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June 4, 2016
Vacation Destination for 2016 - South Dakota?
I've never really thought about South Dakota before. What springs to mind is 'vast amounts of nothing', 'snow', and probably 'Indians.' 'Laura Ingalls' probably should have come up, too, but I don't know that I ever paid much attention to where she actually was in her stories until recently.
After having been there, what comes to mind is 'vast amounts of nothing,' 'constant wind', 'awkward violent history', and 'Presidents.' Yep. There's a weird presidential obsession, and I say that coming from the DC area, where people proudly mark out the places where George Washington ate and slept.
We were planning to visit a variety of places, so we chose Rapid City as our base. (LOVE the airport, by the way. So compact and easy to navigate!) This was my first indication of the presidential love, as there's a bronze statue of a president on every corner downtown.
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| Calvin Coolidge, wondering who took his horse. |
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| Thomas Jefferson, being supervised by my father-in-law. |
Next to our hotel was a miniature golf course, with an equally unexpected Pirate theme so far inland. It wasn't open when we got there, so we were prepared to just walk by and ogle the awesome decorations, but they opened that weekend and we got to play!
Our first destination was Deadwood, an old west gold rush town. The town has been turned into a giant tourist attraction, but we were there right before official opening season. Fortunately they had a few goings on going on.
We first went up the mountain to Mount Moriah Cemetery.
It's pretty big, and has lots of trees, which I was kind of missing. We naturally paid a visit to Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.
And admired the view from it.
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| Wait, didn't we just see their graves? |
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| Let's follow them into the bar! |
They gave a great presentation inside the pizza place/bar, giving a brief history of themselves as from their persona's point of view. Lots of fun! We also took a walking history tour of Main Street.
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| Floods kept washing sediment through the town, forcing residents to eventually wall up basement windows a they were unusable! |
I wish the tour had been longer, or at least less windy! The guide recommended a book written by the judge's daughter, Old Deadwood Days by Estelline Bennett. I got a copy and it was a great read.
The following day we headed south to the Pine Ridge Reservation, where we saw some amazing artwork at the Red Cloud Heritage Center. Their museum included a number of quilts, nearly all of which featured a white background and primary colored blocks forming the design. You can see some photos here.
The museum is located on the grounds of a catholic church and school, and we discovered that Chief Red Cloud was buried up on the hill.
We headed from there to the Wounded Knee Memorial, where a mass grave and a lonely view is all that remains to remind us of the bloody massacre that occurred there.
I didn't understand what I was seeing at the time, so I unfortunately only got a shot of the marker. (I always feel awkward taking pictures of other people's graves!) There was a large, long fence around this marker, and then the spot was used as a cemetery for some time - possibly still so? The fence outlines the mass grave of all the Lakota killed in the 1890 attack.
Having had enough of cemeteries and feeling rather guilty about Western history, we decided to head to the Badlands, because thing are always more uplifting when it's Man attempting to conquer Nature, or at least prevent nature from conquering us.
Again, I didn't really have any idea of what to expect. I'm just going to show some photos so you can gape in awe like I did.
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| OK, The Badlands must be mountains/rocks, like Arches. |
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| Don't go in the grass. |
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| Chipmunk! |
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| Ooooh, now the Badlands are canyons! |
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| Click to make it larger! (I remembered the panorama feature n my phone.) |
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| And the miles of rolling prairie just roll right up to them and then drop abruptly. |
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| Yay Bison! It's springtime, and they're shedding their winter coats. and did you see the prairie dogs? |
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| They make noises exactly like the squeakers in dog toys. |
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| Look at the colorful striations! |
We headed back to Rapid City in awe.
The next day we took a train ride from Hill City to Keystone. There weren't a lot of photos because the train car was very cramped! We also went to a Wax Museum in Keystone that featured U.S. Presidents. Surprise! Keystone is the nearest town to Mount Rushmore, so it made sense.
We also stopped at the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial, which is 'in progress.'
The museum seemed to be more about the building of the monument rather than about Crazy Horse, so I was a little disappointed.
