Bloomers: Two

Bloomers are finished, huge and hilarious! But I love them.

Bloomers

Sewed the bow onto the hat, so it's finished now too. I wasn't able to start working on Franziska today, unfortunately. I did not waste the day, however, I started making a pair of bloomers to go with the Ciel dress. Without being gathered up yet they are amazingly huge. It's pretty entertaining actually.

ETA: Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, I've decided I can't wear Franziska to AN this year, so I'm putting it aside for now, and will finish it up for FanExpo. Sigh, life.

Done.

The dress is officially done. No pictures as of yet in its completed form, but I'll be getting to that soon enough. All I have left to do now is attach the white bow to the back of my hat and practice for the Masquerade. Now that's a scary thought.

Countdown to Anime North: 10 Days.

Weekend of Updates

I'm not going to go into huge detail but managed to get a bit of work done this weekend on costume stuff, which is awesome! It's been a weekend of working.

I've almost finished the hat for the Ciel dress, I just need to add the white bow on the back. The hat is not my favourite part of the costume, but I think it's pretty good for what it is. I've finishing sewing about 50% of the black ribbon detailing on the gown. This is quite possibly the most annoying part of the whole ordeal. I got my curved needle but the damn thing is so dull it couldn't puncture anything.

One of the evokers has been cast and it's looking pretty good. After some sanding, filling in some holes, and painting it should be pretty awesome! Heh. I also got to casting the buttons for my Franziska costume, which I think I'm going to start working on tomorrow regardless of the gown not being fully finished.

As a totally spontaneous side project (because I have sooo much time) I've made a parasol to go with the Ciel gown. I'm going to pick up a couple more supplies to finish it off tomorrow.

And that's about all.

Countdown to Anime North: 11 Days

You Can't Sew Through Metal

The problem with have a boned bodice means there is metal everywhere, and you can't sew through metal. The only way I'm going to be able to finish sewing this ribbon on the front (which is going horrendously, thanks for asking) is if I get a curved needle. I can't get one though, because I don't have a car today and I have no idea when it will be back. So, how am I supposed to finish this whole damn thing by tomorrow?

It's looking to be a little impossible. Big, big problem.

ETA: Went back to working on the hat, and it's going a lot better than yesterday, thank goodness! Cut the brim off to cover separately. Then recovered the whole hat with felt to cover up the glue gun trails that I couldn't remove (even while utilizing a hairdryer). To reduce those bubbles in the fabric on along the edges of the brim I followed a good suggestion and used spray glue. It looks A LOT better and was worth the extra effort. I sewed together the crown piece and then re-attached the top to the brim. The edges still need to be covered with either black ribbon or black bias tape, but I have nethier right now. In the meantime I started working on the white ribbon band, but I can't really attach it until the black edging has been put on.

Shopping List:
-Curved needle
-Black ribbon to finish dress detailing (I'm sure I'll run out)
-Thick(er) black ribbon or bias tape to cover hat edges
-More flowers (I have six but that's probably not enough)

Hat Woes

Started work back up on the Ciel Gown. I wanted to try to do the hat today, it's not working out. It looks very sloppy, and really it's no wonder. This fabric just will not stop moving and puckering. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it, because I'm really unhappy with it so far.

I also started to putting the black ribbon on the front of the dress. It's looking pretty good, although it's quite difficult to sew around the bodice area because of the boning. I knew it would be like this, if that's any kind of consolation to me. I think I may stop for the day though, I burned my thumb and it's really driving me crazy.

Bryan's costume isn't working out so well. The jacket we ordered off the internet apparently does not exist, so he got a refund but it leaves us in quite a spot.

Best case scenerio: I finish Ciel this week, which is do-able, I think. Then devote the rest of my time between now and Anime North to making my Franziska coat and cravat/jabot. This weekend I absolutely HAVE TO get the buttons and evoker done... probably it would be even better if I could do them this week, but it's all getting to be a lot for me to do.

Countdown to Anime North: 15 days

I Could Have Danced All Night...

