Category Archives: Sewing

Take a look at various sewing projects I’ve done.

Springtime Tea

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To make a very long story short, a huge array of plans went south over the weekend, including my birthday plans. Complications with headaches and last minute necessary events happened and ultimately Patrick rescheduled my birthday celebrations.  But the one thing that did go very well was a small tea hosted by Solanah of Vixen Vintage.  She baked a few of us gals delicious treats and brewed tea as we enjoyed a peaceful afternoon of chatting and kitties.  The afternoon was so much of a delight, I forgot to take pictures of the afternoon, except my outfit!

A few days prior to the tea I picked up these fabulous Lucite handles at Antique Alley and promptly went home, pulled out some barkcloth I had also purchased at the Alley ages ago, and whipped together a purse!  And I couldn’t resist bringing it to the tea, so I revolved this whole outfit around it.

What I love so much about the fabric is that it allows me to incorporate brown (a color I have a lot of) as a spring color, which I did with this glorious 40s jacket.

Outfit
Earrings: Expo
Jacket: Puttin’ On The Ritz (which sadly suffered from a fire and closed-their salvageable inventory went to FabGabs)
Sweater & Gloves: Don’t recall
Deer Brooch: Thrifted
Purse: Made by me! Which items found at Antique Alley
Skirt: Coburg Antique Fair
Stockings: Retro Seams – Coffee, What Katie Did
Shoes: Aerosoles by way of Buffalo Exchange

“Very Fancy”

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So, as you all know by now, I spent last weekend at the Portland Convention Center for Portland Comic Con. And it was crazy.  So crazy, both Patrick and I really failed at taking pictures.  There was so much to see and do and talk about.

Friday found myself dressed as Marion Ravenwood and my friend Jen dressed as Batgirl, and Patrick opted to be lame and not dress up at all… Whatever that’s about.

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The halls of the Convention Center will full of collectable booths from posters to figurines to t-shirts and of course comic books, then there was the artists section where up-and-coming comic book artists could sell their work and interact with patrons.  And then there was the autograph area where people could meet their favorite stars and get autographs.

We all had fun on Friday, and multiple children rushed up to Jen to get their photos taken with her, it basically made her day.  A few weeks ago I bought a wig for my Marion costume, which is actually the Wonder Woman wig, off of Amazon, and it worked out pretty okay (I also put a crap-ton of eyeshadow in my brows to attempt to make them a similar color), I got a few comments and photos taken.  In reality, Jen and I were just a couple of a handful of people who dressed up.  We also got to play a real-life Fix It Felix game!  Which was pretty darn awesome if you ask me!

Saturday was about five times more crazy than Friday, with more people, more costumes and more celebrities.  Jen did not join us on Saturday which was the day for my Dixie Cousins costume to make its debut and Patrick even dressed up as Brisco.

For more on our costumes and Bruce Campbell…

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“Who’s Gonna Help Me File My Claim?”

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Last night, after weeks upon weeks of sewing and beading, I finally completed by Dixie Cousins costume for this weekend’s ComicCon here in Portland and today I had photographer and friend Anthony come by to shoot it.  I can’t even express how wonderful Anthony is to work with. He took so many amazing photos, it was so difficult to narrow it down to these! So this is still a pretty picture heavy entry!

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While Dixie wears a large selection of beautiful costumes in the series, this I felt was the most iconic, due to the fact it is the outfit you first see her in when she is introduced in the pilot.  I may venture to make her purple traveling outfit and I really would like to make her other show outfits as well, one of which is a bright teal and gold number which she and her sister wear while doing a sister act.

In terms of sewing specs… I bought Simplicity 2535 off Etsy from eetenpie and used really only the bodice portion of the pattern.  I completely winged the skirt since none of the skirts from the pattern worked. I also totally winged the bustle, using screenshots from the show as reference.  Over 8,000 beads were strung together to make up the fringe, and the whole piece took roughly 110 hours to complete. I like to keep track by watching television shows and movies on DVD and then adding up the running times… Yep, crazy girl, right here.  Additionally, this is my first ever lined piece!  In the show, Dixie has an ostrich feather boa that appears to be a ten ply boa based upon how thick it is, however, those run over $100. And I just wasn’t prepared to part with that kind of cash, so this is simply a turkey feather boa I purchased off Ebay.  I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I’ve been dying to make this since I can remember and I just hope it is well received at the Con.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Con and I’ll be wearing my Marion Ravenwood costume. And then Saturday is the big day when I’ll be wearing this and meeting Bruce Campbell! I’ve decided not to dress up on Sunday, seeing as I may bail early due to the fact that it is also the Daytona 500 as well as the Oscars!  Seriously, who plans these things!? Don’t they know there are people out there who love comics/cult classics, NASCAR and movies? Seriously, the only thing that could make it worse is if there was a huge antique show too. God forbid!

