I like Stella's outfit – I find it just a bit upsetting that there are no nifty accessories (like a crown or big necklace) – although I do get to wear long opera gloves and attempt at being heterochromatic. Also I get to make some cute little pearl decorations for my hair and some hair extensions to augment my existing hair (that will become all purple!)

Alright, so I scoured the internet to find my sparse accessories and did a fairly good job (I like to think). First, I looked for the contact – just one, a red one. Stella has one green eye, one red one. Luckily, I have green eyes, just need to make one red.

     Bingo. Found these on http://www.youknowit.com – and they let me buy only one. The price was good, $11.18 and shipped for free! Yay, free! Still, I don't know if the contact will work. . . I have an astigmatism, and turn out – they don't make red contacts for astigmatisms. Boo (of course, if anyone knows differently, please tell me – not that anyone reads this blog). At any rate, I went ahead and ordered the lens – don't know if you don't try.

Okay, next on the list were gloves. I chose an opera length, navy blue pair off of eBay (I love eBay). They only set me back $12.90. No complaints there! They've already come, which is great because I can take them out to match the fabric I chose for the dress (: .

     With my eyes (hopefully) taken care of and gloves bought, all there is to worry about (accessory wise) is my hair. Tonight I broke down and bought some purple hair extensions to pad out my hair to get as close to Stella's style as I can. I got 10, 20" pieces for only $13. Pretty good. These too were bought off of eBay. Ten seems like a lot, but it will come in handy in case I melt one when trying to curl them or one is damaged or some such nonsense. . . Later I'll have to find some clips and get out the glue gun to affix some pearls ^_^ .

It begins. . .

 

    To make Stella's gown, I started with what I know best – corsets. Also, since I have to order steel bones and a busk, it's better to get that out of the way so I can order all the hardware and have it on time. Now, I have one problem with this corset in that it's not really a corset, it's more of a bustier with the need for cups and all that fun. To my surprise, I don't have a single bustier pattern, nor do I have any of my bra pattern drafting supplies (lost in a move). So I had to do what I always end up doing – Frankensteining (a process where I splice together patterns from different sources to make the desired pattern).

The patterns I used to make Stella's bustier is Kwik Sew 2489 and Simplicity 5113 (only the torso part).

 

First I made up the bra – and wow, the cups turned out really weird, I wish I had taken a picture (this is why you have a camera – dummy!). It look like an old lady bra or something – I dunno how the designers of kwik sew think boobies are shaped, but they thought wrong. . . At any rate, know that if you use this pattern, you will need to reshape the cups.

    After making the bra, I made the torso up and then sewed the two parts together. Now I had my mock up! Time to fit it. I pinned the mock up to my sewing dummy, leaving a 2 inch gap in the pack (squish room for the corset). Then I began the fitting process (and I got to correct those cups!)

    The initial assessment showed me the garment was too big for me, so I resized it with pins (all the yellow marks on my corset are pins to correct my seams!)

    After pinning, I took the mock up off the dummy, marked all the pin placements with a sharpie, and resized the parts. Then I took it all apart to use as my new pattern.

 

COST OF MOCK-UP

• Fabric / Thread - $0 (I had this on hand)
  
• Patterns - $0 (I had both the patterns on hand)
  
• Time:
  
  • Initial pattern making – 1 hr
    
  • Cutting out – <1 hr
    
  • Sewing - <1 hr
    
  • Fitting – 1 hr
    
  • Resizing pattern – 1.5 hr
    
    
    

So far, so good. I will need to make a second mock just to make sure my new pattern fits (I hate ill-fitting clothes)! The second one will be made out of duck cloth (torso) and soft cotton (cups). Hopefully it fits and I can use the second mock up for the finished garment's interlining.

     I like Maria, it just, is a little boring. I'm used to going BIG so I chose a new character. This time I have chosen Stella (still from Castlevania). Yeah, see what I see? A ruff, a corset, ruffles – waay better. Oh, and there is purple hair to boot. Score.

     Alright, the colour scheme is nothing to write home about (red shoes with that dress – really?), but I am in love with the dress.

I anticipate the ruff will be the hardest part of the dress, while engineering the bustier will be the most tedious. The design of the dress is pretty but still a little plain for my taste so I plan to add lace and some jewel details to it to add something extra.

alright here's the process. . .

I cut out all the pieces (purple fleece - it's what I had on hand), then I put the face onto the kitty

I

I sewed all the pieces together and turned them right side out. Now we're ready for stuffing!

C

Check. Parts stuffed, time to sew 'em up and assemble the kitty. . . 

