JAFAX 17

So, JAFAX was this past weekend. :) Wound up doing two guerrilla cosplays instead of anything with lots of sewing. Princess Celestia from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (which I'll be revamping with a better wig in November) and Quinn from MTV's Daria. I don't have any pictures, myself, but a friend took one of my Celestia, so here that:

 

You can find the rest of her photography at AmeZaRain on Flickr. :)

The wig I had ordered didn't get here until the day after the Con, so in November I'll have a better, more character-appropriate wig, and the horn will be less wonky. We had to kinda just loop it through the hair, because it's supposed to be Velcroed in place, but I couldn't sew Velcro into this wig. :/

World Steam Expo Things

So, I have...two weeks until World Steam Expo? SHIT.

I'm make home from college, but life's a bit crazy right now, what with my mom's house having sold, and all of my stuff being in boxes, and not having a good work-space at my dad's for costuming. But, we'll see. Two weeks. I can make this work.

I hope.

I have a few things left, and I haven't even started getting my packing list together, unfortunately. Have to finish my ballgown (a hem, a few stray stitches, and an underskirt--then it'll be finished), and have to finish my Steampunk Artemis (which mostly means a lot of work on my bow, more than anything, and figuring out how to make a quiver, and also I need to attach a shoulder strap to the dress).

Um, other than that, though, I think I'm doing good for WSE.


Packing List:
1. My green corduroy outfit (finished)
2. Swishy brown skirt outfit (finished)
3. Airship Captain with Jodhpurs outfit (finished)
4. Artemis (not finished)
5. Ballgown (not finished)
6. New walking skirt (not finished)

...so, I'm half-done? Yeah, more or less. Two weeks? Definitely do-able.

Random Thoughts

So, I should probably be studying Chinese right now, but with my ballgown all but finished, my mind has now moved on to ancient Greece. I'm really excited to begin working on my Steampunk Artemis costume for World Steam Expo's (rumored--the Events page on the site isn't updated yet) costume contest. Supposedly, the theme is mythological figures, and I really hope it's more than rumor, because my persona's name is Artemis Grey, and it'd be nice to show off her namesake. Lol. Either way, though, I'm super excited to be working on this costume, as I've had it in mind for a while now, even before I heard the rumors.

I think right now my main concern is making it steampunk enough without sacrificing the Grecian element, or going overboard. I have my initial design (seen below), and I'd like to stick fairly close to it, but at the same time, I've since had some good ideas that would change things a bit...the sleeves look more and more complicated, the more I try to think about how to do them. Lol. I'm also concerned about finding a corset I like well enough, and with enough time to ship, and for a price that I can afford. Right now I'm thinking I'll forgo the traditional pins at the shoulders, and maybe rig some leather straps with cool buckles, instead. I also will need to make the hip-quiver pretty soon. My dad gave me a bunch of old arrows to use for crossbow bolts, but I'm planning on making most of them dummies, just in the quiver for show. I'll have one or two I can take out and pose with, I suppose, but so as not to offend convention weapons rules most of 'em will be fake. The eye-thing...well, I don't really know. I have an old brass decoration from a horse harness that's a few crescent moons, and I'll probably try to work that in, somehow. ^____^

In other news, I've decided I really can't call my dress form anything other than Idris (sorry, Mom, no "Lenore"!), since she time travels. Last week she was preparing for a Victorian ball, and this week, it's Ancient Greece, so you see, "all of time and space" really suits her quite well. ^..^;;

World Steam Expo -- One Costume Down!

 So, I've nearly finished my ballgown for World Steam Expo...basically, I just need to whip up an underskirt (super easy, shouldn't take more than two hours, if I'm taking my time, but I don't have the fabric yet), and it needs to be hemmed. But, I thought I'd put pictures up anyway, because I'm really excited even though it isn't technically finished. :)


Here's the font and back. It's gonna have a red underskirt to match the corset, and I want a red lace fan, but I don't know if I'll be able to find one... I have elbow-length gloves somewhere, and also a dark red hair net which, if it looks right, I'll probably wind up using, since my hair is so short right now. :) In terms of jewelry, I have absolutely NO idea what I'm going to do.
The busk on the corset is silver, so I'll probably try to match my jewelry to that, rather than going with something more "steampunk" like brass or bronze. Dunno what I'm doing for shoes yet, either, which is another reason it isn't hemmed yet. Lol. Honestly, if it comes down to it, the fabric doesn't fray much and I might just leave it not hemmed if I run out of time. I already have my next project draped over my dress form (whom I have decided to call Idris, since she's blue like the TARDIS, and I'm a nerd that way), and I'm really excited about it...but I think it's going to be more challenging than I initially expected, because the fabrics involved are tricky. Gotta go look up some Grecian art, I guess, to find a style of chiton that I like...

