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A new era of design

Dear reader,

I've been playing around with photoshop as of late, and I've come up with something pretty that I think I'm going to stick with for a while in the pursuit of building a portfolio of awesomeness. What do you think? It took me a while to figure out exactly what I want to do, and this is by no means the final product, but I thought you might like a look at the process :)



I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out thus far, so give me some feedback!!

Love and hugs,
Ashley

MarlaLite

Hey reader,

This morning I had the most dangerous fun ever. I used Great Stuff, newspaper, and a full monstrous bag of poly fill to fill up MarlaLite. I'm just going to upload the photos for now, and try to get video the next time, when I make LindaRaeLite.
Note: I just add Lite to the end of the model's name
NoteLite: Yes, I will help you make one. Yes, you must buy all the goodies on your own. Yes, I will require Oreos or Euros as compensation.

Love and hugs!
Ashley

Heaven forbid I post something related...

Hey reader,

Just updating now because of "complications". I've basically come to a stand still on the web page development, mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing. But that's ok! Tomorrow I'll sneak into the ComSci department and bat my eyelashes and hopefully the promise of baked goods will persuade someone to help me out.

On a completely unrelated note, today was hilarious. Upon deciding what to do as a makeup design, I relied on fate. My little sister had sent me a link earlier of the most adorable thing ever. It was so adorable, it made me squeal in girlish delight. As you may know, reader, I am not exactly the sort to behave in such an unprofessional manner in the middle of the supermarket surrounded by strangers. Anyway.




Once in a great while I get an awesome idea... like this one.






And then I got a little too crazy...




Yeah... My brain hurts too.

Sorry, love, and lots of hugs.
The hidden one, Ashley

Post-presentation, post Launch weekend

Hey reader...

Let's just put it this way. Awesomeness occurred this weekend. Not only was I able to complete and present part of my collection of which I am so proud, I had a fabulous opportunity to meet, interview, and even befriend a massive range of people (including David Silbaugh, Tom Bejgrowicz, Jeremy Dean, Eerie Von (who I believe may currently dislike me due to a cheeky joke) and Jeff Briel (sure he is the hubby of my friend, but he's good)

Starting with Friday The day opened with me rushing to campus to do the duct tape dress of my new favorite person, Miss Marla McDaniel. Rest assured she will be receiving freshly baked cookies and a completely filled duct tape Judy on Tuesday! Oops. I need to do that and film it...

After this awesome gal helped me fix up everything for the presentation, I relied on the kindness of strangers (whoever that guy was who helped me carry those 6 boxes out of the SMC, I owe him cookies too). You would never believe who ended up talking to me for nearly 20 minutes straight.

PRESIDENT MCNAIRY

Can you believe it?!?! I've never been so nervous in my life. According to the grapevine, she would be happy to write a letter of recommendation for talented students with friendly dispositions. Cough cough wink wink nudge nudge.

Then I had an amazing experience teaching one of the most adorable little girls I have ever had the pleasure of speaking with about the history of the costumes I put her in. Is she not too much? I even got to give advice for drawing, something I'm new to as well!

I ended up not being able to check out the other presentations and thesis reports because I never had a moment I wasn't being asked questions about the project. My favorite all time memory (aside from the above little girl) is when someone asked me "these costumes are sooo cool! where did you get them?" and I could answer... "I made them." It was like having muslin/cotton/coutil children who were picture perfect :)

After the whole kit-n-caboodle had shut down, I rushed off to Launch to help out with Unitheo's filming of interviews and shows. Swaddled in a very "Miss Charlotte" style outfit (Miss Charlotte is my well dressed self. You know, the one that says... hey... you're not gonna be alone working in your "cat" cave, better look presentable), I got to meet some fabulous bands, hear kickin' songs, and strut my hosting self all over Lancaster's music scene. I say strut (most people haven't seen me strut) because I was wearing 3.5 inch heels. Yeah. Reader... do you know Lancaster well? Because it is filled with historical goodness... the bane of any woman (or man, I suppose) in heels. COBBLESTONE. *whimper*

Night began with a 6 piece (the singer, Kaitee Page, had red hair with pink streaks, woo!) band, Lunic. Super sweet, awesomely talented, and put on a crazy amazing show. I was hooked. Then the night ended with ANOTHER disturbingly talented band with a fiddle player (maybe I'll dig mine out of the closet...) the Duhks. Oddest request of the night? "Please don't ask us about the name of our band. It's not really that interesting, and we don't want to talk about it." Blink... oookkkkkkk..... But the name doesn't matter because in their genre, they rock.

Saturday cannot be the end all, be all. Can it?