Just Keep Beading…

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Part of the reason for the lack of blog posts lately is the fact that most of my time lately has been taken up by the making of my Dixie Cousins costume which needs to be completed by February 24th when my dream of meeting Bruce Campbell will come true! Additionally, it’s a costume I’ve always wanted to make…I mean, come on, just look at it!

Dixie’s debut costume is a beautiful red and gold concoction that features triangles of gold glass bugle beads along the bust, edge of skirt as well as arm drapes.  I checked out the aisles of trim at the country’s largest fabric store (thankfully located right here in Portland, Oregon!), Fabric Depot, in search of what I needed, only to come up empty.  There wasn’t anything remotely close to what I needed. So, here I am, hand beading my own triangles…

When all is said and done, I approximate that just over 8,000 beads will be on the costume.  Call me dedicated, obsessed or just plain crazy. It’s okay. It’s certainly a labor of love, that’s for sure. I can’t wait to show it off when it’s all done!

And Now for Something Completely Different

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I’ve mentioned a handful of times that I’m a big fan of western wear as well as a few western themed shows and movies.  One of my favorite shows of all time is The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., a shortly lived series in the early 1990s which starred B-Movie actor Bruce Campbell.  In my opinion, it’s his best work and the show is top notch. While at first it may appear to be an A-typical western of a son seeking revenge for his slain father, it is in fact an fantastic fusion of the wild west, science fiction, steampunk and popular culture.  The show was my introduction to Mr. Campbell and I fell head over heels for the man with the chin. And on February 23rd, my dreams of meeting him will come true.

That weekend is the Portland Comic Con. While of course it can’t compare to San Diego, it’ll be my first every comic con of any sort and I am totally stoked. Patrick and I purchased the Bruce Campbell VIP Experience tickets which include an autograph session as well as photo op, and I’m deciding that one (of three) of my costumes will be Dixie Cousins from Brisco, specifically her debut scene when she sings “I’m Gonna File My Claim”…

I just purchased a burlesque/showgirl costume pattern off of Etsy and am off to the fabric store to buy the goods. Thank goodness I have about a month to get this in order!

As for my other costumes…I think I will wear the Emma Peel-esque jumpsuit I purchased awhile back and go as Mrs. Peel from the 1960s cult hit The Avengers and rewear the labor intensive Marion Ravenwood costume from last Halloween.

“Do we need the monkey?”

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If you’ve been watching my Twitter or Instagram, you’ll have noticed weeks upon weeks of updates pertaining to my Halloween costume.  Well, here it is, folks!

This year I’m going as Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark in her “Streets of Cairo” outfit of red harem pants and white peasant blouse (and Patrick as Indiana Jones of course).  And guess what…I did it all myself! And I can’t deny that I’m pretty darn proud.

It was a long and grueling process.  But long story short… After pouring over the film multiple times, as well as screencaping it myself, I sketched out the embroidery design, scanned it, then printed out strips to then trace onto the blouse using a water soluble pencil, followed by days upon days of hand-embroidering.  I aimed to be as accurate as possible, down to details that I think many miss in the film, including some zig-zag stitching under the arms and down the side, as well as four dots on the back of the blouse (although some concessions were made. I believe the smaller design between the larger design on the sleeves is actually eyelet work).  And while it may seem like a lot of work for just one event, I have plans to wear it again down the road for Comic-Con and Halloween at Disneyland.

I want to thank our friend and stellar photographer Anthony for shooting these. He’s so amazing!

My Costume
Blouse: New Look Pattern 6892, slightly altered, hand-embroidered by myself.
Pants: New Look Pattern 6132, slightly altered.
Sash: 1/4 of a yard of fabric, trimmed up, sewn in rousing with snaps in back.
Shoes: Thrifted
Monkey: Thrifted
Monkey’s vest: Made myself.

Patrick’s Costume
Hat: Disneyland
Shirt and Pants: Thrifted
Bag and Holster: Belong to my dad
Gun: Flea market
Whip: Swapmeet

Costume Construction

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So, it may be August, but I’m already thinking about Halloween (to be fair, Fabric Depot already has a display full of costume patterns out).  I had tossed about many ideas, but many required sewing skills I do not yet have (and don’t wish to tackle yet) and/or would be quite costly.  And then I found myself having quite the nervous breakdown on what I was to be.  This year, I feel that I have somewhat settled, although it will still be quite the undertaking (and it is still from a film I adore).  This year’s costume requires embroidery. And lots of it.  So, it’s a good thing I’m starting now.

 

 

I tend to sew while watching television, mainly movies…it helps me keep track of how long making a costume makes.  So as you can see, I’ve watched The Librarian (all three in fact, and, yes, I do like them, as bad as they are) and all three original Star Wars films.

Many people, especially those who follow me on Instagram, have been asking what I am going as this year, but even though I consider it a fairly common costume, I’m kind of keeping it under wraps.  I tend to do that, unless it’s an obscure costume like last year’s showgirl mouse from The Great Mouse Detective, in that case, I shared my idea early.

Have you given any consideration to Halloween yet?