Ruffly Ruffly Time: Part Two

Today I adjusted and sewed down the ruffle to the lining part of the dress. I then pinned the top piece of the dress down and rather meticulously arranged it all. This now has to be hand sewn in place... along with all of the other sections of the dress that have not yet been sewn. Really looking forward to that.... Heh.

I also began work adjusting a touching up how the armscye is going to be sewn in place, it was very finicky, particularly around the top of the zipper, which did not want to cooperate at all. While doing this I noticed that one of the straps was pinned rather poorly and had to be readjusted, unfortunately this means I need to try on the dress again and get assistance with fitting the strap (particularly so that the top of the bodice lies flat in the back). After this adjusted I've decided to flat fell the seams for extra strength, particularly because it will be completely covered by the bertha.

I'm probably not going to be able to work on the dress at all tomorrow unfortunately. However, this is because I'm going to be going on a little costuming adventure for the PoP production. Very excited: details to follow.

Ruffly Ruffly Time

Maybe I should have saved that title for a K-On! cosplay post or something.... then again, maybe I'm the only person on the planet that would actually understand why. Well, probably not the ONLY one. I digress, I digress....

Ruffle is all pinned onto the dress and looking fabulous. Next step sewing it down. Once the ruffle is completely sewn in and the armscyes are finished (procrastinating so hard on that one, eep!) then the dress will have no more openings, and only details will be left to be done.

Also, forgot to write that on the weekend when I went to pick up more lace and ribbon for the extended section of the ruffle (which I probably didn't end up really needing to do it would seem), I also picked up some beautiful silk taffeta for the bertha. The best and most expensive fabric I have ever bought, hands down - so exciting and scary. Luckily it was also 50% off or else there is no way I would have been able to afford it. I definitely think it will be worth it though, the bertha is very close to my face and will therefore show up in any and all photos.

Wig here!

My Franziska wig arrived! Looks good so far. More on that, and pictures, to come.

It Looks Like a Dress!

On the weekend I had to try on my Ciel gown to fit the straps to my arms, which meant putting the whole affair on. While it was on I decided to take advantage and get a couple of progress pictures taken. Of course the bad hairstyle and black tank-top must be excused, they won't be there for the finished product, I promise!

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So excited. On the weekend I also elongated my ruffle by another two meters or so. As soon as the last couple pieces of ribbon are sewn down it'll be time to gather and attach! Hopefully will do today, but by the end of the week at the latest.

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I'm also starting to consider entering this costume into a masquerade this year. A little intimidating to think about it, but after all the work and love I've put into it I think it could stand a chance at winning a costume award!

Back to Rufflies

Today I made the ruffle to go along the edge of the pink dress. I hope it is long enough, it probably isn't, and there is a seam right dead centre in the middle of it, which I'm worried will be atrocious. Other than that however, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. It's approximately six inches wide and about 5.2 meters long... for now. It has lace edging and two rows of dark pink ribbon sewn it. Sewing on about 15 meters of trim in around kind of sucks, to be honest. It's a pretty tedious task. But as I said above, I'm really pleased with the way it looks. I took pretty progress pictures of my ruffle too with my new camera, and I must say the pink photographed really well. Oh how I love my camera and my ruffle.

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In other news, stopped by the school earlier this week to give the Pirates a lecture on putting together a closet pirate costume. Didn't really do much lecturing (large group of children, beyond scary - in many ways), but modelled my own pirate closet costume. Should have taken pictures... it was pretty good for a last-minute wardrobe raid. Also had Pirate King try on new Pirate Frock Coat. It fit, all is well! Still need to fix sagging cuffs, but otherwise well.

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That being said, must everyone make the "Is it Halloween already?" joke. C'mon guys, at least put a little thought into it.

Zip It UP

For this March break week I really want to put in some work on my dress (and other cosplays). Today I finally got back to work on my Ciel dress after a very long hiatus. It was a little challenging to get back into to it at first, I wasn't quite sure where I had left off exactly, but I guess I figured it out after a little looking about and reviewing my old to-do list. All I really managed to accomplish yesterday was sewing in the zipper. That being said, it was a rather challenging task. I also sewed together half of the armscyes on each side, I hope to finish that job tomorrow. Once the armscyes are completely sewn up the base dress will be more or less finished, and I can finally move on to the more decorative aspects. Yay!

Meanwhile on the other side of the table, work has been started on evokers for some Persona 3 cosplay. Yes, I added yet another new cosplay to my list for this year unexpectedly: Mitsuru Kirijo's sunday outfit from the game Persona 3. That being said, it's done already, except for the possibility of an evoker. That should be very exciting once it's completed.

Also, ordered two new wigs from ebay on the weekend. One for Franziska and one for Mitsuru.

ETA: Franziska wig shipped March 16 and Mitsuru wig shipped on March 19.

It does Purdy Designs!

Gots me a new sewing machine for my birthday! Ooh, the goodies I must now sew! And it makes many fun stitches, yay!

*Incoherent happy mumblings*

Annnnnnnnnd....

The Coat is Done!

