You must be lost

Jumping on the bandwagon here and since I need to get my thoughts in order on what's coming up for the next, oh, 5 months, I need to pull all this together now. Wedding sewing is taking priority (even though branflake's wedding is not until November), so there won't be any new costumes except for perhaps what I can finish with minimal effort and purchasing of materials. Which basically means my list should look almost exactly like last year's.

I'm not going to make a wearing schedule just yet (or maybe even not ever). I'll figure that out once we get closer to time or wear whatever suits what's going on once I get there.

Things that are done and going for sure:
Arwen Blood Red gown
Arwen Dream gown
Pirate (though I might need to do some repairs to my corset, bones are poking out)

Things that are "almost" done:
POA Hermione (pink hoodie outfit): All I need is to dye my shirt, put my belt together and buy a wand and time turner.
Elseworld Batgirl - I still have a lot of work to do on this one, looking at it in list form, but not a lot of stuff I expect to be very time consuming and I have most all of the materials, so I'm still going to try to put it together.
Holyhead Harpies fan - I nearly forgot about this one, I don't think I ever picked up my shirt from sailingwest, need some accessories but since I've not noticed a Harpies group mentioned this year, I might not bother (apart from the shirt being comfy geeky day wear).

Long shot maybes:
Arwen Angel gown - I think I've got everything I need for it squared away except the embroidery I'm doing for the neckline. It would just take putting it all together (it's even all cut out) and finishing the embroidery, which really is a lot of work I suppose.
Steampunk - I've got so many steampunkish jewelry parts and pieces, I could definitely make myself some accessories and I found some lovely stripey lightweight cotton in my stash that's begging to be a blouse or chemise. I'd also need a skirt/pants and possibly some shoes. I'd use my pirate corset/bodice for it.

Those long shot maybes will get no attention until all wedding sewing and the almost done costumes are completely done. I'm going for the Dave Ramsey "debt snowball" approach to my costuming this year. Pick off the smallest projects first and work up from there.

Events:
I know I want to do the parade with Arms of Middle Earth.
I'll probably want to go to the Evening at Bree, because I'm sure I'll see lots of ALEP folks there.
If Batgirl is done, I'll probably want to do the DC photoshoot.
I'm going to try to hook up with amaz0n_princess for her video at some point.
I'll probably wind up at the Yule Ball.
Apart from that I'll probably find either writer's panels or costuming panels to fill my days.
The only "celebrities" I think I might want to see right now are Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick (of Venture Bros. creators/animators fame) and I'm not even sure what they're doing there yet (panel, signings, whatever?). If it's a panel, I'll go hear them talk, if it's signings, I could care less. But that's only after a very quick cursory glance over the guests as they stand now. I know, I know, Sean Austin, but I'm not going to kill myself to see him. Also, Stan Lee would be cool, but I can imagine how crowded any area he graces will be and I'm not such a fan as to put myself through that for him. Sorry, Stan.

Stark difference from last year's apprehension and "OMG what do I do?!" anxiety, eh? I think because last year fizzled into me not going, I'm a lot more casual about it this year. My roommates are squared away (which is nice to have worked out so easily this year) plus they're local and they're veterans, so we can probably coordinate beforehand and they can help direct me when I get confused. I just need to get my membership (yes, I'm a procrastinator and shall pay my share of procrastination tax in the form of rate hikes the longer I wait to get it). Then I need to start squirreling away money for it so I don't run into the same issue as last year.

ETA: Have acquired membership and procrastination tax has been paid. Pokes, friendly or otherwise, may cease... for now. ;)

The cleaning part is done in the office and everything is sorted into related piles (stack of electronics, stack of my hobby stuff, stack of files and important office related stuff, etc.) The goal today is to go through and declutter each stack and then put it away in an organized fashion. As I go, I plan to make notes on things that would make keeping the office organized a lot easier and make the space more workable (things like more shelves in the closet and some shelves above the desk, and maybe a desk with a smaller footprint and various things like that). I've done this before, but it seems every time I get in here to work, I think of a different way to go about it. We just want so much functionality out of this room, it's hard to get it all to mesh. It's my work area, Chris' electronics storage area, our guest room and Chris even wants to mount a moderately sized flat screen on the wall to be able to watch TV in here if he wants while I'm working (as though the ones in the bedroom and the living room aren't enough).

