Halloween Costumes & CONvergence 2013

So I've really been dragging my butt on Jason and mine's Halloween costumes ...we had intended on going as Mary Poppins and Bert (the jolly holiday versions) but I've been so lazy with it not much progress has been achieved. As of right now I have all my pieces cut out and two different tops attempted. I also have my crinoline put together and ready to go.

The part that is stumping me is the different sized necklines. I'd really love to line the whole outfit, but with the different sized necklines it's been a bit challenging. I had an "ah ha!" moment at midnight last night on what to try next but it was too late to try anything with it. If it doesn't work out I think I'm going to have to either scrap lining this garment or sub a white tank-top with a neckline shape that I like.

The following image is someone's fairly accurate recreation that I've been working off of for my reference.

I haven't done anything with Jason's costume yet other than shrinking the fabric before I cut it. I have to cut out the pieces, iron on the stripes and then construct the Jacket. Really shouldn't be hard at all just a wee bit time consuming.

Thanks to Make It Love It for the inspiration/help on the stripes.

Fuse the bias tape onto the fabric

Stitch down edges of bias tape to fabric

I'm still feeling confident that I can get these done by this weekend though. Just need to power through!! =D


On a different note registering for CONvergence rooms was this past weekend and oh what a cluster that was. Long story short the server crashed almost instantly and for myself and all my friends we never saw anything other than "no rooms available". We all ended up getting rooms at the Sofitel across the street (and hopefully all on the same floor) so who knows we may end up liking that location better. The Elevator traffic at the DoubleTree get's backed up pretty bad and if your on one of the higher floors it takes forever to get on an elevator going down, so you usually end up walking down the stairs.

Speaking of CONvergence ...I'm super excited as always. I've got several new costumes that I hope to make and wear next year. No plans as of yet to enter the masquerade but that could always change. I'll be bringing back Kaylee's Shindig Dress, Luna Lovegood, Dr Horrible Groupie and most likely Dark Phoenix. New costumes are going to be Mary Poppins (with TARDIS bloomers ...cause after all she is a time lady), Castle Anthrax wench, Rose Tyler (circa Empty Child ...victorian-ized) and possibly Quidditch Robes. The theme next year is British Invasion so for the first time most of my costumes will fit the theme (not that I've ever really cared).

Trying to figure out a good time to wear Kaylee again, the costume was awesome and I got great response from it but it was a little on the large side and hard to get in and out of the party rooms with. I'm guessing early evening on either Friday or Saturday. Party room costumes will most likely be Mary Poppins, Rose Tyler or Castle Anthrax wench. I'll also be wearing Rose Tyler to TARDIS tea on Sunday afternoon.

That's all I have for now. More updates later as the costumes progress =)

Geek & Sundry Giveaways

little shoutout for some awesome giveaways happening over at geek and sundry. signed copies of seasons 1 & 2 of the guild. If you haven't watched the guild yet ...you need to!! hilarious! http://geekandsundry.com/

Pottermore

just signed up for pottermore ...find me at username: WaveNight18522

Magic Mike

So the girls and I went to see Magic Mike last night. It's not going to win any major awards ...well ever ...but it was a fun silly movie perfect for girls night. Dare I say I might check it out again when it comes to the cheap theater =P

Strange Feelings

So CONvergence has come and gone, as usual stayed up way to late, drank way to much and had tons of fun with friends! The costumes turned out great (I did end up sewing in the hotel room for about 2 hours ...ahahah) we didn't win anything in the masq though (our skit was a real shit show & we didn't present a well documented packet of workmanship) so lesson learned for next time.

It feels odd that I don't have giant piles of sewing to be constantly working on, but I'm definitely enjoying the time off from it for now. I've started compiling a Want/To Do folder for costumes that I'd like to eventually make. Some of them will be simple straight forward costumes and others are like "holy hell, how will I do that?!?"

