I'm going to Costume College!

After years of seeing other costumer's share their experiences of Costume College I'm finally getting to go! And I'm so excited! I've purchased my tickets and been figuring out the details. I'll be going with my friend Michaela, who's also going for the first time, and it's going to be awesome!

A few months ago I started a GoFunMe to help me go to Costume College. If you haven't seen it yet you can get to it HERE. I'm so thankful for everyone who has donated so far, and I would appreciate anyone sharing it to help get it around.

I've been figuring out what costumes I want to bring with me to CoCo. From what I've seen people mostly seem to wear historical costumes but other costumes are allowed and encouraged. But I've decided to only bring historical garments since I literally have no events that I get to wear them.

I'm planning on making/finishing several costumes to wear to the events at CoCo. Here's what I'm planning...

First up is finishing my 1871 day dress. This dress has seriously been in the works for a year now and I just want to get it done. It's actually fairly close, but still needs a lot of work. At least it looks like a dress now...

Actually, there's several things that I thought were done on it that I'm going to have to take the seam ripper to and re-stitch. And they're all things that have to be sewn by hand. Ugh. Anyways...

The next thing is my Regency dress. I've actually almost finished sewing the dress, just have to hem it and add a few details but otherwise the actual dress is pretty much done. I still have to make a chemise, the spencer jacket, and find shoes for it. But other than that it's almost done!

Lastly I'm planning to finally make the Wearing History Sailor Play Suite (which I bough the patter and material for last summer). I wanted to make this for VAW last year but just didn't get around to it.

The only other things I really have to figureout is what to do with my hair for the Regency and Victorian era costumes. If you follow me on Instagram then you already know that I just got a major haircut (15 inches cut off leaving me with a bob perfect for the 1920's!).

I'm not so worried about the Regency hair because I'm planning on doing a turban. As for the 1870's... I have no idea's at the moment. I'm contemplating getting some hair extensions but I really don't want to spend the money on it right now.

Well, that's all for now. I'll do my best to keep things updated!

2015 Costume Review & 2016 Costume Plans

2015 went by so fast, but it was also my most productive costume year! With the New Year just a few days away it's time to do my costume recap for 2015 and plans for 2016

I started the year with the goal of doing the Historical Sew Monthly, and I failed miserably at that. But that's okay, I still did a couple of the challenges and ended up with a chemissette and bustle pillow!

I did finish my 1870's undergarments, with a total of 1 bustle [petticoat], 2 additional petticoats, a corset, drawers, chemise, and now boots!

I also started out my year by working my Christine Daae wig (which I finally finished in November). HUGE learning curve there. I learned how to weft and ventilate, and I'm now much, much faster at both of those because of that project.

I finally made my Mara Jade costume that I had been wanting to make for years! It's one of my favorite costumes!

I made a new 1940's blouse, affectionately called the Sunshine Blouse.

I designed and made my graduation dress. In the process I also learned how to make romantic tutu's. :D

Even though I haven't posted much about it (or really gotten any pictures) I've made a lot of progress on my 1871 day dress. It's one of those projects that keeps getting pushed back due to not having any where to wear it. Other costumes have higher priority, so it just keeps getting stuffed into the UFO pile. But I'm pleased to say that I'm getting close to finishing it! YAY! I would get pictures but the bodice doesn't fit on my sewing form so I'm just gonna wait until it's finished.

Again, not much of anything in the way of updates, but I've been knitting a sontag. I haven't really done much knitting this year, so it's taking longer than it probably should to get done.

For the Disney party we had in October I made Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Such a fun costume to both make and wear!

Then for Hallween I made Elphaba's defying gravity dress, which was another one that I had on my list to make this year!

I started working on Rey from The Force Awakens and even bought the fabric. I had planned on making it for the premier but I was having fabric dyeing problems so I've decided to save that one for next year.

I never posted about it, but I had my first commission this year! I made a cloak for my boss for Halloween. She loved it and it was so fun to make! Now I really want to make a cloak for myself.

I also helped my brother with his Halloween costume. He went as Snape and I made the cloak for him. Unfortunately I don't think we ever got any photo's of him in it.

