Jump into Vintage Day 7

This ends my Jump into Vintage week, and I've saved the best for last!

You can see the rest of this week's Jump into Vintage posts here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

Fire Emblem: Awakening....Robin

This is stage 1 of my son's Robin costume from the game Fire Emblem: Awakening.  Robin is a mage. Click Read More below to see other photos...

Military Steampunk

Master Avery decided he'd like a military Steampunk outfit.  A trip to the thrift store landed us a treasure trove of goodies to work with...

MLP Shining Armor Costume

Master G decided to go to the October 2014 anime con as Shining Armor from My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic...

EZ Mod Collars, Gratitude, and Progress

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement from my last post, ladies. It means a lot to know I'm not alone in cyberspace. I was also uplifted by this lovely thread on The Steampunk Empire. Thought you'd enjoy it too.

I also found this easy, no sew tutorial on changing shirt collars for different looks....with lots of great pictures. I tend to want to make things more difficult than necessary and this is a great reminder that simple is great!

Currently, I'm working through my disappointment by providing technical guidance to my daughter, who is constructing a Sakura outfit for the upcoming con. It will look something like this....

And, I'm cleaning the pit of despair(my studio) in order to regain my sanity. It currently looks like a hurricane and a tornado went dancing together. I actually prefer to work at the kitchen table when painting or crafting, making it too easy to let the beast get out of hand.

Next, I'll be sewing a new Jedi outfit for Master G using
Simplicity 5840. He finally outgrew the last one, but didn't outgrow his love of "the force".

Steampunk Formal Outfit...The Evolution

That title sounds kinda scary movie doesn't it!?! Okay, I might have screamed and pulled my hair like a no name scary movie victim with the bodice lining. I definitely scared the cats. Otherwise this was a fairly painless operation.

In brief, I made this bodice and bustle on a Friday morning and proceeded to wear it for 8 hours that afternoon/evening. You can read the whole story here.

Every evolution needs a beginning so lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start... from the ground up...I didn't change anything about my underpinnings....modern under clothes, bloomers, & two petticoats. Nor did I change my skirt. This brings me to the bustle. The first one was hastily hemmed, pinned up, pinned to my bodice, and had one of the floral fascinator's clipped on. As a result I had more than one costume emergency the day I wore it. The before bustle is on the left (This is the actual color of the fabric.) and the after bustle is the one on the right (Not good color).The new bustle got a ruffle on the two short ends. I sewed it to the bodice, pulled it up, stitched each pulled up section, and added a bow in place of the fascinator. Now that I see it on I might make a couple of changes to make it a little narrower. Here's a full shot of the back...Here you can see the brown ruffle on the bustle...
Next is the bodice. This was a nightmare to fix. When I made it I was in a hurry. (Speed Sewing is a frustrating sport. I don't recommend it!) I used a new pattern, didn't check the fit as I went, didn't have the right size zipper, and took a "shortcut" when sewing in the lining The result was a sloppy looking, ill fitting bodice. I ended up ripping out some of the lining. The zipper was about 2" shorter than it should've been so its a tight squeeze to wiggle the thing on. The solution... First, I had to finish ripping out the original lining. I made a new one out of a bottom weight cotton and medium weight iron on interfacing. The sleeves hung off my shoulder, & the chest area was waaaay to big which made all kinds of unsightly gaps at the neckline. The trim at the neckline had to come off before the front panel seams could be taken in 1 1/2" on each side. I also had to add bust darts. The sleeves came off and I cut the shoulder seams down by 1". Lastly, I sewed in the lining and attached the bustle. The before picture is on the Right and the after picture is on the Left.Yay! That's the end of the redo. Now on to the fun additions!