I'll definitely have to invest in a serger and an embroidery machine somewhere down the line for some of the more complex costumes *cough* Zelda *cough*

Here's some of my ideas as of right now:

Codex - The Guild

Princess Zelda - Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker

Princess Zelda - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Quidditch Robes - Harry Potter Series

Anastasia Romanov - Anastasia (Once Upon a December Dress)

Thor & Loki - Avengers

Briar Rose - Sleeping Beauty

Princess Aurora - Sleeping Beauty (Blue Dress)

Ariel - The Little Mermaid

Marvel Girl - X-Men

Ms Marvel - Avengers

Rose Tyler - Doctor Who (Empty Child)
--I'd like to make this Victorian to match my friends

Tali'Zorah - Mass Effect Series
--This is one of the oh holy hell costumes

Commander Shepard - Mass Effect Series
--Another one of the oh holy hell costumes

Fi - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Midna - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Tetra - Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker/Phantom Hourglass

Link - Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker/Phantom Hourglass
--For Jason

Poison Ivy - Batman

Sarah & Jareth - Labyrinth

Down to the Wire

So I nearly finished all the machine sewing last night. I got Jason's coat stitched to the lining and trimmed the corners, now i just have to serge the seams and turn it inside out. After that all that's left is attaching the buttons and adding some trim to the lapels. I didn't do the lapels quite right but its not worth the pain that it will be to fix it, besides people will know who he is with out it.

This was the best picture i could find ...but you can see in the picture that part of the lapel is formed from the shiny lining material ...and I just didn't want to dink around with it.

I still have to make his tie but that's an easy one should only take me 20 or minutes. I still haven't done any finishing work on Jason's vest, buttons, buttonholes/flathooks, stitching up lining hole =P

On my dress I have to sew in a bit more fringe on the sleeve (I ran out the other day) knot it and call it done. I couldn't/didn't find the pink and green tassels for the sleeve fringe but ehhh ...there's enough detail work on my dress already.

And now that I've looked at this picture I realize that I forgot I have to make my belt still ...grrrr! I'll have to figure out how to attach it since I've already sewed the lining to the bodice. I have to remove the top white organza ruffle add an extension panel both vertically and horizontally. The peplum on my bodice poofs out quite a bit and doesn't cover the top ruffle all the way. So I'm just going to cut it wider and sew it at my waistband and not worry about it. Then the final thing will be adding my flat hooks so I can close my skirt and then its done!!!! =D

I still have to make my boot covers for my Dark Phoenix costume, and I need to find my other shoe ...it's lost in the mess that is my closet right now.

I also need to stop by Michael's to buy some spray paint for the Dr Horrible goggles, and buy more pink ribbon for my belt.

We also need to record our dialogue for the masquerade ...nothing like leaving it to the last minute.

There are a couple of bits I'm thinking of doing

FIRST POSSIBILITY

Mal: Does, uh... does this seem kind of tight?
Kaylee: Shows off your backside. Did you see the chandelier? It's hovering.
Mal: What's the point of that, I wonder?
Kaylee: Oh, mangos!
Mal: I mean, I see how they did it. I just ain't gettin' the why.
Kaylee: These girls have the most beautiful dresses. And so do I. How 'bout that?
Mal: Yeah, well, just be careful. We cheated Badger out of good money to buy that frippery, and you're supposed to make me look respectable.
Kaylee: Yes, sir, Cap'n Tight-Pants.

SECOND POSSIBILITY

Mal: 'Kay, help me find our man. He's supposed to be older, kind of stocky, wears a red sash crossways.
Kaylee: Why does he do that?
Mal: Maybe he won the Miss Persephone pageant. Just help me look.
Kaylee: Is that him?
Mal: That's the buffet table.
Kaylee: Well, how can we be sure, u-unless we question it?

