Paint the town red

And the main part of this costume is now complete. I'm not 100% sure that I have the pattern correct, but there was a lot of leniency for the gown as there seem to be a lot of different styles. I went for something that would be both flattering for me as well as in keeping with the gowns on the show. It ended up being a mix. From my research there also seems to be different gowns for normal wear as compared to the gowns for battle. As in, the battle gowns have gores in the skirt running to the hip to allow for leg movement. It seemed most practical to go this way with my gown. (The photos haven't really worked because the red is so hard to photograph at night time. I swear it looks great in person.) 

As for the pattern, it was made by draping a similar weight fabric on my mannequin. It took me a couple goes to get the front split correct and the armhole splits in place. Not to mention the fold over and sleeve draping. In the end, it turned out to be a very simple T shape pattern that has a small amount of waist shaping and triangle gores sewn into the side seams from the hem to the hip. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out, and am even going to finish the mock up of the dress at a later date to wear as a dress. Of course, the belts help pull it in, in the correct places for a little more fitting through the waist and hips.

To finish it all off, all I had to do was make the headpiece. It took a few attempts to get the tying correct but it's really just a turban with a length of fabric tucked in the back. I used two different fabrics to make it. The main turban part is made of lycra into a scullcap sort of shape. The second piece is a lightweight crinkle chiffon (almost a silk chiffon weight) that is tucked in half at the back. The top piece can then be flipped over the face. I also bought a new long brown wig to wear under it all, as my hair is currently at that in-between length (that I really hate).

Now that the clothing is completely ready, I needed consider accessories. Ideally I would love to have a triquatra weapon that the sisters throw, but I am not sure if I have the ability or time to make one. So instead, I went for a lantern (which they are seen carrying when you first meet them). I managed to find a very similar one on ebay for a very respectable price and best of all, it arrived within two days of purchase. 

And as a final, I just need to purchase some belts, and trim my wig. Hopefully this can happen this week.  

Corseted

Now, this is not strictly a part of the original sister of the dark costume. I'm sure that those slender women did not wear corsets underneath their gowns. Me though, I decided that I would like something that controls my curves a little better as well as providing some good bust uplift. And that has led me to a corset. I have made it using the good old 5006 Simplicity pattern that most of my costume friends have used.



I have to say though, it took quite a bit of adjustment to get it to where it is now. Unfortunately there is an extreme amount of bust allowance in the pattern. It made for a lot of fiddling on my part to take it in. It probably didn't help that I was changing the bust line slightly too, dipping it down in the centre more. I also wanted my bust to sit nicely in it with a decent amount of lift. The other change I ended up having to make was to the length. While the front was fine, it was way too short over the hip and in the back. Again, more fiddling. In the end it took me three mock ups to get to where I am now. But I think it was well worth the effort, because I am inordinately pleased with how this has come out.


Of course, it really helps me love it more when the outer layer is made of dupion silk and the inner layer is some lovely hear print cotton that I had left over from another project. For some reason it just seemed appropriate. At any rate, this was probably the most time consuming part of putting this costume together and I think that it has really come out well. The next step is the dress and headpiece. But otherwise, we are done.

Stargatery

I am now in the final countdown to Brisbane Supanova. It starts on Friday 1st April, so I need to have all my costumes ready to go by then. I'm really starting to get nervous with the amount of work I still have to do to finalise everything. I've got my costume list all set out so that I know what I need to make, but it feels like it is taking me an age to cross things off. At any rate, the first one that I will be wearing is my Stargate uniform. So I am trying to focus on it first.

I got a couple more additions to my stargate uniform, just in my slackness have forgotten to post about them.

Patches
My patches came from here: http://www.scifigeeks.com/. The seller also has a really wide range, so you don't have to be SG1. And they are screen accurate - not to mention if you are doing any other of the stargate uniforms, the patches are also available. My brother chose for us to be SG23 because it is a prime number. As a side note, they happen to have an awful lot of patches from other movies and TV shows. Oh, and they cost at around the $9 mark. The only thing that you will need to do is attach velcro to the back of the patches so that they are removable from the uniform jacket. Which leads to...

Velcro
The advantage of attaching velcro to the back of your patches is that you can easily change the costume without having to do any sewing. I was going to order my velcro from the same place as the patches, but instead found a much cheaper option. And to top it off, you can order them in many different colours and sizes. Go here: https://www.nametags4u.com. And as you can see I have now affixed the velcro to the patches. It was really just a matter of some ironing, but I kind of just put it off as a last minute thing. 