Every tailoring job, for me, has some unforeseen glitch. This one was a slight puckering of the outer bodice fabric right at the corner of the neckline on the left side. I had cut the seam allowances the first time I made it so there wasn't as much to work with for adding in the second lining. My solution....a nice brooch! I started with a small round doily that took a dive into some instant coffee to age it. Then I used the very last of the purple fabric scraps, cut 2 circles, burned the edges, and layered them with some long thin brown taffeta scraps. The finishing touch was one of my favorite old silver and black brooches. Pucker? What pucker?Next up on the list...a reticule. I wanted a petite purse to carry my money and keys. I had a small amount of purple fabric left over...just enough to make this cute "squid bag". Yes, it looks like a squid...not on purpose. Just one of those happy accidents. I LOVE this squid bag.The ideal avenue would be attaching it to a chatelaine around my waist. I have a gold chatelaine but the accessories for this outfit are silver. So the next quest may be making a silver chatelaine. My next thought was to pin the back of it to the hem of my bodice and add a small watch. This didn't work so well. I ended up pinning the watch to the front of the bag and carrying it on my wrist. Every good outfit needs a matching hairstyle. This is the up do I created this morning...without the aid of hair spray mind you. (Yes, blame the daughter who used it all and didn't write it on the shopping list! Mwahahahahahaha!)I'm quite pleased with this hairdo. I'll be practicing and perfecting it.Now, what fabulous outfit is complete without a larger than life HAT! See the full story HERE.I had ordered a pair of round purple tinted sunglasses to complete the look and SURPRISE...the mailman delivered them as we were walking out the door all dressed up to go to tea!I'm delighted with these glasses. They're perfect.

So, now you know....the evolution is complete....NOT. There is no way I could just let this ensemble rest...something or another will change in the future. But these will be small changes. Not the major tailoring undertaking this was. Stay tuned for more!

Neo Victorian Hat Makover

I just finished tailoring my Steampunk formal outfit and needed a proper hat to top it off. I have an extensive hat collection AND craft supplies. So this hat was basically a freebie. (If I've owned the supplies for more than a year the cost is counted as FREE!....Gotta have some delusions.) And now for the cast of characters....

Thrifty Steampunk Costume Tips

I thought I'd share my thrifty tips for creating costumes of all kinds. Being thrifty is really a developed lifestyle. I'm always on the lookout for a piece here and a piece there that I can incorporate into something I'm working on. These tips are geared toward Steampunk costuming, but are easily applied to any type of cosplay. Learning to see the potential in things is the key.

The All Purpose (recycled) Bonnet

Miss H and I made her a bonnet to go with the nearly completed dress I hinted at a couple of days ago.

Yellow Dress Makover

This dress is one I've had rattling around my closet for years. I'm sad to say I've grown too robust for it, but my daughter spotted it and asked if I would alter it for her to make it less "frumpy".
I wanted to get this one over with pretty quick. So, I cut it to the length she wanted, minus about a 1/2". Then, I cut off the hem to reuse as a ruffle at the bottom.A little pinning and stitching later, and VOILA!, a finished dress in less than an hour!(Thanks to using the original hem as the ruffle. Thus skipping that step.
She loves to wear it around the house...especially now when its so hot out. With a cute puffed sleeve shirt underneath its extra cute for going out.

I decided the large leftover piece of the dress should be used up before it disappeared into depths of despair(my fabric stash). I had made a green skirt for Miss H several years ago and its in my "needs a little TLC" pile now. I had some leftover fabric from that and decided it would be fun to make a capelet. The capelet is reversible and can be worn with the green skirt I'm fixing, or this yellow dress.The touch of yellow in the green fabric is the exact shade of yellow cotton from the dress! I made a tiny pleated ruffle with the yellow cotton for the edge.
I hope you're inspired to breathe new life into an old piece of clothing too. It was a lot of fun....and VERY satisfying!

Easter Tea Loli

I found a divine cupcake fabric with sparkles...but, alas there wasn't enough to make a skirt...so I went perusing the calico section and found a sparkly stripe that matches it exactly! Miss H wanted to attempt to make the skirt herself, so I let her go ahead with a little instruction from Moi. She managed to make about 3/4 of it before running out of steam, so I finished it for her with only a few hours to spare before the big debut at church on Easter morning.This is her design. The small ruffles in the front and the large bottom ruffle sport a decorative stitch in dark purple thread. The ribbon woven in the lace is a vibrant blue sheer.

I was planning to make her a blouse, but ran out of time. Fortunately, I spied this cute shirt at the thrift store. It was about 2 sizes to big. But hey, it only cost $2 and I didn't have to make it!Of course, it need to be Lolified, so I cut off 4 inches from the bottom and used that fabric to craft a ruffle. I had to add a button above the existing buttons so it would be more modest. I used a button from the bottom fabric I cut off.The back of the shirt is 1 1/2" longer than the front. It makes a nice subtle bustle effect.I sewed the hem of the ruffle with a pretty scallop stitch.So, VOILA! Presenting the Easter Tea outfit....{minus the striped hair bow and other accoutrements...}