a hard days night

I left work today and immediately went to put another coat of dye on the banner.

then, after dinner and brief relaxing I got to work! I was able to complete the green dress, and am 85% done with the fat belt. I still have to quilt in the lining (i'm using a stiff thick quilters lining to make sure the belt doesn't cave in on my waist and stays nice & stiff!), then it's just the hidden clasps that I am putting on it.

soooo, here are pics!

The dress, underneath the fat belt AND my chinese knotwork belt that will be worn on top of the fat belt and hang down a bit.
























a close-up of the knotwork that made me feel a bit cross-eyed trying to do...lol.






















that is it for my sewing/crafting adventures tonight. I was going to wax my brows (which I have decided is a craft unto itself!), but I'm just too tired.

tomorrow night I finish the belt, make the sheer overcoat, and wash the banner.

and maybe wax the brows & dye my hair....ha!

happy crafting!

it's not easy being green v.2.0! better! faster!

so, contrary to my last post - I finished filling in my banner design with the first round of dye-na-flow paints on sunday afternoon/evening. I was worried that I had to let the gutta rest for 24 hours before painting, but apparently 45 minutes is long enough, and I had already waited about 2 hours.

The yellow filled in beautifully, but the red I'm a little worried about. you can see my paint streaks, and i'm concerned that they won't wash or fade out. I'm going to go in for a 2nd coat to make sure the color is bright, and hopefully I can counteract the paintlines with the 2nd coat.

last night I cut out my Tang dress out of a beautiful green cotton gauze, and I finally found my overcoat fabric at Joann's. for once - something I needed WASN'T on sale, so I was actually able to use one of those 50% off coupons they send twice a month via mail & email. It worked out well too, because the sheer fabric I am using was like $11 a yard before my coupon...and I needed 4 yards!

I also found a new & exciting fabric - polyester shantung. It is a faux duponi silk that is actually a washable polyester. I bought a yard and a half of it to use as trim & such on my belt, and am excited to see how it turns out! if so, that is a MUCH cheaper alternative for duponi! It has obvious right & wrong sides, and isn't quite as nice feeling as duponi - but it's really not that bad. and the color selection was FANTASTIC! they had a shade of orange that the boy would LOVE - I had to restrain myself from just buying it to buy it.

I also bought some green cording and made a chinese knotwork belt last night! i was laughing at myself because the intructions for the various knotwork patterns that I had to work off of wasn't very helpful, and I kept getting "tied up". lol. but I got a beautiful knot made and turned it into an adjustable belt for my tang piece.

anywho, tonight there will be no crafting, as I have tickets to see Wicked. (!!!)

more tomorrow!

blame it on the gutta

my head is freaking pounding!

yesterday I collected myself to have everything I would need to start this silk painting project. I spent some time at kinko's blowing a small design up to about 40 inches wide by 30 inches tall. I got to use their poster scanner and printer - very exciting!

got back to Andy's to find that he was having a vehicle emergency, so I proceeded to cut & iron my silk (45 inch nap fabric by 60 inch length!), tape my design down on the floor, tape my silk on top of it, and trace my design on the silk in pencil.

all of this happened on the floor due to my lack of large table space btw.

by the time I was done with all this my knees were killing me, and I was starving! But, it was such a tedious process that I felt pretty accomplished.

today I tackled putting the frame together, stretching the silk in the frame, and getting all the gutta (resist) painted on. I'm not sure how long to let the gutta rest/set, but I'm thinking it's probably best to let it set for 24 hours.

In the process, however, I gave myself a raging headache. I believe D's exact words were "that gutta smells like cat-fuck!"

and he's absolutely correct, it smells pretty bad.

so, my process from here:

• tomorrow: paint inside of main design golden yellow & outside/edges brick red
• tuesday: (after letting the paint rest for 24 hours) iron & wash entire banner

then, it should be done. I understand that most people who do this particular craft can get it done in a weekend...and I totally see how that could happen. sadly, I am not one of those people, and this particular banner (being 45x60 inches big) is not one of those banners.

