Tag: costumes

Adventures · Sewing

Disney Costume Exhibit

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Here’s another catch up/throwback post. These were all at a Disney costume exhibit at the Henry Ford forever a go now. I thought it would still be fun to post it though. The detail on the costumes was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed getting a glimpse behind the scenes. From a seamstress’ point of view it was wild to see the techniques and craftsmanship that went into these costumes.

Here’s the Fairy Godmother’s costume from the 2015 live action remake of Cinderella. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s so fluffy and sparkly. I loved the different fabric textures and sewing techniques and how it all worked together.

And here’s the Cinderella dress from the same movie. They used a couple of different fabrics to create the shimmer, as well as using some CGI to help things look even cooler in the movie. If you look closely at the bottom, you can see the different layers and colors of shiny tulle that was used.

These are the day dresses for Cinderella’s stepsisters in the live action remake. If I remember correctly, they primarily in these color palettes for most of the movie.

Here’s another live action remake- This one is Beauty and the Beast. This is the village dress that Belle wears until she gets to the castle. The costume designers were trying for French countryside to pay homage to the story’s origins.

Here’s Gaston’s costume. The color was so bright and vibrant. There were a lot of military elements involved in the costume.

Here is Belle’s famous ball gown. This one was really cool because it was very fluttery and they had silk screened the print and bejeweled it. I really enjoyed the cool shaping on the bodice as well.

This was from the live action Maleficent movie. Look how cool the shiny vinyl is! This is supposed to be the dragon part of the costume. The big puffy white thing in the corner is Aurora’s dress. I believe it was from a wedding scene.

Here are the Mary Poppins dresses- original and remake, and the original carpetbag. I really enjoyed spotting the differences between the two costumes and finding the nods they made to the original. How many can you find?

Look out! Here comes the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. I absolutely loved these costumes! The patchwork is fantastic and lovely. All the colors and textures for the fabric make them look especially rich and fancy even though they are supposed to look old fashioned.

There were some guy costumes too, but I wasn’t as interested in them. They had similar colors and not as much embellishment. Jack Sparrow’s costume was one of the most interesting ones with all the colors and details.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse of some adventures! Maybe we can all find an adventure of our own!

Wordless Wednesday- Star Wars Costumes Part 2
Life Posts · Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesday- Star Wars Costumes Part 2

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Bear with me, if you aren’t as nerdy as I am. 🙂 These costumes and the amount of detail that went into them are too good not to share. 

Princess Leia

Like this picture, you must!

I believe this is handmade lace.

Rebel helmets

Hand tied tassels, hundreds of them!

I swoon!

Fabric manipulation

Darth Maul was apparently the designer’s second worst nightmare. The first was too scary!
Simple Sunday- Star Wars Edition
Life Posts · Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Star Wars Edition

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We went to the Star Wars costume exhibit at the DIA today and it was glorious! The details! The stories! Oh my! Here’s some quotes and pictures. 

“You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.” – George Lucas

“I thought Star Wars was too wacky for the general public.” – George Lucas

“When I was making ‘Star Wars,’ I wasn’t restrained by any kind of science. I simply said, ‘I’m going to create a world that’s fun and interesting, makes sense, and seems to have a reality to it.’ “- George Lucas

“I don’t comment on the physics errors of ‘Star Wars,’ all right. I just – you let that one go.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson

“People are still asking me if I knew Star Wars was going to be that big of a hit. Yes, we all knew. The only one who didn’t know was George.” -Carrie Fisher

Bellydance Beginnings
Crafty

Bellydance Beginnings

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My weekend was full of creativity, dancing, and friends new and old. My heart and head are now full of ideas and new things to try. I thought now would be the time to share some of them, so I can track my progress on them.

I was at Ooky Spooky, which is a Halloween themed bellydance event put on by Boheme Tribal. https://www.bohemetribal.com/

I love this group of dancers, especially Sarah, the owner. She’s so warm and supportive to everyone and introduced me to my favorite dancer, Mardi Love. I promptly gushed and was too embarrassed to say anything else the whole weekend. I was starstruck. They almost had to stick me in a corner with boozy tea so I could calm down.

Normally, I’m too shy to even talk to the headliners, but I was trying to be brave. I kept trying to think of a way to play it off, but there’s not really a way to say “hey, I swear I’m not a creepy stalker fan” without sounding like one. She was very nice about it though and didn’t run away screaming. I may need to work on that…The not gushing part, not the causing people to run away screaming part.

The workshops were fantastic. I was dancing, so I have no pictures and there were no pictures allowed during the show. You’ll have to imagine a room full of sweaty, energized, slightly dizzy from turning, dancers. 🙂

I ended up actually doing the two technique workshops and just watching the choreography ones. My back was not happy with me. I didn’t do enough dance to prep it ahead of time. It felt good to be dancing again. With switching jobs and financial stress, I haven’t been able to go to an actual class for a while. This weekend made me realize that it needs to be a priority again. Dancing at home by myself isn’t as much fun.

