Sideless Surcoat

I'm starting a new project because I just can't seem to help myself. I've decided to make a new peasant type costume to wear to the Renaissance Festival. I loved kickin around in my old one because it didn't matter if it got dirty. The fantasy lover in me wanted to make the Eowyn Refugee Dress, but the underdress fabric proved difficult to find. I also hate the yellow rope used to tie the sides together. The color has always bugged me. I also fear that I don't have the skill to execute the pattern properly, and if I can't do this costume right it would kill me.

I decided to go down a more historically accurate avenue; however I am going to stick with the general Refugee Dress color scheme. Check out the beginnings of my sideless surcoat!

Steampunk Gun Progress

So I know that the Steampunk Expo is over, but I had so much fun making stuff for it that I didn't want to stop. This is the gun on which I started working, but didn't finish it in time. This gun started it's life as a pathetic dollar store wanna-be nerf gun that didn't even work. It was a gross neon purple and green. Alex helped me spray paint the base coat, we added the top of a candle holder to the front, painted some complimentary colors and VOILA! a cute little steampunk gun. Actually, I'm still not quite finished. I want to paint more details and rough it up a bit. I'm also thinking of adding some leather to the handle. Someday I'll make a holster in which it can live and another gun to keep it company. Someday when I have time...

World Steam Expo

So I got a little sidetracked from my Arwen costume when I heard about the World Steam Expo. http://www.worldsteamexpo.com/ It was excellent. I would definitely want to go next year. I happened to find out about it from a notecard thing at a steampunk bookstore called "Off the Beaten Path" that I randomly visited. So I decided to go and had less than a week to whip up a costume for myself and my boyfriend. Considering my limited amount of steampunk knowledge and timeframe I'd say we did really well. It's amazing what Salvation Army and Value World can provide.

What a cute steampunk couple we make! Several people stopped to ask if they could take our picture. I wish you could see more of Alex's costume in the picture. I made his shirt out of two shirts and it has a nice gold button detail down the left side that's hidden by the jacket. Alex took a pair of sunglasses and made them into goggles.

My jacket was an excellent Value World find. I wanted to make it fit better and add more details, but I ran out of time. The shirt was another Value World find (a different Value World that is) and I just removed the collar to make it look more period. I got some capris at Salvation Army and added curtain fabric and buttons. I had already owned the corset in preparation for someday making a steampunk costume. Yay foresight!

I have never done a costume that was so accessory oriented and I felt a bit out of my element. Making and finding pieces of metal with which to work was a challenge by itself. In the upper left corner is a barrette on which I glued decorative gears and metal pieces. I bought the pocket watch, but it was an obnoxiously shiny gold so I painted it with black nail polish and rubbed in in/off. I love how well it turned out. The left pin was made by Alex and the right pin was made by me. I just connected it with a bit of chain to make it more interesting. I didn't have anything to do with making the cameo in the right hand corner, but I thought it was really pretty.

I made the earrings out of some small clock gears from The Scrap Box in Ann Arbor. I usually have a problem with asymmetry, but in this case I think it works.

Here's a pic Alex took in FX mode with his phone. I quite enjoy how it turned out and instantly found my new a Facebook profile picture. :)

Renaissance Progress

I'm very, very close to finishing my royalty dress for the Renaissance Festival. I need to acquire steel boning to make the farthingale so it will fit properly. I also need to make the bum roll for the hips.

Here's a picture of the jewelry and neck detailing. I may take the cross off the chain and attach it directly to the dress...or not. I'm really not sure. In any case, I am going to take the pearls off and reattach them more evenly.
This is the lower sleeve. Completing both took me over 7 hours or something ridiculous like that, but I do looove the slash and puffs.
Here's everything I have so far. The only thing I have left to do is hem the bottom and shorten the cord. I can't wait to wear this at the Renaissance Festival!

Arwen Chase Dress Progress

I am making excellent progress on the Chase Dress. I'm pretty exited about it. I'm optimistic about finishing it in time to wear it to the theater.

This is the belt buckle I made years ago. I randomly found it in my basement this weekend. I just gave it a fresh coat of shiny silver paint. It looks so much better now. I'm not super happy with the overall shape. It seems a bit too big. I'd like to remake it at some point if I have time, but it'll suffice for now.

The above picture is of the upper sleeves. The left is the wax tracing, and the right is painted in metallic silver. I am so happy with how this turned out.

This is the inside of the collar. I used silver puffy paint to make the design. I had read somewhere that it's uncomfortable up against the neck, but I didn't know any other way to do it. I hope it's not that bad. Although I would have liked thinner lines, I'm pretty happy with out this turned out too.

These are the front over and under panels of the skirt. I fray checked the over skit so it wouldn't fray, and that turned out nicely. I had to serge the underskirt though. Let's just pretend it was a magical elfish serger.

Historical Review

This past year I took a class called Costume History and Theory. It was an absolutely amazing class, and I learned a ridiculous amount in one semester. Melanie Schuessler is an excellent and very knowledgeable teacher. She wore costumes to class corresponding with the lectures of the day. I now wish I had taken pictures...Anyway, I am going to be posting the slides we were shown accompanied by my notes. This is for personal use as I cannot guarantee its accuracy. As awesome as the class was, some days I was more alert than others. The amount of notes was also influenced by my personal interest in the subjects, how I was feeling that day, how much sleep I had gotten the night before, whether I was worried about my next class, and so on and so forth. I may have misheard or misunderstood pieces of information as well. Despite all of that, there is still a great amount of information I'd like to keep handy for the rest of my life and I don't trust that the paper notes I have will stay safe forever. It'll be a laborious process posting it all to this blog, but I think it will be worth it. Plus I'll get an excellent review of the material in the process. I just wish I could format the pages better, but that's future Haley's problem.

Little Me in Costumes

It looks as if I was destined to pursue a life of costuming from a young age. I am super adorable if I do say so myself. Although I didn't make any of the following costumes, I did stress the importance of accuracy to the person who did. Thanks mom!

Me as Belle with "My Size Barbie".

Sailor Moon in 1995. Check out my Sailor Moon Barbie doll and Crescent Moon Wand.

Dorothy 1998 complete with red sparkly shoes!

I look a little too happy to be Grumpy. Oh well.


Xena and Gabrielle in 1998. I was my own sidekick.

Eowyn Shieldmaiden of Rohan 2004

I feel like this explains a lot...