Supanova 2011 Take 2 - Sunday

Sunday was a much later start. After breakfast at the Coffee Club (yes, in Costume), we finally made it in. It was Disney day. We had organised as a group to wear Disney costumes, and I have to say that I truly adore wearing Disney. It's a huge ego boost being asked for photos all the time, and so lovely to have small children come up and ask for their photo with you - though the knees don't quite like the bending so much.

My Disney choice was Ariel, the Little Mermaid. I decided to make her day outfit. It really is a very simple costume to put together. The skirt and petticoat are both 8 gore skirts on a waistband. I did make them slightly gathered so that they would be a bit fuller. My construction was a little different on the outer skirt in that it is two layers. I could only get the bright blue colour I wanted in a very light-weight fabric, so I ended up making the skirt double layer with a blue sheeting (from stash) as the lining layer. It really worked well though, giving the skirt enough stiffness to hold out nicely. The blouse took a little longer to make - I patterned it together from a couple of different patterns - the bodice is scoop necked, princess seam, waist length (bias bound) with an invisible zip up the back. I used bias to face the neck edge too, stitching it down to hold in place. The sleeves are a very simply full sleeve that is gathered into a cuff at the wrist. It buttons with 3 shell buttons on the inside of the wrist. The hairbow is made of the same fabric as the blouse and is simply a long rectangle twisted and sewn with a band and attached to a ribbon to put in the hair.

For the corset, I simply re-drafted my pattern from my sister of the dark costume, making a few changes (shorter in length, pointed at the front, straight top with the cut out v). It laces up the centre back with black grosgrain ribbon. It is pretty heavily boned with both steel, heavy plastic boning and cable ties. I made it out of black cotton sateen (from stash), and some left over pieces for my inter-lining and lining (cupcake). It is bound with bias made from the cotton sateen.

The most complex part of my costume had to be the wig. When I was looking for wigs, this one was the only one that I was happy with the colour. It is a perfect match for all the resource images I was going from. The only problem that I had was that with long wigs, they tend to be very thin at the bottom and I really wanted a full wig. So, I bought to. I cut one apart and stitched it into the other. It was really a nightmare to do as the hair is so long, it just kept on tangling up. But I persevered, and in the end, have ended up with a very full wig that I am supremely happy with. I trimmed off the ends so that it was the length I wanted it to be and then styled the fringe - with lots of hairspray and lots of back-combing. The fringe was the main thing that I wanted to get right.

To finish it off, I added some pinkish red lipstick, black shoes, and my stuffed toy flounder. I am really pleased with how it has come out, especially as this is my very first Disney costume. I think I had a lot of my own expectations to live up to - quite frankly, it had to be good. I would have been really disappointed with myself if I had gotten it wrong. I think now I just need to get some really good shots of it all.

Supanova 2011 Take 2 - Saturday

Saturday, I arrived bright and early in my Saber Lion costume. Trust me, the hand fan was out and flicking away as the temperature rose throughout the day. A polar fleece costume is probably not the best idea for daytime in Brisbane's November weather, so I made the change into my new American McGee Alice costume. There was a marked sigh of relief as I peeled off the suit and cool air wafted over my skin. The day was full. I sat in on Cliff Simon's Q&A Session (Baal from Stargate), shopped, chatted, filled up on slushies, shopped and shopped some more. Coming home with a couple of my Christmas gifts taken care of. There's a lot to be said for my brother not being able to make it along (the poor sod had to work - in Kuala Lumpur). *sarcasm* I feel his pain.

I don't have any construction shots of my Alice costume, as I made it in quite a rush, but it is a very simple costume. The dress is from a simplicity pattern with a few adjustments. The skirts are cut slightly shorter so that they fall just on the knee and the neckline is a little deeper in the front. The apron is simply drafted off the bodice pattern to match the game costume design. The front and back are almost identical, but the necklines match that of the dress. The skirt is slightly gathered onto the waistband and the hem is rounded. The pockets are small round ones that I gathered up, ironed flat and top-stitched on. I painted the designs on with dimensional fabric paint. The back of the apron is constructed by rectangles. The waistband actually does up on the side back with some hooks and eyes, the bow is purely decorative with the pieces stiffened with tulle inserted and a couple pieces of boning in each edge of the bow. The skull I managed to pick up in a discount store around Halloween. I painted it white and then used a large mattress needle to stitch it to the dress (which I now realise I have to remove so that I can wash it).

