Rantin' and Raven II: Bolero

So, the day after I finished writing the previous post, the greater DC area got hit with a snowstorm, which meant a day home from work.  With my upcoming (now past) trip and some unexpected free time, I figured it was as good as time as to make the matching bolero.  And since the Sophistique Noir theme for this month is outerwear and I just got back from the beach, this seemed the perfect time to post.

The pattern is New Look 6675, which I bought for the dress (view B), not the bolero, but oh well, I will get to the dress eventually. (Or considering my general lack of motivation, maybe not.)  The fabric is just the white inverse of the print last time, from Michael Miller's Nevermore collection.

I know I have ranted many times about yardage allotments from Simplicity and New Look, but this was ridiculous.  A size 10 called for 1 3/8 yards of fabric, and I had only one.  I was prepared to have to do some parts of it in leftover black, plain white, or plain black (if I can ever find that in my stash somewhere), but I easily fit it within one yard with a bit to spare.

The whole thing got sewn up in under day, and the only part that as a bit tricky were the ties on the side, because it involves cutting out a small section, flipping it up, and enclosing the seam.  I'd recommend this for an advanced beginner.

The only real problems I encountered with this were the cats were constantly in my lap, demanding attention, for the whole project.  I tell you, it was pure torture.

Rantin' and Raven I: Dress

Obligatory whine about how
we aren't the same shape -
the halter does not close

So.  This dress has been albatross around my neck since August.  I had cut out the pieces, but had to suspend work on it for my Halloween costume.  The motivation was severely lacking, so once I had finished that, it just sat in the sewing room for months.  I would sometimes get enough energy to work on it for an hour or two, but everything takes ten times as long when I'm in those moods, so even pinning a simple seam can take an hour.

But regardless, it is done now.

The pattern is Simplicity It's So Easy 2884.  Even with my cranky, crabby mood making everything difficult, I wouldn't say this is an easy pattern.  It has pleats and gathering, as well as boning.  Or maybe  I'm just losing my touch.  The fabric is Nevermore by Michael Miller.  I am sure everyone is shocked that I would purchase a fabric called Nevermore.

I have a love-hate relationship with halters.  They're so cute, but I don't like going out in public without a bra, and convertible bras rarely me fit correctly (hell, regular bras rarely fit me correctly), and the backs are frequently too low to wear a bra with anyway.  I could always wear an adhesive bra, but my feeling is that if it's hot enough to show enough skin for a halter, it's too hot for an adhesive bra.  So I made the executive decision to sew in bra cups.  More on this later.

Other alterations: the usual one to lengthen any skirt by several inches (it's been so long that I honestly can't remember how much I added; somewhere between three and six) and skipping the slip (basically, lining the skirt).  I also had to move the buttons for wear the halter attaches, or my cupcakes would have been hanging out, bra cups or not.

Somewhere between cutting out the pieces and getting back to work on this, I lost the lining pieces for the upper bodice.  I knew I had plain black somewhere in my stash, but a cursory search (I glanced over at it for five seconds) yielded nothing.  I had muslin nearby, so I used that instead.  You can see the edges, but I don't give a hot damn.

Despite my whining, this dress isn't as difficult as I make it out to be.  It could definitely be tackled by an advanced beginner.

Back to the bra cups: I was pretty surprised at the selection of bra cups.  I ended up buying these, in a B/C (by accident).  I was planning on taking them back, but tried them just to see, and they fit pretty well.  I am actually a AA, but I am taller than average and have a large band size, so I guess that translates to a B/C for someone of average proportions?  Well, it works, however it is.  When I was constructing the dress, I inserted the cups into the upper bodice, but didn't sew them until everything else was complete so I could get them aligned on my cupcakes properly.  I just hand-stitched them through the lining.

What motivated me to finally finish the dress?  Well, I am about to head out for trip to Puerto Rico!  I have been down in the dumps for a while, and thought the sunshine (looking at it, but not sitting in it), fresh air, and culture shock would do me some good.  The dress would be perfect to wear there and it felt like a good way to push past my motivational block.

I have the white version of this fabric sitting in the stash too, and I plan to make a matching bolero with it.

Walk Like an Egyptian V: Accessories

Cosmetics: SoBe Botanicals

Earrings: I was a goth teenager in the 90s, so I've had these a long time, and I've no idea where they originally came from
Nose ring: Pierced Fish
Necklace: see earrings
Bracelet: Good Goth
Shirt: This is actually one of the shirts I used to wear when I ran outside (I run on a treadmill these days).  I gave the shirts a new life as a layer under my t-shirts in the winter.
Tights: Dunno.  Maybe Target?
Sandals: Famous Footwear

Walk Like an Egyptian IV: Neck Piece

The neck piece of my Nefertiti costume was the one I was least satisfied with.  I used the same black and gold trim as I did on the waist piece, but the gold trim was not flexible enough to curve for this.  It was a stupid mistake on my part.  Once again, I hit JoAnn's, only to be disappointed anew by their lack of selection.  Out of desperation, I bought six big gold buttons and the pendant piece.  Once again, I eyeballed the placement, rather than measuring.  And once again, I used hooks and eyes, rather than Velcro, for the closure.