I should also compile a packing list for everything I need to bring

COSTUMES TO BRING

KAYLEE

- Corset
- Hoopskirt
- Petticoat
- Overskirt
- White Cami
- Bodice
- Wig & Cap
- Hair bow
- Gloves
- Purse
- Boots
- Bloomers??

MAL

- Vest
- Jacket
- Tie
- Shirt
- Pants
- Shoes

DARK PHOENIX

- Body Suit
- Sash
- Gloves
- Wig & cap
- Boots & covers
- Control top

LUNA LOVEGOOD

- Cloak
- Grey Sweater
- Black Skirt
- White Shirt
- Cork Necklace
- Wig & cap
- Tights
- Pink Chucks

DR HORRIBLE

- Lab Coat
- Goggles
- Gloves

DR HORRIBLE GROUPIE

- Shirt
- Goggles

So Close I Could Spit

I'm happy with the progress I was able to make last night (I always seem to be more productive at Natasha's ...maybe it's the air conditioning ...or maybe it's the collective mind hive we've got going on ...who knows). I was able to add an extension panel in the peplum, pleat it and attach it to the bodice (the side seams even lined up!), attach the peplum lining to bodice lining, add an extension panel to middle peach layer and ruffle it. I even managed to sew a few of Jason's lining pieces together.

The peplum lays WAAAAAAY better now ...go figure just adding the amount I thought I should have started with fixed everything =P

I'm trying to work on things that require the serger ....so I'll hopefully serge Jason's remaining pieces (maybe even try to serge the jacket that's already sewed if it's not too difficult) none of his pieces are serged =(

CON Dreams....eeeeek!!

So I'm starting to have some anxiety about getting these costumes done in time for CON. Last night I had a dream that I was sewing in the hotel room minutes before the masquerade trying to get them finished.

I could barely work on the costumes last night because of how sweltering hot it was. All I was able to do was sew the elastic into the sleeves.

It's really down to detail work on my outfit:

- installing zipper
- sewing on buttons
- attaching fringe
- attaching trim on peplum
- sewing the lining to the bodice

The harder thing though is that it appears that the middle peach layer and the top white layer on my skirt are WAY to tight when it gets put over the petticoat and hoopskirt, so now i have to take them off add extension panels and sew them back on to the skirt. I also have concerns about the peplum, it doesn't look like it's laying right/that it will be long enough ...i may have to go back to joanns (ugh!) and buy more white satin and sparkle organza.

There's a little more on Jason's costume but not much:

- I have to sew the other shoulder pad in
- trim up some lining pieces and stitch them together
- attach the lining to the outer jacket fabric
- sew buttons on
- sew flat hooks on
- trim lapels
- sew buttons on vest
- sew on flat hooks
- stitch up opening in lining
- make tie

I'm really going to try and take advantage of the last all day sewing event at natasha's tomorrow ...and hopefully my fears about all this will be put aside.

One Week Left!!

We have entered into the final week before CON ...it's getting there but I'm pretty sure it will be down to the wire.

Here's where the costumes stand as of last night.

Dr Horrible Costume To Do List

DR HORRIBLE
Embroider pocket
Find Black Welding Gloves

DR HORRIBLE GROUPIE
Find goggles and paint silver

Dark Phoenix To Do List

Make better boot covers
Hem pant/boot line

Amost done!

Last night was really productive, got my bodice lining fitted (it was huge!) ...still thinking i might cut new pieces if i don't like the way this one turns out. Got my overskirt fitted and taken in at the waist. I serged all the seams as well. So now I just have to serge the hem, add my waistband and sew the ruffles on and it's done!

Still have to sew the buttons on Jason's vest and get his belt loops figured out. Sized the jacket and got the shoulder pads pinned on. Now i just have to size the same lining pieces and sew the lining together and then join the 2 pieces and the jacket is done.

I also bought barrettes so i can have something to sew the hairbow to for easy wearing.