Since we hadn't seen very many bison, our next adventure was to Custer State Park. It was a rainy cold day, and we nearly didn't go because we'd be riding around in an open jeep! Fortunately it had a roof and a lot of blankets. The cold was worth it!
I'd normally say I'd never been that close to a herd of bison, but that's not actually true when I think about it. We had an unexpectedly close encounter a few years ago at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal a few years ago. We thought we'd parked a safe distance, but silly us for thinking they would cross the road and go directly through a gate! They opted to meander around and hang around against the fence . . . right where we were waiting.
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| Uhhh, hi there. (This was 2013, right before the flood incident.) |
So we got lucky twice as our tour guide drove us straight into a herd!
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| There were so many! |
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| And babies! |
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| She's ok, just shedding her winter coat. |
This particular herd was crossed with cattle, which makes them a little smaller in size, and sometimes gives them twisted horns. We had been promising to show my mother-in-law bison for years, and we finally made good on it! I snapped pictures the entire time to take advantage of the opportunity. They're all right here.
Oh yes, there were other animals in the park, too.
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| Begging Burros. They're rather smart! |
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| Antelope |
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| a bluebird. |
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| Elk |
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| And, of course, prairie dogs. |
Naturally our trip had to take us to Mount Rushmore, which we accomplished our last day, after the rain stopped. The wind was still cold, though!
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| Rubble with drill marks in it! |
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| I think this is the first non-costume photo taken of me in months. I was unprepared for the cold! |
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| It's impossible to get a bad picture of these, so I started concentrating on how much I could zoom in. Look at the eye illusion! |
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| The museum had several alternative design ideas. I kind of prefer this one! |
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| The surrounding countryside was amazing! |
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| The museum had a display about the fault/crack through Jefferson's face, they had to re-angle is face to work around it - it's up against his nose. |
By this point, we were exhausted, and it was time to go home. I can say with confidence South Dakota is full of history, cemeteries, bison, Presidential memorabilia, and lots and lots of empty space.
May 30, 2016
I spent Memorial Day weekend at fabric stores, or making laps around the bed, attempting to straighten fabric on the cutting board.
Hancock is closing, and I just keep heading up there with ideas for future projects. Then I kept going to JoAnns because of the Simplicity $1 pattern sale, and fabric there kept calling to me, and I needed ball point needles that Hancock no longer had, and elastic and and and . . .
Plus, there's projects I've started but haven't finished.
Repair the bias hem on my sundress. I stupidly took a shortcut, trying to sew only one seam and it didn't catch in the fabric properly at one spot. It needs fixing
brown denim skirt - New Look 6843, LOVE this pattern, this is the third skirt I've made from it. I need to finish the waistband, which requires hand sewing, add the hook and eye closure, and decide on back pockets.
B.'s pirate shirt. I've redone this shirt half a dozen times, trying to meet his size and specifications. All that's left is the cuffs and whatever I need to do to secure the collar. Mostly the sleeves were too long and the cuff ruffles are too big.
Basic sage green cosplay skirt. Experimenting with a no-pattern basic self draft. It's cut out, anyway.
Pajamas
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| Similar to this, same fabric, slightly different collar. So comfortable and lightweight! |
Blouses
I've been hoarding a sheer and matching knit for ages, planning to make a blouse out of Simplicity 1693, view B. I've finally got it cut out.
I picked up the blue geometric sweater knit fabric at Hancock. It's REALLY thin and really clings to itself. It may be a mistake. I'm going to attempt Simplicity 1716, the view D dress, with the ruffle sleeves from E. I've got full length slips to wear under it, and if it's too clingy I can always cut it down to blouse size.
Harem Pants
I have two pairs planned - one for me, one for B. I have plans for a genie costume for him, and for me they may likely be incorporated into a Isabella Bird outfit, albeit a very fancy one! These outfits needs more work, so far, just the pants!
Pirate Coat
I have two ideas in mind, one a more Victorian Pirate, the other traditional. The coat pattern I have was all ready to go when I realized it didn't have a collar, and I really want a collar. Need more research for that . . .
Shrug
I found a pretty light teal thin sweater knit at Hancock, only half a yard left on the bolt. I think it's just enough to fold in half longways and sew up the edges on each end to make something to cover my shoulders and upper arms. That's really all I need in the summer time!
