I should be working on a last minute Megacon cosplay but I have been distracted by this:
I got that brown houndstooth fabric a couple years ago at discount with the idea to make various suit pieces out of it. I got as far as an office dress and had all of this left over. Some 9 yards... Oh and check out that liner fabric next to it. I can't believe it's in the same scale houndstooth pattern, in brown, and with velvet brown vines scrolling up it. WTH, I cannot believe it was in the red tag section a couple weekends back. I digress...
Then the JoAnne Fabric was closing and I got this sweet coat pattern for .25 cents: I'm doing the one shown by the blue variant but with cuffs. Best part is I'll have 5 yards left over after the coat to mess around with for steampunk.
More le Awesome. Wood train case with leather trim and brass studs found at my fave decore store for $14. I am going to use it for steam punk purposes.
I've been busy. I made this for some cosplayers I don't know. But the pictures they took were hilarious and they said they didn't know how to make them into a gif so I did. Just in case you didn't know that's Miaka and Tamahome from a now classic anime called Fushigi Yuugi.
Went to an AFO meeting and there were some good ideas being tossed about. Again I'm all for more cosplayer fun so we will see how that goes.
The dull side if the vest fabric won the polls and that is in the works. It would have been worked on if I spent more time at home this weekend. After work, went to a JoAnn Fabric that was closing. Nearly nothing was left. But they did have .25 cent patterns. I picked up a few.
I'm going to victorian up that night gown pattern. And I LOVE that coat pattern. The collar is all cool. I plan on making a short peacoat sized one. The big silver wings Peter found on another jaunt to another JoAnne while lookin for more red zippers. Which brings me to...
Replaced the zippers on his Dr. Steel uniform and sewed down velco for the patches. Thumb nail is small cause picture is HUGE. Click for hugeness.
Also went there to find Kente Cloth. But for some odd reason they didn't have any. Hell, I couldn't even find the african dashiki pattern that's usually in the pattern books to point to the fabric I was looking for. But I did find some batik that could be used. I need the cloth cause I am playing with the idea of my steam punk outfit having an African flavor. Speaking of using my skin as a costuming device...
Found these laying around the internet:
Looks like The Princess and the Frog will have a few fun things for me to make :D
I am about to begin work on another vest and I thought I made up my mind to use the shiny side but now looking at it the dull side might be the one to go with. It shows more detail in photos.
Keep in mind I plan on wearing this with jeans. But of course I also cosplay and this can end up in a costume down the road.
Last year Karen and Erik invited us to something called ICE! Apparently the Gaylord Palms flies in dozens of Chinese ice sculptors, then cover a 1/4 of their giant parking lot in 9º F weather via tarps and uber air conditioners. The Chinese guys get to work making massive ice scultptures and finally the staff hands you a giant blue parka and it's a winter wonderland time.
This year we urged Peter's parents and his brother's family to join us cause we had such a good time before. The wait was like 40 times longer cause we went the weekend before Christmas. But it was still fun. Our various body parts went numb by the end. Last year we went ice skating (I didn't fall on my butt once!) but the wait tired us out so much we skipped it this year.
Prepare for picspam! but first...a video.
Here's a couple images from last year:
And I close with a video of the candy ice house and giant ice cream.
I really urge anyone to go visit. It's a really nice way to get into the holiday spirit. If you are from up north and miss the feeling of a numb nose ICE is a great way to remind yourself of why you moved to FL.
Oh and did I mention the ice slide at the end?
I suggest going the weekend it opens though. Way less people.
Buck and Emily are proud new parents to their new baby girl, Ellie Athena. Buck is a video game addict. They did their baby's room with Mario and Princess Peach on the walls. When I heard Emily was ok with that I thought to myself I have to make them shroom pillows. OMG it would be epic.
The red one is to make sure Ellie grows up nice and big. The green one is the extra life I'm sure her parents will need after the lack of sleep.
Last week I finished up a baby quilt for my new 5 wk old nephew. I had a bit of scrap fabric left so I made a baby sized star pillow for him to play with (ie drool on). I think every child should have something lovingly handmade by a relative. They can look at it in later years and have physical proof someone cares and will look after them. You don't know how important it is until there is a lack of that feeling. Time to pack it up and send it off. I always hope stuff like this is well loved by the owner and maybe it might last long enough for them to show or give to their children. The border is so fuzzy, I must have one now too...which is highly possible cause...
