Desucon Fantasy

100%  cool and comfy.

I shared a stand with leechdreams, who makes the prettiest flower crowns and fairy accessories. Because the mere thought of dressing up in victorian clothes and using an hour applying fancy makeup made me go nope, I wore my viking garb instead and was 100% comfier than anyone else.

I loved selling at the convention, mostly because I escaped having sore feet at the end of the day!

I made these stays last summer, just to have something to do. It used up the fabric left over from my own stays eget snøreliv. It was the first thing I sold and the person who bought it put it on and walked aroundwearing it! I was so amazed and excited about it, it's a bit embarrassing, but person! Wearing thing! I MADE THING!

Amulets with icelandic magical staves and bindrunes.

Cute armwarmers.

I finished my second pair of viking corgies during the day. They're a tiny bit bigger and way more dangerous than the first pair.

I didn't buy anything geeky, but what I bought is as nerdy as can get. Gudbrandsongarden had a stand at the marketplace outside the convention hall, and I bought this beautiful yarn made from spælsheep, the kinda sheep the vikings had. New viking socks, here I come! 

Garters for a prima donna

This is a hint for one of the costumes I'll be making over fall and winter. It's very big and very pink, and that's all I'm going to say for now. I won't really need garters, because they won't show, but I wanted them nevertheless.

Rococo garters are simple to make. There are several examples with embroidered phrases, from poetry to cheeky quotes. I found inspiration in this tutorial and laughed heartily when I found this geeky one. However I sewed the embroidered panel directly on top of the satin band to avoid seams that could unravel easily.

Cotton emrboidery thread and fabric, satin band in polyester, sewing thread in silk.

I had to improvise a little - my embroidery hoop lies waiting for me at my aunt's,
half the country away.

It's a sad thing to confess to, but I'm a sucker for small projects that give instant gratification. This took me a couple of hours, and now they only need a little ironing to get rid of the pin holes left in the fabric, and they're ready to go!

Rococo Ewigkeitsvampire

This was how I felt about my hair this fine day.

My Finnish Ewigkeitsvampire was worn at the second day of Banzaicon: Time Travel Trouble, and I got some better pics of the costume. Now I see I need an underskirt to keep the boning in the paniers from showing, but oh well. Wasn't in love with my hair either, but after thirty minutes of trying to fix it, I was all out of fucks to give. All in all I was in character for a grumpy creature of the night. Eternity sucks, so I'm gonna wipe out humanity, angst, etc. ad absurdum.

Of course my hair looks perfect in the back - where I couldn't see
when putting it up. 

The back of the skirt is a bit boring, so I might add something, I just don't know what yet.

The best part of the con happened outside the convention centre. My group went out to eat, and at the restaurant we randomly chose, there was a little girl having a birthday party. The kids were stunned as we entered, and the birthday girl got pictures and we sang for her, which was awesome.

Halloween 2012

Rococo lady on the bus.

This year resulted in costuming extravaganza. And I teased the hell out of my hair so I could style it mile-high.  One of my housemates wore the tallest heels she had, and I was still taller than her. We were out and about, so I didn't get to take proper pictures of the whole thing. It'll have to wait till next con, I think.

Wearing the costume was fun. I got loads of compliments, though there were a few nasty comments too - people love to talk down about Halloween here because it's supposedly an American tradition. The costume was comfortable to wear, not too cold or hot, and I love the new stays, I completely forgot I was wearing them.

There was a staring contest. I lost.

This was what happened when I let down my hair. 

And this was what happened after I came home (and left bits my costume all around the house as I peeled it off). As if I don't have trouble with my unruly hair already, here it is teased and covered in a bullet-proof layer of hairspray.

These pics are by Sylvilel.

Halloween: So far

Robe a la anglaise a la polonaise, center front.

This Halloween I'm planning to go as a vampire, once again inspired from my favourite musical. Two years ago I dressed as a German Ewigkeitsvampire, this year I'm taking inspiration from the Finnish designs, where all the vampires are dressed in black with gold and silver accents.

With roughly two months till Halloween, and seeing as my costume is starting to look like a piece of clothing, I allow myself to not stress about it. Stomacher is embroidered, the jacket is soon finished (only need to sew on the engageantes), and yesterday I cut out the pattern for the giantunormous underskirt. The sewing bit is relatively uncomplicated but trimming this monstrosity will take forever. I have hoarded up large quantitites of lace.

I wanted a center front, but after three tries at modifying the pattern, I gave up. I don't know why I bother drawing out a design at all. I always end up changing my mind halfway, and the end result looks completely different.

It's hard to see from the front, but the jacket is made up by three different cotton fabrics (lined with linen, by the way). I really didn't think gold and silver would look remotely good together, but so far it looks fine. I wanted some bling on the back, so I sewed a decorative band over the seams.

Hairstuff is also finished. I have this tiara I made from a bracelet, and a comb with blackened flowers that I spray painted. Notice the green stuff. Those are jewel beetle wings. I am completely in love with them despite their creepy crawly origin.

Polkadot stays

I was going for a very proper pair of stays, but that idea was binned when I found red polkadot linen at the fabric store. At least the pattern is period. (I found it online, but I've lost the link.)

Trying on a half-boned WIP.

You're supposed to use whalebone in stays but I didn't want to wait for it to arrive (living in Norway, whoo!), so I used corset steel instead. Unfortunately I ran out halfway, and so I had to wait for a new coil of corset steel instead. (From Vena Cava, by the way.)

This pair of stays has a functional opening in front, with a loose stomacher, so that I can put it on without help. The other stays I've made have been closed in the back, and last time I used one, it was laced wrong by a friend. Wearing it for a whole day at a convention was not pleasant.

Blue Ensemble, Late-Rococo

Every Christmas my family starts insisting I put the sewing machine away. I usually swap my sewing for knitting, but this year I wanted to sew, and since I am a pseudo-historical costumer, I decided to try and see if I could make an entire outfit by hand.

Mau helped me cut out the jacket pattern.



I am somewhat OCD about stitches.

The jacket took approximate twenty hours to finish. It's cotton, with linen interlining and a cotton/linen for lining.

Skirt from this tutorial. Made in cotton. (Don't tell anyone it's actually a bedsheet...)

WIP

I made the stomacher two months afterwards, two weeks before a photo shoot, because I'd forgotten about it. In linen, embroidered with vintage woolen thread given to me by my grandmother. She used to embroider bunads (Norwegian national costumes), and has tried in vain to teach me anything about embroidery. I don't really know how to embroider, but the end result wasn't half bad.

Red Ensemble, Late-Rococo

I know there's  pink bow in my hair. Ignore it please.

This is an outfit I didn't plan on making. It just happened. I found a pretty fabric at the local second-hand store and wanted to make myself a Regency gown. But when I unwrapped the pattern there was a gazillion pieces and a mile-long list of instructions. I figured that, heck, I don't really like the empire waist anyway, and went a bit farther back in time to make an 18th. century skirt. Tutorial.

When I had the skirt (plus an underskirt I'd made because the overskirt was see-through), I had to make something to go with it and drafted a jacket based on Simplicity 3637. I delved into my stash for this project. I had to piece the red fabric, which made me utterly excited. (Yay, something period correct in my not-at-all period project!)

Reticule.

Used it six months later, at Banzaicon 2012. I'm wearing proper underpinnings, plus a bumroll. The flying satin band is from the sleeve of the chemise. I didn't notice it dangling.