One Tough Costumer RSS

Costume College was last weekend, and the Queen of Margonia costume was a triumph!  I was touched and delighted that so many of you told me that you'd been following its progress here. Thank you so much! I'll be doing some detailed posts about various elements of the costume, but I know you want to see pictures. There was a professional photographer at the event, but naturally it takes him a while to get thousands of photos onto his website.  In the meantime, here's a few hallway pics:  "Don't you try to outdress ME, missy!" (Actually this lady was lovely and we had a good time sword fighting with our fans.)  More posts in a while!  

I'm on the final countdown!  Things actually in pretty good shape, so it's time to start showing you some completed pieces.  First off is the bodice. For this design, I wanted a wide arched neckline like this: Although my shoulders aren't as wide as hers.  I'm pretty sure no one's were, and that the artist took some liberties with the proportions. But I think the very narrow shoulder straps will be flattering for me, since I have really narrow shoulders for a woman my size.   I cut a mockup bodice using my standard bodice pattern, altered to fit my weird body: size 28 waist, 26 bust, and size TWO shoulders. After fitting it carefully, I drew in the new neckline. I could have drawn...

The Smock, also known as the chemise or shift, was the primary undergarment for the Elizabethan woman.  In fact, the same T-shape, knee length garment, with variations of neckline and sleeve, was the standard for well over a thousand years, finally falling out of use in the late 19th century. For my smock (also known as a chemise or shift) I used the historically accurate fabric, a lightweight 100% linen.  Linen is the most comfortable fabric choice, as linen tends to wick moisture away from the body. It's also, in many ways, the easiest to sew, as it hold a crease so well that seams can be finger pressed in place without an iron.The linen I used is the 3.8 oz bleached linen from Dharma Trading. ...

I've been so busy sewing that I haven't had time to post!  I'm working on some process posts, but in the meantime here's some of what I've been up to:   

I just looked at the calendar and there are only 86 more days till Costume College! Luckily, I've been getting a lot done.  Hopefully I'll find time to blog about it as well as do it!  Here's how I've been blinging the gown skirt.    The skirt is trimmed with the 3"  metallic trim that I hand painted. This trim has an iron on backing, but I wasn't about to trust it, since a test swatch peeled off the velvet easily.  It did work well for "basting" it in place, though. I had planned to hand sew the trim, but the iron on backing made it too tough for my arthritic hands. I machined sewed it in place using clear monofilament thread,...