Retrophile

So, it is that time of year again and I am working on my Pirate Festival costume.  I am still sticking to the steam punk genre for my pirate costume.  However, I am taking it out of the realm of Victorian and in to that of the orient.  I am not going to reveal my complete costume till the day of the pirate festival.  However, here are some teaser shots. I got my inspiration when looking through the costume patterns at the fabric store.  This is pretty much how it goes with me.  The crazy thing is, this costume only took 3 days to make.  Mind you, this was three weekend day.  But still, I don't think I have ever made a costume from scratch this fast before.  Also, I didn't have to look at the pattern once for directions.  I already knew how it was constructed.  YAY!! One of the goals for this costume was to do something different.  I was sick of the typical steam punk, I am getting rather sick of it...

Hello All, It has been a few months since my last post and boy do I have a lot to catch up on.  The reason I have been M.I.A was I have been finishing up my Master's Thesis.  It is finally printed turned in and awaiting approval by the committee, keep your fingers crossed. So keep your look out for updates.  I will be posting some catch ups this weekend.  For now I will leave you with a teaser of my Dicken's Fair Costume from this year.

If I had one piece of advice to aspiring costume makers, it would be BUY PATTERNS!!  Doesn't matter if you think you will use it anytime soon or not.  If you like it and can afford it buy it.  My compulsion to buy patterns is really working in my favor right now.  I am a self taught seamstress and have had no formal sewing, draping or pattern making lessons.  This being the case I depend on my patterns. This has allowed me to piece things together, alter existing patterns and just some just for their general shape. This is what I have been doing the last couple of days.  I found my perfect Dicken's fair inspiration dress. http://www.antique-frock.com/earlyvictorian/products/dress102.html I am in love this dress.  It is an acutal 1860 gown and being such, there is no specific pattern for this dress.  So, this is where my pattern collection comes in to play.  I am using 2 different patterns to piece together and create this dress. ...

Once again, a new look.  I just wanted something clean and simple without a lot of clutter.  Seems to be the theme of my life right now.

After reading a post on Kath Eats Real Food , I was inspired to simplify and overhaul my apartment.  Me and my boy are going on 3 years of living in the same apartment.  This is the longest I have lived in a place since 2003.  So not moving means, not going through things, and accumulating too much.  Sometimes if feels like the walls are closing in.  Well no more. I am setting a goal for myself.  I want to declutter all the rooms/ areas of my house by Nov. 1.  In some cultures Nov. 1 marks the beginning of a new year.  The actualy New Year Jan. 1 is a bit too far off.  So,  Nov. 1 sounds like a better date.  I have designated 7 areas or zones that I am going to target.  I have 8 weeks, or 59 days. I thought we could make this a declutter along, and you guys could let me know how things are going for you and share any good ideas you come across. The Zones 1. Bedroom 2. Linen Closet 3. Kitchen 4. Bathroom 5. Living R...

So I have decided on my first dress for the new school year.  I am going to be making a red floral dress from my 1947 repo dress pattern.  You can see it below Butterick B5209  This will actually be the 3rd time that I have made this dress.  I have made the halter version once, and this will the second round making the sleeved version. Original Dress You can see the original dress I made from the pattern here . I love this pattern.  It fits really well and is super easy to make.  Here is the fabric I will be using. I know it is a bit more colorful then what they would have used in the 40's, but I just love it!  So far I have all the pieces cut out and just need to start the sewing.  The construction may have to wait a bit though.  Tomorrow I am heading off to do some old fashioned camping. I have also planned out the next dress as well.  I will be using a pattern I have used before.  As you can tell I am not feeli...