For the Force Awakens premier I gave my old Jedi costume to my brother and finally added a bunch of snaps. I had wanted to keep it for myself, but it was too small when I tired it on and it fit him perfectly!

From the top left to right. My graduation dress, the Sunshine Blouse, Alice in Wonderland, the cloak, Mara Jade, cartridge pleats on my 1871 dress, Elphaba, Fabric for Rey.

On to my plans for 2016!

I already have several costumes I know I have to do next year. Most of which I already have patterns and/or fabric for, and other's are one's I've been meaning to to for forever and just haven't gotten around to yet.

First off is my sister's Elsa costume. I'll be starting that first thing after the new year.

Next is Rey. I've already purchased fabrics but I just need to make some pattern adjustments since seeing new details in the film. I'm planning on wearing it for May the 4th

1940's Sailor Dress. I purchased Wearing History's 1940's Sailor Play Suite pattern and the fabric for this this summer but never got around to making it.

1940's Suit ensemble. Because I'm working on recreating a 1949 Pan Am stewardess uniform for the Historic Flight Foundation and I've never made anything like this, I'll be making a sort of mock up for a 1940's suit jacket so I can learn the tailoring techniques used in something like this.

1949 Pan Am Stewardess Reproduction.

Finish the 1871 day dress.

Make a new corset. I learned a lot on my first attempts and I purchased Truly Victorian 110 a while ago. I just need to make a mock up and fork out the money for good fabric.

Christine Daae's Wishing Dress. I started researching this dress in summer of 2014 and I am ready to make this! It's not as high of a priory just because I don't actually have anywhere to wear this, but I'm really excited and want to start it soon.

I would really like to make Belle's blue dress from Once Upon a Time. I've wanted to make this for a long time. :) Maybe for Halloween.

I was on Pinterest the other day when I found this gorgeous dress. I don't know if I'll be able to make it next year, but I'm putting it on my list anyways.

via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I have a really fun project that I want to do in the Spring or Summer, which is to fix up my best costumes and get new photo's of them. My sister (who is an amazing photographer) will be taking the photo's, and my friend Bethany (who is an amazing make-up artist) is going to help me with my makeup. I'm working on creating a portfolio website for my costumes and want to get good photo's of my best work. :)

So with all of that I'm going to have a crazy year! It'll be fun though. I just hope I can find more events to wear these costumes to. Here's to 2016!

The Not so Secret Project

Okay, so I was going to keep this costume a secret. I wanted to show up at the costume party and see a certain friends reaction to it (she, like me, is a big fan of WICKED and her reaction would have been priceless). But I failed. And now everyone knows. So  thought I'd make a post about it.

I went and made Elphaba's Defying Gravity dress that she wears to the Emerald City through the end of Act I.

If you remember, this was one of the costumes on my 2015 costume bucket list. I wasn't planning on making it, I was actually planning on wearing Alice for Halloween, but I had the right patterns and fresh bolt of muslin. Less than a week passed before the dress was completed.

I'm still working on the makeup and need to make the hat, and finding a witches broom that doesn't look like it's made for a toddler is harder than it should be.

More pictures and info to come soon, but in the meantime here's a sneak peek that I posted on Instagram...

Star Wars Costume Exhibit

Okay guys, so as some of you may know the EMP in Seattle has had a Star Wars costume exhibit open most of the year. Last month I finally got to go and see it for myself. I cannot even begin to express how amazing these costumes are! They're absolutely gorgeous! Pictures just don't do them justice. They're a thousand times more beautiful in person.

I took lots of pictures, and I have chosen a few (okay, 20+) of my favorites to share here but if you want to see all of them check out my Google+ album.

The exhibit consisted about three quarters of costumes from the prequel trilogy (and most of that was Padme's lol) and the other quarter from the original trilogy. When I saw the costumes I was surprised at see just how small Natalie Portman was. You really can't tell from the photos, but she was tiny!

Please pardon any blurry photos. The lighting was horrible and they didn't allow any flash photography.

They had the dressing gown, which I made sure to take lots of photo's of! I have a new theory on the skirt and I think I figured out what I've been doing wrong on the shape of the bodice...