Correct. I woke up after 3 hours of sleep, intending on bringing my favorite Perkasie pianist/singer some doughnuts before the trade show. Sadly, the pants I had to wear (only clean black ones, of course) ripped. This guy (points to self) had to sew then up, then added the sweet suspenders to finish off the awesomeness that is using runway fashions to create new and interesting looks.

A long day full of fabric purchasing (Jacy has the perfect figure for my newest addition), stiletto heels on cobblestones (dummy...), business consulting (oddly enough, something I enjoy a lot), free beer and pizza (goooooo Jeremy Weiss!), some of the coolest cats in the business (CT not included, wink), an outfit change (Jacy gifted me a faboo shirt that I just couldn't bring myself to refuse), a hint of marriage (he was joking, I wasn't), and Launch's last day of musical panel-y goodness. I haven't had the opportunity to hear new music as of late, and I'm realizing now that I am SERIOUSLY missing out! As a caveat:

• The States (phenomenal musicians, superbly confident, and sweetly humble)
• Lunic (whole band dripping with talent, with a fiery singer who has amazing fashion sense)
• Matt Ryan (voice that had the ladies swooning, with killer hair and a backup guitarist from my past)
• Dead 50's (Sorry ya'll, my favorite!! As a ska/punk/swing (you know, the good stuff) fan, these guys had me bopping and grooving enough to make the guy who organized this whole extravaganza, the talented Rick Gadd, snorting with laughter at my "dancing")
• Texas In July (too young to be so skilled! Great group of guys who have their first big tour this summer, since they have summer break until September)
• Planeside (...awesome. They got great reviews from EVERYONE. Weird...)
• Sadaharu (yeah. well. I've known them for years, so their rocking of the Lounge was to be expected.)
• Negative Space/Odd Thomas (Talented friends of mine closing down the Village, which is actually looking less like a rapeatorium (Jacy's favorite word ever after hearing me say it this weekend) and more like a club with a good vibe.)

And me. Of course. Singing Patsy Cline while walking to my car from the Village to deter murder-rapists. In my skewed mind, if someone hears the caterwauling suddenly squelched, they'll look outside and call 911... right? Naw... I've got a nice voice! Nothing compared to the gal in Perkasie though... girl has got some skills.

Sunday... Bloody Sunday....

And I mean that in the sense of bloody as an expletive, not as in the tragic Bloody Sunday. Woke up early, got my exercises in, dyed the hair of my mom (now we look alike! She added some red), and sketched until I passed out at 5. Completely and utterly forgot that I have an exam tomorrow at noon. Fabulous, right? No worries. I think. Really pleased with some of the sketches, though they're more fashion than costume. I suppose fashion (runway, that is) is in essence a costume show... right? I mean, have you ever seen anyone walking down the street in this?!

I think not.

Sleep awaits, as does a cram session as soon as I'm rested... exam is at 1!

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Beauuutiful

Dear reader,

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know. I've been busy!! Look!

I even did some sketches!!

Off to sew some more :)

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Experimental Kirtle

The evasive farthingale

Dear reader,

I tried to find a good model for my Spanish farthingale, but I have finally decided to use the original design (Alcega's design).

Boy oh boy. Want to see my preliminary cutting and sewing patterns? This is the relatively cleaned up version...


Then I thought about how to go about the boning (there's no less "that's what she said" way to phrase that). I've decided the most historically accurate (and best looking) way to do it will be to make my own casing and line then hem-6-5-5-5. I'm planning on buying however many yards of 1/4 inch tubing from Lowes (or Home Depot) and using that since willow reeds aren't exactly falling from the sky.. unless you're standing under a willow tree. Then I suppose my past statement wouldn't' be true.

Anyway! I'm off to do such, then figure out what supplies I to do the boning. Heh. Cough. Sorry.

Love and hugs,
Ashley

An Evening of Stitches

Dear reader,

Best. J'Fab visit. Ever. I was "woe is me"ing to my mother while picking up a few million yards of home decor fabric <3 liquid bandage on the finger you're pricking constantly, it acts as a feel-able thimble! My problem was that my stitches are so small, I was killing myself and bleeding on the fabric! Now, I can feel the needle to maintain a small stitch, but I'm not hurting myself. I smiled even through paying.

Farthingale's are for geniuses

Holy. Cow. Making a farthingale from scratch is like... like... rocket science! I'll update this later this evening after I've pulled out the rest of my hair.

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Beyond the Crinoline

Dear reader,

I saw the light! It was lovely... It was a tad hazy because I saw it through 5 yards of crin, but I saw it all right.