But anyway, as I'm starting to see things shaping up in my work space, I'm looking at the Angel gown and feeling no strong pull to work on it. I pulled out the embroidery the other day and started working on it some more, but I didn't get very far before bed and I've not felt like picking it up again. I've been more inclined to read at night when I've set aside time to work on it. I'm not in complete avoidance mode just yet, but I'm just not feeling terribly enthusiastic about working on it and that makes it very hard to get anything done.

I probably need to watch Fellowship and get all hyped about again. I'm also about to buy a new Arwen wig, which might get me excited about it again. I'm starting to think of things that will help me better get into character as well. But, if after these small efforts I'm still not excited, well, I'm probably going to shelve the project for a while and maybe start working on Maleficent. I don't want to push anything. After all, this is a hobby that I'm supposed to enjoy, not force myself to finish something I don't feel like working on. If I had the budget, I'd throw together that Hermione costume instead. Still looking for an excuse to buy some Golas. ;)

Since I've sworn off costuming and jewelry work until after the turn of the year (no matter how much I'm itching to fidget with the Angel gown on the dress form), I'm likely not going to finish anything else before December 31st. I don't think I made a public list of what I wanted to accomplish this year at last year's end and I'd probably only be embarrassed by the overly ambitious goals I'm sure I set for myself anyway. So, I'll just start this tradition now, since I actually managed to finish some costumes for once.

( 2008 Accomplishments )

( 2009 Wishlist )

I didn't have time to do this before I left and since I'm still not able to get my ALEP pics off the camera, I might as well do it now. Some of these are really grainy because I've had to fiddle with contrast and such. The lighting in my sewing room is not only poor for working but even worse for taking pictures, especially at night.

Undergown/lining gown mockup:


In case it's not obvious, the long sleeve is for the undergown in the crinkled metallic fabric and the short one is for the lining gown, which is white crepe de chine.

Overgown mockup, front:


Overgown mockup, back:


Overgown sleeve detail:


And of course the obligatory "I can halp?" cat pic:


Mogwai is a good halper. :)

The rest of the pics are here, including a couple of really bad, late at night pictures of me in the mockup taken in the mirror.

As far as an update, I got the neckline on the lining gown hemmed on Monday before my eye really started to kill me. I've found after getting that done that I need to take in the shoulder seams a little, which means pulling out at least the cap of the sleeves and redoing that. I'm not sure what changed from mockup to final, but the silk was really springy when I was trying to mark/cut it so it may have gotten out of shape a little. Could just be a difference in materials as well. Where the mockup was pretty snug, the silk fits more gracefully. So, once I get that adjustment made, I just need to get a hook and eye in above the zipper and hem the bottom and the lining dress will be done. Then it's on to the undergown.

Speaking of my eye, it's much better today. No pain to speak of, though it's still a little swollen, feels kind of funny and my vision is a bit blurry. I more so just feel like I'm really tired. I at least got a really good night's sleep last night. I'm still pretty sensitive to light so I think I'm going to hold off one more day on the running. It's quite sunny out today and I have a lot to do to catch up from being gone and out of commission.

Finished the last of the cutting yesterday. Before I have another major cutting project, I'm getting some knee pads like what I used to wear for volleyball. After spending a total of about 8 hours on my knees on the hard laminate flooring in the living room/dining room, my knees feel bruised. Luckily they only hurt if I happen to get on my knees, which isn't very often. I'm skipping yoga this week though. I kind of feel like I've done some anyway. I also have a new appreciation for my rotary cutter. This is the most I've done with it since I got it last Christmas and it's been fantastic. I could use a few more cutting mats though so I don't have to move them around so much. Quilters like to tell you that you have to use a straight edge and can't cut curves with them but I beg to differ. I think it works just fine freehand. Had no slip ups.