My favorite, the meadow picnic dress. It's so pretty in person!

I was glad to see they had costumes from some of the lesser known Jedi like Luminara. Every costume has so much detail even if they were only in the background, like Luminara here.

I've been doing research for making a DL-44 blaster for my Mara Jade costume and it was great to get to see Han's in person!

I always get excited when I see closures on costumes. YAY SNAPS!

 I realized that the jumpsuits for the rebel fighters and TIE pilots are nearly identical except for the rebels have an extra set of pockets on the shin and of course the color. (Left: X-Wing pilot Right: TIE Fighter Pilot)

Feel free to share any of these photo's but please link back to me. Thanks!

Costume Love | Going Green!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! Today I have a special Costume Love post filled with my favorite green costumes. I hope you enjoy and have a great Saint Patrick's Day!

One of my favorites, Tiana's wedding dress from the Princess and the frog. I love this dress, but I would want to make it most since I'm Tiana. Yes, I'm a Disney Princess ;)

Anna's coronation dress from Frozen. One of my all time favorite Disney costumes!

Jacqueline's green dress from Ever After. The costumes in this movie are amazing. If you haven't seen it already, go and watch it. Like right now.

I love this Rapunzel cosplay based off of the concept art! Some of the concept designs had some beautiful costumes in them and I would love to make some of them one day.

And on the historical side we have a beautiful green 1860's dress.

What are some of your favorite costume?

2014 Costume Recap & 2015 Costume Bucket List

Well, 2014 is almost over (I know, crazy right?) so I thought I'd do something I haven't done before. A year in review of all my costuming progress I've made this year and plans for 2015. Now, since I don't really have any specific events next year I'll probably just post a few items on my costume bucket list that I may decide to do. But I don't know what I'll actually get done.

2014 Accomplishments

The only costumes I completed 100% this year is my 1940's outfit and my 1870's undergarments.

  

Completed Costumes

I worked on and mostly completed my Obi Wan inspired Jedi outfit for May the 4th and my Rose Tyler Idiot's lantern costume. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of my Jedi outfit yet.

In Progress costumes I started this year

I started the year off with the goal of finally making Padme's Packing Gown and made some progress, but never got past the mock up stages. I've sort of put that one back on the shelf for now, but maybe I'll get around to it next year. I've learned so much about pretty much everything this year that I know I'll be able to do a better job now than I would have been able to at the beginning of this year.

And last but not least, Christine Daae's Wishing Dress from The Phantom of the Opera. I've got the undergarments done and am currently working on the wig. I'll be starting on the mock ups for the skirt and the bodice as soon as that's finished.

This costume has me so excited because I love it so much, but also because it's helping me get into another side of costuming that I've wanted to go to since I started sewing. Historical Sewing. The only downer is that I don't have anywhere that I'll be able to wear the dress, but hopefully that will change between now and when it's finished.

This year I have learned so much about sewing and costumes and have been able to see a huge difference in my skills just between the last 12 months. I still have a long ways to go and a lot more to learn, but I'm so glad I am where I am today. It's taken a lot of hard work, a lot of research, a lot of frustration, and a lot of patience. But that's how all the good things are in life, right?

On with my goals for 2015!

I'm super excited to be participating in The Historical Sew Monthly challenge next year for the first time! The challenge use to be every two weeks, but this year she changed it to once a month, which is perfect for me!

I've wanted to do this challenge for a long time but never did it because I haven't done any historical sewing in the past. But I decided to get a little out side of my comfort zone and give it a go in 2015! So we'll see how it goes.

My friend Michaela is also doing it for the first time, so I'll have someone to go through it with. :D

As for more specific goals... 

1. In January I will finally be 18 which means I'll be able to finally join the Rebel Legion! YAY! My plan has been that I would finish the Packing Gown and use that as my entry, but seeing as I never got past the mock up I have to figure something else out. I've bee thinking about this for weeks and still haven't decided on what to do. I'll probably just finish my Jedi outfit, which mostly just needs a tone of snaps sew on, and to make the belt (which I have all the supplies for but just haven't got around to actually making yet). Other wise I think i might do Mara Jade, my favorite character from the EU.