Finishing the Crinoline



Boy did I feel proud when I stitched those last few zigzag stitches along the hem. After gathering, then pinning, then gathering, then basting, then gathering then stitching... I was near ready to throw up my hands in defeat. But I did it. Using linen as a waistband and crinoline as the skirt, my lovely shape making skirt was complete. Granted, there is one blood spot from a night of angry poking, but other than it, it's nigh on perfect. If you ask me, of course.

Where to next?

At first, I considered working on my hoop skirt as the next piece, but put it aside in exchange for my Renaissance style chemise (for now!) The pattern will be easier to cut out and I need to get rid of the pattern copy paper I have now so I can justify buying more this afternoon at J'Fab.

Doth... thou... thee... uh. yeah.

So I'm in love with the Renaissance and Elizabethan era. Nothing do I love more. So I designed a pretty cool outfit last night (which I will scan and color and such later) and I'm plotting it's building. The skirt is going to be paneled with extra bits to make it come off more poofy. I'm using the same green from my corset (it's duck cotton, but that's ok) and this GORGEOUS pink brocade that make me melt. I'll probably throw in a petticoat, just so there's some definition to the skirt. I'm debating what material to make the petticoat out of, and a lot of references I'm reading say the best fabric for this vein is actually using home decor fabrics! They're nice and long and always of a heavier, more durable, more period look. Pretty cool, right?

Alright, I'm off to cut out some more patterns!

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Pictures!!

Heya reader,

So I decided the best way to conquer all these problems I'm having with photos is to upload them all to photobucket, then link to it here every time I have updates :D

This is the link to all of the photos as a slideshow!

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Ruffles make the room much smaller

Dear reader,

As you can probably guess, the petticoat is still unfinished. Sigh. Although, I've made great progress! I'm finally sewing on the last little bit, i.e. the bottom ruffle. I surely did not plan out the necessity of large open spaces needed to make such a huge project! I've ended up sitting on the floor in the middle of the petticoat with pins in my mouth (dangerous) and the cat constantly darting in and out of the crinoline. I think she like the sound.

Pictures. Today. Yes.

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Crinoline. Grr.

Dear reader,

I HATE CRINOLINE!! *cough*. Sorry about that. It's just... after two days of punching my way through yards and yards of crinoline, I've had it up to here (points to ceiling).

Petticoat factory in a tiny bedroom

Let me just say that it is a trial in and of itself to make big costumes in a little bedroom. Add crinoline to the mix and you'll have an unhappy camper. Thus my face this afternoon as I waded from inside my 4 yard wide crinoline petticoat. Sure it'll be great when I'm done, but for the time being, it's a pain in my behind.

I'm making the yoke out of muslin, as I figure most people would rather have muslin around their hips than crinoline. The pattern I have is being cast aside because despite the fact that it says one size fits all? WAY too big to fit little Daphne. So I'm chopping it down and keeping the general shape. Once I sew the yoke together, I'll be able to attach it to the crinoline I gathered earlier and then I'll be able to judge how the ruffle action should be accomplished.

As per usual, pictures will be added at a later day.

Love and hugs!
Ashley

Petticoat extravaganza

Dear reader,

It's been a few days since I updated, I apologize. Spring break and the filming of Two Gents was last week, so I was either attempting to sleep or on stage all week! Nevertheless, I was able to do a few sketches and plot out my next few moves.

The Demon Tape Measure from China

So... you know all those measurements I did for Daphne, so she wouldn't have to stand for me every time I needed to check something? Yeah... they were all done with my first tape measure. The one that I just found out is printed so wrong it actually hurts my brain. Approximately 1.5 inches to an inch. Very. Very. Very bad. So I bought two new ones from J Fab and now I just need to find a way to trap the monster in place to get all the measurements I need for my construction sheet.

Petticoats are big

I started by cutting out the pattern, and got really confused. I mean, so confused I just stared at the pattern on the fabric for about 10 minutes, then walked away for about 13 hours before working up the nerve to look again. The directions say to cut out four pieces of fabric, 43" by 41". My fabric is only 38 inches wide, so I decided that would have to do instead of 41. After sewing it together, I get this. Not so much in the working part of life, eh? I'm nearly at a loss. The only thing I could figure is that I didn't add inches for seam allowance. But that doesn't make sense at all! *sigh* I suppose we'll see what happens, eh?

Anyway. Second corset is finished, so I'll post those pictures soon and you can tell me what you think! Or not. Either way.

Love and hugs,
Ashley

Minimal insert

Hey reader!

