Ah, the promise that is a new costume! There is the figment, then the idea, the sketch, the colors, the fabric, the trim, then the very long but oh-so-worth it constructions process! We are now officially 233 days away from Costume Con 29, where this beauty will be competing in the Fantasy and SciFi Masquerade. How very exciting!

So, I have had the figment (some sort of snake charmer), to the idea (Yes, a snake charmer!), the sketch (see there!) with the colors. The Fabric has been purchased, now……

I know it’s not the best sketch ever, but you hopefully get a lovely idea of what I am trying to accomplish!

I went to G-Street fabric the other night and they were having the MOST AWESOME sales and I was able to get all the fabric I’ll need!

I am so looking forward to this costume! For those of you not going to Costume Con, but who will be at Balticon, don’t worry! You’ll get to see it there, thought I hopefully won’t be able to compete it there as I hope to win an award at Costume Con!

Well, watch this space for updates! I still need to come up with my patterns1 Yes, I know. I purchased fabrics without a pattern, bu I think I’ve been doing this long enough to estimate fabric allowances (says I now, will those words haunt me?)

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

Dreaming and thinking of Costume Con 29

From the side

detail

and the lovely back

Isn’t that the cutest thing? It’s the only thing I spent any money on at Balticon this year, and so worth it. I wish I had the woman’s name who made these, she had several of them, all very cute. Wearable art, don’t you think? These colors really spoke to me and I knew this hat would be mine. So the idea is a neo-victorian-steamy-retro look.

A corset is a must…

I really like this one and it gets very high reviews. I think my sewing skills can handle a corset, and I happen to have a bit of white satin left over from a Halloween costume that I’ll make a first corset off. Nice.

Then, I didn’t want a plain stodgy (beautiful) Victorian gown. They are just too much. Too much fabric, too long, to cumbersome. I don’t really think a gal who is about to embark on all sorts of adventure can really go about in multiple layers of floor length gowns.

I think I do want to wear a chemise under the corset…

This pattern also has a corset, but the other one is much easier to make, if you track the comments about each. I really like the chemise in this pattern set though. Since my corset will have spiral steel boning, I won’t be able to wash it much and a chemise underneath is a must. Besides which, this is not a “modern” corset, which means that if I make it as drafted, it would be quite indecent to wear out in public, if you get my meaning. If I make it out of a nicer fabric, it will look less like underwear and more like a blouse.

Then, what to wear over the corset? I could wear nothing, but I saw this cute corset cover. It’s a bit over-frilly in this photo…

I could really make a nice fitted blouse from this, and if I work the neckline I could show a bit of the corset. Or maybe I could make a jacket…or a vest. Still not decided there yet. A vest is too casual, methinks.

Finally a skirt. I don’t want a long skirt. I like the draping on this one…

but I want the back much longer so I’ll need to extend it, and also the front a bit as well. This is a sort of apron meant to be worn over a much longer skirt. It is hard to tell form the design sketch, but it really is quite short.

But then I saw this overskirt and liked it much more, and I don’t think I will need to lengthen it at all.

You can really see the length quite well in this photo which I pulled from the Truly Victorian website.

You can see that this would be quite decent, and since I’m so short it would come to my knee probably.

The only issue with these skirts is that they both have quite a bit of pouf on the rear, and I will need to make some sort of bustle for it. I could go all out and make a proper “bustle petticoat”, but I may also be able to get away with some sort of “cushion”. I had considered making a crinoline, but that may not be sturdy enough to hold up that much fabric. Then I posted the question over on the Truly Victorian bulletin board and got a response that said I would make a shortened bustle/petticoat, and if I made it from a fashion fabric it could aslo serve as an underskirt…brilliant!

of course all this will need the perfect fabrics, so now I’ll have to turn my thoughts to finding some lovely burnt orange, brown and cream fabbrics and trim.

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

New costume design