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...

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. ...

To start off! Merry Christmas Eve, and Blessed 5th Day of Yule! To see what other holidays are being celebrated today just check out this website. Holidays on the Net So if feels like forever since I last posted.  Probably because it has been.  This time of year is always crazy for me.  I usually have a different holiday event every weekend of December.  So I thought I would take the time to catch you guys up a bit. Christmas Tree Lighting Dec. 3rd. Most years I go to my family's home town for a bit of Ole' Fashion Christmas.  This is the type of town, that at Christmas you feel like you have jumped in to "A Christmas Story".  The whole town shows up for the tree lighting.  The high school band is playing Christmas carols on the street corners.  The fire trucks are all spruced up with lights.  There is even an elf band singing Christmas songs.  It really does feel like you are in a movie. I did take some videos but ...

So I went shopping on Saturday for my Dickens Fair fabric! I am so excited about starting this project. I went a bit crazy with the fabric. I spent most the summer working on a project for my wonderful friend Kelly. But I am happy to be working on a project for myself. I decided to go for less of a traditional fabric for my 1850's dress this year, and go for on that was a bit more my own personal style. Below is the concept sketch for my dress as well as the fabric samples. I will post more tomorrow about the patterns being used and what alterations I plan to make. Happy sewing! Nikki

Hello All, I bought the fabric for my Dicken's Fair Dress.  I am really excited about it.  I will be keeping track of the cost and hours spent working on it just to see what really goes into my dresses. So far I have cut out the pattern which took about 45 minutes Shopping for the fabric took about 1 hr 30mins Check back soon and I will have sketches and fabric samples for you all to see! Later! Nikki

From Left- Ben: Captain, Heather: Gunner, Me: Navigator, Kelly: Mechanic, Jon: Hired gun Hello All, So Saturday was the NorCal Pirate Festival. I have to say, it was the best one yet! We had such a great time. It seemed like our costumes went over very well. Every 5 minutes or so we were asked to stop and pose for pictures or get questioned about the construction of our costumes. Though I may come off sounding narcissistic, I have to say I like the attention and the props for all our hard work that we put in to these things. Everyone looked amazing! Here is a solo shot of Benjain our captain and his sniper rifle "Sasha". That gun was the star of the festival. More people came up to him to ask about how it was make. It is constructed out of a nerf long shot, a additional sight, and may pieces of copper wire, tubing, craft store bottles, and scrap-booking embellishments. I will try and find a close up and details shot of the gun when I get a chance. Here is Howard our p...

The key to steampunk is the accessories. The more you have on your costume the better it looks. This is the best part of the genre for me. I love coming up with new gadges and things that I think airship pirates would use. So I thought I would go over a few of the accessories I have for my costume. First off the way me and my friends consider our self a crew. Our ship, The Brass Boiler. We each picked a role on the ship before we started costuming. The role we picked guided how we ended up making our costume and the accessories that we chose. My boy is the Captain. My sis, the gunner, my friend Kelly is the mechanic, Jon is the hired gun/ mercenary ect. I am the navigator. I am in charge of making sure our ship gets to where it need to go. So here are some of my tools of the trade. Here we have my map tube. This was made by using a wrapping paper role and covering it with different fabrics. I will post a tutorial at a later date. Next is the oxygen mask. This was...

First off HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY BRO. Well, isn't quite so baby anymore being that he is turning 23 today. Please everyone, wish him a happy birthday! Now down to business, it's just about that time of year again. The NorCal Pirate festival is coming up and only a few days away. I am scrambling to get everything finished. For the most part my costume is ready. I have finished my gun, my head pieces is done, my over skirt ect. And I am getting really excited. So, last night I decided to google and see if we made it to anyone else's gallery... we did. Only one, but hey, they must have like our costumes. Here is the gallery we were feature in gallery In other news, I am done with Howard's vest. (Sorry about the bad picture, I will post a better one when I get one) I finished it this afternoon. I am happy with how it turned out. I was originally thinking, I didn't need to line it. I am glad I changed my mind. The perfectionist got the best of...

Hello All, As if I didn't have enough projects that I have to do, I have added one more to the list. I am actually really excited about it though. A friend of mine came over last night as seemed to be inspired by my boyfriend, and I's enthusiasm for steam punk costuming (laugh all you want hee hee). So, I offered to make him a vest so he will fit in with our crew. And I am happy to do it for him. I crew is now up to 7! It won't be as elaborate as I like to make my usual projects, but it will give him a good start. Here is a little teaser of what the fabrics will be. I do need some input though. Below I have the right side of the vest front fabric and the wrong side of the vest front fabric. Both are great looking, but I am not sure which one to use. Any input or opinions?? So... I have one week to get this done, I can do it. Just have to get started. I will post pictures of the pattern used and the finished project later in the week. Happy Sewing! Nikk...

So, I have been working on some projects lately. I have my 1950's dress just about finished, but have yet to take pictures of them. So, keep your eyes peeled. One project I have been working on are my shoes for for the 2010 Ren Fair Season. These were just a pair of old blue leather shoes I had around that don't fit right anymore. They were the perfect color to go with my dress for this year. So i cut out the back to make them slip on and added some ribbon as a tie for the ankle. The embellishments on the toes are remnants from previous projects such as velvet trim, beads, gold braided trim. I know they are not period and seem like something from Marie Antoinette's wardrobe. However, I wanted something pretty to be peaking out from under my dress if I had to lift my skirts some. Its the little details that make a costume real in my opinion. I am open to critiques. This is my first time working with foot wear. We will see how they hold up. Time about 2 hours (p...

