Let's Craft Something!

Alright, I know I promised a new theme and here it is:  Steampunk September!  While I suppose I should have been using it on my starfi -- wait, I can say it now -- Staryu headpiece, I didn't want to use it before September began.

Steampunk September is named as such because of our upcoming anime convention.  Instead of dressing as traditional anime characters or the like, we enjoy steampunking.  It's the one weekend a year I get to lace up in my corset without people pestering me with questions about it hurting/being uncomfortable/etc.  (By the way, corsets are not uncomfortable to me; in fact, they help my posture and my back.)  Also, I rather enjoy alliteration.

That being said, I began sewing this week.  I found a full sized bed sheet in this pretty buttery color.  It was $1.95 at a thrift shop.  It wasn't until I got it home, however, that I noticed a large splotch of yellow marker on it, too.  It kind of made me wonder if the sheet was originally yellow, but whatever.

The yellow sheet was made into a full-length skirt; I used elastic for the waist band because it would be hidden underneath my corset.  I want to make another skirt in blue to go on top of it.  The blue skirt would be bustled.


I thought that the hem of the sheet itself would be great for the hem of the skirt; I wouldn't even have to do anything to it!


Then, I noticed that if I doubled it over, the elastic for the waist would fit inside well, so I decided to use it as my waistband instead.  I doubled it over, sewed it together, and sewed a top stitch to make a little channel for the elastic.


For my bottom hem, I rolled it up about a centimeter, ironed it to make a little pleat, then rolled it up another centimeter for a small hem.  The stitch is along the top of the hem.


I won't bore you with all the details; it's a simple, two panel skirt.  If anyone needs help with figuring out how to do one, I'd happily help.  It's a freaking rectangle, after all, but i wanted it to be long and rather straight.


Here is a close-up of my elastic channel.  You can see the stitches where the bed sheet was orignally hemmed.  If it were something that would show, I would take a darker thread (or maybe even white) and sew some zig-zags between the two hems at the bottom for decoration.


Of course, I can't do anything without at least a little help from this Booger.  He worked well in weighting my fabric down so I could pin it.

This idea is for my Steampunk Misty cosplay.  I'm not that into showing off my legs, and there is no way I would be seen in public wearing a belly shirt and short shorts.  Sorry.  So, when I thought of steampunking her, I envisioned the yellow of her belly shirt, the blue of her shorts, and the red of her suspenders.  I knew there were also different version of her outfits throughout the series.





The yellow color is not only representative of the shirt, but it is also close enough a skin tone that it could also represent skin.  The blue bustle is obviously representative of her short shorts.  My corset is red, which is for her suspenders.  This is for the middle Misty, which is from the anime.  It could just as easily be for the Misty on the right.

I am also considering making a jacket for this ensemble, though I haven't decided the color.  Any suggestions?

Also, I have been toying around with the idea of dying the yellow either with tea or brown dye just to darken it up a little.  It seems pretty buttery and bright to me.  What do you think?

I know some of this is hard to envision because all you have to go by is the bed sheet skirt, but it will come together! I promise!

Alright guys, let me just start off with something I just noticed before I go into my weekend.  Holy crap where did those almost 400 pageviews come from the other day?  I usually schedule my posts in advance (when I'm not writing them last minute, which is a common trend as of late), so I don't always see my pageviews.  To be honest, I hadn't looked since maybe Wednesday, so when I jumped from 1,000 to 1,358 in a week, I was surprised.  I had a spike of almost 200 on Thursday.  So, woah, holy crap where did these pageviews come from out of the blue?! 

I hope you liked it and decided to stay!  Please do comment and feel free to follow on social media. :)

As far as the blog goes, I'm planning on doing a post toward the end of the month on my experiences with going poo-free.  I've been taking periodic pictures of my hair to show my transitions.  Don't worry.  I'm not going to make you sit through a vacation slideshow photo presentation of my hair or anything.  Besides, it will only be one month.

I've also decided a little bit on an upcoming project.  A few friends and I are doing a group costume for this year's Anime Weekend Atlanta.  I just hate to spoil the surprise before it comes together!  I'll hopefully be helping Zach with his, too.  It's going to mostly involve sewing, but also a little imagination and construction, as well as a little sculpting and painting.  What on earth could it be?!



Remember me posting about sewing patterns last Monday?  Well, between Zach and my grandmother I think I've decided to at least give it a shot at making the steampunk dress I bought a pattern for.  Now, I'm planning on buying the cheapest non-tulle fabric I can to give a practice run.  I really don't want to spend a lot of money on fabric just to give up in the middle of it or to mess it up.  I'll definitely keep you posted on that!


Sometimes, I feel like I have a million things going at once.  Of course I want to spend time with Zach, Benni, and my little Booger.  I want to play video games.  I want to craft.  I want to play Dungeons and Dragons.  I want to read.  I want to craft.  I want to blog.  Ugh, all these things I want to do!  I have them almost all going at the same time, but I feel like I get nowhere with them.  Sacrifices, I guess.  (Enjoy the silly collage.  If you want, it enlarges when you click it.)

