Olive's Costume/Sewing List

My machine is off to the shop (the bobbin case is catching the top thread on something and I can't quite figure it out) so there's going to be very few sewing posts until I get it back. In the mean time, I thought I would work on a sewing list for Olive, it's only fair.

Costumes:
- Joan of Arc (enough of her being called 'him')
- K-9 (there's an adorable corgi dressed as K-9 floating around pinterest)
- Sherlock Holmes (I really just want to make her the iverness coat in a tweed or houndstooth)
- Serenity (the ship)
- Disney-canon Maid Marion (she already has the foxy Sheltie face, despite her raccoon markings)
- Pony (mostly to make up for my mistakes 13? years ago that I subjected on poor Niki)

Other Sewing Projects:
- Something for the Scottish Walk (probably using DH's clan's* tartan, or else the Stuart tartan since it's similar and cheaper). Do women wear kilts? Can you even make a puppy kilt without it looking like it belongs on a "Kilt Girl"? Shame only boys are supposed to wear TOS, I think they're adorable (and one of the reasons I would consider going the PhD route, since it really doesn't have professional value outside of teaching and just no.)
- Recovering some of her old toys using stash fabric

*Don't ask me which one it is, I know Sean Connery is in it and it's HQed on the Isle of Man. If I had taken the program opening in the UK we would have gone to the annual meeting this year.

Costume Wishlist

I'm taking a break from studying (or something, more like having a Disney and cheesy late 90s/early 00s movie marathon with some notes open with my legal primer staring me down giving me a guilt trip) and wanted to make a costume wishlist. I have a sewing wishlist somewhere for "real" clothes (I have a shirt planned for the week between the end of the semester and Christmas) but nothing really for costumes except for a vague "costume closet" pinterest board. So here goes:

Kaylee Frye (Planning)
Ms Frizzle (Planning)
Fairy Godmother from Cinderella (I really just want a glitter wand)*
Jane from (Disney version) Tarzan
TARDIS (original)
DubDub from Middleman (a mix between the show and the GN)
Weeping Angel (I think this is mostly making up for the mistakes I made in high school musical tech doing set and makeup for Cats)**
Margo from Despicable Me 
Lady Adventurer (not quite steampunk but something not quite accurate either, with a vest. I need a reason to draft a custom vest since I know I wouldn't wear it in real life, but I want a vest!)***
Charlotte La Bouff from Princess and the Frog
This list subject to change and updates as I remember



*Also, the caftan/robe looks like I could wear sneakers underneath or whatever and that's just a win in my book. I'm always looking for a costume that allows for me to wear comfortable shoes.
** Here's a winner from when we were trying to figure out Old Griz's makeup. I was test monkey- someone else got to wear Jennyanydots that night. Her eyebrows got higher with each application.

***I may have mentioned this before but in high school and part of college I worked for Hershey. Part of the uniform in my area for a time was a hideous vest. Not even sure if it was an improvement over the previously hyperfitted ringmaster coats.Wearing both the coat and the vest, I was mistaken for a "nice, young man". Ruined menswear for me forever.

Our First Christmas (Tree)

DH and I finally got a tree. Last year we were pretty much gone for the month with visiting both sides and the Alamo Bowl (we better be representing the Big 12 in the Military Bowl next year, that would be so incredibly convenient). So we didn't get a tree. This year, we have a little more random living space so we ordered a fake little (they say 4.5' but really more like 3.75' with a tall center bit) prelit tree.

 Olive is going through a teenage phase

It has a bit of an identity crisis. We received this set from my godparents for the wedding. I was so confused when I opened it because, well, pinecone for motherhood and fruitfulness? Anywho. They're sparkley. And for our tree, right now, that's all that matters.

Then we bought this ornament on our honeymoon:

 

The only major souvenir from our Honeymoon, seriously

And when ThinkGeek had a end of season sale we bought a set of Giant Microbe ornaments (you can see the red amoeba in the first picture above Ms. Prissy Pant's right ear and the festive cold a little farther up from her left ear).

Finally, when we decided we wanted a tree this year, we thought about the parts of us that haven't been represented yet on the tree. And then the Firefly reunion special was on Science. Big alligator tears and a lot of seal clapping, let me tell you. More seal clapping than tears, much more. So we knew we needed Serenity or at least something show related. Cue Modcloth advertising dinosaurs with wreaths around their necks (at least I think that's how it happened, might been on a blog). And we needed a stegosaurus (not in the correct color sadly) to compliment it.

Curse your sudden, but inevitable, betrayal! *

Finally, we needed the TARDIS. BBC America to the rescue!

 

DooWeeDoo (Dugadada, Dugadada) 

We're still in a debate about what to put on the top. I want something traditional, DH wants something scifi-y. A while back I suggested a wheeping angel (it's kind of traditional, right?) but DH reasoned we would never sleep at night- he was probably right. Then he said a Death Star instead of a regular star (I love the look of Moravian Stars, personally) but I shot that down. So now we're stuck.

Also, I want a pickle ornament.**


*Joss!***
**I have a list of ornaments for next year: a flute, a pickle, a treble clef, and maybe even a Texas flag for DH
***Just realized this could be considered foreshadowing...

A Quick and Messy Fez

It's almost Halloween again, so I thought I would share another costume piece DIY (also works for a lazy cosplay for a convention.)

When I made my TARDIS dress, DH wanted to be the Doctor (the 11^th to be exact) and he needed a fez.

If my costume was hasty, his was … worse. I had every intention of sewing a bowtie and fez. Things got away from me so he rented a tie from Men’s Warehouse and in the 5 minutes I had between rehearsal, decorating the gym and the dance I took two plastic cups, a staple, and some red fabric and made a very messy fez.

This is more or less how it went.

Take 2 *matching* plastic cups. Cut on the dots.

Staple the two cups together along the long sides to make a larger loop. Then cover in fabric (again, staple) however you can. I didn't like how I did it soo... yeah. Ya'll are on your own.

And this is how it turned out

Rethinking the TARDIS Dress

A couple years ago (2? 3?) I made a TARDIS costume.

This is the TARDIS:

It travels through time and space and according to Neil Gaiman’s really awesome episode, The Doctor’s Wife, is female.

I picked a 60s type dress and handstitched the thing in a week. It was serviceable but so ill fitting. I want to tackle this again, just to have it on hand (doesn't work for my plan for upcoming-next-year-big-event.) So here’s the original:

A cardigan will cover a multitude of sins... like unfinished/incredibly sloppy armholes that were supposed to have sleeves.