I've already promised myself that when I do smaller pieces that I will do a couple of things differently, including in investing in one of those cool embroidery stands to hold my fabric tight while painting. I think that'd save me a lot of hassle.

other projects I have to complete this week:

• new tang dynasty chinese outfit (by friday night) including:
• strapless dress
• fatbelt
• overcoat

• monkey applique's for D's new fighting tunic

honestly though, I think this is the least tedious pre-crown tournamet workload that I've ever had. usually i'm making at least 2 whole new outfits, and a ton of other crap. Plus, I've done a pretty good job of preparing myself. so, go me!

happy crafting friends!

silk & circumstance

Last night I pulled out my 4 yards of habotai silk and washed it in a couple of capfuls of synthrapol - in preparation for painting silk banners this weekend.

I also traced out my design on paper, and am a bit concerned that my initial outline for the size of the banner is going to be too big. I was planning on making it a 45 inch by 60 inch horizontal rectangle. 60 inches is 5 feet...that's really big. I'm thinking of shrinking my design down to 36 inches by 50 inches, or something. I need to give myself room on the left side of the banner to stitch a loop for the pole to slide through, and on the right side of the banner to cut some strips for fringe. It's all so very complicated, and it's just not going to come together until I cut it out and trace on my design. So, i think I'm going to do that tonight, so that tomorrow's venture of painting can be it's own set of question marks.

pics of projects

up a little late with an upset stomach, so I figured it'd be a good time to load up pics of 3 of my complete projects from last week.

1. Chinese Hair sticks.

This was a fun thing to make. I was inspired by a beautiful brocade fabric that I bought to make myself a new Tang dynasty chinese costume for the upcoming crown tournament, mixed with the fact that I have recently apprenticed to a wonderful laurel in my kingdom - allowing me to wear a green (and yellow) belt. In the end the outfit will feature a green dress, chinese "fat belt" made of the brocade, green belt tie, yellow chinese knotwork tie, and a sheer yellow overcoat with brocade trim.

the fabric inspiration:









the hairsticks:









2. Fabric Box

I LOVED learning how to do this. This is such a simple sewing craft that, truly, anyone can do. It is just simply different geometrical shapes of fabric, sandwiched around a thick piece of double sided fusible interfacing of the same shape.

the whole box. Isn't the fabric AWESOME!








the inside, matching the top. as I was satin stiching the edges of the base I realized that I had fringe laying around and thought it would look really good - so I did it, and am sooo happy about the results!





the inside of the lid - shows the contrasting fabric that is the outside of the bottom as well. such a great project!














3. My newest asian inspired dress.

this is the dress that caused me to rant about 5/8 seams. since I already went over my mental processes over this piece, I'll just glow over the pics :).

the whole dress. the waistband turns into ties in the back - so it has the illusion of being perfectly fitted when worn, but in reality goes on much like a tunic. but it is really fun to have this big bow & fabric ribbons hanging above your butt - it is such a feminine dress.











a close-up of the bodice, sleeve, pleating, & belt/waistband. and how freaking gorgeous is that fabric?! It is a cotton I found in the quilting section of joann's, and just couldn't stand the thought of someone just using this gorgeous print for a freaking blanket! I was worried it would be too much, too bright, too busy...

but once it's on - it just works. it's really pretty.









so - there ya go!

happy crafting!

it's not easy being green

last night I got home and prepared lovely little treats for Angie & Penny for our tea party during our sewing session today. I was asked to bring scones, and while I'm sure store bought scones would have been fine - the "martha" in me couldn't do it.

I decided on making 2 different varieties:

• lemon cream
• cranberry orange

the lemon cream included teh zest of 3 fresh lemons, a good dose of heavy cream, and some cream painted accross the top with a layer of sugar for a nice coating. The cranberry orange included almost a full cup of buttermilk - absolutely decadent!

the lemon cream made me realize that my oven runs pretty hot. and even though I took them out 15 minutes earlier than the recipe said, they were still just a tad darker and drier than I would have liked. The cranberry orange, having been baked 2nd, came out much better. But Penny had some fresh lemon curd & cream to spread accross the scones, so both were quite delicious in the end.