Watch
Generally in the show, they use a particularly fancy Casio watch, however they are priced around the $200 mark. I just could not bring myself to spend that sort of money on a watch for a costume, especially considering that I generally don't wear watches. At any rate, I found a casio watch that looks kind of similar on ebay for about $20. A lot friendlier to my budget, especially considering how much this costume has cost all up. I won't go into it, but I can tell you now that it really hasn't been cheap. I had best be looking to make the rest of my costumes for the year from stash fabric. 

A ghosty sort of night

I've been so busy (and rather tired) this week gone, that I have been quite slack about uploading my photos. Last Sunday night, I made my way into the great big city of Brisbane (where I schlep to work every day) to take a Ghost Tour with the Brisbane ACG. We were a little restricted in our costumes as it had to be of a historical nature but I took it as an opportunity to re-wear one of my bustle gowns that does not get to see the light of day often enough. It was nice to be out in costume again with this being my first event of the year.


I didn't take any shots of the locations but we were taken to a lot of the old buildings around the city. Due to the nature of Brisbane's foundation (as a penal colony) there were quite a few gruesome stories of the early years and the ghosts that are said to walk the city. I found it very interesting to learn a few snipits of history. And isn't it just that way, you live somewhere for years, but generally it's not until you move away that you realise you never checked out the biggest tourist places. I mean, I was born and lived in Mackay for years with the Great Barrier Reef just a couple hours trip away, and yet I didn't see it until we had moved away and then returned on a holiday to visit family. I'm thinking now that I might make it my mission to see more of Brisbane. Do the touristry things that I would never think of doing normally. That is, if I can fit it into my busy costuming schedule. And let me tell you, it is just starting to amp up now.

The picnic gown

And the next one. My late Georgian picnic gown. The clothing itself is now done. It's all pretty simple. It was actually the fabric that I found first. I was on a bit of a shopping expedition with my Mum and Cousin and I spotted it in the quilting section. I fell in love and thought immediately to get some. It was the bodice fabric that I found first, and unfortunately there really wasn't that much of it left on the roll. Luckily enough, there was a matching plain. Both pieces of fabric have a paisley Jacquard woven in which shows up in different lights. And actually, my first thought on finding that fabric was to go with a jacket and skirt ensemble. So here we have it. The jacket was put together by using to different patterns, both from JP Ryan. One was the carraco jacket pattern and the other, the robe al anglaise. There was a lot of guess work going on as to how the back would sit, but I knew that I wanted it pretty full and to have a x2 ruffle. Thankfully, my mock up came out perfectly, so I was ready to get onto the bodice. 

It all came together nicely and then sat for a while waiting for me to try on my stays so that I could work out where the centre front would sit and the button overlaps. That done, I inserted some boning with a tiny running back stitch and stitched up the lining. The hardest decision that I had to make was the buttons. I had some lovely coconut ones in my stash that would be neat but just weren't the right colour for what I was after. I dug through my silk stash and came up with my leftover sherbert orange pieces. (I have used this colour so much - regency gown, bustle gown) The colour matched rather perfectly with the spray of flowers, so I handed over some buttons to my mum for covering (I have tried and failed to do it myself!). It was just then a matter of finishing off with some button holes and a little button sewing. 

As for the skirt, it was really the simpler part of the two. Though I did stuff up the maths. The skirt is very simple, it's six panels of fabric (my fabric cut in half down the centre), and then a ruffle of fabric on the bottom. In all my adding up, I somehow managed to forget the hem allowance. The skirt has a thin waistband on the top and is made in the style of Georgian skirts with two side seam splits and ties that do up around the waist. As for the hem, since I didn't have enough fabric left over, I went through my stash and dug out some leftovers to make a facing. I then just used a very thin seam to stitch the facing to the hem (it's doubled over for weight) and I finished it off by hand stitching the facing in place. It has actually worked rather well, because it gives the skirt some weight to hold it in place nicely. 

I'm pleased with how it has all come together, but now I really need to decide on a hat. I have bought a new wig to style for this dress, so I have yet to do that. But I just haven't made up my mind about what sort of hat I should have. I do know that I will be trimming it in the silk that I have leftover that matches my buttons and there will be some green and feathers on there, but other than that, my mind is blank. I must rectify that at some point.