Halloween and Side Sewing Projects

Mask making has got me thinking about all sorts of sewing and stitching. I have a collection of clothing that I have wanted to practice darning on and just haven't gotten to.  In the evenings when I'm braindead and poking around on Pinterest I created a board for darning and visible mending. I decided to go with something I couldn't really mess up, black on black with black embroidery floss.  Not exactly "visible" mending, but mending a large hole all the same.

I had to hide this hoodie of Bryan's in my studio because he'd just keep wearing it with the gaping holes in the elbows.  He didn't like the idea of fabric elbow patches so I decided it was time to hand-weave in fresh thread to create fabric. It has a post-apocolyptic feel to it, which seems appropriate with this pandemic going on.  

(Bryan in hoodie, half-awake)

I have been leaning into little projects that pop up in my head that are just for me, the house, us.  Knitting and sewing seems like less "work" than when I'm art-working.  I think that I have really needed this slow down in lecture prep, stress to create new work, etc.  I'll get back to it, but fun little projects and re-roofing my garage work have been very meditative for me. 

As I have been purchasing fabric for masks I sometimes want to make something else.  Next was my lunch bag.

I wanted the lunch bag to fit the take-out containers we love to reuse from Noodles and Company. The handled paper sack I was using finally gave out, and it was just a bit too small for my lunch purposes.  I looked at lunch bags and coolers online but I didn't want anything that large or that stiff.  I took some measurements based on the container and created a bag with a stiff bottom (using the extra firm stabalizer between the fabric) and a floppy top so it can fit in the shallow shelves in the work refrigerator. 

And the third project, Halloween Pillows! 

Ok, I only have 1 done, but it was SO quick and easy. I vaguley remembered learning how to sew piping into a seam when I took costume class in college.  I mostly remembered it being painfully obvious how easy it is for that little bit of extra to class up a seam.  I referenced this tutorial: https://www.mybluprint.com/article/how-to-sew-piping-on-a-pillow  for the piping. 

And for the easy, no zipper, tuck-the-pillow-in-the-cover I followed this post: https://sawdustsisters.com/diy-pillow-cover/

I think I'll get the other pillow done tomorrow before I really get going on some dressy masks that I have been commissioned to make. 

Aziraphale x Crowley Bangle

For Halloween this year Bryan thought we should be Crowley and Aziraphale from the book/Amazon show Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen.  Some Halloweens costume research inspires me to create new jewelry designs.  This year I've been looking at a lot of angel wings. 

I had a more traditional image in mind, wings evenly spread aligned next to each other.  The more images I looked at of Crowley and Aziraphale with their wings crossed or spread next to each other, the more the idea of showing both angel and demon wings together in one piece emerged.  

If you've been following along on Instagram, I appreciate all the likes and comments as I've been beading along!

I am so pleased as to how this piece turned out.  It also seems to go with all of the outfits I'm wearing to work right now.  It shows both black and white, the black wings lined in a matte silver and the white wings lined in a matte 24K gold bead.  

I'm also trying to post videos a bit more often.  I would say I'm no good at editing, but it's a start and I figure the more I do it, the more I'll learn (and laugh at old videos).  I think I cut the beginning of this one too much, but it shows part of my process on this bangle:

So here's a video of my slow process, showing a little bit of beading on this bangle.

Halloween, Earrings and Kittens (oh my)

Wow, I've been so busy that I haven't had a minute to blog and take photos.  Mainly I've been working on fill for galleries for the holidays which does start in mid October.  We took in 2 kittens that came to us on our walk through the park one night, which have been a handful.  Then our Halloween Party and the following month we hosted Thanksgiving. I'm still settling in to my job at White House Black Market, I think I'll get better at blogging once I have that and some household things under control.

(We went as Leela and Fry from the show Futurama for Halloween)

(The cats were not forced to dress up, only take photos)

Recently I did make something for myself though.  The set that matches the dress I wore in June is at a gallery and I was wearing the same dress the other night for Bryan's company holiday party.  I decided to put the dress with a bright blue/teal pair of heels and happened to have just purchased beads the same color in clear matte.

So in my usual form, I made myself a large pair of earrings for the event, which we had a great time at.

The next place I'll be showing my jewelry is at REACH's Not So Silent Night Event on December 9th, 2017.  This is always a great event, plus it benefit's an awesome creative part of our community!

(Kittens love to "help" hence things taking a bit longer these days, this is Lois in the background, 

she loves spilling beads and playing with jewelry.)

Pokemon for Halloween 2016

This Halloween I have had so much going on that I fully intended to re-use an old costume, maybe make some edits to the Bloody Mary or something.  My plans to take it easy were foiled when I became addicted to playing Pokemon Go with Isaac.  The more drawing of human adaptations of Pokemon I saw, the more I wanted to accept the challenge of making a fun Pokemon costume.

The rules were to use fabric I already had.  So I poured through my stash to see what I had, then started looking at ideas.  I had nearly everything for Victreebel.

