Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Halloween Costume '09: The Making Of & Final Pics!



Here I am with my handsome man, Patrick, all dolled up for the Mixx & Make Pre-Halloween Craftacular last Saturday night. We had a great time at the par-tay & people kept saying he looked like Frank Sinatra. Check out all the fun photobooth pics from Trevor Ray Thompson - they are fabulous!



In this post I'll walk you through how I made my Roaring Twenties costume. It was not very difficult because I started with this amazing beaded dress that had a very Twenties feel to it, except that the silhouette of the dress was all wrong. Also, it did not fit me at all (as in I couldn't get it over my rear end without ripping it).

The dress was a floor-length, fitted gown that was meant to cling to the body, with a low back & straps that criss-crossed across the back. The front had a deep v-neck & built-in, padded bra cups.








I neglected to get good pictures of the dress before I altered it, but it looked something like this (on someone who could fit into it):















Obviously it was all wrong for a decade known for a less feminine, decidedly not clingy, silhouette with short hemlines. The style of the day is epitomized in this picture from 1926 of the beautiful actress, Alice Joyce:

From my extensive research on the subject of 1920s fashion, I have learned that the evening gowns of the day usually consisted of a plain slip dress with a sheer overlay (which was often beaded). The original dress that I bought was made of a sheer material onto which all of the beadwork was applied, and the dress was fully lined with peacock blue satin (or something similar). The beaded overlay could easily be detached. That's why I knew that I could make something out of that floor-length evening dress when I saw it hanging on the rack at the vintage store, even though it didn't fit & it was kinda Dynasty-like.

I found this gorgeous vintage slip (circa 1965, I think) at Big Bertha's, another great vintage store in town. This slip did fit me, very well in fact. The slip was meant to be my undergarment for the sheer beaded overlay, but I love it so much that I didn't want to ruin it in the process. I had to design the overlay to be worn as a dress that hung independently from my shoulders, rather than sewn to the slip in any way.


So I had some major reworking to do. The first thing I did was separate the beaded overlay from the lining of the dress. I removed it from the entire column of the dress, but left the extra lining in the bust area intact so that it would not be sheer. I removed the padded bra cups because the 20s were all about minimizing the bust, not enhancing it.

Instead of ripping the seams, I opted to cut the lining away, leaving the seams intact. This left some of the lining material attached to the edges of the sheer overlay material. I did this because I knew the sheer material would be difficult to sew by itself, because it is so delicate & flimsy and frays easily.

Then I ripped open the seams on each side of the beaded overlay. I was left with a front piece and a back piece that were totally separated.

I cut off about 20 inches of the overlay at this point, taking the hemline from floor-length to about knee-length. The beads were tied on with a knot after every second bead, so although tons fell off during the making of this dress, they didn't all just go cascading to the floor when I cut the fabric.

I then used the lining material to make 2 side panels for my new flapper-style dress. Patrick helped me pin the panels in place while I was wearing both the slip and the overlay. I brought the overlay up in the front & back so that it just covered the top edges of the slip (the original dress had a much lower back). We figured out that I could just make the panels the same width all the way down, except for the very top of the dress. The beaded overlay wrapped around me more right under my armpits. We also figured out how much I would need to shorten the original straps of the beaded dress to make the new flapper dress hang the way I wanted it to. I glued the panels in place with Fabri-tac first, because I knew it would be a nightmare trying to sew them in. The glue holding everything in its place made it a lot easier to sew.

Instead of cutting off the straps, I decided to just sew them in place at the correct length, but leave them hanging down the back of the dress. I knotted them for a decorative touch. I liked the way this little detail looked (plus, it saved me a lot of time & work!). Too bad I didn't get a picture of the back of the dress while I was wearing it; would've been easier to see the straps.


That's about it. I shaped up the hem a bit after trying the dress on again over the slip. I cut it a little on the choppy side & made it short enough for that fantastic knife-pleated hemline of the black slip to show through. I left the cut edge raw & just let it fray. The look of the imperfect hem meshed quite nicely with the messy-ish side seams with their visible bits of the original lining. There were lots of beads missing here & there which the perfectionist in me wanted to sew back on, but luckily Patrick saved me from myself & reminded me that it was just a Halloween costume! All in all, I was very happy with how it turned out.

Stay tuned for a post about my hair, makeup & accessories later this week.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Halloween Costume '09: Details



I finished my costume today! Whew! I can't show you yet, because I wanna debut my look at the Mixx & Make Pre-Halloween Craftacular tomorrow night! But here's a little peek at some of the details.



I felt like a contestant on Project Runway, but without Tim Gunn around to provide me with his words of wisdom. And no shopping spree at Mood, sadly. I was definitely just trying to "make it work" and I think I did!


