Halloween 2015!

I was mostly stuck working at the hospital, but I still managed to get in quite a few costumes. I had to come with with some costumes that would work with my white coat, so I decided to go as a Jurassic Park vet, and a "witch doctor". For the big Halloween party, I decided to go as Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove.

Fun little doodles

Steampunk Symposium 2015

Sneak Peek of some current projects....

Updates on Night Fury Project

As usual, school has been taking up most of my time, but I've been slowly progressing on the finer details of my Night Fury costume. I've been doing a lot of fun things with paints and leather overlays. 

Below is a template for the back design. It will be on both sides, but it's much easier to make things symmetrical when you start with just one side!

Here is a tinier leather overlay, for the front of the bodice.

I hand painted the pocket covers. This design was based on a pin I found at a thrift store.

And because I am going as Toothless, I of course had to have the viking dragon "stamp" on the red part of the skirt. I eventually outlined it black to make it neater, but you get the idea of how it looks.

Quick Thrift Store Alteration

For as much sewing as I do (and love to do), I still do a lot of thrift store alterations. For things like jackets, it's soooooo much easier if I can adapt something already made and just tailor it to what I want. Here is a quick and dirty example of what you can do with a thrift store coat. 

Exhibit A: gorgeous beige and cream brocade winter coat. At this point I had already ripped out the lining and the (shudder) shoulder pads, but you get an idea of what it looks like. Cute, but an awkward length for Victoria, and just small enough on me that it doesn't really fit my hips. 

Exhibit B: CUT THAT BUSINESS OFF. Seriously. When you get a good cheap thrift store find, don't be afraid to take scissors to it. Here, I cut the length of the jacket to about my natural waist, leaving enough material to fold under to create a nice even hem. I decided I didn't really like the sleeves, so I cut those off too. I simply flipped the lapels out and added a leather brooch I had made, and voila! Now, I could have stopped here, but.....

Exhibit C: ADD MORE STUFF. The thing that can take a steampunk outfit (or any outfit for that matter) is adding more trimmings. Play around and have fun. You can see here that nothing is permanently attached at this point - the trim is just draped, the leather bits are just pinned on. Put stuff on, leave it for a while, take stuff off. There was nothing wrong with the photo above. But adding simple things like trim and appliques can take a costume piece from pretty to WOW.