Costuming Year in Review, 2012

I always like to do year-end roundups of all my sewing and costuming projects, but I never manage to actually get them done by year's end. But better late than never! Forthwith, the 17 projects I completed (or helped to complete) in 2012!

1. "Indy Anna" Jones

 

My brother has always been the junior Jones in our family (except for when our dad is Indy and Sean is Shia LeBoeuf)-- but this year he couldn't come to Comic-Con. So I filled in! This costume was a snap, because Dad and Sean both own multiple copies of all the Indy accessories, so they just lent me the smallest hat, belt, bag, etc. I had originally planned on making some Katharine Hepburn-esque pants, but ultimately decided on a skirt. So I made a half-circle skirt out of some tan wool, and bought a shirt and boots. I didn't get to do my hair in a fun 30s style because I had to change into this one in the parking garage after wearing Maleficent that morning. :P At Dragon*Con we finally got our whole Indy group together for the very first time, huzzah!

Tiny Princess Captain America

It's Tiny Princess Captain America time! I made this costume for my three-year-old niece this summer, originally for her to wear at Origins. She's since worn it for San Diego Comic-Con, the Fourth of July, and Halloween. Read on to find out how to make it!

Doctor Who Shirt & Color Block Skirt

Last year, my friend Janine asked me if I would  make a shirt for her husband Ron. She'd already made a skirt for herself out of some TARDIS and Dalek fabric that she had bought from Spoonflower, and she figured there was probably a shirt's worth of material left. There was-- just barely! I gave Ron the shirt when I saw him at Christmas, and all was well, by which I mean my mom was kind of horrified by it, but Ron loved it. They wore their matching outfits to StellarCon in North Carolina (ADORABLE!):



I looked at the pile of scraps I had left, and I thought, "I bet if I pieced these, I could make a skirt for their daughter. Then they would ALL match!" And then, because my mind seizes up when I try to design something original, I scoured the internet for pictures of colorblocked and patchwork skirts, and I drew sketch after sketch until I was finally satisfied it wouldn't look terrible. I really didn't have that much of the Who fabric left, so I picked up some coordinating solid cottons at Jo-Ann. And so-- skirt!



It's a basic quarter-circle skirt, dead simple to draft, although turning the single pattern piece into the five stripe pieces was a bit time-consuming-- lots of careful measuring and drawing and cutting. The trickiest part was piecing the TARDIS and Dalek blocks, because my scraps were tall, not wide. I couldn't make things line up perfectly, but I did my best. Here's an example:



The skirt is fully lined-- white underneath the lighter upper blocks, with a dark stripe around the hem so it blends with the bottom of the skirt. It has a grosgrain waistband and closes with an invisible zipper on the side.



I think she might like it. Just a little.



I was pretty pleased too, if we're being honest. :)



I still have some tiny scraps left...wonder what I could do with them?

Regency Tea Party

A few weeks back, my friends and I had a fabulous, silly, incredibly relaxing girls' weekend in the mountains of North Carolina. The main event was a tea party on Saturday, and of course we had to dress up in our very best historical finery. And by "our," I mean "Janine's," because we were all wearing her dresses! I'm working on my first Regency dress, but it's not finished yet. Hopefully by Costume College!

We hosted the tea party at the bed-and-breakfast where we were staying, the Andon-Reid Inn. This place is amazing, you guys. If you're ever looking to vacation in western North Carolina, this is absolutely the place to go. The rooms are gorgeous, the three-course breakfast is unbearably delicious, and the owners, Rachel and Ron, are warm and generous beyond compare. Rachel took care of all the food and preparation for our tea party, even going so far as to research the proper kinds of sandwiches to serve!

We spent the morning dolling ourselves up. Conley was wearing Janine's new 1780s chemise a la reine, while Janine had loaned me her white-on-white striped Regency gown. I don't have proper Regency underpinnings yet, but my Laughing Moon Silverado corset worked well enough to allow the dress to sit nicely. My hairpiece was originally bought for Padme's family gown-- it worked perfectly for my Regency hairstyle! J9 just curled my front hair and tied a ribbon around my head, and I was good to go!

Before the party, we took a turn about the lawn!

We got some great shots, although we must have been pretty funny-looking with two girls in period dress scurrying around with iPhones in their hands, taking pictures of a third girl!

Shoe shot! Yep, I'm wearing my old ballet shoes.

And obligatory self-portrait!

Look at the table Rachel set for us. Gorgeous! (The beanie babies are there because of course you have to invite your stuffed animals to your tea party!)





And here's Rachel's delicious spread of food, along with the lady herself!



I'm not generally a tea drinker, but I looooved the mulled spice tea that I had. So good. And I might have been just a bit hungry:



After tea, we walked the half-mile to downtown Waynesville, where we befuddled the locals with our strange dress. Once we explained that it was like historical reenacting, but with tea instead of guns, they seemed to understand. :)



We stopped in a bookstore, where Conley and I found some appropriate reading material...



...and Janine found a book with her dress on it...



...but it turned out to be rather *inappropriate* reading material! At least for reading out loud. Which of course we were.



Elsewhere in downtown Waynesville, we found a younger cousin of Beyonce the Giant Metal Chicken:



And also some weaponry, in case we should suddenly find ourselves in the middle of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.



And then we walked back to the Andon-Reid to lounge around and watch Twilight parodies, because isn't that what they did in the Regency era in the late afternoon?

It was an absolutely delightful day. Thanks to Janine for dreaming it up, to Conley for coming to play with us, and to Rachel for making it so perfect!