Shadoowedoowop

Yoi.

Ohai. Did you miss me?

I've been working. At normal-people hours. Having to get up at seven thirty and go to bed at ten thirty is kind of breaking my brain. I'll be back on track sooooooooooooon.

This is totally what my brain is like at the moment though.

POW!

I have a brick and mortar job. That pays me. And has hours. And is regular.

And requires that I get up a seven am. Not liking that part so much. But whatever.

Also I have a new phone made of shiny and love.

Actual proper photos of stuff tomorrow when I have a brain that isn't stuck on; "hurr work early morning hurr"

Re-doing The Wall

For all my new projects!

And yes. I am wearing a tie. More on that tomorrow.

Mmmmm, halloween.

Yes, we are both aware that halloween isn't until sunday. But all the themed events in town were tonight so we decided to move halloween up a day.

My favourite earthling went as Artemis Fowl if the fangirls had their way with him (also known as; if Artemis were a fairy the whole inter-species intense age gap romance thing would be infinitely less icky)

We had a boatload of fun, went into town, mocked some bad literature at the book store, saw some fabulous drag queens...

I went as a Vulcan engineering officer. Or a token red-shirt, whichever you pick.

Yes, yes I am mixing fandoms. So is Lana. Whatchagonnado?

Videos from the con!

It's like a triple rainbow!

Omghaigaiz its Armageddon Day!

*Gigglesnort*

There were daleks, and C3PO's, and daleks that came up to me and then I sonic'd the bejeebers out of them. Oh yeah, daleks be feared.

Also they're great models.

Dalek turned unexpectedly. I may have let out an very childish squeal.

CARNIVAL. WITH PIGGIES.

AND SYLVESTER McCOY

And a Burning Man that cost extra, so we didn't get to see the fire.

PAUL McGANN.

It was pretty much the best day ever. I'll be back to taking pictures everyday now cause I don't have to stress about latex moulds and jumpsuits and organising everybody. Whoo!



Also I sat in Piccard's Chair.

Yeah. That's what the expression of barely restrained glee looks like.

Jumpsuit; the beginning...

Should I taper it to my legs? I think it might look a little unprofessional pattern-wise if i want to take it in for my interview. Also I'm not sure I have the legs to wear what is essentially a pair of spandex tights. Hmmm...Thoughts?

What can I possibly be doing...

With this much green lycra?

Building myself a hilarious Holly Short cosplay costume, of course!

Also I've changed the direction of the point for the ear moulds. I think it looks a bit more realistic. Plus the weight of an outwards facing tip pulled it out quite a ways from my head, which might cause problems considering how much I fiddle with my hair throughout the day.

In which I sculpt elf ears

With fimo! At midnight. Horray for a lack of structured sleep-cycles!

I'm just messing around trying to get the shape right at the moment. After I settle on a shape I'll sculpt the other eat, bake them, and make a paper-mache' mold to pour the latex into.

At the moment I have a dis-embodied yellow ear hanging out on my desk. It's kind of amazing.

My liquid latex arrived!

Whooo! I'm going to make ear moulds from modelling clay, then a reverse mould from the first model, then fill it with liquid latex mixed with flesh-coloured poster paint.

And then glue them to my ears and walk around as an elf. Because I am cool.

Also I made biscuits today and proceeded to eat the leftovers. It's like musli, only tasty.

I did some sketching last night.

Shitty cell phone pictures and half a litre of sprite are important factors in late night pattern-making.

I'm tossing up at the moment between a zipper or an elasticated waist. I prefer the fitted nature of zippers, but I tried on a really nice dress with an elasticated waist yesterday that's tipped my interest more in their favour.

Today was awesome because....

My house smells like peanutbutterchocolatechipcookies. They taste so goooooood.

Also I finished a commission which is currently whisking its way across the ocean to Canada.

And my backyard was looking particularly attractive today, if I do say so myself...

I'll probably change this later tonight.

But for the minute you get a photo of a skirt I'm working on. It's going to be fun to dance in. It swirls! And has tulle! TULLE!

Dress!

Mraow. I'm kind of obsessed with plaid at the moment. Also I have stupidly white legs. Wow.

Dress!

I finished it!

Go me!

Yes, I am aware that these are terrible pictures. My mannequin is terrible, and the zipper at the back wouldn't do up all the way, and I had to pad out the bust. I'll take some on the flat once my camera battery charges.

Bow! This is ombre-dyed bias cut silk satin ribbon, and it's super awesome.

Todays' happy

Photos of my stint as the "onstage whimsy" for my friends band!

I'm the one with the GIANT FLOWER on her head. I had a tea party on stage. With Pepsi. And lollipops.

I haven't slept in a day and a half...

And I feel kind of amazing right now.

Here's the wedding skirt mid-cut out at four in the morning. I'll be finishing up the main body (sans little details) this afternoon, evening, and possibly tomorrow, depending on when my brain turns to mush from lack of sleep.

Suu Corset - I got pictures!

I love when clients send me photos of them in their commissions. There's always that niggling doubt that you've messed up an inch here, maybe you should've raised a hem there, and getting a photo of it on a body instead of laid flat or sitting lumpily on a mannequin it doesn't quite fit just reafirms that yes, you do know what you're doing, and math never lies.

She looks so wonderful. I rebound the edges of the base costume (stockings, shorts, gloves, armholes), her partners coat, stitched two cosplay shirts for his costume, and created the corset from scratch. It's semi-custom (measurements but no fitting) with hand bound bias binding and a really nifty faux closed front.

Underneath the front panel (with the buckles) is a busk opening, and a grommet and lacing panel. When the front panel snaps and buckles into place overtop of the hardware the corset appears to have no openings, as the corset in the manga was drawn without much concern for the physical limitations of corset construction.

I was really really pleased with this whole outfit. The corset is the most beautiful silk and the front fastening issues were a real challenge for my pattern drafting skills.

I'm still freezing my pants off at the end of the earth, but I'll be flying home on sunday. I've been super bored this week, spending a ridiculous amount of time taking photos and making really silly faces. I expect my next post will be a photo diary of my week.

Dear multi-coloured polka cotton.

You make the most amazing dresses.

I'm really pleased with this dress. I've always been a sucker for a splash of vivid colour on a black outfit, and when I saw this multi-colour polka dot print in the store I knew it had to be a dress.

The whole thing is lined in bright red pongee, all seams are hidden, everything is hemmed well, and it fits beautifully. I was originally going to simply use my boat neck pattern but I thought a high neckline was a bit too "sweet" for this fabric and colour combination.

I've paired it with blood red boots, but all my photo-shopping has taken most of the colour out. Such a shame, as they are the most beautiful colour. The gorgeous green necklace I'm wearing is courtesy of my wonderful mama (you can contact her about jewelery at kaylenemary@hotmail.com) and is one of the great loves of my life.

On to the photos. I had a great time fixing the colour gradients with these images. I like to try and get them to look more like paintings than actual photos, and of course the vintage tint just makes me melt.

I will be listing this as an option on my etsy store shortly. It is an empire waist, box pleated, vintage-style dress and will retail custom for $103.95USD. I'm still working on my off the rack prices and will only be creating standard size RTW dresses if enough interest is expressed.