So far, that's all I have fabric for. It's possible I've forgotten a few ideas and fabrics. I've gotten a lot cut out, but since I'm not really familiar with sewing knits, it's going to be slow going. I'm excited to have my serger for these projects!
April 13, 2016
*Dusts off Blogger*
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| My poor craft room still hasn't quite recovered. |
Around all that, I managed to make a few costumes for various events. I'm just going to toss the photos below for you to enjoy!
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That's right, I did Pirate Mary Poppins, complete with a
mini carpet bag, and parrot umbrella peeking over my shoulder.
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This vest is from Simplicity 4923. I altered it a little in the back to add a walking slit.
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| This is from Butterick pattern 5371. |
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This is Jane and Michael's letter in a bottle,
seeking The Perfect Nanny.
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In March we went to AnomalyCon in Denver. I decided to do a Steampunk witch. I made the hat, the bat, and the spats.
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My transfiguration needs some work.
Posing with Calcifer the Toaster.
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| Photo by the handler of Teh Ebil Bunneh |
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| Photo and editing by David Spinner |
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| This little bat doubled as my purse. I designed him myself! Photo by David Spinner. |
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| Photo by David Spinner |
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| I'll get around to taking an action photo. It's so hard to take pictures of your feet! |
I also decided to have some fun, and made up a 'Fairy Hunter' costume. The book I am carrying is "Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book."
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| Photo by Rich Spears |
In April we went to Florence, CO to their Steampunk and Wine Festival. It was a great event! It's a little hard to find information online, so I linked to their facebook page.
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| Photo by Becky Nation |
I made the jacket from an out of print Butterick 4926 pattern. I made view F, but used another collar. It actually fits really well, I just kept putting my arms and shoulders far back! The skirt is from Damsel in this Dress (link a little farther below.)
During the Florence festival we took a bus trip to The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. That's right, I walked across the bridge in a Damsel in this Dress corset!
I made nothing. It was all assembly of accumulated pieces.
Also in April we did a mini vacation in Denver, and participated in the Doors Open event, in full costume with other Steampunkers. I just swapped my skirts out. I made the underskirt, the overskirt is a Damsel bustle.
In May we went to South Dakota with my in-laws. My mother-in-law is a historian and likes to do historically accurate reenactments, so we decided to dress all out for the 1880's train ride.
I'm getting a lot of mileage out of that jacket!
August 28, 2015
I don't know what it is about Myths and Legends Con that brings on a massive creative spurt, but this year I again found myself madly sewing in the weeks leading up to the event.
It really started with the custom corset by LoriAnn Costume Designs. When I got it, it immediately started whispering that it didn't WANT to have anything to do with Steampunk, and began suggesting fairy to me. I remembered how awesome this fabric had looked in B.'s orange office, and then I began thinking of various ways to do a layered skirt, and then found myself researching wings . . .
The results amazed me.
The peasant blouse was a McCalls 5050 pattern, with the lower sleeves added from Simplicity costume pattern 4046. I found the Simplicity pattern instructions so convoluted and strange that I went right back to the McCalls pattern.
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SKIRT TUTORIAL
The skirt was a lot of fun, once I figured it out. Math got involved. It's a handkerchief skirt, but not in the way you're probably thinking of. Imagine you're taking a bunch of actual handkerchiefs and sewing them together.
The diagram hopefully helps explain my pattern for each square. I did not include seam allowances, so add those as you please. I don't think I actually did at all, and it didn't make any significant difference in my final skirt.
You'll need:
Fabric - the amount you need will be determined by the number and size of your squares, see below.
A sewing machine, and ideally a serger, or at the very least a rolled hem foot.
1" wide elastic
Before you start, decide how many squares, or points, you want on your skirt. You can have as few as 4 and as many as . . .well, it'll probably get a little crowded around 20. You can also do multiple layers, just cut a smaller square for the outer layers.
A is your preferred length of the skirt, or the highest point of the skirt hem. Measure from your waist to the shortest desired length.