In today's sewing excitement I got the kirtle for my 16th century flemish working woman's dress complete. I am really excited about this outfit. It will include a white chemise, olive green kirtle and peach open fronted overdress. really beautiful. tomorrow i'll have to make the overdress & chemise for it to be wearable, but can also make beautiful parlets & pin-on sleeves down the line for it to be really period.

runs with scissors

So - last night I stayed up until roughly 2am making a completely new dress - from start to finish in 5 hours. It is this great McCalls pattern (pictured) that I have been coveting for a few weeks.

I found a fabric that is oh so very asian, accented in pink & forrest green.

(pictures will come once my digital camera returns safely from Pennsylvania with my boyfriend btw)

Interesting things I learned from this particular project -

Following pattern directions precisely is not a bad thing. In the past I have not been one to do this. In fact, I get angry at myself if I DO follow all the directions. maybe it's the rebel in me...but I just HAVE TO cut a corner somewhere. Last night, however, I did (just about) everything the pattern said to do - and I have an awesome dress! *SHOCK!* The only things I didn't do were the 5/8 seam allowance, slipstitching the collar facing, and slipstitching the hem facing.

Let me say something about 5/8 seam allowances....THEY SUCK! I just don't get them, and can't bring myself to do them! ESPECIALLY when the very next direction from the pattern (after sewing each stitch) is to trim the damn seam! WHAT?!? That is an exercise in inefficiency if you ask me - therefore, I will not sew 5/8 seam allowances. I generally use 3/8 seam allowances because that just makes more sense.

Other than that (and the hand stitching), I ironed every friggin seam flat, I gathered between specified marks, I interfaced, I matched seams & hems, and I am amazed at the difference in quality & look.

This morning I drop in starbucks on the way to work in my new dress - and before I get to my car I receive 2 passionate compliments on my "gorgeous dress." wow. thank you anonymous peoples! I didn't admit to either person that I had made the dress myself. I find that weird, but I suppose (in afterthought) that I should've acknowledged my hard work and creativity by admitting that it was a Ri Ri original.

In retrospect I feel that this sewing experience is much like my education in cooking - in that - recipes are precise & calculated and you can leave out an ingredient, but it just won't be the same. It won't taste as good.

A pinch of salt makes a huge friggin difference - seriously. pick a recipe and make 2 versions - one with the required salt, and one without. I guarantee that you will notice a difference.

a variation from the norm

So, last night I was thinking about all the things I create that I'd like to document & show the progress of on this here blog. I realized that I do so many things for so many reasons!

• SCA - historical recreation

1. sew costuming & armor
2. kumihimo - the art of japanese braiding
3. beading & accessories
4. knitting
5. silk painting (my newest venture)
6. and i'd like to get into some of the scroll painting...

• burlesque

1. costumes costumes costumes! EVERYTHING SHINEY!

• everyday wear

1. clothing for my everyday life
2. clothing for boyfriend
3. clothing for work
4. knitting
5. beading & jewelry

• home crafts

1. fabric boxes & bowls
2. frame crafts & art
3. pillows & decorations
4. pottery

So - you see - I do a lot of shit. and I'm sure there's other things that I do that I didn't even think of! So, I'll have to keep in mind as I post things to note what the particular project is for.

Last night I finished a pair of chinese beaded hair sticks that I made to complement a Tang dynasty Chinese outfit for the upcoming crown tournament in the SCA. I found this fabulous brocade fabric that has completely inspired me to do an outfit centered around the colors of yellow & green - accented in pink & black. It sounds weird offhand, but i'll post a pic of the fabric & hairsticks & it'll all make sense!

happy crafting!

A New Beginning

A blog for all seasons! that's what I say!

I've had so many blogs, and so little time to write about JUST my hobbies, dreams, and aspirations. Somehow I get stuck in the rut of work, life, emotion, and DRAMA.

NO MORE!

This is a new day! and a new blog! completely dedicated to the resurrection on myself, and the persuit of sewing, crafts, art, and beauty!