I was worried about the stretch knit being unruly, but really, it's got such nice body to it, it springs right back where it's supposed to be if it stretches out of whack. It also lays incredibly flat, resists wrinkling, doesn't seem to ravel and the drape on it is just amazing! Not only that, I've got an estimated 5-6 yards of the stuff left after all is said and done. Ah, my famous overestimating. I think at least some of the extra comes from the fact that I did my mockup in 45" fabric and the knit is 60" wide. I think I was originally planning on making the panels taper out to the full width of the fabric and wound up folding the 45" muslin in half to cut the mockup pieces two at a time. I was planning on at least a yard per sleeve as well and as it turns out, with the width of the knit and the narrow sleeves, I was able to fit two across. I think I did the whole overgown, even with at least a foot of train, in about 5 yards of fabric. Now what the heck to do with the rest of it?! I would still like to try inserting a gore in either side seam of the skirt, but that's only going to take care of another yard or two at most. Oh well, no use trying to think about it now.

I also got the majority of the lining dress put together last night. Just have to set in the sleeves and hem it and it's done (aside from the snaps to attach it to the undergown). I've got the metallic crinkle stuff hanging with metal clips at the bottom trying to stretch out some of the creases in it. Even though I've had it hanging by the selvage for months, when you get creases in metal, they tend to want to stay. I'm wondering if a touch of steam would help as well. I've got the knit pinned to the dress form letting it relax a bit as well, not that it really needs to. The embroidery is starting to worry me. I worked on it some last night while we attempted to watch Nim's Island. I still haven't measured to see how much I need to make. I should do that so I can tell how far along I am. Would probably help me worry less (or more, as the case may be). All in all though, I feel yesterday was a great day for progress. I even took time out to clean the house up a bit after I finished cutting.

Well, should probably go get my run out of the way so I can get back to sewing. I feel ready to make the step up today to 30 second walking intervals. It's amazing what a difference a week can make. This time last week I was dying with the 1 minute walking intervals between runs and not feeling ready to progress past it. This week I'm totally ready! It's still hard, but I feel I can push myself a little farther now.

So, the appraiser called and apparently the bank called him today and requested he just do a drive by appraisal (I guess just to be sure the house is standing and not completely dilapidated?). So, all of the cleaning I've been doing all day was for naught. I'm talking spending 4 hours with a carpet shampooer for nothing kind of "for naught". I'm kind of pissed. We got this call at around 6pm. But I'm conflicted as well. On the one hand, I look at today as completely wasted (aside from having sparkling clean carpets and lots of clean laundry). On the other hand, it means I don't have to spend the rest of the night cleaning (since there were still carpets to be done let alone other cleaning). I guess I should be happy I get to spend the rest of the night sewing. Chris has even told me he won't protest if I decide I want to make it a late night to try to catch up.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. You don't know how much I appreciate the cheering section lately!

Next time I have a need for flat, not utterly cheap and crappy looking sequins, remind me to not waste my time looking in craft and sewing stores locally and just order them from Cartwright's. Luckily I found a sequin trim for $.99/yd that I can cut apart. It's just a single row of sequins strung together like a chain with some heavy grey thread. The lady who cut it for me asked what I planned to do with it and I replied, "well, since no one seems to sell loose flat sequins, I had to be resourceful."

I'll also admit to spending some time on the trim aisle while at Joann's with the thought that there could possibly be a beaded trim I could use instead and give up on the embroidery for now. But I'm not a quitter! (i.e. I didn't find anything.)

Need to go run so I can get to all that cutting today.

