Supanova 2008 Sunday

And of course finally Sunday. My lovely Sunday started out with a wake up at 5 am and a trip to the airport to send my parents to Melbourne for the week. Unfortunately my brother cannot drive (still on his learners) so I was really the only option for them. This is my older brother we are talking about too. So by the time I got home from that I was wide awake. And I had the best start. The new season of Battlestar Galactica. YAY. I was so happy. So not only was dressing in a BSG costume, I was watching it for the morning.

Speaking of costume:

I am rather happy with how it turned out. My undershirts turned out nicely (with a bit of fiddling and cutting), but my favourite part is the jacket. I am now thinking of making some just for regular wear in different colours, but still the same style. And to top it off, when I got home late on Friday night, my tags had arrived. I was overjoyed. After late postage and the seller no longer being registered I was starting to get a little worried. But they arrived. The only thing I am missing is the replica gun that I ordered. I was hoping that it would arrive, but as it didn’t I will just have to do a second set of shots with me in my costume with the gun. Just because I can.

Sunday was a lot slower sort of day. But there were still some amazing costumes around. My favourite by far, though was the girl dressed as Sozuku from Farscape. There was a really neat Eternal Sailor Moon and a very cute Bumblebee as well. So it was pretty neat to sit and ogle the costumes as they went by. I think what surprised me most about the second day is that people were wearing the same costumes that they had on for Friday night and Saturday. And unless they washed them overnight, all I can think is gross. Because it was not really cool weather, and surely they would have sweat into their outfits. Apart from the gross factor, it is just neat to have 3 different costumes. But now, photos.

So now I need to start planning my costumes for next year. I will definitely be doing the three days again, mainly because I love the fact that it is a whole weekend of costuming. Even if it is exhausting, it is still well and truly worth it. And there will be at least one Anime outfit as well. My brother has even said that he will come dressed up next year. So I warned him that I want his costume choices by Christmas complete with research pictures and full information. That way I am guaranteed to get them done. Especially if he wants 3 and I want 3 new ones. It will be a big call. But I am up to it all for the spirit of costuming. YAY….

Update

Well so much for getting my BSG costume finished during the week. My mum picked up a stomach bug and like you do, passed it around the family. So I spend Wednesday afternoon and Thursday at home sick. I was back at work today, but not for overly long.

So come this weekend I need to get my BSG zip inserted and my supanova costumes will be complete. I am so happy that I managed to get most of it done early enough before the event. I have having to finish things at the last minute. Though, I may be painting my gun at the last minute if it arrives on time. I still have a week for both it and my dog tags to arrive. I also need to make a trip to bunnings this weekend if I intend to make the arrow of Apollo that Starbuck picks up on Caprica.

Apart form that I have no real commitments this weekend. I am still really tired and washed out from being sick, but the pills the doctor gave me to stop me throwing up make me tired. So I am thinking sleep will be good. And then I may just have to do some more of my own fun sewing. I have started my underbust corset from the strawberry blue gingham fabric from my lolita dress and it will look cute. So I would like to get that done. And then maybe I could try putting together a Lolita headdress. As I have none I get a bit worried that my hair is letting me down in my lolita outfits. I may try to make some cute hair bows as well. Will have to see. But I fully intend to make a start on Victorian base corset (for all my future Victorian garments). And I have completed my first mock up of the s-bend corset. I just need to add a smidge more room in the centre back and try a mock up with boning and lacing. I am pretty happy with how my first try turned out and I cannot wait to do the finished product.

After Holidays (sort of)

So, I have been kinda slack in my posting over the long weekend. But I have been very busy and productive. Aside from the family evenings, when I didn’t get much done (family visiting from Mackay) I managed to complete (almost) everything for Supanova. Yay! (I am jumping up and down and clapping).

I guess I should start by going into the details of my Thursday afternoon Spotlight excursion. I had to get all my fabric for my BSG costume, and thankfully they had the right colours for me. I also picked up some fabric pieces in anticipation of my historical sewing. I got my fabric for my regency dress (sale rack) and my elliptical skirt fabric (also on sale rack). And I got the fabric for my Victorian Natural Form Petticoat and my Regency chemise. I felt so over-excited when I got home and just could not wait to get started.

Friday dawned and I was up early getting started on my Suparnova costumes. I completed my Chi (Chobits) blouse first. I had already made a start on it and just needed to finish the sleeves and attach them, the ribbon bits and do the buttons. I took quite a bit longer than I expected to finish; mostly because of the awkward sewing on of ribbon at the neck and cuff. I then moved on to getting my underskirt done. Talk about ruffles. For a start the skirt is very full (3 metres) and gathered onto a waistband; and then it has a ruffle on the hem as well (3 times to get a good fullness). And to top it off I had more ribbon to sew on over the ruffle join. I had every intention of cutting out the rest of my fabric in the afternoon, but I just got my first cervical cancer shot and my arm and bicep were killing; which creates problems when you are trying to fold and shake out big pieces of fabric. Family over for dinner cut out any sewing I had planned for the evening. Especially after a few glasses of wine and champagne.

So bright and early Sunday morning I got up, made my Ice Cream and finished my cutting out. Unfortunately I didn’t get any sewing done, mainly because it is Easter Sunday and I got Planet Terror on DVD (instead of chocolate) and I had to watch that. And between the movie and preparing for our family BBQ, I didn’t really have time. For a start my home-made ice cream needs to be stirred every hour, which kind of kills time. And I had to make a few other things as well. But at least my ice cream was good. And then once the kids went home we got stuck into the SingStar again. I really think we are addicted. Especially since we are exchanging Tuesday movie night to SingStar this week.

