Sydnova 2014

Last weekend, I spent an exhausting couple of days racing around at Sydney Supanova. I had my weekend all planned out and my flights were booked on boxing day sales. That is, until I found out that my only university exam would be on the Friday evening at 5.30pm. Which then meant that I could not attend Supanova until Saturday after a very early flight.

Thankfully the exam went well and I was ready to look forward to a stress-free weekend. I slugged out of bed at 4.30am to make my 6am flight from Brisbane to Sydney. It was packed. It was 8am by the time I got off the plane and picked up my luggage before heading to my friends place to get ready and head on out.

It was the day that I debuted my new costume. Princess Jasmine. I have always wanted to dress up as Princess Jasmine. Aladdin is a movie that came out when I was eight, so I saw it in the cinema, learnt all the songs and have grown up loving it. I just don't suit making the traditional green pants and bodice Princess Jasmine outfit. So instead I chose to make her betrothal gown from the movie. I made a full corset for underneath to support give me a nipped in waist and full hips like Jasmine. The gown is made from silk flat lined in cotton voile while the light purple elements are made from a horrible crisp sheer fabric. I topped it all off with foam and scuply made accessories. The wig was by far the most challenging piece to finish.

But I love how it turned out. And I even managed to get my photo taken with a Jafar who was there as well.

After a full exhausting day, I crashed, thankfully sleeping really well so that I was ready to don my Margaery Tyrell gown for Game Of Thrones day. We were meeting with a group of other GOT cosplayers for a photoshoot. We had planned for the 4pm photo session with Jamie Lanister himself, however he apparently was called back to set for filming and we missed our chance. At least we found out before time and were able to get a refund on our photo sessions.

And here are the shots that I did get of the various GOT cosplayers around the event. Sam impressed me the most as the cosplayer really looked like the actor. But so many were so well done as well.

Due to an unfortunate train / passenger beverage spillage incident, the dress is now all stained on the bottom. I'm not sure that I will get to wear it again, but at least I have had a blast being Margaery Tyrell. Maybe, I will look at doing one of her other gowns next....

A Regency Spencer

And because I am a little nuts, I decided that just one new pieces for History Alive would not be enough. Again, I looked at making outer garments, this time a spencer. I have had this one planned for a while, so it was great to finally get cracking on making it. The pattern took quite a bit of time to work up and a couple of mock ups to get it to a point that I was happy with it. I started it all back in April when I was on my Uni easter break.

The original is a piece from 1795. I thought that it would be the perfect accompaniment for my blue dress of the same time period. The thing that strikes me most about this spencer is that it very much looks like it has been cut down from a 1790s gown.

At any rate, I got cracking on it to give myself a new spencer. My version is made from some red taffeta from my stash and lined in a printed cotton. I tried to stay pretty faithful to the original, though I did change the little flare sections at the centre back for a pleat. I just felt that it sat a little nicer. This one just about sent me around the bend when I was making it. So much hand sewing!

I love how it turned out. Now I just need to replace the dress that I wore underneath. I noticed some holes in the hem when I ironed it for HA and then when I was taking it off, the back tore and then I spotted a place where the gathering had pulled out of the waistband on the front. The good news is that I already have a similar dress cut out and just waiting to be made up.

Regency Outerwear

After keeping pretty quiet on here for a while, expect some posting. The last few months of my University semester have hit me pretty heavy with the workload (lots of assignments), but once I had them handed in I was ready to get cracking on some sewing. First up was to prepare for History Alive last weekend. I didn't think that I had time to make a whole new regency dress, so instead I decided for some accessories. Turns out that a dress probably would have taken the same amount of time once you take into account all the hand sewing that I have to do to make it re-enactment suitable (no visible machine sewing).

First up, was a new open robe to go with my existing white gown. I've had the fabric sitting in my cupboard for quite a while and thought what better opportunity than to get cracking on it for an event. I knew that I would be able to use my white gown underneath, so I was happy that the blue fabric had white and blue shaded flowers printed on it. As for the design, I chose a museum piece that I liked and wanted to try my hand at replicating.

 The original

I dug out my previous open robe pattern and started hacking at it. The main features of the open robe are all in the back - pleated side panels, pleated and gather skirts and buttons and cording decorations. I didn't have any shots of the front of the open robe, so I had to make that up. I decided to go with simply using more covered buttons and some hand sewn button holes to close the gown.

I'm rather pleased with how it turned out and now it turns out that I need to re-make my white gown. Some cinder from a steam roller burned a couple of holes in the fabric as well as just general wear and tear have left it in need of replacement. The biggest decision will be whether I just remake the same design or create something new. I don't normally re-make my historical stuff, but I do love the design of the gown.

History Alive - Doing the Regency Thing

Last weekend was a long weekend to mark the Queen's Birthday in Queensland. And that means, that it was the weekend for History Alive. HA is a timeline event put on by the Queensland Living History Foundation. Basically, most of the Queensland re-enactment put on a two day event at Fort Lytton - an 1880s fort built at the mouth of the Brisbane river and used up until the second World War.

This year, my group RIFF (Re-enacting Independently For Fun) attended in Regency kit. It's quite a relaxing couple of days for our group. I arrived early on Saturday morning, ready to start getting set up for the weekend. A couple of our other members had set up the afternoon before, so there wasn't too much work to do. The biggest problem though, was that the site we were given this year is actually on road base - a nightmare to try and bang tent pegs into. But we eventually got set up and dressed in time for the public to arrive on site.

At 11am each day, we gave a presentation about dressing a Regency lady. We speak about each of the layers that make up a full outfit. And on Sunday, I actually started in my undergarments and dressed in front of our audience. It's the best way to display how it all works.

Otherwise, it's a pretty easy couple of days for us. We start out the day with a sit down breakfast at around 9.30. And then we spend the rest of the day doing what ladies did: playing cards, sewing, a light luncheon, a promenade. And before you know it, the day is at an end and we can get back into our modern clothing. I don't stay overnight like a lot of the other members in my group as unfortunately, the chemicals from the nearby refineries make me rather ill. But it's only a 30minute drive back home for a hot shower and bed before getting up to do it all again on Sunday.

There is quite a lack of photos. When we are re-enacting, we keep our modern stuff put away, but I did manage to get out of the encampment for a few shots, including all the vintage bikes on display.