Sorry I haven't posted lately, the show has been kicking my butt! Two Gents closes out Thursday (hopefully), and I'll be able to sew at home, where there is no makeup to get on my almost finished WHITE corset. That's correct. White. Ugh.

Nevertheless. I'm nearly done with the corset. It's adorable! White duck cloth with an eyelet ribbon at the top and white linen homemade bias tape on the bottom. Only one layer thick, so that was kind of easy (and successfully ended with one side being longer than the other, so correcting that will have to wait for.. uh.. maybe never since it's not noticable... hmm), and I punched holes out for the grommets, then decided to go historical and sew reinforcing stitches around the punched holes. Let me just say I refuse to ever do that again for more than 10 holes. Yeah. WAY too many holes.

My Fair Judy

So the Uniquely You dressform I bought admitted upon purchase that it would be exaggurated... but I did not expect this! Nevertheless. The dressform comes with a zip up dress that you're supposed to alter to fit your figure. You can rip out any of the many seams to make it fit perfect. Now, I tried this bad boy on, and it fit pretty well, almost perfectly. Since I'm currently busy as a horde of bees, I figure I'll save adjusting her to when I have A: Time and B: someone to help me pin and measure the dress out. It's impossible to do alone and I don't have a seamstress handy to help!

Well, I'm off to bed, I'll post pictures of the pretty little garment soon enough!

Loves and hugs,
Ashley

It's morning!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Mmmm.. Judy...

Morning reader!

So today is starting out pretty well! I decided to start out with research instead of sewing, despite Daphne walking out of the house with curt instructions to have a petticoat finished so she'd have something new to wear when she got home from class.

Research

I love doing research. I should really just throw everything out the window and become a professional researcher. Are there such jobs? I hope so... Nevertheless. I decided I needed to make a generic dress to use as a muslin form, so I started taking down my measurements. That's when I realized, I have no idea what measurements are needed! So there I am, standing half naked in my room with a measuring tape in one hand and a pencil in the other with NO idea where to go. I found this great site which has a lot of really interesting information about historical costuming (I love RenFaire people) and she talks about how tailors of ye ole day would have a bodice form for their clients, which they could use to begin the gowns once they got the general idea of when the woman would need it done. Of course, fittings come afterward, but having a general idea without draping is awesome.

Draping

Speaking of which, draping? for historical costumes? Absolutely not.

Sketching

So I decided to make the bum roll before I started working on the petticoats, mostly because I have an excess of scraps of linen that are too small for anything else but stuffing or things that aren't seen. I found a tutorial on one of my favorite sites and will get started on sewing a nice bum roll up shortly. I'm pleased that my sister and I have similar measurements (at least around, she measures in at 5'10"!) so I'll be able to use this bum roll as well. I sketched out the measurements needed, and away I go.

I'll update you later on how things went. For now, enjoy the pictures from the corset!



Loves and kisses,
Ashley

It's a new day!

Halo reader!

So today will be short because all the work I did was last night, and I have a ton of sewing left to do tonight. I got pretty frustrated earlier when I was pulling out my latest undergarment pattern. I discovered something I was not pleased to find out.

Patterns

I am in a current state of dislike for Reconstructing History. Her assemblage of materials may be amazing, but the directions are confusing, and the pictures don't correspond with the writing, so one cannot be sure of what one is making! Basically, it's not very comprehensive, so I won't be using it any more.

I had a lucky break! I was using Google Shopping to find the cheapest possible patterns, and I found a whole honking LOT of patterns! I was so pleased with the quality and the price, I ended up buying two lots from the same person! Bless my little heart, how I do love corsets... I think by the end of this project, I'll have more underpinnings than over!

By the by

If you're visiting my site to see my progress, you should take a moment to click on one of the ad thingers... It'll help me make a little cash to pay for the ridiculous amount of linen I'll be using :-x Maybe I should stick to muslin....

Anywho.

Drawers my arse! Oh wait...

I made drawers today! They're adorable. Size 8 in an off white linen with black bias tape as ribbon (for the moment. One I gather the resources, I'll hie off to PA Fabric and buy me some ribbon). They fit the monster (meaning Daphne) perfectly! Later this evening I'll post some pictures of her in the whole set of underpinnings.

More money? OH NO!

So my dressform sucks. Granted, I got her for about 50 bucks, but I'm beginning to realize (as Da always says) you get what you pay for! I need to buy a Uniquely You dressform. No biggie! Fortunetly, this month's "paycheck" will cover it. However... whilst search for a Judy, I came across this site and now my wallet is very angry at me. Tant pis! C'est la vie!

I'm off to start sketching the renaissance dress, wish me luck!

Loves and kisses,
Ashley

In the beginning, there were mistakes

Hello reader! (heh.)

