Now on Etsy!

Woohoo!

Designs by AV

I’m excited to announce that I am now on Etsy! I’ve been feeling bad, because school and work (the kind that pays the bills) have been taking over my life lately, and I really have wanted to do something artsy and creative. I just haven’t had the time to sit down and bang out an entire costume or two or three… well, that’s when I discovered jewelry making!

Rest assured, I shall be introducing more costume pieces… and you’ll hear about it here, first! I just need to make it through exams and the holidays first. In the meantime, check out my shop, and start looking around. I just have a few items for now, but I am working on expanding my repertoire, so, expect to see more, soon!

I will, of course, keep you updated on my progress here. Stay tuned for more information, which is certain to come soon.

Now, for a last bit of news, that you, my dear readers (you and my Facebook fans), can have as foreknowledge to look forward to concerning my shop… I will be unveiling a gold line of earrings soon, as well as a line of hair combs and necklaces… Just a heads up! Some bundles will be coming, as well!

Also, I will be putting together a twitter that you all can follow for news and updates as they occur. More info on that to follow!

Stay blessed, dear ones!

Sketches

3 sketches under the cut — one casual outfit, one shirt, and one 18th century ballgown.

Re-styling Old Jeans

I’ve been doing a lot of sewing these past few months. Unfortunately, I can’t quite show you pictures for all of what I’ve done yet, but as soon as I can (and get some), I will. Most of my time has been dedicated to Comedy Central’s The Legend of Neil, which has been a very intriguing and rewarding learning experience. It also means y’all don’t get pictures until after the show comes out, which won’t be until July. I worked with Jenny Green as Assistant Designer for the show… made a ton of costumes, and had lots of fun.

The other big project I was working on were a few costumes for going to Colonial Williamsburg. Those were done in secret, as most of my friends didn’t know I was going. So, I now can actually get around to taking pictures of them and posting them for all y’all to see. I’ll get my day dress post finished this evening. I just need to take a break from it as I was busy listing it on eBay.

That said, I want to spend some time doing something just for me. Something quick and dirty that doesn’t take talent or time. I realized I have this old pair of jeans that no longer fit and the thought struck me. I’ll make stuff out of them!

So, I shall be making myself some type of jean corset-style shirt, and a jean mini-skirt. If there’s still jean leftover, we’ll see what happens. But, for now, that’s what I’ve got planned.

Now, I should probably go check my mail and stop surfing threadbangers.com…

Cream Brocade Ballgown – Complete

Inspired by gowns from the mid-18th century Colonial period, I made this ballgown loosely based off of Simplicity 3723 View D.

What’s Planned:

I thought I’d post to let y’all know my current up-coming costuming plans.

I am taking a draw-string skirt I had made, and pleating it onto a waist-band. I’ve found pleating looks so much nice, and can still be somewhat adjustable. This is a dark blue, sort of navy colour.

Using the JP Ryan jacket pattern, I will be making view B out of an almost cranberry red fabric. This will go with the navy skirt.

With a light blue, tiny floral print fabric, I will be making a regency gown based off of Jennie Chancey’s patterns.

I just picked up a bunch of stuff yesterday from JoAnn’s.

Firstly, patterns (go Simplicity $0.99!!):

9891 – It’s a decent base for LotR, CoN, regular fantasy etc. until I can get the McCalls, etc.
3519 – Poet shirt based, very useful
3677 – I like the bodice in this, and I have some ideas for it
4059 – Doublet, very useful

I was gonna get the guy pirates one because I liked some of the stuff in it, but they only had it in XL sizes. Same with the LotR based pattern for women, though I think I prefer 9891 (and that’s with never using the LotR one). There are some parts to the LotR one that I would like, however, so I might stop by again today to see if they have it.

Fabric:

Brown Linen – 3.5 yards
Black Linen – 2.75 yards
Red linen – 2 5/8 yards
Ivory stuff – 3 yards
Peacock blue/black satiny stuff – 4 yards

And, of course, thread to match everything.