So you may be asking “But how did you even start bellydancing?” It’s a valid question. I’m a tiny blonde lady who still gets carded for R rated movies. It’s not exactly something you would think I might like to do.

It started when I was in grad school and noticed that I was gaining a lot of stress weight. I saw a flyer in the Rec Center while walking the track one day and since the classes were free, I decided to try it. Oh my goodness! It was the most fun I had ever had. For once, my belly was supposed to jiggle and it was high energy and graceful at the same time. It also didn’t affect my asthma at all, which most strenuous exercise does. I went home feeling great! Reality kicked in the next day when I could move without at least 3 different painful spots. 🙂 I loved it though and kept going back.

I am lucky enough to live in an area where there are lots of different styles to choose from. There’s tribal fusion, classic Egyptian, and ATS teachers in my area. I tend to stick to tribal fusion, but really like the classical class that’s close too. Explaining all of them is about three more posts though…

Bellydancing also helped me find an outlet for sewing, as I’ve made a few costumes, and of course, all the hip wraps for Etsy.

Here’s a picture of my fanciest costume and what it started out as.

The shirt was a $6 Salvation Army purchase. It is a vintage Neiman Marcus piece, which my Mom attempted to buy to save from being cut up. The top and the skirt appliqués are all hand sewn. I still have a bag full of the beaded parts, which I will use to add some fabric to the sides at some point. It has two slits in the skirt. I performed in it at another Boheme event last spring. 🙂

I’ve also made some other individual costume pieces for dances at Ren Fest.

These were from the same year. I wore black 25 yard pants (hem measures 25 yards if spread out) and a lace sleeved pirate top under the corset vest.

My very first hip scarf! It is red and white stripes on the front. I had different tassels on it, so was showing the reversible side for this picture. I wear it to any vending show where I am not dancing and all the time to class. It’s my favorite!

Dancing has always been a stress relief for me. I danced pretty much from middle school on, even through college. Bellydancing in particular makes me feel like I can take on the world and I don’t have to care what anyone else says. It’s a very embracing and supportive community.

Well, after writing out all that, I think I should go dance! Hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures and learning about my journey.

Fabric Plans and Completed Projects
Crafty

Fabric Plans and Completed Projects

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Have you seen that meme that has Maury saying “You say you have not been to the fabric store in over two weeks….Store surveillance footage has determined this is a lie!” Well, I admit it. I bought more fabric.

Yesterday I went to Joann’s for a few minutes before driving to work (it was next to the gas station,) since I would have been really early. There were some amazing fabrics there and I made a deal with myself that I needed to sew more clothes, so that I could get more fabric to make even more clothes!

I was also very motivated by my friend, Steph’s, dress this weekend. It was adorable and beautifully made, as usual. I swear she waves her hands around and a dress comes out of nowhere. I am nowhere near that level yet, but I won’t get there if I don’t keep sewing. I have a bunch of unfinished clothes waiting in the UFO box too.

I did make a dress on Sunday, wore it today and got lots of complements. My response was generally “Thanks, I made it!” Followed very quickly by “It has pockets!” This was then followed by gasps of amazement, since not only does it have pockets, but they are not sad little girl pockets… Both pockets fit my phone! (Believe me, this is huge.)

Here is the dress:

The back and sleeve:

This is the same pattern my strawberry dress was made from, so I made sure to take Steph’s suggestion of taking a picture of the pattern with the dress, well, fabric in this case.

It’s view D with added sleeves. I need to fix the neckline, it has this weird gaping thing going on, but it’s cute enough to wear for me. The problem was I had lost a pattern piece and didn’t have the scoop neck pattern, just the high neck. It apparently doesn’t work for me. The strawberry dress has the lowered neckline and works better. As usual, I cut off about 4-6 inches of hemline. It falls right at my knee now.

I also made a bag for Etsy, but it rained and I haven’t taken pictures yet. It’s too pretty for basement pictures. 🙂

For as many fabrics as there were that wanted to come home with me, I was pretty restrained. I bought the materials for this fairy costume for Ren Fest.

I’m using the sleeveless vest and overskirt in the upper right, and attaching the wings. The Husband voted for a dark fae, so I have a red and black brocade for the vest and a red lame type fabric for the wings, with a sequined net as backup. It needs to be done by September 9 and as I am writing this I realized I didn’t get fabric for the overskirt… I’ll have to get more or use one of my bellydance skirts.

I bought Halloween and fall themed fabrics for tea wallets for Hawthorne and Vine.

The one on the far right will be a bag.

I needed a few more spooky fabrics and some glam fabrics for the vending event in October at Ooky Spooky. Here are the ones I picked up:

As you might imagine, it’s a Halloween themed bellydance event. One of my dance heroes, Mardi Love, is going to be the headliner and I’m terrified I may make a fool of myself while there. I am taking the workshop, vending, and performing! I have most of my costume done, but will need to cover a top to finish it off. It should be relatively easy to do.

I’m still working my way through my UFO bins as well. I think I have some hip skirts cut out that would be perfect for this event waiting to be finished.

Wish me continued motivation to getting all my projects done before their deadlines!