Now, on to the sadder news.  Zach and I received news late last week that one of our friends' mom passed away.  This was a friend that we spent almost every day with during last summer and had been friends with since high school.  We were all very shocked because, although we knew she wasn't in the best of health, she was still relatively young.  He is an only child, his father passed away some years ago, and only really has his grandmother, aunts and uncles.

I'm not saying this to be depressing.  He has always been a bit of a loner and will deal with it in his own time.  He has all of us and his girlfriend who has helped him tremendously throughout this whole ordeal.  We just don't think he's dealt with his feelings yet or gained closure.  If you have a spare moment, send your thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, good vibes, or whatever it is you do to this little family in Alabama.

I hate to leave you on such a sad note, so here's a picture that always makes me laugh:


See you guys soon.

Guys, I'm going to be honest with you.  I got my days mixed up somehow.  Somewhere between Sunday and today, I lost a day.  I've been thinking I had an extra day to work on my WIP Wednesday post.  I guess I really need to instill that blog planner I made a few weeks back, huh?  I wish I could say that I got busy and lost track, but that would be a lie.

Something I've been wondering for about a year now (and I posted on the Facebook page) is if there is any sewing pattern for a corset cover out there?  I spent more money than I'm really willing to say on this beautiful corset a few years ago.  It's terribly comfortable, though starting to get a little big since I've lost some weight.


While I love the beautiful pattern and fit, I would like a little more versatility available in my costuming.  Because I don't want to spend a large amount of money like that on another corset, I wondered if there was a way to make a temporary cover for it -- kind of similar to those removable reupholsterings. 

My friend Heather suggested I just make a new one, but the complexity behind them scares me a little.  I can sew and follow a pattern, but I'm no seamstress.  Even some simple things scare me sewing related...much less boning and panels?  I do have a pattern for corsets, though so I may give it a try...

Since I'm asking for any ideas on corset-related items, I may as well ask for other steampunk ideas any of my readers may have.  I feel like I have a hard time picking out costumes that will look good on me because I am a bigger girl.  All the ones I see are beautiful, but wouldn't fit right on me.  For example, I had kind of envisioned a steampunk lolita, which is what the photo above was supposed to be.

Costume, hair, makeup, anything.  Throw me some suggestions.  I'm always up for trying new things costume-wise.  If you do post suggestions, I'll do my best to try them and post the results.  (Oh dear, this could be dangerous with hair and makeup...)

But, I really am working on this:


I'm sorry for blowing you guys off for a book.  In my defense:


Next week, I promise I'll have more of a WIP Wednesday post and not just some silly little filler like this. :)  I am truly sorry for forgetting my days.

Phew, guys.  We made it.  June is over with.  Isn't it a relief?  I finished Junk-Free June.  You have no idea how accomplished I feel about it.  My room seems to be so much better.  I still have a few miscellaneous items I need to find homes for, but that's okay.  It seems like I'm finding one every day, so it keeps getting smaller.

Just because my month of dedicated organization is over with doesn't mean I'm just going to stop organizing.  I feel like I've made myself become a more organized person through this, even if it is just a little bit more.

I don't know if I'm going to do a theme for July just yet or just do whatever crafts come to mind.  I know that I'm going to finish that stupid plarn bag, though.  Ugh. I just got so tired of two stitches per every one bag link.


I'm considering a sewing project.  While I'm still hoping to lose weight before our annual anime convention, it'd be a lot easier to alter it closer to time than stay up all night sewing (like I've done almost every year...).  Zach and I went to JoAnn's and they were having a sale on patterns where they were $1.  I stacked up on anything that seemed remotely Victorian.  I have about six patterns that I could use, but the one pictured above is by far my favorite.

I'm working on compiling a page for tips and tricks.  I don't always necessarily like calling them "life hacks" now since someone pointed out that they're normally just crafts.  So that's coming up.  I also have been considering trying some of those home-made products lately.  I mixed up some shampoo and conditioner on Saturday to try it out.  I don't wash my hair every day, anyway, so I don't think the "detox" some people had complained about will be as much of a problem, but we'll see.  I'll keep you guys posted on that, too.

Thursday marked mine and Zach's seven year anniversary.  Seven years and I still don't know why he puts up with my crap.  Regardless, I love him and I love him more every day.  Did you know year seven was the year of the horse?  That's right.  Without any collaboration, I got him a horse head mask, and he got me the unicorn mask.  Everyone just kind of looked at us like, "Really?  Why did you buy that?"


Zach also got me a beautiful necklace.  I believe it was our first anniversary when he got me the necklace I have been wearing almost daily.  My new necklace is made from a page of Lord of the Rings.  It's a piece of elvish from the picture of the Mines of Moria.    We've decided that the page was from a library copy of LOTR where the binding was all falling apart and some pages had already been lost.  I mean, that's the only reason someone would destroy a copy, right?

We also had some awesome sushi at our usual place, walked around the outdoor mall for a bit, and saw World War Z.  (Which was pretty good, in my opinion, though apparently completely different from the book.)  Don't let my breezing through the description mislead you -- I had a great time!  I just don't want to bore you all with the details.  (Besides, you probably had your fill of mushy stuff in these past few paragraphs.)