I busted ass today. Or maybe things just went right. I got the overgown all sewn together and fit. I've just got the overgown sleeves left to do on the mockup and I can start on the final. I really only had about 3 hours today too, so I'm immensely happy with the progress I was able to make. I must say, fitting the back seam on the overgown was a lot easier than it was on the undergown. I only went through two revisions (learned to trust my measurements and pins a little more perhaps). Plus I didn't have the zipper to contend with so I didn't have to make every alteration twice for each side of the zipper. I still need to cut both dresses to the right length and shape the bottom hem of the overgown to be a nice curve (not knowing how long I wanted it, I just cut the pieces at straight angles to start with). The neckline of the overgown is not as wide as I anticipated, but that's a good thing for the muslin. Once it's done in the stretch knit, I think it will be right. And if it's too much, well, that's what twill tape is for. Oh yeah, and I've got to cut the angles for the split in the front too. So, I've got a little more to do than I thought.

Tomorrow I hope to tackle the overgown sleeves. I think the way I'm going to do those is make a mockup of the sleeve to the elbow to get the wrap figured out (I've already got an elbow length sleeve cut in muslin from this pattern to start with). Then I figure I can add the drapey length for the rest of the sleeve easier. Who knows, maybe that will go quickly as well and I'll be back on track and able to start cutting out the final gown. I'm guessing it's going to take a full day to do all the cutting. This is basically three full dresses.

I really need to get going on the embroidery again, too. I've been feeling panicky and sewing at nights when I was was normally embroidering. I guess now that the overgown mockup is mostly done, I know how much trim I need. That's certainly helpful. I still need sequins for it. Oh, and a white invisible zipper for the lining layer.

So, the night before last, I finally finished the final fitting to that pesky zipper seam in the undergown. Last night, I reworked the sleeve for the undergown to make it more fitted in the bicep (to hopefully reduce bulkiness under the overgown sleeves). I set that in and tried on the dress with one sleeve and all is looking well. The sleeve pulls the neckline a little wider, which is what I wanted. Today, I'm hoping to get the short little cap sleeve for the lining dress cut out, fit and set in and start working on the fit for the overgown. If I can finish all but the overgown sleeve today (which I think is going to be tricky with that wrap and the fact that it's so long), I'll be happy. Then I can spend all of tomorrow working on that sleeve (which I think it will take at least an entire day and possibly several revisions). Then perhaps, just perhaps, I could actually cut out the final gown on Sunday. I'm really hoping that since I've been so painstaking with the fit on the muslin that the final gown will go very quickly with few if any adjustments to be made. This has been a problem in the past. I get tired of fussing with the muslin and just think, "it's close enough, I'll fix it on the final" and then spend twice as long messing with the final.

I'm starting to get into crunch time here. Just two weekends left before ALEP. Doubts of finishing are starting to keep me up at night. I've got things to do on the other costumes I'm taking, too. Hems on several things, a zipper to put in the Blood Red overgown, and I'd like to adjust the neckline on the Blood Red undergown (I think I set it too far down on the sleeves). Plus I've got trims to handsew on the Blood Red gown. Not to mention embroidery still to do for the Angel gown and all that beading for the edges (which actually I think will go quickly if I can do it how I'm thinking).

I might need to stay away from the computer for the next couple of weeks.

I got a little further last night, making some alterations in the zipper seam. I still have a few to make and some adjustments to make to the side seams now that I've added a zipper seam. Overall, I'd say it's going really well right now. I think once I get this next round of alterations made, I can move on to the sleeves, which hopefully won't be too much of a headache.

This mockup is starting to look like it's going to be invaluable for any other LOTR gowns I want to do. I'm totally going to ditch the princess seamed undergown pattern I had before. What I'm working on now would make a great pattern for that, as well as a great pattern for either Galadriel gown. All I need to do is re-cut from the original pattern to get a v-neck for either the Mourning gown or Eowyn's White Wool gown. Tons of possibilities in this simple pattern!

Also, the other day, while Jonah was still sleeping and I couldn't sew (or I'd wake him up), I spent a little time making screen caps of both the Angel gown and Rosie Cotton's Blue Party Dress. I'm not going to try to make the latter in time for ALEP (I'll be doing good to get the Angel gown done), but after studying it, I'm smitten with it now and want to make it. Maybe after Lamia and perhaps in time for Ren Fest next year (would be nice to wear when it's warm, I'd think).