In other costume news I bought more yellow spandex yesterday to fix my dark phoenix costume. I'm going to cover my shoes in it so they match this year ...you can't tell as much in my crappy camera phone pics, but the few professional pics it looks pretty bad. I did buy enough so I'd have extra to try and make gloves if i want.

Viewers have also purchased ...

So I was on amazon today pricing out black welding gloves for Jason's Dr Horrible costume and what I found amused me so much I had to share it.

To Do Lists

UPDATED - 6/17

So I've complied to do lists of the costumes that I'd like to have done by CONvergence time.

When I write it all out it's a little daunting, especially since my next two weekends are busy with wedding stuff =)

Firefly Costume To Do List

KAYLEE

Bodice
Cut pattern out
Buy fabric
White satin (bodice and peplum)
Pink satin (sleeves)
White cotton to line bodice
Fuchsia and white embroidered organza
Buy hook & eye strip
Buy white/pink chainette fringe
Knot fringe
Buy pink & green tassels
Buy elastic for sleeves
Buy white buttons

Skirt
Measure and cut skirt panels
See if I can salvage first attempt at petticoat base
Buy more muslin for skirt
Construct skirt & petticoat
Attach ruffles to skirt & petticoat
Un-ruffle peach ruffles to make up gap on bottom two

Corsets
Send corsets back for 30” ones

Accessories
Buy white/pink gloves
Buy ribbon for hairbow
Buy barrette for hairbow
Buy army boots

MAL

Vest
Finish sewing
Attach buttons
Attach flat hooks

Jacket
Size mockup to Jason
Cut out fabric
Construct jacket
Figure out how to make internal pockets
Make big enough for his keys & cell phone

Tie
Buy fabric
Make tie

Shirt
Make shirt??
See if Jason has any shirts that would work

Pants
Investigate pants w/loops for suspenders

Suspenders
Investigate suspenders that attach via loops/buttons

Zelda Costume To Do List

TETRA

Research patterns
Buy fabric
Red (scarf & cumberbund)
Purple/Blue (vest)
Lilac (tunic)
White (shorts & bracers)
Purple ribbon for trim on shorts
Buy Wig
Figure out how to style wig
Buy Sandals
Find ears

LINK

Buy fabric
Green (tunic & hat)
Light green (shirt)
White (tights)
Buy Wig
Buy brown boots
Make belt buckle
Make or find black belt
Find ears

Dr Horrible Costume To Do List

DR HORRIBLE
Line Lab Coat or remake entirely
Embroider pocket

DR HORRIBLE GROUPIE
Find goggles and paint silver

With all that said I don't think the secondary costumes are going to happen. My Dr Horrible groupie shirt showed up today though ...yay!!

Where did all the time go??

Doctor Who

So Jason and I started watching Doctor Who last night ...we've been meaning to start watching this for a while now. Well I fell asleep so I'll have to re-watch it again ...it was a bit odd not gonna lie. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and watch a few more episodes before I place judgement on it.

Went for a walk with the gals around the lake last night ...and then I introduced them to the awesomeness that is yogurt lab ...(I mean it's no yogurt mountain) but fun none the less.

Presents in the Mail

The corsets showed up today! Time to start corset training for con =D

So with that said I can now get my waist measurement and finish up my skirts!

The costume is slowly coming together ...I plan on making Jason's vest tonight when I get home and maybe my purse ...I picked up some lovely pink taffeta on sale yesterday.

Progress update

I purchased my wig for the costume today ...*glee*



Last night I was able to ruffle all 16 ruffles ...whoo boy that was an adventure. The ruffler foot that I spent so much time looking for ended up being a waste of time and more stressful that it was worth. The first one I bought broke after 2 passes through the machine ...and the second one I got to replace the first one would jam up only after a few stitches. So in the end I just hand pleated everything ...I would sew a little bit and then make a small gather and feed it under the presser foot. I honestly think that took less time than futzing with it in the first place. So I'll go return that today and maybe pick up some satin for the purse and/or bodice.