Success!

Finished everything in time for the ball and had a blast! More details to come once I've recovered, heh.

Also, after a very long day of costuming PoP is coming along nicely... still quite a few pirates to finish getting costumed, a coat to alter, and a couple hats to throw together, but it's definitely all coming together. Very exciting! And probably more details to come on that one too in the near future.

... Too Tired to be Creative

Crazy day. Spent five hours at the school sorting and assigning costumes to the kids in the show. Only got through about 10. Which means there's around another 50 to go for the rehearsal I'm attending on Sunday. I'm scared.

Managed to get some work done on the dress today, although progess was limited by the time spend at the school. I made and attached the back bow to the dress. The tails were a little bit of a challenge, though after some thought I was able to work it out. I just have a few more little stitches to make to hold it in place where I want it on the dress. I also secured the gathers in the back. I managed to get some work on the cascade ruffle, but it's not going as well as I'd like. Due to obvious time constraints I'm going to have to hold off on this until after Saturday. So much the better, probably.

Anyway, that means my to-do list for tomorrow is a little bit shorter:

1) Attach the two rows of ruffles to the underskirt
2) Add the closure to the waistband
3) Secure the gathers in the front of the dress
4) Make those small back bow stitches
5) Sew a small gap near the zipper

Not too bad at all. I think I'll probably take care of the dress steps first, then finish of the underskirt. It makes the process more poetic. After all, the underskirt was the first thing I started working on, and it'll also be the very last. Aww, how sentimetal... or something.

Ruffles, Bows and Flowers... Oh my!

I did my best to get an early start today. Despite this, I still feel like I didn't do as much as I should have... that being said, the day is not yet over.

First off, pressed my striped shirt. Opened up my bow tutorial on deviantArt (yeah, I haven't made a bow in awhile) and reviewed. Whipped that baby up fairly quickly, although I stupidly punched a hole in one of the corners, so fixing that slowed my momentum a little. Once the bow was all finished I handsewed the collar ruffle to the dress. This is what took up most of my time today. It was a pretty painful process. I had to keep it on the dressform while I was sewing it, so I did the whole job while standing. I had to use a stool to sew the back because I'm short, I guess. Afterwards I sewed the bow on to the dress and that looked pretty snazzy.

I was really at a loss as to how to add a flowers to the front of the bow. Then it came to me that I should do it like my Sailor Jupiter bows and make it detachable! So, there is a pin glued to a piece of felt on the back on the bow holding it in place. While attaching my little pin device my flower fell apart in my hands. This turned out to be blessing in disguise. When I went to reassemble it I actually decided to disassemble a second flower and use those petals in my flower too. So my front flower is actually two flowers in one! It looks so much better than it would have too! I'm so happy about that.

Afterwards I started experimenting with pinning up the front of the dress. I'm starting to realize it's a little bit too long. Unfortunately I cannot change this now. So it will have to suffice. It still looks fabulous, you just can't see the black ribbon/top of the ruffle on the underskirt on certain areas, notably the front centre. I will get over it.

I'm hoping to still make some more ruffles for the back of the underskirt tonight. Although I won't be able to finish them completely, because I am still out of black ribbon. I'm going to be picking that up tomorrow however, so it's all good.

Countdown to the Ball: 3 days.

ETA: Decided to call it a day at 10:30. I managed to whip out nine meters of my white broadcloth to make the last two underskirt ruffles. Also decided to try using a loose machine stitch to do the gathering. Not such a great idea. Might be an okay idea for one meter. Nine? not so much. Nevertheless I managed to wrestle out two seperate ruffles, each about 1/3 the circumfrance of the underskirt. I'm not going to do the ruffles all the way around for Saturday, perhaps for Anime North I will continue them, we'll see. Tomorrow once I get the black ribbon I will sew those rufflies on and the underskirt will be officially done. And it only, hmm, nine months? Whoo!

Bertha Baby

I could easily call every entry about ballgown process from here on out "Ruffly Ruffly Time", but perhaps that is a tad too uncreative.

