Dolly from Luxury Comedy
I've been watching a lot of Luxury Comedy recently, so my friend Alice the Insane and I decided to dress as Noel and Dolly.
I made the dress and cut and styled the wig myself, too. The tights, shoes, and belt I found on Amazon and I already owned all of the jewelry and makeup.
The dress was a weird thing to make. There's one sleeve, a weird flap in the front, and shoulder pads. I patterned a shift dress and the sleeve using flat pattern drafting. To make the front flap, I cut out two shift dress fronts and sewed one to the back on both sides and the other on only one side. I then cut the top front (the one sewed in on one side) so that the free side slowly came in until it was about five inches from the side seam. Next, I folded over the side and sewed a hem using my machine. I also hand sewed the edge of the top of that side hem onto the side seam so that the flap would fall where I wanted it to.
Instead of fully lining the dress, I made a facing to go around the neck and the left armhole. It's herringbone stitched in place to make sure it wouldn't flip up or move around, and I used it to help keep the shoulder pads in place.
I actually really like the dress and might wear it without the rest of the costume sometime. It's a little dressy to wear to uni, and the shoulder pads are kind of a weird element, but I think I can find use for it somewhere.
The makeup is still probably the funkiest part of this outfit. I spent a lot of time trying to get it just right, and I ended up needing some help with my eyebrows from my friend on the day of the con.
Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween! ?
New Fabric Designs!
If you have a Spoonflower account and follow my account, you've probably noticed some new designs. I've been working on a fabric collection based on paint.
The first fabric, called Black and Blue Mirrors, is a simple black and blue repeating pattern. I created this design using acrylic paint and paper. I then scanned the painting into my computer and cleaned it up as much as I could before I ordered a yard of fabric from Spoonflower.Why did I order a yard of fabric, you ask? 
For a swap with Alice the Insane, of course! I gave her a yard of my design printed on cotton poplin ultra in trade for a super cute bag that she made to match our Kylo Ren and General Hux cosplays that we wore to MCM London. 
I really like the bag she made, and I've been using it so much! It's a really good size for everything I need with me on a daily basis.
I love the dress she decided to make from the fabric, I think she did an amazing job keeping the pattern intact and that having the design off center was fresh and different.
She added bias binding to the neck edge, and the dress opens at the side with a zipper. Isn't it lovely?
This is the other fabric that I designed, also made using acrylic paint, paper, and a scanner. It's only the second fabric in my 'Paint' fabric collection, and I'm hoping to add at least two more painted fabric designs over the summer.
Be sure to check out Alice the Insane's facebook page!If you're interested in purchasing either of these fabrics, they are available here.
Perry the Platypus Dress
The dress is another pattern from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. It's the Sweetheart Sundress, although I modified it to better fit the idea that I had in my head. I changed the front of the dress so that it is no longer just two pieces (one on each side), but is now five (two on top, three on bottom), changed the back piece by separating the piece along the darts into three separate pieces, and changed the side zipper in order to make a more fitted dress.
The skirt is a simple gathered skirt with a wide lace trim to add a bit of interest to the dress. The first time I applied the lace to the dress, I accidentally melted a segment of the lace with the iron and had to tear out the whole trim and replace it with new lace.
This is the inside of the dress. Only the top is lined, and I hand sewed in bra cups for support. The zipper is on the left side, and I did not encase it in fabric on both sides because I was trying to avoid hand sewing as much as possible.
I found this fabric at Joann's while looking for a fabric I could use to make a comic book print dress. I think that the fabric fits the criteria I set, because it includes animated characters in a comic book print design. It's a cotton blend printed with the Phineas and Ferb characters with a focus on Perry the Platypus.
The Zig-Zag Dress
I made the zig-zag dress a little over a year ago, sometime in the year 2013. It was part of my "Greyscale" Collection, which, as the name suggests, is a collection made from fabrics in shades of grey, black and white. The collection was inspired by the outfits in old black and white movies.