Here is my progress as of last night. In this photo the ruffles are only pinned on the hoopskirt just to see what it would look like.

I made the mock up for Jason's coat and I must say it wasn't nearly as hard as I was expecting it to be. With the cut of the coat I don't think I can put pockets on the outside but I'll sneak a few in on the inside for him.

Speaking of pockets after a few youtube videos I have now figured out how to do a welted pocket. Huzzah!!! The instructions that came with the vest were god awful. But now that I've figured it out with the help of the interwebs I can begin the final construction on the vest. Yesterday I bought some matching cottons to line the vest in, they match way better than what I had originally picked out and this way the costume will breath better.

The last challenge will be the bodice ...which I think is fairly straight forward, but I won't start on that till I get my corset so it gets sized right. I have some fabric swatches that I want to order cause I think I found some embroidered organza that's going to work, I just have to decide which color.

Fuchsia

Black/White

Magenta

Pink w/sequins

White w/sequins

Fuchsia w/sequins

Corsets ...and other things

So I placed an order for my first corset today ...they were having a "buy 2 get 1 free" sale so my friend went in on the order with me ...and it ended up being only $100 for two steel boned corsets (which i'm told is an excellent deal).

I ended up choosing these two:



I also finally bought the Dr Horrible groupie t-shirt that matches Jason's red Dr Horrible costume, so when that show's up I can finally say I have one costume for CONvergence! yay!!

In other news I have offically cut and serged all of my ruffles for both the petticoat and the skirt ...and I found a ruffle foot that works on my machine ...yayz!!! =D

Mockups

So i've got the mock up of jason's vest done (whoo man the pockets threw me for a loop, will have to figure out how to do that before i construct the actual vest). I plan on starting the mock up of the jacket tonight/tomorrow.

Natasha is coming over with the serger tonight ...so i can finish up with the ruffles on my skirt and hopefully start that along. I think i've got the skirt base/petticoat base to the right size just need to ask another sewers opinion.

there was some really pretty organza on sale last week that i wish i would have bought cause i think it would have been a great fabric for the sleeves and the overlay for the bodice ...but oh well that's what coupons are for.

Fluffies!! =)

So the costume construction is going well in the last two days I have cut out all of my ruffles (petticoat & skirt), serged all but 3 out of 18 of them and cut out the petticoat skirt.

Today picked up 4 more yards of muslin to finish the skirt base and all of Jason's fabrics for less than $50 ...yay for coupons!!

As of right now I've purchased roughly 30-35 yards of fabric for the skirt alone ...it's gonna be huge ...and AWESOME!! =D The skirt has offered up some challenges already but thankfully some happy accidents have come of it. The pink organza that I purchased for the bottom layer of the skirt ruffles ended up being to washed out when placed over the white muslin. So I thought that maybe doubling up the layers might work so I serged two layers together and it turned into this awesome bubble hem that gives the skirt even more poofy-ness *squeee!* I know it's not exactly the way the original dress is constructed but I feel that this gives my dress a slight uniqueness.

Materials Purchased so far:

Kaylee
5 yards pink organza - (skirt)
4 yards peach organza - (skirt)
3 yards white organza - (skirt)
25 yards bleached muslin - (skirt)

Mal
1 yard gold silk - (vest)
1 yard orange silk - (vest)
3 ¼ yards black twill - (jacket)
3 yards black lining - (jacket)
1 ½ yards ivory lining - (vest)

I'll try to take and post some construction pictures ...I'm pretty bad with that though =P

The next big sewing party is tentatively scheduled for Friday afternoon / evening

It Starts ...CONvergence stuff

So I've started buying supplies for my Kaylee costume and for Jason's Mal costume for CONvergence. Still can't believe this is going to happen ..it's going to be awesome!! and huge did I mention it's huge! I've purchased just shy of 30 yards of fabric already and that's just for the skirt, on the fence about the pink color I purchased but I think it will end up working out in the end. I found a website that was having a pretty decent sale on hoopskirts so I purchased one and it should be arriving in a few days. I'll post pics when it arrives.