As I expected, on the weekend I spent several hours ironing out fabric. Torturous. Anyway, yesterday and today I put in a lot of work on the bertha - or neckline ruffles. As I believe I mentioned previously, it's made out of white silk taffeta. I made the ruffle 4 inches wide (not including seam allowances). For a little extra touch - which turned out to actually be an extra little nuisance - I decorated the edges of the ruffle with some decorative machine stitches: a little vine with leaves. I think it's cute and another little touch no one will ever see but turned out to be quite difficult. I still need to add the black ribbon to one section of the ruffle and then secure it all to the dress. But I think it's looking really good. Thank goodness, heh.




The front bow is black and white striped fabric. So, I've been hunting for this black and white striped fabric forever. I've never seen any. Well, I lie. I've seen thick black and white striped Halloween satin in the past, but what that stuff would be good for I have yet to find out, nor do I intend to. Now that time is running out, I was left with two options find another alternative or make the stiped fabric by hand. Well, option two may yet come to pass, but for now I've picked up a black and white striped blouse from Value Village that will soon become my front bow. It's kind of depressing to have to use someone's second hand rayon shirt on top of my beautiful silk, but times are desperate. I've prewashed it today, and hopefully it will be dry, pressed and bow-ified by tomorrow evening.

Countdown to the Ball: 4 Days

I also have to start the countdown to Pirates of Penzance which takes place the last couple days of April. I still have quite a bit to do, but at least in the last couple weeks we've been able to borrow a lot of costumes, so the list is getting shorter every day! Exciting. There's going to be a Sunday rehearsal this weekend, which would be very good for me to attend. Of course, it's the day after the ball. Hopefully all this costuming doesn't drive me crazy, because the countdown to Anime North begins as soon as PoP ends. Eep!

Countdown to PoP: 15 Days

Pin Free Zone

Today I finished off the armscyes of the ballgown. There are officially no pins left holding my dress together! It's wearable.... but not wearable enough for my ball just quite yet. I've pressed all the ugly handsewn seams down too.

I also prewashed my white fabric for the bertha, which must now hang dry, and then probably be very meticulously ironed out before being bertha-ized.

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.

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.

Wig Work

First of all, took some pictures of my wigs:

I absolutely adore the feeling of the black wig, it's so smooth and silky and awesome. The blond wig is pretty awesome too, but it sheds a surprising amount, so hopefully it will be able to survive all the surgery that I will need to do to it.


Today went scouring Deserres for wig dyeing materials. Eventually we found the brands we were looking for but not after a lot of headaches looking around in the wrong sections. Anyway, after determining there are no grey sharpies to be found in a 50 mile radius, we decided to go with the FW ink dyeing method (this is for the short blond wig).


A further detailed report about my experience to come.

Wigsies!

The wigs arrived today!

Well, technically they arrived around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, but I was at school, so I had to wait until after school today to go pick them up from the post office, but, anyway....

They're here!

Ciel Phantomhive: Part Fifteen

October dress deadline is now gone with the wind. I technically no longer need this dress before May 2010. That really does make one's determination falter a little. I no longer need to break my back night and day to finish this dress in time. However, I am still going to attempt to finish it so that I can get a few pictures of it into my portfolio before I send that off with my school application. Sigh.

Today I sewed the lining to the interfacing. This was a HUGE hassle, my sewing machine did not like me trying to maneuver the bones around... ugh. Disastrous. I cannot repeat this with the top layer, it's just too big of a risk, and yet this is kind of the position I've been left in now. *Dies*

Made a few minor alterations on the skirt part of the top layer, then sewed and pressed. All seems to be going well there, thankfully. I then sewed the top fabric and the lining together, and despite earlier trepidation, it went quite well!

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In other costume news I'm going to do a photoshoot for my Sailor Jupiter costume this weekend, weather pending. At this point Sunday looks clear, so fingers crossed. I need to get it done before it's so cold outside I get hypothermia in my eeny-weeny little skirt.