The pattern is Vogue V8808 cut out in option B. I really like this dress style, especially the collar, shape, and length combination. I made the zig-zag dress before I had been told it is a much better idea to trace the pattern pieces, so all of the pieces are actually cut out of the original pattern paper.
I'm really proud of the pattern matching on the princess seams (zig-zags AND curves? What was I thinking?!), but not of the pattern matching on the side seams. The reason for this is probably because I sewed and serged the side seams of the lining and the outside fabric at the same time.
Because the zig-zag fabric was very lightweight and see-through, I did not make a full lining, and instead ended it above the knee with a terribly uneven hem. Luckily, it's not obvious that the lining hem is uneven from the outside, and instead looks like it transitions smoothly from lined to unlined.
Despite its flaws, I still really like the zig-zag dress - I mean look at those princess seams!
Winter Gifts! (Part One)
I made this hat out of a very nice wool blend yarn for my friend Georgia. I modified my "Spark" Slouchy Hat pattern by adding a band and stopping the dome of the hat early so that it would be a closer fit.I'm allergic to wool, but I did not have any difficulties working with the yarn, and the hat worked up fairly quickly. However, when I went to try the hat on, I discovered I was too allergic to wear it. Georgia had no problems with the yarn and was very excited to receive her gift.
This hat I made for my friend Kate, who lives far enough away that I had to mail it to her. I originally wanted this hat to be an earflap hat, but I miscalculated how much grey yarn I had, and ran out very early on. I was able to fix the problem, and made a green brim for the hat instead of earflaps, adding the Hogwarts house name "Slytherin" to the brim in the remaining silver yarn.Over the next few days/weeks I will be uploading pictures of the remaining gifts I have given to my friends, as well as one I received. I will also be taking pictures of older garments that I may not have mentioned before, and posting those.
Pink Zebra Print Fox
My sister Adelaide (9) made a fox today with just a little help from me. Here's what she has to say about it:"The tail was the hardest part because I had to hand-sew all the way around. He's made of very soft pink and pink zebra fleece. I used two hand-stitch techniques. I used the ladder stitch to sew him together at the end, and a running stitch for everything else. He was very fun to make and his name is Darth Vader."When questioned about his name, Adelaide had this to say:"I like Star Wars, and Darth Vader is my favorite character!"This fox was made from a free fox pattern my sister found over at Katie Steuernagle's blog, Matsutake.
Dirk Strider Cosplay Skirt
Here we see my sister modeling a skirt I made for my friend Genny's birthday. It's a reversible knit skirt with an elastic waistband. It's based off of the character Dirk Strider from the webcomic Homestuck. I put an applique of Dirk's glasses on the orange side and and one of his hat on the black side. Genny is planning to cosplay as Dirk later on in the year, and hopefully she'll allow me to post a picture of her complete costume on my site!
The applique on this skirt was difficult to attach because the threads wouldn't catch during the stitching, and I'd take the skirt off the machine to find terrible seams. The issue might have been that I was trying to applique a knit to another knit. However, I was able to fix the applique in time for my friend's birthday, and I am very pleased with the result!
Pink & Black Tutu
Stuffed Animal Top Hats!
"Spark" Slouchy Hat
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A slouchy hat made with three colors of yarn in double and treble crochet.
Mad Hatter
This is the "Mad Hatter" outfit from the Alice in Wonderland collection.It consists of flared pants, a corset, a jacket, two sleeves, and a hat (not visible). The jacket closure consists of a hook and eye in the front, the corset laces up in the back, and the sleeves are held up by elastic in a casing.
Red Queen
This is the "Red Queen" garment from the Alice in Wonderland collection.This garment consists of a red plaid heart shape on a black corset, a red and black striped skirt with a large slit on the side, and a pair of red shorts. The corset is laced up in the back and the shorts have a front zipper, while the skirt requires only a clasp to keep it on.