Here is my jewelry for the airship pirate (navigator) costume I am making. I am going to wear it to a pirate festival in June. The Necklace is made of a drawer pull, chain, beads, gears and jump rings. The earrings are made of chain, jump rings, beads and gears. I have to say this was a lot of fun to make and didn't take as long as I thought they would. I work about 2 hours total for them both. By the way, I love working with gears, these are my first projects using gears. They can be a bit pricey, but soo worth it. Keep a look out for future pieces!

Ok so here is the Ren Dress I made for last years faire season. I wore it to, two different faires last year. This was also my first real sewing project. I have to say I am pretty happy with is and looking forward to making this years dress (which is going to be a recreation of queen elizabeth's red dress!). Anyway, here are some pictures . You can also see bigger more detailed pictures in my Ren dress album The bodice and skirt are hand beaded at all the line intersections with three small pears. Needless to say, this took a WHILE. My mom and I spent 4 hours on just half the skirt. I also made all the undergarments including: Shift (slip) Corset Farthingale Petticoat Partlett Accessories I made were: Neck Ruff Girdle (waist necklace for lack of better description) Sleeves (Detailed with satin ribbon and more pearls!)

Hello Everyone, So I am not quite sticking to my new years resolution, but I have some awesome excuses. I have been working on my Steam punk Pirate costume for June. I have the jacket just about done. I modified a late 20th century Jacket pattern. BTW have I mentioned how much I love having a dress form, this piece would not have been possible without it. Anyway, here are some pics of the work in progress. I was inspired by a jacket I saw at a booth at Wondercon a couple weeks ago. So take a gander and let me know what you all think. I will post more detailed descriptions when the coat is completed. ( I still have a some trim to add to the collar and cuffs, and buttons on the cuffs) Back Front Details

Hello All, I have been working away on the pirate garb for both my boy and my self. The pieces aren't exactly finished yet, but... I thought I would show a few WIP of the coat and corset. Below are the pictures. I will have more details about the pieces later. This is the main part of Ben's costume. This is his pirate coat. It has brass/ gold looking naval uniform buttons with gold and black rope side pieces around them. The whole front is lined with gold and black floral ribbon trim.

So here is my finished Victorian Carriage Dress. I got my inspiration for the dress from a vintage fashion plate. When I saw this I loved it and and knew that this was what I was going to model my own dress after To start off when all my undergarments for this costume were made from the McCall's Costume Pattern 3609. For the most part this was a really easy pattern to sew. The camisole is a no brainer if you are used t o following sewing instructions. The only modification I had to make was taking in the shoulder straps a bit. It is a good shape and plenty long so it fits completely under the corset. The corset was a great find. From looking at the pattern cover I wasn't sure how much support it would actually give. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It gave the perfect shape for my dress. There are a few things to note about this pattern however, if you want a corset that will really sinch you in this is not the pattern. It is more useful for molding you in...

AHHHHHH, so I have been sewing for the past .... 12+ hours pretty much constantly. But it was all worth it, for now I have a finished carriage dress. The whole look is toped off with Bonnet, cape, muff and gloves (i didn't make the gloves). I was furiously stitching on the sewing maching and sewing by hand so fast I think I may have gotten my fingers more than the fabric. (At least literally my blood and sweat when in to this project. The reason for this mad sewing frenzy, is that the Dickens Faire is tomorrow and that was my whole reason for making this dress. I was just going to keep is simple making a shirt and skirt. But if you know me at all, you know this is never going to be the case. Once I get searching on the net and find out all the fun pieces I just go crazy. So keep your eyes peeled for pictures, I will be posting them soon. Oh BTW did I mention I was even able to fit in making a top hat for my Benny Boi. Direction were complements of The Tip Top Hat Tutoria...

Not only are corset painful to wear but they can be painful to make. Yesterday I was home sick from work and thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some work done on my undergarments. However, hours of sewing by hand and using traditional dart pins has left my fingertips yelling at me.

Hello All, Well I am actually making head way on my carriage dress. I have just about finished the undergarments and the dress is half way done. I finished the main construction of it last night. I do have to say I am really enjoying making this piece! It has posed quite a few challenges for me, but I was able to conquer them! But as promised I have some WIP pictures for you all to see. This includes my finished bonnet which I am really proud of! So here is the bonnet! Keep in mind these are still works in progress. But you can get the general idea of what they are going to look like. YAY for COSTUMES!

So as an introduction I am new and an old friend to the world of sewing. I have been sewing small things such as dolls clothes and little projects as far back as I can remember. It was just recently after spending hours drooling over others ren fair garb that I decided to bit the bullet and make one of my own. Since this time I have been hooked. I have fallen in love with costuming, especially historical costuming. I have been a history fanatic since birth and have always love to dress up. I have just found the more adult outlet for both of these. My costumes to date include my Ren Dress compete with underpinnings and head wear as well as a men's ren doublet, pants and hat. In addition I have made a cloak and corset. My current project is a replica of a 1865 Carriage dress. This includes, corset, pantaloons, camisol, and hoop skirt. So far this dress has been easier and more of a challenge than my previous projects but I have fallen in love with it. Right now I am...