C Party

I feel like I have not accomplished much of anything sewing-wise lately, but then I remember that I have put a full costume together in just on a week. Last night, I attended my cousin's birthday party (she is also a costumer like myself) so of course we had to dress up. The theme was the letter 'C'. She dressed up as Cinderella.


At first I was thinking of something along the lines of a vintage cigarette girl. But then, it came to me that I should do something that I would wear to supanova, so that it would be less work in the long run. I have always wanted to do Tia Dalma (Calypso) from the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Carribean movies, and what more of a perfect opportunity. I am very pleased with how it all turned out and am really happy that I have had a costume wearing run through before a whole day at supanova, and I don't need to change anything. Phew!

The first thing I worked on for this costume was the stays. They are made from the JP Ryan strapless stays pattern. I was a little worried that I would not have enough boning to complete them, but after a trip to Bunnings, I tested working with cable ties. I was surprised at how well they worked out, though I did add a couple pieces of my heavy plastic boning at the center front and back for strength. It was great that I was able to do a complete run through of the pattern before making a full historical set, and great to find out that the pattern is perfectly sized for me.

I then worked on putting the skirts and the belt together. The best thing is that I did not have to hem the skirts because the fraying is perfect for the character. It took a heap of beads to fill the belt out, but I am pleased with the results. The hardest thing to find were the decorations for the stays. I hunted around a lot of places to find a string bag to use as the netting. There were $6 ones that were tiny, but I managed to find a decent sized one for $3.50 at a health food shop. But my most favourite partis the wig that I picked up on ebay.

There are actually two versions of this costume. The one I have made and another one that has an extra gown / robe over the top. I was thinking that I would make the extra robe for supanova, but I am just so pleased with this, that I am not going to bother. It will save me some time and it means I don't have to spend the extra money for the fabric of the overdress. A happy note in my book.


The part I am most proud of is that I was completely done with a whole day to spare. And then my brother says that he needs a costume. Originally he was going to dress as a cardboard car, but we were giggling about Dogma (Kevin Smith film) and he said Cardinal Glick and I said Buddy Christ. From there, he goes on about how now he would like to dress as Christ. So after a quick trip to the fabric store yesterday morning, I came home and whipped up his costume. Thankfully it was very quick. It is just a white robe underneath and two pieces of fabric (4m each) sewn together and draped around him, with the help of some safety pins. It's good enough for my satisfaction, and I am quite proud that I was able to put it together in only 4 hours.

And another Christmas passes

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas day. Ours was spent inside with the house locked up and the aircon blasting. As usual, we do Christmas lunch, this year I cooked a pear and cranberry stuffed turkey, veggies and salad. We had a fantastic morning, and I got some wonderful gifts. Spending money for my trip to Japan in February, a new jug to replace my broken one and the book "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" to name a few. But what I love most about Christmas is picking a fantastic gift for someone.

My brother and I gave my dad an Art Nouveau mirror which he loves and this year I made quite a few gifts, so I though that I would share photos now that they have been given. My friend Sarah got the Christmas faerie cross-stitches...

And the rest were for my mum. Firstly I finished her regency day outfit by completing her bonnet and spencer. I adore the colour of the silk that we chose and it matches really well with the dress. And lastly, I made her a new Victorian corset. Her first one was always slightly too big, so I took the pattern in a bit at the bust, waist and length and remade it for her. I even added some steel bones into it this time (my first ones). She tried it on for me this morning and I am very pleased with how it looks.

Kaleidoscope Soiree

Last night I attended the Kaleidoscope Dancers end-of-year Soiree. As it was rather warm (putting it mildly) last night, very few of the attendees dressed up. But by now you should know that I never pass up the opportunity to dress up. Of course, this called for a new gown. To be specific, a regency evening gown. It also meant that I needed to get motivated and make my mum's first regency gown as well.

Mum's gown is made out of a cotton fabric and with a silk ribbon underbust tie. The gown is made from a Sense and Sensibility pattern, using the size supplement. We bought the fabric on sale at spotlight earlier this year, and it has just been sitting around waiting for an excuse to be made up. I did add an extra row of stitching above where the skirt is attached for a gathering ribbon. It helps to make the gown fit nicely and also gives me my lacing ribbon at the back. Now, I know that the eyelets are not period correct but because the fabric is so soft, I could not get my machine to do nice ones. And I was overly proud of Mums hair too - hello rag curls. So glad that she has started growing her hair out.





As for my gown, I decided on the design from a fashion plate I found somewhere. It is made of cotton, lace and purple georgette. I took me two patterns, some butchering and a bit of guess work, but I finally got the pattern sorted out, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. I especially love the gathering on the back and the train. The lace sleeves also help to make it cooler, but before I wear it the next time I really need to make a petticoat.

That makes one gown ready for the Jane Austen Festival.

Proclamation Day 2009

Yesterday evening at twilight, I attended the Proclamation Day (official 150th Birthday of Queensland) celebration at Newstead House with the Kaleidoscope Dancers. Since the weather has been so very stinky hot lately I decided that I would wear my regency gown instead of crinoline (Way too many layers in this heat). I got to wear my new regency short corset and I dressed up my outfit with some Christmas ribbons. Oh and my Dad decided to dress up too.

Unfortunately I am a little disappointed with my short corset. I normally wear a 12C size bra, but when sewing, my bodices are always a 14 in commercial patterns. So I thought to make the size 14 with a B cup because I have heard that the pattern bust cups can run large. I took it in slightly at the centre front, but that meant I couldn't fit in the second piece of boning, and the thing still laces closed. Grrr. I think that my next one will be a size 12.

Melbourne Cup Day 2009

And now I am exhausted and ready for bed. It feels like I got no work at all done today. As many of you would know, today was the Melbourne Cup and of course in our office, we have a lunch. The downside for me is that I was stupid enough to say that yes, I will organise it. I had a lot of helpers, but it would be nice for once to be able to go along without having to stress over the food and setting everything up.

That being said, I had a great time, and got to wear a pretty dress for the day. I have had the hat sitting in my stash for quite some time. It was actually a birthday gift from my Dad who caught me drooling over it in the hat shop one day. And just because I am so fantastic at procrastinating, I didn't get around to making a dress to go with it. That is until I needed an outfit for Melbourne Cup. I thankfully had the dress half made and only had all the red binding, waist, zip and hem left to do. Which is why last night, I got home from work and got stuck into it. It's a good thing that I have tricks like overlockers for waist seams and invisible zip foots. It makes me job so much easier. Anyhow, I topped it all off with some navy blue gloves, my vintage style heels and some red red lipstick.