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Except for a few tiny little stitches to keep things in place, but shh, it's done.

Walk the Lining

Attached the last two buttons and the lining to the main coat - we now have a single coat! It's a little rough, but once it's all pressed it should be nice and neat and fine!

Brass Buttons and Black Trim

Did my best to go straight to work on the coat today, which meant I got started around midday. *Headdesk*. In any case today's job was to hand sew on the details on the front of the coat. Sewing on the trim was very time-consuming, the buttons far less so, but for obvious reasons. I'm quite pleased with the way it is looking. At the moment I have two buttons left to attach... and I'm considering whether or not to add a fifth row of trim... right now I'm kind of leaning towards not, because of how long it will take and if I don't that means there will be more buttons left to use on the cuffs. The latter reason is why I'm really leaning towards capping the trim rows at four... I swear.

And a preview picture:

(I took it on my laptop under a very strong light, so yes, it's a pretty bad picture, but it gives an idea.)

Pirate Palooza?

Okay, so I'm running out of clever names for these entries. Annyway, I accomplished quite a bit of costume work this weekend.

On Saturday we made a trip back down to Chinatown and I picked up the fans and parasols for the daughters. I also picked up material for my cuffs. I went to the Fabricland by my house first, but I was so depressed by their selection of black fabrics that I could not commit to any of them. After that we went to the Fabricland where I originally bought the fabrics for the Pirate King coat - and lo and behold they still have the same black fabric I purchased the first time around.

I also did some more work on the coat. I cut out and attached the sleeves to both the top and lining layers of the coat. Everything worked out fairly well. Next I need to hand sew down some trim to the front of the coat and add the buttons. After that I'll attach the lining to the top layer, make the cuffs... and it'll be done!

Sunday was a little more cosplay-centric. Well, first of all I was able to pick up the last straw hat bases I need to use for the main daughter hats. One of them doesn't even need decorating... it's pretty covered in lace and ribbons... so much the better, I guess. As for cosplay... I was able to pick up some supplies for my Franziska costume. First I picked up a riding crop from a local equestrian supplies store... I didn't know there was a local equestrian supplies store, but hey! what do I know! Hehe. It was under $7, also very surprising considering it is a real crop. It's burgundy and black, however, which is a little bit of a down side. I'm considering spray painting it, as it should be brown, but it may not really be that big of a deal.

Afterwards, I went to the mall in search of white leggings. I was originally planning to get white tights from Ardene (currently selling tights for about $5 or 3/$10), but that didn't really pan out. Once I got there the tights were waaay too see-through. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't planning to wear them as pants.... Following this I decided to make the most of the trip and check out the rest of the mall for white pants and/or tights. Eventually I found a pair of white skinny pants. They were quite a deal more expensive than I would have liked... but they are in fact pants and they work much better than the tights ever would have. Despite the price, I'm very excited.

A Belated Update

Tuesday was a pretty intensely crazy day, I have to say. I did manage to get quite a lot done on the Pirate King coat, despite the craziness of life. Heh. I started by disassembling the mock-up, to use as a sort of interlining. The body of the coat, including side skirt inserts, were then cut out of the top fabric and lining fabric and assembled. The lining hasn't been attached to the outside of the coat yet, because I haven't yet started work on the sleeves.

The one down side is that I ran out of the fabric I was originally intending to use for the cuffs and pocket flaps. The reason this happened is because when I bought the fabric I had not yet decided to put in the contrasting side skirt sections, it was a design element that came to me after I'd found the perfect fabric. I am going to have enough fabric for the pocket flaps, and they are going to be very fun and decorative! I'm excited about those. But there isn't going to be enough left for cuffs. I'll have to go and pick some more fabric for those cuffs this weekend so that I can finish it all up by the beginning of next week. I probably won't be able to find the exact same black fabric, but that's alright, if I find something more plush that would be equally fabulous.

ETA:
Made the pocket flaps. They were a little more challenging to make than I expected them to be... sewing black fabric with black thread, trying to make out the fabric design through the wrong side... er... not easy, not fun. I think they'll look really good from far away, even if they don't look perfect up close. Heh. But I'll still try to fix them up a little.

More Pirates

Last Thursday I finished two of three medals for the Major General, one of the frilly hats for the daughters, and added a cuff to the coat mock-up. I don't really like the cuff though, and I've come up with a different design that I'm going to make up when I do the final coat. Then took a little bit of a break over the weekend on costumes for a weekend getaway. Very nice.

Today we had a lunch meeting at the school to get a few more measurements and to test out the mock-ups. The Pirate King fits the kid very well... even better than I expected it to, so I'm very, very happy about that. There is a little tightness under the arms, so I'm going to just shave off a bit from the armscye and take in the shoulder a little... I knew when I finished the body block that his shoulders couldn't be that broad. Sigh. But minor details.

The hat for the Pirate King on the other hand, is too small. I don't even want to think about what I'm going to do right now, probably trim down the brim and make a tricorn for one of the other main pirates. I'll worry about that after I finish the coat.

And as soon as the coat is finished I should be in a position to get back to work on my ballgown. Huzzah!