Owl Dress

I had this fabric in my stash for a few years, waiting to find the right pattern.

This dress looked interesting, and I always love things with pockets.

I had 3 metres of fabric to work with but by the time I pinned it all I ran out!

The back of the top had a lovely shape.

But when I pinned it all together, it didn’t quite fit right - too big on top.

The join between the bodice and skirt didn’t match up, off by almost 30cm.

I tried a number of different tucks to match them up - eventually got there after 4 more darts than the pattern called for!

It was finished off with large pearl buttons.

And there it is - the owl dress!

Refashioned op shop dress with straps

This was a very simple refashion. I saw this dress in two different op shops on the same day, in two different sizes. I nearly didn’t buy it because the fabric isn’t natural, but the pattern proved irresistible.

Problem was it’s strapless. But that is an easy fix!

The straps are the bottom hem of a pair of pants that I took up. They were just the right length.

It waa simple to match everything up.

Sew four quick lines. And then wear it out to get groceries, because why not.

#lovelypennypatterns

Gone Batty at the Show Dress

I spend some time at our local show each year, but instead of buying a show bag I get.... fabric! Of course 😆 
This is from a couple of years ago now, but I finally made it up.

Bring on my favourite dress pattern and it was just a matter of cutting everything out (and hoping that I had enough fabric). 

I wanted to try a different neckline, too, maybe an asymmetrical one to match the quirky pattern?

Isn't it a great pattern? I overlaid some of the pieces to make the skirt slimmer and also to preserve some of the bats whole. I'm still playing with this pattern to make it fit me.

Then I made the mistake of putting the project aside after I cut it out, caught up in something else. I pulled the pieces out a couple of months later, sewed it all together... and when I tried to put it on, I found that it was waaaaay too small.

Puzzled, I dutifully cut out two new pieces for the back and sewed the zip in without looking at it properly. The result was this:

Sure, it fit better, but that much bra shouldn't have been flashing. Grumpy, I set it down and decided to tidy my work space... in which time I found the two missing pieces that I had cut out!

Bah! Ah well, I'll use those pieces in some other dress I suppose! A bit of tweaking and the dress fit well. I played with some pieces for the back and landed on this:

I've seen a lot of cute patterns recently and wanted to cut a bat-shaped pocket out, too. 

I found some red cotton to use as a backing, sewed around the edges and turned it through. 

It worked out pretty well!

 All in all, the disaster turned into a pretty groovy dress.

It's one of my favourite outfits now. I plan to wear it later this month to give a presentation at a conference in Sydney - show off a little bit of the Territory. 

#lovelypennypatterns

Hades (from Hercules) Cosplay

The next local nerd convention is fast approaching and I'd been thinking of what my cosplay was going to be. Looking up the guidelines and noting the prizes this year gave me extra incentive as well!
Merida from Disney's Brave had been on my to-do list, but instead I decided to continue with my Disney villains stint and do Hades from Hercules.

Outfit

The question was, how did I want to make the dress? Hades wears a two-piece, with an under-shirt and toga over the top: not so flattering for a woman, generally.

I have my favourite dress pattern, so rather than stuff up something made from scratch I went with it again:

But there will be some adjustments. I like the sleeve detail from this Hades cosplay version:

And this version, where the neckline is very feminine.

And the front drape from this one:

My sketch ended up something like this:

I had some leftover grey silk for the single shoulder, and found some black cotton in the bottom of a box for the rest of the dress. I'm still trying not to buy new fabric, instead re-using what I have.

 Planning the diagonal look on the front. I pinned it wrong the first time, had to swap directions!

 The final dress would look something like this:

I debated painting the pattern onto the trim. 

But decided I would use the scraps of black that I had leftover instead. This dress was made entirely from leftovers - I didn't buy any new fabric! 

My husband said that the fabric lines gave it more visual presence, which is good. 

It was really starting to look like the real thing at this point!  

A size trial and I discovered that it needed to be taken in under the arm, but still pretty good!  

Accessories

I ducked out to Bec's Costume Box at lunch one day, my all-time favourite cosplay shopping spot, to have a look for my wig. Did I want stand-up hair like the male Hades? Or curls? I definitely didn't want straight hair. I settled on this:

Onto the jewellery - aren't I lucky to have a friend who works with clay! We sat down one afternoon and she produced beautiful earrings, and I produced my rough brooch, earrings and necklace.

Then I managed to paint them myself, and I'm happy enough with the results. The brooch, on the right below, is bigger than I expected! I need to put felt on the back and a big clip so that it will attach. Who says the lady of hell can't have some frills?

I was thinking black gladiator sandles for my feet, but my friend suggested heels for some imposing height. I found the perfect shoes in town, and they were on sale!

Next? Makeup! A bit of a trial for turning myself grey. Black lips, very simple eyes. Disney characters are pretty 2D!

I needed to be grey all over. To prevent overuse of paint, I bought some grey tights for my legs. My arms, neck and shoulders had to be done though.
Final dress, hair and accessories below!

Can't wait to get all dressed up on the day!

#lovelypennypatterns

Dragon Age Inquisition Cosplay - Orlesian Skirt

My Dragon Age Inquisition cosplay has been only a thought for a couple of years now,  but I'm determined to finish it in 2019. So I got the pattern out one night and cut out every piece of the layered skirt.

Layer 1 - Underskirt

I scrounged some fabric from my many boxes and made a simple, full-length, A-line skirt that I could wear on its own, separate from the cosplay.

See the odd black pattern on the back where I JUST ran out of fabric? Ha ha! This pattern uses a lot of fabric.

Layer 2 - White cotton underskirt.

Looks like I mostly forgot to take a photo of this in progress, but you can see it on the final skirt.

Layer 3 - Moth wings

These were the complicated part of the skirt, because I had elected to do them in satin for the more formal ballgown look. And satin is slippery.
I did them as separate 'petals', so that the layers and drape would look more like the original gown. 

Once sewn, all of the moth eyes were fabric printed on using the lino cuts I had designed and carved for this project.

It's always a slight risk printing directly onto your finished, sewn product, but I was confident. As long as I let the black dry before I put the copper on, it would turn out fine.

Each part was a top layer, sewed together with a bottom layer, and turned through so that the seams were on the inside. A lot tidier than simple hems, particularly with the satin.

It was a LOT of sewing with very slippery fabric....

And I had it draped everywhere!

But it was coming together according to my plan.

I sewed the wing designs on rather than paint them, so that the effect was subtler. 

Lots and lots of pinning followed, trying to work out how the individual layers would hang. The white underskirt and all of the satin were sewn together as a single skirt, with a substantial, solid waistband to hold all of it up.

But can you see how it all came together?

I think you can really see the moth wing effect at the front!

The finished skirt! 

Just the matching corset top to make, and the hand-painted stand-up butterfly collar.....

#lovelypennypatterns