Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope your Halloween is going great & you're getting lots of candy! I dressed up and brought my pumpkin to work today. I have an appointment later on do to a walk though of a house, I wonder what the lady will think when I walk in...

This is a costume from 3 years ago. I didn't have a plan when I started out. I was always in love with orange and black 1920's ready made costumes like these:

It's cute and it's cheery and I've never seen another like it!

Close up of the painted kitty. It's hard to see, but every dot, stripe and edge of this costume is covered in sequins and beads.

October 2nd Costume - Corpse Bride

I made this costume several years ago for my mum's Halloween party. My boss gave me a size 26 wedding dress she had, which gave me quite a lot of fabric & lace to cut up and play with. I couldn't bear to paint it, so I painted the shredded lace trim instead. The top is a steel boned corset with little fimo ribs. My veil is a curtain I painted out on the lawn. The wig is the "official" Rubies one & it was a nightmare. I itched all day and night with that damn thing on. 

My boyfriend was Charlie Chaplin that year. He said the corpse bride was his favourite costume on me - probably because my cleavage was on view...

My mum was a clown - do you like the big red lips I painted on her?

October 1st Costume - Revolutionary War Dress

I recently completed this dress - I've been working on it for 3 months or so. It is for my step mother who is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She will be wearing it in a parade and to veteran's events in November. She lives in California, so I only had one opportunity to try a partially made bodice on her in June. Fortunately she and I are of a similar height and size. 

I bought the main fabric for $6, the hat trim fabric for $3 and the petticoat fabric for $4 at the Goodwill. The hat was $1, but I uncoiled it and re did it into a flat crown. The corset is made from leftover upholstery fabric from a job I did and the panniers and pantaloons are from free sheets I got at a rummage sale. I know everything is not totally historically accurate - but it's tons better than a ready made costume bought off the net. It is a mix of old and new sewing patterns. The panniers are from Norah Waugh's  Corsets and Crinolines, although much smaller.

I really must thank American Duchess for all the inspiration for this costume. I endlessly poured over the details of her dresses and hats. Especially the idea for the covered buttons up the front, this solved a huge headache for me!

 My step mum is not a costume person, so I took a series of photos of the proper order to get dressed.

New Jewelry Box

I bought this little 3 drawer jewelry box at Goodwill for $3 last month. Unfortunately  it was a horrid orange/red. The weather decided not to cooperate as well, it has never stopped raining, so I could not spray paint. So I hand painted it to match my 1950's dresser, which took FOREVER! I lined the drawers in felt and now my crappy jewelry has a home! BTW - The above picture is a total lie, that Eames chair usually has like 8 dresses lumped on it and the dresser has orphan socks, buttons and various deodorants on it!

Various Necklaces  - Bakelite & Fakelite

Brooches & Pins (+goth hello kitty box!) - Original Colour!

Monthly Theme Post - Maxi Skirts

 

Hmmm... maxi skirts.... Knee length skirts and I are friends, but maxi skirts an I are not really friends. The only skirt I have that could qualify for this theme post is the skirt to my half mourning 1880's costume. There is a  matching veiled hat, corset and jet jewelry that goes along with it as well. I made it 4 years ago for my mum's big Halloween party. She hired a magician to perform, who tied me up with ropes that fell apart - magically! 

Anyway... back to maxi skirts. One reason I don't like to wear them is that there is an extreme religious group in my area that subjugates women in a depressing way. They are unschooled, unable to go out alone and have to wear these awful skirts. Of course the men are not subject to any of these regulations. They make me sad when I see them, therefore when I think of maxi skirts I think of them.

Baby Shower & Edward Gorey Baby Book

It was my friend Malia's baby shower this weekend.

I've been working for months getting things together, ever since she told me she was pregnant!

As you can probably tell from her blue mohawk, Malia is not your average person - in a very good way! Baby pastels and frou frou are not her, and are not for her baby. I decided to go with a lime green & monster theme, which I feel worked out well. Most everthing in the left photo I bought, while I made everything in the right photo. Yes, that gray onesie I embroidered says "Redrum". The sock monkey plays a song that scared my cat so bad, he would not come near me for a whole evening!

I wrapped everything in lime green & black to keep the theme going. The onesie at the right I finished embroidering the night before!

All the baby books out there were so smarmy and well, not Malia. In fiddling around with vintage images, I started think more and more about Edward Gorey. He has a drawing for every category I could imagine, and it worked out SO perfectly. I bound the book in some gray/green card stock that looked like and old library book.

Happy Halloween From Mary Queen Of Scots

My boss was all for me dressing up at work today, so I came as Mary Queen Of Scots. This costume took me 4 months or so to make. I hand embroidered and beaded almost all of it. Most of the fabric is curtains from Goodwill, which was so cheap it was almost free.  The partlet & veil are curtain lining from JoAnn.

Mary's book of hours. Its tooled & painted leather, with images that I found on a museum website inside.  

Closeup of the embroidery. I wanted a vine pattern with thistles, but then added the fleur de lis becaseu she was the Queen of France as well... My girdle is made from connector pieces I found on ebay. I glued red crystals and pearls to match the outfit. Inside the locket is a painting of Mary & her first husband.

Halloween Nails

This week I did my nails black and orange for Halloween. On top is multi-sized orange glitter from Forever 21 and underneath is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blackout. I love glitter on top of polish, it lasts and lasts until I get sick of it!

Halloween Loot 2

Behold! More Halloween loot! Most of these items were birthday presents from my family. My boyfriend bought me the skeleton footed pajamas on the right. Surprisingly they don't look too terrible on!

Closeup of the eyeball fabric. I think I'm going to make a dress. The ornament & coin purse are from the Santa Barbara Museum Of Art. The glasses say "Name Your Poison".

Outfit Post - Spider Shirt

I made this shirt this week from WalMart fabric. I mixed 3 patterns to find the pieces I thought would work best. Overall I like it, but front placket still wants to separate at the bust line, even though its big enough. I guess I'll put some snaps on when I get home. The back has cotton twill ties to make it a big more flattering.

I'm off to California tomorrow to visit my dad for my birthday. My step mum is planning a whole day of thrift store shopping!

Halloween Loot!

My Halloween haul so far... 2 new doormats, tissue, vinyl decals, treat bags, ribbon, ink pads, socks & fabric. I'm sure there will be more to come!

 The tissue is from Target, they had another design with a bat as well. The front has a lenticular graphic on them!

Closeup of the fabric. I've already cut the white & black spiderweb into a 40's style shirt. I think I'm going to use the poison bottles in a paneled skirt.

Costumes For Halloween

Some historical drawings from the NY Public Library. The Magpie dress is so darling, I'd love to make a copy of it, but in a wearable daytime version.