Thrifting

Went thrifting with Jamie, Kiki, and Lindsey (and briefly Kaeli) today, and Craig joined us later. I think out of everyone, Lindsey probably got the most stuff purchased, but we came up with some good ideas for Jamie, and I bought a crossbow which I'm super excited about!! It's not really in working condition, but that's fine because I'm planning on steampunking it with Craig's help into something AWESOME for a semi-secret costume I've decided (last minute) to throw together.

...and I have no idea where my tea dress from 2010 has gotten to... :(

Petti-troubles

So, I have a petticoat all cut out and pinned to my dress form (she still needs a name, btw, but I can't seem to decide on one...all dress forms need names), and I have the thread I need for it...but not the zipper. I need to go get one in the appropriate color and preferably one that will be more or less hidden when in place. Also, I'm not sure if it would be best to cut the hemline before or after the side seams are sewn. It's supposed to be higher in the front and lower in the back. Additionally, I didn't use a pattern, and I'm trying to decide whether or not it'd be smarter to lay these pieces out on the fabric I'm using for the over-skirt, or if I should just BS that skirt the way I did this petticoat...

Dilemmas, dilemmas. *sigh*

The fabric store is open for another two and a half hours, so I have plenty of time to go get that blasted zipper...but then I'll actually have to start sewing and come to decisions on all the other things, too, so I keep procrastinating. Also, I have homework I should be doing (though it isn't due till Monday.........it feels like it's already Sunday, though, which is throwing me off), and probably an essay I ought to write. Ugh.

Here's what I have so far:

Despite my various hesitations, I actually really like how it's shaping up. The fabric is super lightweight, so very sheer, but I'm inclined to use this as an actual skirt for World Steam Expo, provided I make some additional, white petticoats to go under it.......................but what this is really for is the bottom-layer petticoat for Idris, for Youmacon. Her lowest petticoat is striped, from what I can see in pictures, and so is this, though really subtly. Part of the way it hangs is due to the bum pad I rigged out of quilter's batting, though as of right now it's merely pinned in place, too, not sewn into a wearable piece of underclothing yet.

Also, did I mention that I'm pretty sure the original calls for a ruffly bottom edge? I hate ruffles, for one, and I'm not actually sure I have enough fabric to make ruffles that go all the way around. And I don't know if I'll like the finished product as much on its own as I do now. I love Victorian fashions, I really do, but I also like clean hemlines, I guess.

Dunno what I'm gonna do. Just thought I'd post and try to straighten my headspace out a bit.

I'm getting really excited for World Steam Expo, and it's only February, lol! I'm especially excited to help Lindsey and Jamie thrift for Steampunk stuff. :) It's probably my favorite thing, thrifting and exploring antique stores...

...which is exactly what I spent all yesterday doing! I found a really cool Japanese-themed tarot deck. I got it for $10, but I looked it up and found out it's worth something like $145, because it's out of print and never been opened. This is a double edged sword, because I really wanna open 'em up and see all the pretties, but at the same time I want to conserve the value of the cards (because I collect tarot decks). They're really lovely, the images from the deck I've been able to find online, and I wanna play with them, but that would destroy their worth (though, even used they're worth almost $60...).

But, anyway, back to thrifting for steampunk. Jamie wants to go for something really equestrian (of course, this is Jamie we're talking about after all...lol) which I think is basically going to come down to having the proper jacket and the proper boots, and then going steampunk with other elements, because a classic riding jacket is key to preserving the look she wants...I'd love to find a hat we could mod into a coachman's hat, too...in fact, I might have one already in my costume box. I'll have to double check, but I won't be able to do that until spring break (goodness, I hope they need me at work--I'm flat broke!), so for now I'll just maybe do some concept art. Jamie didn't realize how many outfits she would need, and so far that's the only thing she's mentioned specifically, so I think it'll wind up being a lot of just "generic steampunk" clothes shopping.

The only thing Lindsey has mentioned specifically is a sweet looking corset she found and wants to use as the key piece in an outfit, so I'm not really sure where she needs help, other than second opinions and the like...? I linked her some of my favorite "accessory" sites and stuff, so hopefully she's got an idea of what she's aiming for... :)

That said, they can both probably raid my closet for things like fun belts and hats and stuff... ^____________^