T

TA DAA! All done. She's small, as you can see she can fit in my hand. The pattern (or seamstress) needs some refinement and fine-tuning, but I think she's cute in her own way. . . 

M

Maybe I'll make her a dress. . .

I have this wonderful Hello Kitty DIY book. Problem is, the book is from China, the text is in Chinese, and I cannot read Chinese. . . 

Now there ARE pictures, which I thought I could skate by on. . . however, having puzzle pieces that look similar is something I didn't expect. . .  

So, is this going to be doll or a monster?

    My character for this year's Otakon (2010) is Maria from Castlevania. 

 

    Looks simple enough right? So I was poking around on the internet, trying to find some girls who have made this costume before, but have found little luck in procuring an actual documentation. So far I have found that people have spent between $200 and $300 to make this outfit and have spent 10 – 20 hours in making it. I would like more, but I'm not getting it so, here we go.

 

What I know (or think I know) about this costume:

• 
  
  The "dress" or rather, coat is pirate-esque
  
• 
  
  There is a very large sash tied around her waist
  
• 
  
  The collar and cuffs will require some major stiffening
  
• 
  
  There's a little ruffled shirt under the jacket
  
• 
  
  The sleeves will require some gathering and possibly shoulder pads to achieve the right look
  
• 
  
  I'm going to have to find some ugly pilgrim shoes and make them look "right"
  
• 
  
  I need to keep my hair blonde and resist the urge to colour it
  
• 
  
  Achieving the cut-away shape at the collar is going to be crucial.
  
• 
  
  The jacket just covers the tuchus, and only closes via lacing (like a corset) over the bust and just down to the waist
  

 

I've been crawling around on the web trying to find pictures of those before me. And so far, honestly I haven't liked many. Some have done a nice job, but many are just lacking something. I think I don't like the way many have stylized their jackets, letting them hang limp and looking a little skimpy. It's a jacket. This piece screams velvet and couture to me. I want to construct this well enough so that I could reuse it later as a street piece or as something to modify and use with a Ren costume. Also, since this costume lacks bottoms, I think I want the only real element I am wearing to be a little more substantial. I am used to costumes with long skirts, so this pants-less look is something very odd to me.

 

What I need (as of 3 March 2010)

• 
  
  Velvet (jacket) – possibly 3ish yds
  
• 
  
  Jacquard (jacket and sash) – 2ish yards
  
  • 
    
    I think I could get away with buying two or three premade scarves and sewing them together, but I really dislike the idea of so much mismatched gold
    
• 
  
  Lace appliqués (jacket) – I have no idea where to find something similar – to the internet!
  
• 
  
  Brown gloves – found them already on the internet
  
• 
  
  "Pilgrim" shoes – already found on the internet
  
• 
  
  Gold paint (shoes)
  
• 
  
  Soft, white fabric (undershirt, sleeveless – so I may be somewhat decent if I take off the jacket) – 1 – 2 yd
  
• 
  
  Interfacing (cuffs and collar) – 1 yd
  
• 
  
  White stockings – find at hot topic or something, maybe buy two – I am prone to running nylons
  
• 
  
  Green satin ribbon (stockings and hair) – probably a spool – will eyeball the width
  
• 
  
  Spandex shorts – target I guess? (no I don't already own a pair)
  
• 
  
  Closures – the picture makes it look like the dress laces up, like a corset, but that is nuts! That is waaay too much trouble when I want to take that jacket off and on (and in the summer weather, it's going to come off at some point)
  
• 
  
  Test fabric for the jacket which may also come to double as an interlining – bought 3 yds already
  

 

Okay. . . that seems like a nice list. Once I have all the materials assembled, I think I will organize a price list to see if I get up to the projected $200 – 300 (or exceed it – hopefully not!) Anything else? No, I think that's good for now. . .

   
 

Otakon 2010!

    Alright! Here comes another year. This year I have convinced the boyfriend to dress up with me. . . now if only I can do the same for the Renaissance Faire. . . So, we have gone with Castlevania this year – yay! I absolutely adore that series. My sister and her girlfriend have decided to go rouge and are going Maid fuku. Alright, so I have no idea truly what those two have in mind, but as for the boyfriend and me we have chosen Maria Renard and Judgment Aeon. 

 Alright, so clearly, one is much more difficult than the other. . . why does he do this to me? For someone claiming to be "simplistic", he sure did pick one of the more complicated ones. But I should be fun. . . >_>

Important Dates: 30 July – 1 August (Otakon!!) – 3ish months (gulp)