Costumes for the Crypt

Wow, I haven't posted in almost a year. Nice. I have actually been doing a lot of doll costuming lately, but I have a hard time finishing anything. Here are some recent endeavors

My Monster High bee CAM, Bettee Bumble, (a teenage girl who was a victim of a mad scientist's experiment in a '50's B-Movie) is getting 50'd out. I finished her circle skirt (not the right petticoat underneath).

I made these for a Monster doll clothing swap with a friend:
Steampunk

Fairy Kei

I am now working on an Elizabethan kind of dress for my MH skeleton, Carrienne Rotting and some Regency doll clothes for a friend :)

Yea! It's over!

I finished (?) my final dress in miniature for my Katriene costume. Not super thrilled with it, and I didn't have time to really finish it, but whatever. Not bad for a first dress for Dalice (my doll). It's hard because some things do not translate to scale. For instance, fabric is not to scale. And when I leave minuscule 1/4" seam allowances, it's like having 2" seam allowances in normal clothes, making for an unusually bulky costume. I think I will cabbage the lace and trim off this dress and redo it in a silk that goes with my office.

Costume Final.... part 1

This is Katriane, a take on the Taming of the Shrew's leading lady 'Katarina'. For my costume design class I have to make her costume, finish my 'theme board' and finalize the costume designs for my fake production. I did pretty well on this part of it, and now making the dress is bogging me down. Must. Plug. Away....

BTW, this was my gift from Allen for my birthday, my new muse: Tonner's Tyler Wentworth (renamed Dalice). I have put a down payment on the forthcoming 'Jack Sparrow' which I will be attempting to turn into Johnny Depp. After this costume, I am hoping to start some Steampunk costumes.

Hob Nobbing with Local Designers..

So I went to Portland Sewing last weekend for my first Textile Show with the jobbers from London Textiles. It was really interesting. I was pawing through samples of fabric, elbow to elbow with Bryce Black. I found a bunch of fabrics I wanted but couldn't afford any yet.

What is a Textile Show? I didn't know either. Apparently ' A jobber is a fabric supplier who sells mill ends (also called over runs), odd lots and seconds. Jobbers buy fabrics from textile mills and sometimes clothing manufacturers. Jobbers sell goods to individuals, one-off designers, small manufacturers and fabric stores. Jobbers typically have very small minimums'... according to the Fashion Incubator blog.

Basically they come and bring samples of the fabric, and you 'order' it, the prices are fantastic but it is in 10 yard minimums.

That's great for my costuming needs since Civil War dresses take about 10 yards a piece. I fell in love with a rust-colored, tropical weight wool and I would LOVE to grab it and make an 1860's day dress trimmed in black velvet ribbon. I'll have to sketch one.

What a great place to buy wool, they had so many choices and great prices.

Anyway, they had fantastic prices for silk taffeta, they didn't have a color I needed (ha!) but for future reference it's good to have a source. They had a gorgeous black-burgundy shot silk and a lovely, buttery gold. sigh

The Beginning

Ok, so I have 'Create Blog' on my to-do list for January. I don't know why it's such a chore; I mean, I love to talk, especially about myself and my projects- so that's not it.I love to talk about costuming and creative enterprises in general. Maybe I feel overwhelmed by the whole 'blog' thing.

Well, whatever the reasons for avoiding it, it's time to do this...