Money money moooonnneeeeyyyyyy

My main concern as of late has been the amount of money I've been spending to work on this project. I'm a sucker for a beautiful brocade, and there are few things that can wrench me away from the linen and lace section in J-Fabs.

That being the case, I decided to do a little research into how to spend as little money as possible while getting the best products for my needs. My first stop was J-Fabs for some on sale lace and two versions of my apparent new best friend - the bias tape maker. Good. Lord. Do you have any idea how expensive lace by the yard for trim is?! It's embarrassing! So when I read on this website that there are ways around spending a gazillion dollars to make sure I can show off my creations without shame, I nearly wept with joy.

I noticed her little quip about how expensive J-Fabs is, so I decided to check online to see if there were any sewing/fabric places nearby. I'll have to do some comparative shopping, of course, but according to the dog wrangler in Two Gents, there is a wholesale fabric and trim place not too terribly far from here. It'll probably be a good thing I'm not getting any more tattoos!

Found one place, looks promising, but I cannot tell from their website if they allow over the counter sales! As in, in person. They show a picture of the building, but they also say something about a $200 minimum on all orders! I suppose I can trek out to find out in person, as it's only a 20 minute drive (thank you, google maps!).

Trials and tribulations with a victorian corset

My very first corset... phew. After a mock up of interesting proportions (I didn't exactly know how to use a pattern before, uh, that very moment), my second attempt with some hearty duck cotton proved to be amazing. I'll publish some pictures of Daphne in the corset (size 6 sewing, the little wench...) at a later time.

My main problem was figuring out exactly how to put the whole thing together, and how to put it together without having to rip it apart 6 billion times. I still haven't exactly mastered that bit, but no big deal. I was using this deep forest green (beauutiful color), and it proved to be a beautiful end product, but in the construction part, it was a pain and a half. The chalk would rub off, the marker would fade when I walked away to get a drink of water, or I would just not be paying attention! I learned the hard way that you should mark everything with multiple means, and that you should never EVER use the width 1 on a Baby Lock sewing machine if there is even the slightest possibility that you might have to rip out a seam. Let me put it this way... I had a strained back and sore eyes after an incident with width 1 and the starting seams of the corset. Ugh.

I purchased precut spring steel pieces for the aforementioned corset, so the insertion of those didn't take too long... except they weren't cut to the right lengths. Argh! After lots of replacing and muttering, I had them all put in at a suitable fashion. Then I proceeded to break two needles on steel trying to sew shut the corset with double wide black bias tape. Bias tape, I learned, is a pain in the butt and WAY overpriced. Thus came my purchase which I ranted about above.

After putting together the pieces as per the instructions, I did the grommet thing (hence forth, I shall use button holes and reinforce them!) and used the 5 yards long lacing (think shoe lace, in black) to bind my little sister (very little, 105 lbs, 5'9) into my lovely corset. See photos later.

Money money mooonnneeeyyy

I'm searching for a gathering foot that is compatible with my Design Pro (BL22). Best bet? Babylock's website! I found the foot I need, now all I have to do is... find a store that will sell it to me? Oh Babylock... why do you begrudge me?! The Gathering Foot (ESG-DS) is a sturdy little foot that will make some of my gathering nightmares go away. Granted, pleating and according pulling three stay-stitches is more period, but for certain parts of the upcoming chemise, a gathering foot will be primo-extreme-o.

Ooo... a "Chem -E-Zay!"

Linen.

Oh yes, I said linen. The quintessential fabric for showing the incredible need for stay-stitching. Set my Baby on width 4 and away I go after cutting on the fold many more pieces that I anticipated. Feeding the fabric through at a snails pace seemed to be the only way NOT to ruin my lovely unbleached linen.

Since only undergarments will be made with a pattern during this project (I must be insane), this will be the second to last for my Victorian outfit. Reconstructing History is a pretty great place to find some awesome patterns for undergarments!

After putting together the yoke for the garment, I dealt with the pain in the butt of gathering fabric with two gathering stitches. I think from now on, I'll always use three! I figured out rather slowly, blind as I am, that it's best to pull the bobbin thread to gather. Fortunetely, it turned out very pretty, and all that remains now is to hem the pretty little garment and strap Daphne into it for final fittings!

Goodbyes

Well, that's all for today. I'm off to maintain my grades in my other classes! Today we watch Brokeback Mountain in my Love and Sexuality class. I'm not very pleased on that issue, as I love the two main actors and am not in the mood to see them.. uh... well... you know. Sadness prevails, so I'll start sketching instead of watching :)

Love ya!