sm_dsc_0954 sm_dsc_0928

I added a strip of stable net and lace to the nape, to help support and reduce stress on the delicate net. This is to disguise the wig fully and the hair can be styled up or down.

sm_dsc_0932

This is the interior view of a strip from a lace front. It is curved and has the front lace clipped already.

sm_dsc_0974

It does blend well.

Step three: stitch lace fronts in

(no pics, as this was a process of frustration and photos that don’t illustrate this well enough!)

Step Four: add wefts

sm_dsc_0975

This is ongoing, and I’d also like to add a couple more lace strips back in to help stabilise the vertical stretch. Start from the bottom to avoid having to flip the wefts out of the way.

|     

steampunk corset photos

This was my favourite set of stays I have ever made for myself, and I am totally struggling to remake them! I am also trying to illustrate why I love them so much to help someone with their gussested corset.

So the first part was the pattern. These are all the pieces I used laid out. (whoops, the back hip gussests are on the left, the front hip gussets are on the right.)

sm_DSCF2279

I had already semi mocked the pattern. It’s a mix of 1870s and 1900s corsets. Mainly 1870s but I knew what I wanted was a long torso and defined bust. I am pretty small but I was able to get really good uplift by making sure the gussets were as deep as possible To do this I turned back the edges on the body panels and stitched them down then fitted the shape of the gussets on the form.

sm_DSCF2280 sm_DSCF2281

I also fitted the body panels and hip gussets separately. This allowed the body panels to do all the vertical shaping and pulling in while the gussets were made slightly larger to add to the illusion by allowing what was displaced at the waist to sit in the gussets.

sm_P1090331 sm_P1090335

When laid flat you can see how the gussets act independently of the torso. And you can also see a principle I try and use in everything- no bones over the bust. I use long stays to the inside and the outside of the bust but not over it. This just helps with definition like nothing else. I used a similar method for my Mina lining as well as my Elsa.

sm_P1090349 sm_P1090350 sm_P1090355

And I am very happy with how well this worked!

Like I said, this is the best pattern for me and I needed this boost to remind me to remake it in silk and with a real busk!

|     

Progress!

It had been a while since I have had a chance to work with Make-A-Wish New Zealand so I was so happy to have had the chance recently 🙂 And the first chance I have had to make snowflakes and share my sparkly icy jewels 🙂
But it was also a chance to speak with a lovely lovely little girl, to listen to her and what she loves, so I am also inspired. I am now working on my Spring version of the gown, just got my materials today 🙂 So yes, a fair amount of CAD in my near future for applique and 3D effects 🙂
(Also I am restocking my jewels so I can share more 🙂

So yes, today was spent getting 10m of Heat n Bond, 3m of pink sparkly tulle (that still needs to be dyed darker) 3m of sparkly green tulle (ditto.) This is on top of the yardage of tulle for the base, and the dye for it all.

Lucky there was a sale, but it’s still a big investment, just assume an average price of $10m. And you can see why it takes a while to collect materials let alone work with them 🙂 And why my gowns are irreplaceable. 🙂

Now I am back to working in Sketchup.

|      

elsa cape dye success!

ELSA CAPE DYE SUCCESS!

by admin, January 30, 2015

 

Confession, the old colour looked way too deep in shadow so I removed the colour. But the fabric went a blotchy silver with a few blue patches. So to the shame pile it went.
I finally used a tiny tiny tiny amount of turquoise iDye poly on the dress (to brighten the hem mainly) and that went well so I topped up with enough blue to dye the cape and basically use the turquoise and green (released from the hem) to knock the purple out of the dye.
Voila! The wind also kicked up beautifully.
Just never ask me to iron crystalline tulle ever again. Ever.
Ever.

|