Going to have a sewing marathon with Natasha on Sunday, my overly ambitious goal is to get a good portion of the skirt done ...I still don't know if I want to serge the edges of the organza or attempt a rolled hem on them.

I've found some decent patterns for pretty much everything I need except Mal's jacket. I think it'll end up being the most difficult thing to find/make. All of my research has pointed to that it was based off a "gone with the wind" 3/4 length coat, sometimes called a frock-coat or prince edward style jacket.

I've never had to alter a pattern before but I have a feeling that's what's going to happen. May just have to by some el cheapo fabric to do some mock ups with.

Not much else going on, work is picking up now that summer is almost here. Been riding the bike more often since it's been so nice out. I rode the bike to work once already ...I'm hoping to do that more often.

uhhhh yeah ...hi!

wow long long long time no post.

guess i've been busy ...or just didn't have anything interesting to say (i'm going with the latter) =P

not much going on ...Jason and I moved to uptown last weekend and were still settling in. We moved in with his friend Jonathan, i anticipate many shenanigans and fun times ahead. Jon's old roommate moved out on him and kind of left the apt in shambles, it's been a real work in progress cleaning this places up and turning it around to be "cozy/homey". The kitchen had been particular interesting to work with. it's got one of those squatty half stoves with the broiler on the bottom. All the cabinets and drawers are metal (weirds me out) and we have half the cabinet space that we used to. so it's put my organizing and craftiness to the test. I'll have to post some before and after pics once we get fully settled in.

I got a new job back in October, I'm working downtown MPLS now at the Renaissance Depot (marriott) LOVE LOVE LOVE it ...miss all of my Radisson friends but I honestly don't miss the drama that went along with that job.

Need to start planning out or CONvergence costumes ...I still don't know how i'm going to pull off those firefly costumes. Natasha has said she can help and lend guidance, her and her friends for CON are going to do some Dr Who costumes and I've been told I can join in and work on my firefly costumes with them. So excited for CON had so much fun last year. We've got 2 rooms reserved between Jason, Natasha and I (we've got some potential roommates too so yayz!!) Hoping I can get off for that weekend so I can actually go to some of the panels and and enjoy the event more (I had to work all weekend last year and it was back and forth between work and the CON).

So I'm totally addicted to Pintrest ...no joke i'm on there like all day finding all these great recipes and crafty/DIY things. I've made a couple of things off of there already and I can't wait to do some more. I'll post some pics soon. I have a whole week of Pintrest related meals planned out. Last night i made these enchiladas and i loved the roux sauce that covered the enchiladas (you had to temper sour cream into the mix with some green chilies ...yum!!) but it didn't call for any seasonings so i honestly found it to be quite bland. Next time I'm going to add the usual batch of spices i throw into my enchiladas (cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper) and perhaps some green onions to garnish. My friend just made these pulled pork sandwiches from pintrest and she said they were really good!! I think i want to try at least 1 new recipe from pintrest a week and perhaps even 2 a week.

I also want to try my luck with making homemade breads. I've found all these great recipes on pintrest and i'd love to have some homemade breads and rolls. I'm trying to be more health conscious of what i eat. I know what's good for me and what's not ...i try to stay away from fast foods as much as i can, and i try to limit my pre packaged freezer foods since they have tons of sodium and who knows what else. I'm also trying to wean Jason off of all the freezer and pre processed foods he eats. I honestly wonder what he ate / how he survived before he met me. I love him with all my heart but the boy calls anything that requires more effort than microwaving it to be "fancy cooking" =P

My sister Rachel's grad school class is coming up to the cities this week to tour the Starkey facility down in Eden Prairie ...so she'll be staying with us while her class is here. Super excited to hang out.

Not much else going on ...or at least nothing that I can think of.

TTFN
~Jess