Walk Like an Egyptian III: Waist Piece

The waist piece from my Nefertiti costume is from Simplicity 1770, view E (the same as the dress).  The pattern doesn't call for any trim on this piece; it's just cut from brocade.  My intention had been to get a bunch of jeweled trim and sew that on, or perhaps some sew-on rhinestones, but as I mentioned last time, the selection at my JoAnn's seems to be going down.  I rather liked the gold and black braid that I sewed on the edges (by hand, ew).  I had enough left from this and the neck piece to do the ankh on the drape.  The gold trim I sewed on by hand and just eyeballed it down the middle.

Again, this called for hook and loop tape for the closure, but I just hooks and eyes instead.

Walk Like an Egyptian II: Hat

The hat/crown was the most important part of the costume, IMHO.  I shouldn't have been too hard to draft a pattern myself, but I didn't really feel up to it.  I searched far and wide for a pattern and came up with the long out-of-print Butterick 3587.  The first place I attempted to purchase it from didn't actually have it, and I ended up waiting over a month before they were willing to admit to that.  There were stories of boxes misplaced in a move, warehouses this particular person didn't have the key to, etc.  I ended up purchasing it somewhere else.

Selfie in a poor quality mirror without the flash.  Yes,
this i the best I could do.

Given all I had to go to get this pattern, I was quite disappointed when I received the pattern and found the hat didn't have a top.  This is my fault for not looking at the envelope closely enough, but it was still a letdown.  If still wanted a top for my hat, so I was going to draft one, but then I just gave up.  I could not deal with that challenge in the emotional state I was in at the time.

So.  The gold-red-blue strip on the hat gave me a lot of trouble.  I could not find a gold ribbon that was wide enough except a wired one (which I used), and it didn't hold up well to the machine.  I wanted shallow jewels to sew or glue on it, but I couldn't find any.  The selection at my JoAnn's seems to be decreasing at a rather rapid pace, and it quite upsets me.  I ended up purchasing blue and red ribbon that I slit into strips and sewed on.  I burnt the end of the ribbons and folded them under.  I started with precise measurements and then decided I didn't care anymore, so I just eyeballed it.  Good enough.  I was far more distressed over the gold ribbon not standing up all that well under the machine.

The bottom strip is just more of the same gold ribbon.

The Uraeus is just a piece of gold trim, leftover from my Edgar Allan Poe costume.

This hat is intended to close with hook and loop tape (what most people call Velcro).  Velcro by the hair sounds like a very bad idea.  I used three hooks and eyes instead, and it worked just fine.

Walk Like an Egyptian I: Dress

So...  I still am alive.  I've been jumping over hurdle after hurdle the last few months.  Life has a bunch of surprising twists and turns.  I'm not quite ready to spill the beans yet, so please bear with me for the next few months.  I had planned on doing the contest again this year, but that obviously didn't pan out.  Hopefully, things will be more stable next year.

Anyway, my Halloween costume.  I chose Nefertiti (though a lot of people seemed to think I was Cleopatra, argh) because I felt it would be reasonably easy (compared to Jareth) and mostly recognizable (compared to Jareth).  Several people have actual told me that my profile bears a bit of resemblance to hear, so why not?

The first aspect here is the dress, which is Simplicity 1770, view E.  It's a simple, darted, sheath dress.  Honestly, the most accurate color to make this is in would have been white or off-white, but strictly speaking, the dress also should have been translucent or leave the breasts exposed.  I didn't want to get arrested or fired from work, and let's face it, I am not going to wear a white dress, so black it was.  And my tattoos would show through in a white dress.  I used a cotton-linen blend because it was cheaper and less wrinkle-prone than straight linen.

I forgot to shorten the upper part of the dress, so this ended up being very loose in the back.  I'll need to take this in at some point if I ever plan on wearing it again.  I was surprised at how unfitted this was in the waist.  I was going to take that in as well, but with the waist piece, I figured I could cinch it in enough that it wouldn't matter.

What I did change: this dress is cut to the upper thigh, which is more leg than I want to show, not to mention would be a bit drafty.  I reduced the slit to just above the knee.  I also lengthened the dress by three inches, which still left it shorter on me than the picture on the front, but I didn't want to be tripping over it all night, so no biggie.

This dress is pretty simple.  I threw it together in an afternoon.  I find costume patterns, especially Simplicity patterns, to be easier to sew.  My guess would be because costumes tend to be what casual sewists tend to flock to, and Simplicity is trying to appeal to them.  A beginner could tackle this as perhaps a third or fourth project.