Sunday, July 28, 2013

Petticoat Update

You know what I've done all week? I've been sewing feather trim on the bottom hem of the petticoat I'm making. My house is full of feathers. I didn't keep track, but it probably took a solid eight hours. I won't bore you with all the details, like the difficulty I had finding more trim when I ran out and had already bought every piece at the fabric store. Just believe me when I say it's been a long, tiring week of hand-sewing.

Once I was done with the trim, I was able to use the machine to sew the lace on top. I did that this afternoon. I won't bore you with the details about that either, like how my bobbin ran out halfway through and I screwed up when replacing it and almost broke the needle, etc. Anyway, I got it sewn on.


Then I had to ruffle it. That took hours. I did that this evening. The cat helped.


You may remember that I started this whole steampunk garage project so I'd have somewhere to sew where the cat wouldn't help, but while I'm happy with the garage and it's very useful for most parts of a project, the floor will never be as clean as my living room carpet (stains and all).

I won't bore you with the endless activity of ruffling and how it was already 10 pm when I sat down to sew the pieces. I got it done, and only had to rip out a few inches of stitching that I screwed up.

Here's what it looks like--and keep in mind that I still have the upper tier and waistband to make. Yes, I know, the picture is blurry and the color is off. I will not bore myself taking and processing a new one.


Sunday, July 21, 2013

New petticoat started

I got an email that my corset has shipped, so by next weekend I should be all set to work on the main parts of my DragonCon costume. In the meantime, I've started the petticoat.

Unlike the practice petticoat I made a few weeks ago, I'm being careful with this one. I'm using the feather print fabric that I love, too. Yesterday I spent an hour cutting out the pieces for the bottom two tiers. At one point I had a measuring tape around my neck, a T-square in one hand, and a yardstick in the other. I used all three tools, too, to make sure the pieces are the right size and shape. Not that this is a complicated pattern at all, especially since I'm not even thinking about the waist tier yet.

Because the corset--assuming I ordered the right size and can get it on (and alternately, that I ordered the right size and it's not too big)--will make my waist and hip measurements a bit smaller than they actually are, I'm going to wait and do the waist tier after I have the corset. I also realized I won't want a lot of bunchy layers under the corset even if they won't show. So instead of using elastic, I'll be making an actual waistband, probably with a button closure. Same for the bloomers that I plan to remake soon. Same for the skirt.

At the moment, I'm sewing a feather trim to the bottom hem of the petticoat. This is six yards around, remember, which will make for lots of lovely ruffles. I tried to sew it with my machine but it didn't like the thickness of the trim's tape or the stickiness inside it (the feathers are glued into the tape, a very sticky glue that gets on the needle), or the feathers' shafts either. So I'm having to hand-sew it. Six yards is eighteen feet, you know, and it's a slow process. Fortunately I have the entire box set of Gundam Wing that I haven't rewatched in a while.

Once the feather trim is complete, I'll go back and hand-sew a lace band on top of the hem, to hide the raw edge and make the whole thing look a bit more finished. I won't be to that point for a while, but here's a picture of what it will look like. If I do it right.


Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Goggles are Done, or, Don't Eat the Goggles

My buckle order came! I ordered lots of stuff in hopes that I could find uses for it all. Unfortunately, none of the buckles were really small enough for what I had in mind--a headstrap for my goggles.


So I did what I probably should have done in the first place: I used ribbon. Specifically I used some brown woven flat cord, which I tied to a pair of hooky things. I can easily hook and unhook them to the D-rings on the goggles to put them on and take them off.


I badly need to clean the bathroom mirror, don't I?


I hadn't though the goggles would fit on my hat, which has a narrow brim. But look here! All I had to do was add another hook and a loop. It's not beautiful--and I'll have to find a bigger hoop, because it's a tad tight and I don't want to crunch my hat--but it works just fine.


I moved the pin with the copper owl charms to the back of the hat, which gives it a bit more interest from the back and will hopefully help keep the goggle strap from riding up and coming off.


I still think there are too many feathers on those goggles. I mean, the cat thought it was a new toy and kept trying to eat the feathers, so yeah, too many. But there's nothing I can do about it now.


So the hat/goggles combo for my costume are done. As soon as I get my corset, I have to go into overdrive to make the skirt and top. I have only the barest smidge of an idea of what I want, too, and the cloth feathers all turned out disappointing, and I look like a dork and I look like my mother. I'm going to go mow the lawn, dammit.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

No update this week

Yeah, I got nothin'. Even with a four-day weekend, I didn't do anything. Well, I started one project but didn't get far (making moth hat/hair decorations; it's not working as well as I'd hoped) and I ordered some stuff to finish my goggles. Did you know there's a website called The Buckle Guy? I ordered some buckles and other stuff from the Buckle Guy, since it didn't seem worth it to just order, like, one buckle for my goggles and that was it. I also ordered the new Dragon*Con steampunk lanyard, because I always forget to bring a lanyard and end up having to buy one when I finally get to the dealer's room. The trick will be to not forget to bring my steampunk lanyard.

Oh wait, I did do one thing. It took about thirty seconds, but here's a picture.
 

It's a tiny copper owl charm I found on etsy, which I strung on some copper-ish links and pinned to my hatband. I'm going to try to find some more charms to put with it. Here's another picture of the hat, along with my owl goggles and a cheap pocket watch that I found half-price ($5! and so far the watch hasn't broken!) and bought because there's an owl on it.

So in other words, I have my accessories set. I should have my faux-leather corset any day now too, and the shoes will work as they are if necessary. All I need is the rest of my freaking costume.