Add some black and white striped tights courtesy of "We Love Colours" and my new boots from "Girls Obsession", 3 petticoats, the classic vorpal knife and wig and there you have it. It's all made out of cotton and linen so it's quite a cool costume to wear. Quite frankly, it is just begging to be worn again some time, I just need to find the right venue.

Supanova 2011 Take 2 - Friday

Lucky that we are, Brisbane got a second Pop Culture Convention this year - a second dose of Supanova. It's the pre-emptive change to future April Supanova on the Gold Coast and November Supanova in Brisbane. Of course, I will be going to both next year. But as it happens, a couple weekends ago, I spent my time at the show grounds for our very own second 2011 Brisbane Supanvoa. It was an action packed weekend which I thankfully managed to hold off getting sick until I got home on Sunday night.

Friday saw me head in for the evening with my cousin and fellow costumer visiting from Sydney. I took the opportunity to re-wear my Sister of the Dark costume. But with it being night time and all, I popped a tiny torch in my lantern so that it would glow nicely. We shopped around for a bit before heading over the opening ceremony where we sat back to the comical stylings of the weekend resident comedian.

A ball of a time

Last Saturday night, I attended the Playford Ball in Brisbane with a group of friends from the Australian Costumers Guild and my re-enactment group. There was a large number of us attending all in regency costume. I ran a regency specific hair and makeup workshop in the afternoon. I ended up styling many a regency do. I think it was very successful and I was glad to practice my hair styling skills again. I even talked my dad into letting me style his hair in a more regency manner. It really made a difference in how he looked, so I am completely prepared to style his hair again next time I dress him up in regency.

Somehow I managed to get my mum's new Regency robe ready in time for her to wear. It's made out of a black crinkle georgette that has a flocked spot and black embroidery. It was one of the pieces of fabric that I picked up for her quite some time ago. I've had the robe cut out for some time, but just no time to make it up. Ironically, I got it done in a couple of evenings work. The robe has a full gathered 3/4 length sleeve, the back of the bodice is fitted but the front gathers up with black velvet ribbon under the bust. A couple of tucked pleats on each side of the bust make the bodice fit over the bust line. I love how it turned out and it was so lovely to be able to surprise my mum with it. And I really love the contrast of the black robe of the bright yellow gown.

The other thing that I whipped up for the event was a turban for myself. With the half turquoise hair that I now have, I felt that I needed to cover up my hair a bit, and unfortunately a wig is not really the best idea for regency. I forgot to take any construction photos, but I fully intend to make another one, and will make sure that I do then. It was extremely simple to make - a round of fabric gathered up and stitched to a bias hair band. Then decorated. I would like to try some more complex turbans in the future, but this served the purpose wonderfully. And I was lucky enough to have some left over purple silk in my stash that was a good match for my dress.

BVFF

Back at work today to rest after a busy weekend. It started on Friday night with a trip to the Vintage Fashion Fair after work. My cousin and I knocked off work, dressed in our vintage best and headed on over to Ascot (the racegrounds where the fair is held).

I re-wore my 1950s red dress styled with Victory rolls, a vintage hair snood and wedge shoes. In hindsight, the shoes were not such a good idea. My feet were killing me by the time that we got home. But I did score on some very neat finds. My cousin found me long red gloves that match my dress. I also picked up two vintage military hats - a ladies airforce hat and an army hat. I have always wanted to do vintage military outfits, and now this is the perfect opportunity. I also picked up some vintage underwear - 3 half slips and 1 full slip and a 1940s style floral dress. I find it strange in that a year ago, there is no way that I would have found vintage slips, but this year there was an abundance. My dad also scored well - he got a full 1970s suit. It fits him perfectly and looks really great.

But I did have a lovely evening out and am definitely looking forward to the next Vintage Fashion Fair. We have been tossing around ideas for our next outfits, and believe there will be some upcoming 1970s ensembles. I am kinda keen for a halter-neck flared pantsuit.