I don't think it would take too long since I would buy most of it from the store, but it would just be kind of expensive because of the wig and the leather. But this is definitely a costume I want to make soon.

2. Finish the Wishing Dress. I'll definitely be working hard on this for the next several months.

3. Belle from Once Upon a Time. I have been in love with Belle's blue dress from OUAT since before I started watching the show. It's so simple and yet so pretty!

4. Elphaba's Defying Gravity dress from Wicked. I really love Wicked, and I really love Elphaba. I really like all of her costumes (especially her Act II dress) but would like to make her dress she wears when she and Glinda go to the Emerald city. It's very simple but is a fantastic costume!

For anyone who just has no idea who Elphaba is, she's the green one on the right.

5. One of Anna or Elsa's Dresses from Frozen. Okay, I've wanted to make one of their dresses since before the movie came out. I still haven't decided on which one I would make first, but maybe I'll get around to making one of them this year.

And on the historical side...

1. I would really like to make some more clothing from the 1930's and 40's. Those are my two favorite era's from the twentieth century and I would get to wear them to events at the Historic Flight Foundation.

2. I'm thinking about joining the my local Civil War Reenactment group this year. My only hesitation is that I'm the only one in my family that's interested and I don't know anyone here that's into reenacting. So I'd kinda be on my own and I don't think it would be as much fun.

But if I do end up joining I would need to make myself and 1860's day dress along with the proper underpinnings.

3. I really love the dresses from the Medieval and Renaissance era's. I'd love to make a simple kirtle (sorry if my terminology is wrong, I haven't done a lot of research on these era's) sometime this year.

And last but not least, possibly the most important costume of the year will be my Masquerade dress for my graduation party next year. I'm planning on having a Phantom of the Opera themed masquerade for my graduation and will be designing my own dress. As of the moment I have absolutely no idea what so ever as to what it will look like.

Well, that's about it. Everything I did this year and possibilities for next year. I would absolutely love to be able to make and wear all of the costume listed above, but who knows what will actually get done. Costuming is a very unpredictable thing. ;)

The Clock Strikes Twelve

Yesterday the first trailer for Disney's new live action Cinderella came out, and I have to say I'm really excited! I was excited when I first learned they were making a live action Cinderella, but this trailer got me even more pumped for the movie!

It looks like it's going to be very similar to original Disney movie, and they're even adding a few things from the original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. That alone got me excited, but I'm already in love with the costumes.

I just recently started watching Once Upon a Time, and while I like the show I don't like a lot of the costumes. They just seem very cliche, especially Regina's costumes. I'm glad that, for the most part at least, the costumes in Cinderella don't feel that way to me (from what I've seen so far).

I love the way they've done the step sisters, they have an 1830's feel to them, and I love how they kept the same color scheme from the original movie for them. And while I really do like the Step Mother's costume, I hate that fake skirt thing. It's that same style that I didn't like in most of Regina's costume's in OUAT. At least she's not wearing leather pants though...

And then there's Cinderella. I love, love, LOVE her ball gown! Oh, the Prince's outfit looks good too.

This dress is definitely going on my costume bucket list!

Cinderella Dresses and other Goodies

Some of the most beautiful ball gowns, and just costumes in general, can be found in Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway. All of the ball gowns are gorgeous, but Ella's ballgown in particular is 110% more gorgeous than any other costume I've ever seen. Let's not forget the magical transformation from the Tony's.

You seriously have no idea how many times I've watched this.

Cinderella has been getting ready for the tour which is really exciting because that means its closer to coming to Seattle where I'll be seeing it when it comes next year. Also, it means they released rehersal pictures that are fantastic for costumers like me.

The Cinderella Facebook page released a ton of pictures of the cast in rehearsal with the cast in their petticoats a few weeks ago and I wanted to share them for anyone else whose like me and want's to know what makes all those dresses so poufy and beautiful.

Below are pictures of pictures of some of Ella's dresses when Carly Rae Jepsen played Ella and now the current Ella, Keke Palmer.