Look at this good fortune!!! I showed the quilt to my boss and he asked me how much it cost to make (around $20) and he asked then why are all our vendors charging over $100. I said "Because they can, they know consumers are out there spending $600 on a 3 pc baby set." Consequently, it happened that day he was throwing away two perfectly new rings of fabric samples. I was "WTF, you just saw me make a quilt and you are tossing this? Gimme!" He said I could have them. I scrambled home and went through them and they are fabulous! White pique, chocolate damask, navy diamond twill, pink matelasse, lime pima cotton. 220 color coordinated swatches in all. I'm so excited about them I can hardly design the quilts they will become.
Lastly, a couple days before this windfall of fabric my manager came in with this for me. There were other fabrics but this one you have to see.
Isn't it ugly?! After having it for a couple days I realized it has a certain charm to it. Too bad I would make a terrible lolita, cause I would totally make a sophisticated loli out of it. Anyone have ideas on what it could be?
I was up to visit for my 10 yr reunion (of which I am still trying to
locate the memory card) and my Mom's birthday was a couple weeks
prior. I couldn't figure out what to get her until I remembered a
couple months ago she had mentioned she wanted me to make her
something. No reason, she just said it. What better time to make it
then for a birthday. She is the one who taught me to sew afterall. I
love my mum, she is such a powerhouse and so smart. What a lovely woman
she is. A few years ago I made myself a kimono and showed it to
her. She liked it so much I decided to make one for her then, but I
never came across the right fabric. Then the fall palate of colors came
out at Joann Fabrics and I saw this.
I present to you, the world premier of my parents on teh intarwebs.
Here
is my dad as well. It would be a crime not to say what a gentle man he
is. I do mean a man who is gentle. He didn't grow up in the most loving
of households yet he turned out to be the most loving of fathers. Suck
on that psychoanalyst. The house is happier when he laughs, it really is.
So
there they are. The people who made me, raised me, and love me. No one
will ever be their equal. How did I ever end up so stable and blessed?
A couple of weeks ago I was surfing ebay (something I haven't been
doing for a long time) and I like to look at cosplay while minusing
out hentai, alchemist, doll, naruto, bleach, socks, zentai, wigs,
necklace, inuyasha. If you don't take all those things out you will
end up with 43573947 pages of the same bleach costume over and over. Add that stuff in and you get more of a list that is as fun to browse through as cosplay.com . After some clicking I saw this:
Now
normally I am not partial to frilly cause it just doesn't work for me.
But I stared at this... and I left it up so the next day I saw
it....and the next.... Yup, I want it. If I love any lolita it's classic lolita.
I've even made up a reason I need it. Steam Punkery for Dragoncon next year. My friend Allen is thinking about it and all of us are shoving him towards it cause we want to do it too.
addendum:
Yeah I know Fan+friend is hit or miss with their customer service. But
it's only $70 with S&H. I think I might chance it. I like it that
much and it will cost that much for my time and materials to make it
anyways.
A few months ago Karen asked if I could throw a Harry Potter party as a fun incentive for people to pre-reg for AFO. It also helped the last book had come out the week prior. I figured I could make a scarf for each house as prizes and buy a few favors. Then I thought I would could pull together things from around the house but I figured I wouldn't have enough... I was wrong. I didn't think I was that much of a fan. Stop laughing.....
games from friends, puppet pals, books, wands I already had. I got a gazing ball, trunks, and candles for the occasion. Also made some scarves.
Made cauldron cakes to eat. These are unfrosted. You know they kinda look like some weird mold got hold of them.
freaky bright neon icing mixed and added.
Bite into them and you get this. No, don't adjust your screens. They were fun to have people bite into.
Now if I only took pictures of the whole set up. I was too busy setting up last minute details I had forgotten about. I think the attendees had a great time. I had to kick them out after 12. Anywhoo, this is just a catch up as I post things I should have talked about ages ago.