Now you'll use this number to determine B, the side of the square. Take the skirt length and multiply that number by 1.414. Cut out your squares by that many inches.
Example: I want my highest hem point to be 8.5". 8.5*1.414 = 12.01". Cut out 12"x12" squares of fabric.
Now give yourself a pat on the back, because you just used the math you never thought you'd see again after high school geometry!
a
=
2
d
2
d=diagonal, a = side of square. Since we only needed the measurement of half the diagonal anyway, I left the division out. All you need to know for this is: 1.414 x hem length of skirt = square side length.
OK, time to measure your hips. NOT your waist, your hips. You want to have enough room to pull the skirt over your hips, and the elastic will hold it in place around your waist. Take that measurement and divide by the number of squares you plan to cut out of your skirt. Example: 36" hips, with 6 squares, 36/6=6. This gives you C, the dotted line, where you need to cut. I merely took a ruler, and moved it down horizontally from the point until I got my length from edge to edge, drew a line, (make sure it's even) and then cut.
Next you have the fun of finishing all the edges. The serger made short work of that, until I somehow managed to snap off one of the fingers of the needle plate. You can either leave the squares all separated or sew them together from the cut corner to the next corner, marked D on one side of the diagram. I sewed the lower layer together this way, and simply serged them together. I used a contrasting thread, so did my serging on the outside so it showed.
Cut a length of fabric at least an inch longer than your hip measurement, and about 2.25" wide. Stitch the short edges together to form a loop.
Fold in half longways, wrong sides together, and stitch, leaving an opening of about 2" somewhere along the line. This will be the casing for your elastic.
Pin the cut corner edge of your top layer of squares to the stitched length of your fabric and baste. Then pin the next layer and sew everything down.
Now you can measure your waist, and add a little extra for your seam allowance. Cut your elastic to this size, and feed it into your casing, then sew the ends together. Sew your casing hole closed, and if you like, add a few stitches here and there, through the casing and the elastic, to prevent it from twisting around. I wouldn't recommend sewing it all the way down, because eventually the elastic will need replacing and it will cause a ridiculous amount of seam ripping (she says from experience in buying skirts with shot, sewn down elastic at a thrift store.) You now have a handkerchief skirt!
Please feel free to email me with any questions. I am writing this after an exhausting and unpleasant week, so my brain is fried. My inspiration was this little girl's outfit on Melly Sews, so hopefully that will help you where this doesn't.
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Finally, about the wings. I fell in love with EnchantedHearth's wings on Etsy (I originally found pictures on Pinterest), but her shop was closed, and closed, and closed, and I panicked and made my own. (she reopened it the weekend of the con, wouldn't it figure?)
There really isn't a pattern, just a 'jump in and do it.' I played with tissue paper, drawing wings until I got a size and shape I liked, then used that as my pattern. I left a little extra at the top so I could make a casing for the wire. Then I serged around all the edges. Well, 'serge' is a generous term, since my serger was broken. I ended up doing a really tight zigzag stitch on my sewing machine, and went around all the edges TWICE. It was probably better this way, since I don't have a lot of speed control with my serger.
I used a sheer drapery fabric that was mostly flesh toned, but felt they needed more green. I just couldn't find anything that had the mottled look I wanted, so I screwed up my courage and bought . . . spray paint.
Design Master Tint It was recommended by other people on the Internet as being good for fabric, so I took a chance. I also bought a glitter spray paint, because I wanted some sparkle. Then I took the plunge. I sprayed mostly around the edges, and particularly along the top, as the layers of fabric didn't all take and I had some obvious peachy spots.
This was a bad picture, since it was at night in the basement, but I loved the way they turned out. here's a better photo at the con:
I used green florist wire and simply stuffed them down my back, making sure they got tucked behind my bra strap and under the corset. I quickly learned about wing awareness and how to maneuver in crowds, but they held up great, and also packed pretty well. The paint made them a little stiff, but that was actually a good thing. I'm not certain if I left a trail of glitter, but there's still plenty on them!
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| Of course I brought a Mal to MaLcon! |
I also bought some pretty elf ears from The Implied Line, and got my face painted at the event. I didn't even know they'd have that, so it was a nice surprise!
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