But as compensation, yesterday I got stuck in and got a heap of stuff made up. My Chobits overskirt is done, and most of my BSG costume is complete. I made up the pants, the two singlets and most of the jacket. The only thing that I need to finish is the jacket – because I bought the wrong zip. So today I went over to Ewan Gardam and got one. Now I just need to find the time to insert it. At least everything else is done. I even managed to make a start on my next underbust corset, which I plan to work on this week. But as I was back at work today, it will have to wait. I am just so relieved that I have everything ready for Supernova. I hate leaving the sewing to the last minute. The only thing I need to do now is fix my chobits ears (the band they are on is too long) so that it will fit under my wig. I am also waiting on my E-bay purchases. I am hoping they come either this week or the next. But who knows, they are coming from the UK and America. I am also going to make the arrow that Starbuck picks up on Caprica (my costume) so I will need to get a few things to do that. But it should not take too long. A trip to Bunnings on the weekend will take care of that. Whew

Holidays (Sort of)

Well, I am now on my Easter break. I know it is only four days, but I am going to try and make the most of it. I left work early this afternoon so that I could get over to spotlight before the late night shoppers showed up, so I have taken care of getting all the fabric and notions that I need for my weekend of sewing. Thank Zeus I planned to stay home and do nothing but sew. I may even take holidays next month so that I can get some more done. I will have to see how well I go this weekend. But to inspire myself and get started I have made a lovely list of everything that is pressingly needed to be done.

Must be done this weekend:
Chi, Chobits – blouse (1/2 done), Skirt, Overskirt.
Kara, BSG – 2 singlets, track pants, jacket, arrow (possibility)

After that:
Victorian corset (will be the base for my new Victorian outfits and I need to start with this)
Edwardian corset (make up of first draft)
Victorian chemise
Victorian Elliptical Cage Crinoline
Fix God costume (bodice, and sew new ribbon to hem of skirt)

And then I can move onto getting any of my other sewing done. Namely I really need to get my Victorian pieces ready. Firstly my natural form petticoat and skirt, then the polonaise for our fashion show in May. I really need to get these done as soon as possible. Though like I said before, I may take some holidays soon; even if I only take a few days either side of a weekend. It will mean that I can get heaps of sewing done which is the biggest bonus. Hmmm, must consider this in greater depth.

God / BSG

So my plans have changed. Again.

What can I say, I sometimes decide to change my mind. No, but seriously, I was intending to wear my God costume to Supernova this year. However, after wearing it for a few hours in the afternoon on Sunday I decided that it really was not exactly what I wanted to wear. For a start it is a little hot to wear. Which is not really a good thing at Supanova. And it is not exactly comfortable. I think I really need to make some adjustments to the corset. Everything else was fine (apart from ribbon coming off my over tutu). My issues with the corset are that I didn’t cut it down enough to get rid of the seam allowances. It is fine at the hem but it digs in a little bit under the arms, and I think that the neck strap is a little big (also needs trimming). And I had one bone start to poke out. So to fix it, I really need to do quite a bit of work. For a start I have to redo the section where the bone is poking out (not too hard – just need to stitch / tack at the bottom really). But to fix my other issues I have to completely re-do the top of the corset. Basically remove the binding, trim back the edges, adjust the boning lengths and re-stitch on the binding again. So really it is not too bad to fix. I am just not a fan of remaking things. I may try to get around to doing it when I have some free time. Not that I get that much free time, between costume commitments, work and makeup jobs I get pretty busy. If I don’t get sick again, I should be right.

So, instead of God, I am going to make a costume from Battlestar Galactica. In point of face I am going to be Kara Thrace, Starbuck. Who is really one of my favourite characters in the whole show (so glad that she came back alive). One day I intend to make the whole flight suit but since I am on limited time (2 weeks to go), I am going to make the outfit that she wears on Caprica. Which is really simple. I need the two singlets that they all wear underneath everything (charcoal and light grey), charcoal trackpants with a grey waistband and a raglan sleeve zip-up jacket in charcoal with grey sleeves. So it is a pretty easy costume to make. I am also waiting on some last minute E-bay purchases to complete the costume. I have bought her dog-tags (coming from the UK), and a replica gun (coming from America). The gun needs to be sanded and painted but that should be fine. Oh and I need to get some shoes that work. But thankfully she wears black leather sneakers. So, comfortable. But one of the best things is that I don’t have to wear a wig. My hair is now short and blonde so it works perfectly for the character. I am also thinking that if I get enough time that I might make the arrow of Apollo. Just because I can. And then I can make the storage container that they put it in (basically a postage tube with a strap painted black). At this stage everything is just a plan. I have yet to get fabric (leaving work early tomorrow to get this). So hopefully I can get my fabric. I will be very annoyed if Spotlight don’t have the right colours.

But I really have to say that I am getting very excited about going to Supernova. It is fast approaching and I really need to get everything finished. As it is, I have started my Chobits, but I really need to get more of it done. I just drew up the sleeve cuff today so that I can finish the blouse. And after that I need to do the two skirts. Hmmm, Thank God for Easter. 4 Days of sewing heaven.