The green crushed velvet left over from my Poison Ivy costume (2006?), I have no clue where the yellow even came from (someone else's stash?) but I had plenty. I had a sliver of pink for the top leftover from a dress I made in 2005, and white stiff poly for the eyes and teeth.  The only items I had to purchase was a yellow zipper, a bullwhip and pipe insulation.

Stitching the leaves was the easiest and most fun part to make.  Since I wanted the top to loop open, I hand stitched the pipe insulation into the pink fabric first, which made any more sewing on the machine difficult later.  I managed some sloppy darts, but they pressed out somewhat.  I have to remind myself that I'm the only person who notices the issues anyway.  I always feel that Victreelbel has a red mouth so I pinned this to a red bra and wore a neckscarf that I already owned.

I put off stitching the snap at the base of the pink pipe insulation last as I cut the actual foam insulation back a few times for a better fit.  

The eyes and teeth were added last and I attached a leaf to the end of the whip (which pretty quickly was snapped off....thanks Ryan).

When I really think about it, I need to just accept that I'm making a costume every year.  Although under stress of getting jewelry shuffled to galleries, getting into the office more, demands of my house....this was the perfect short-project-with-a-deadline to make me feel better and get back into my artist groove.  I'm about ready to take on holiday once my house is clean(ish).

I did make a Pokeball for Crush this year.  He stayed in his aquarium though.

Added a new decoration idea with a bike that I'm never going to get back to and a posed skeleton, which I have been wanting to start posing skeletons for quite a while, this was a good start...

My friend Kathy sends me a Halloween gift box...this year's had these lovely black martini glasses that say "be wicked" in gold on them.  I think they'll be staying out year 'round.

I'm terrible at remembering to get photos at a party....ah well.

Halloween 2015

If you know me well, you know Halloween is my hands-down favorite holiday.  This is the first year throwing my party solo, at my new house.  I can actually fit everyone into my downstairs, but glad that I have 2 bathrooms for sure!  I had the garage set up for people to hang out there, but it was really too cold/windy for that, maybe next year.

Sailor Scouts!

No, I didn't make my costume this year, I was in a pinch and figured, I can use this for Cosplay at Shuto Con in March.  I went as Sailor Jupiter.  I have the wig too, but Sailor Moon was going without so, I skipped it.

Having Puppy Chow is a must.

This is from a few weeks prior to Halloween, Rob and I went as Dr, Krieger and his virtual girlfriend from the TV show Archer.  It went over very well (we got third place in the costume contest).  I did whip this costume together last-minute.  This is the first couples costume I've ever gotten to do, I had never dated anyone who wanted to do one, so it was pretty exciting.  

Halloween Costume 2013

 

I have been thinking about Halloween since June at least, but it often takes me until pretty last minute to decide and make my outfit.
This year's "ah ha" moment was when I happened upon some Gustav Klimt paintings. It took me back to when Zack and I were at the Textile Museum in DC a number of years ago. The exhibition was of the fabrics that adorned Gustav Klimt's homes.

The painting that I modeled my costume after is called "Expectation."  It was quite the process deciding how to drape this dress and whether to print the design or sew the design on.  Since I draped the dress first, I decided to sew. The gold fabric I found on my shopping trips in Florida, the collar and white base I picked up at Joann's, but the rest of the fabric is from my stash and old clothes that I cut apart.
 

 

I used a gold metallic thread for the top thread so it would be a little shiny and whites/yellows/whatever I had for the bottom.  If you can't see the underside, I usually don't get too picky about it.  I had some issues with the hat/wig combo, so I stitched and pinned the hat to the wig.  There's also a black ribbon to tie at the base of my neck to help anchor the whole thing. 

 

I did already post about the jewelry, Klimt 1 and Klimt 2 bangles and the earrings.  I do plan on putting more details into this piece. I want more of the "evil eyes" in it to be beaded and I have some areas that are to be filled in with red seed beads.  But for now, it's wearable and I'm not going to beat myself up about finishing it proper until after the holidays.

 

So HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I'm a pirate for the day (all of which are "regular" clothes for me, worn in a certain fashion) and back to this costume for evening festivities.

 

Danielle also says "Happy Halloween"....kinda.  She's a piggy this year, but it looks a little more like she's being eaten by a pig....

 



 

Halloween Bangle Klimt 1 and Gold Swirl Earrings

I finished off the other bangle bracelet for my Halloween costume Sunday night.  This is called "Klimt 1" since it's the first one I drafted, but the second to be finished.  I posted "Klimt 2" last week.

The colors of these two bangles are drastically different, but that's what it looked like in the inspiration piece.  I was also trying to focus on using beads that I already had on hand.  I have not seen this painting in person, and the various images I have found seem to all be slightly different in color.  I'm focused on just using a lot of golds and yellows since Gustav Klimt was known for using gold leaf.

I also managed to knock out the rather large pair of beaded earrings.  I imagine in on Klimt's model these were probably metal, but beads are so much lighter weight.  Due to lack of detail in viewing the painting, I made up my own little swirl in the earrings.

Now to finish my headpieces, dress and make my husband's costume!  Wish me luck!