It turned out pretty fabulous & I'm super-excited to wear it to the party. I will post pics afterwards - promise! Have a great weekend!





Thursday, October 22, 2009

Pretty Pics: Portrait of a Pooky

We interrupt your regularly scheduled costume-making programming to bring you this special presentation. How can I possibly get any work done with this adorable beast lounging on my desk?!






Awww, I guess our little photo shoot wore him out. Naptime!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Halloween Costume '09: Rippin' Seams & Takin' Names



Last night I cut out the lining of my dress & today I set to rippin' seams!



The dress, before:
It will soon be transformed into my Roaring Twenties costume! Let's hope I can pull off this spectacular feat by Saturday so that I can wear it to the Mixx & Make Pre-Halloween Craftacular!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Halloween Costume '09: The Dress


So you may recall that I'm planning to dress up as a Roaring Twenties Gal for Halloween. I've decided to stop calling my costume a "Flapper Girl," because of the common misconception that it would be this kind of get-up. Not at all what I'm envisioning! I'm going for something more sophisticated like this look here, from the September 2007 issue of Vogue.

A few weeks ago I checked out Amelia's RetroVogue & Relics, which is a totally amazing boutique, but didn't have quite what I was looking for. But Patrick was on that shopping trip with me, so we decided to stop in to New Brohemia, the men's vintage store that is next door to Amelia's. We were at a loss as to what to dress P in to compliment my Roaring Twenties look. He just wasn't going for my Mr. Peanut idea. I don't know why! He would make an adorable Mr. Peanut.

Anyway, no luck for Patrick at New Brohemia, but I scored the fabulous beaded gown shown above for only $20! It was in their Cheap!Cheap! section in the back, which has stuff for the ladies, too. I couldn't believe it was so inexpensive with all of that beaded detailing. Ok, so it doesn't fit me at all & it's more 1990s than 1920s, but I have a plan...

Saturday, October 17, 2009

My Double-Signature Accordion Book - Complete!



Just put finishing touches on my accordion book & I'm lovin' how it turned out. You could make your own tomorrow in my Basic Bookmaking class - it's not too late to sign up!







Friday, October 16, 2009

My Double-Signature Accordion Book


Been workin' on this sketchbook/journal for my Basic Bookmaking Series which starts this Sunday. It's gonna be a fun class & there are still 3 spots left if you want in!


This is the type of book we will be making in the first class. Accordion books are so fun & hold so many possibilities!



I love adding pockets & stitched details. The strips on the right side double as a note holder! Clever of me, no? : )


Join my class! You'll love it!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

How I Spend My Days...




Yep, for real. I actually spent this afternoon making fabric-covered mustaches, then posing in one for these silly pictures. It was for my work, I swear! It was prep for the Beard Folks Art Show the other WonderCraft gals & I will be attending this Friday at Austin Handmade.


This party is gonna be fabulous! Beard-themed art by Corinne Loperfido, DIY mustache-making with The WonderCraft, music from Team Fabrication...


food from Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, drinks with Treaty Oak Rum, beer from Saint Arnold Brewery, wacky-fun people - and it's all FREE! What's not to like?!


Oh, there is one thing not to like. This will be the last bash at Austin Handmade. Sadly, they will be closing their doors on November 1. So come on out & help them go out with a bang!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Life in our Pond: Baby Toads and Dragonflies


Look at these wondrous creatures we were lucky enough to have hangin' out at our little pond over the weekend! Teeny, tiny toady cuties! Gulf Coast Toads, according to Patrick.



They were so unbelievably cute and so cool to see hopping around in his hands.




This adult dragonfly used one of our water plants for moulting. It had crawled out of the water as a nymph and then emerged from its larval skin as an adult.


I was amazed that it sat on that plant all day. Patrick hypothesized that it was waiting for its new body to harden up a bit before flying away, and since it was a cool, wet day, that probably took a while. I couldn't find any info online to support this theory, but I did find the wikipedia entry on dragonflies pretty darn interesting!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Yay! Tons of color in our garden! and weeds. boo.















That's "Turk's Cap" above - love those swirly red flowers! This Brugmansia ("Angel's Trumpet") has the whole yard smelling like citrus.






















Aahhhhh... aren't all these blooms beautiful? Verbena here, Lantana there...























and last but certainly not least: Cannas, my fave!





Now brace yourself for this next picture.





The right 2/3 of the picture here is ALL WEEDS. They're taking over! Click to enlarge if you really want to give yourself a fright.


The end of our summer-long drought is definitely bittersweet. Mostly sweet. But damn those weeds!!!
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