A Long Awaited Post - Spring Sewing and the Tudor Rose

Hello all! Was my last post really in January? Well, I guess it's probably because I really haven't had much sewing time since then between work and school and adrenal fatigue. Except for one rather ambitious project. 

I've been placed in charge of decorating the English country dance balls that the group has several times a year. Each ball has a different theme that I get to play with and have some fun with. The theme for April's ball was Shakespeare since the event landed on the 400th anniversary of the bard's death. . The Elizabethan era is also when we have the first evidence of English country dance! The theme for the spring ball was really a no-brainer when we noticed the correlation. 

But how do you decorate a gymnasium for a theme like Shakespeare??? I searched online sources (namely Pinterest), but everything I was coming up with was rather... tacky. Then, my sister and I decided to try going with a more cultural route, so we searched for Elizabethan banquets and feasts and found a treasure trove of ideas (but most were far outside our budgetary constraints since we couldn't magically transform the gymnasium to a 1600's English banquet hall or transport everyone to England). You can peruse our inspiration board here. One of the common themes I saw throughout all the searching was banners. Then I found beautiful images of the Tudor rose. The train of thought then began to wonder how that would tie into Shakespeare since the War of the Roses was about 200 years before Shakespeare's time. Phooey. But wait! The War of the Roses was the setting for Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III. YESSSS! I get to make my war of the roses banners!!! 

But first...

Warning: the materials and techniques used in this project are not historically accurate

Now we may continue. 

For the main part of the banners, I used a blue (upholstery) velvet (that doesn't fray on the edges!) that I found in the Joann's clearance section. I then grabbed some double-sided fusible interfacing because applique is a beast without it. 

I then raided my scrap stash for the fabrics for the roses and was ready to get sewing. 

I re-sized the roses from this image, cut out the appliques, ironed them to the background, set my machine to some serious zigzagging, turned on a very loooong playlist because this was going to take a while, and got to sewing. 

And I kept sewing.  

And sewing some more.

I finished sewing on the roses, laid them out on the floor, and stood back. I needed something more. The Tudor rose needed to stand out more from the Lancaster and York roses, something to distinguish it from it's predecessors. After a quick look at Tudor rose images, I decided a crown would be the perfect thing (the whole point of the war was to decide who would rule anyway). So a crown it would be. But that meant I had to cut out and sew on another detailed, curvy applique. Oh well. I found another playlist and got back to work, and I'm really glad that I did because I'm very pleased with how they turned out. 

They made the perfect backdrop! ^_^ 

Looking at the pictures now, I realize that the roses are upside down. Oh well, I sure ain't going to rip those suckers out! They are sewn down well enough to survive the apocalypse.

Until next time! (which will hopefully be sooner than 5 months)

SG

Burgundy Medieval Gown

On top of fixing up my own costume for the Celtic ball, my sister, Jessica, needed a dress that fit the theme. She came up with the general look that she wanted, and I had to bring it down to realistic expectations since I had classes, homework, work, and ball decorations to do too. ;) 

We found some burgundy sheets in my mock-up material bin, and I started cutting things out. Thankfully, I had done that pattern a couple times before, and it went together very quickly. Which was good because I finished it the night before the ball.

The next thing to add to her costume would be an embroidered belt. With floral swirls. Yeah, that sounds cool. 

After I finished sewing it, I stepped back and realized that we had essentially created Mother Gothel's dress from Tangled. Completely unintentional, but still pretty awesome. 

Until next time!

SG

Ranger's Cloak

Here's the finished cape! 

I ended up needing to dye it again. Unfortunately, it didn't take up much of the dye, so it was dubbed dark enough. 

In between setting up for the ball and the ball actually happening, some of us were able to head outside to take a few pictures.

After looking through them, I've decided that I really need to make a cloak for myself. 

And this is where I say something snarky along the lines of, 'Well, this isn't awkward at all.' 

Apparently Caleb can't keep a straight face in light of such sarcasm. :P 

Until next time!

SG

Cape Making

Another commissioned costume! 

A friend of mine asked if I could make him a dark green hooded cape. Sounds easy enough, right? 

Try finding more than 6 yards of heavier fabric for a sane price. :P I was stumped. I already had the pattern, just no fabric to make it. :sigh: But I had these big, funky curtains that my grandma gave me that were left in her house by the previous owners. The weight was nice, it had a really nice pattern, soft texture, but the color... I can't even put that color to words. They are the strangest shade of tan/yellow/red/chartreuse that I ever did see. Good luck trying to picture it. 

But I could dye it. 

I never played with dye before. 

Why do I always save the new techniques for commissions? :shrugs:

So I bought a package of dark green dye. The package said that it was color tested on white cotton fabric... we'll see how this project is going to turn out. My fabric was the world's strangest color and a chenille blend. The package also said that I would work with a front loading machine and then proceeded to cover up said directions with a big sticker for a top loader. I didn't really want to test it out in Mom's washing machine anyway, so I headed to the tub in the guest bathroom hoping that it wouldn't stain the shower. 

I filled the tub following top loading machine directions sans washing machine, stuffed the cape into the tub (yes, I made it before I dyed it. Eek! Talk about commitment!), sloshed it around (and got green hands in the process), and left the cape to soak for 30 minutes. While waiting for the cape to dye (not die), I did a sudoku and made ice cream. All the while I twiddled my thumbs hoping that it would take the color. The timer went off, and I pulled my green creation out of the tub. I rather felt like a made scientist creating some sort of monster in a comic book... It certainly looked green. I dubbed it 'Hulk.' After letting it dry for 18 hours, here's how everything turned out: 

 

I'm pleasantly surprised and pleased with it. Hopefully it's green enough. Otherwise we'll have to return to the evil lair to add more radiation to it. :P 

And now for some dramatic before and after pictures! 

I think I need a cape for myself.

Until next time!

SG

PS- If you're wondering about the state of the tub- it's fine. It weathered my experiment like a champ. You can't even tell that it was filled with murky green water.

King Peter's Costume: complete!

It's done! :does happy dance:

Well, at least the sewing part of things. The crown still needs more work.

I've been honored to be asked to do a custom costume for a friend of mine for an upcoming ball. 

He wants to be King Peter from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but he has a limited budget. Thankfully, I was able to get all the fabrics from Goodwill! The tunic used to be a top sheet, and the cape used to be a table cloth. But, shh... this is a secret between you and me. ;) You certainly wouldn't guess that the materials had a previous life. All the trims and notions came from Joann's. Guess where most of the budget went to. Yeah, Joann's. It's amazing how quickly trims and what-not add up!

My dress form isn't happy with what a men's costume does to her girlish figure. Oh well, Lady Catherine, you're just going to have to get over it. 

For the tunic, I used McCalls' Pattern 5500. As far as alterations go, the sleeve was changed, I used a collar from another pattern that was buried in my pattern collection, and I added a pleat in the back since the neckline was too wide. As for the decal on the front, I just used a generic brocade stencil from Joann's and some gold fabric paint. In retrospect, I could have used puff paint to make it resemble embroidery, but I think it looks fine as it is. The trims were all sewn on by hand since my sewing machine is picky about what can and cannot be sewn. It was a perfect project to work on in the living while visiting with my grandma from out of town was staying with us for a weekend. (That was quite the run-on sentence...) 

The cape is Simplicity 5794. Altered of course. ;) The hem was trimmed to the correct length to allow for dancing (aka - no dragging on the ground), and I drafted a piece to allow for only needing the back part of the cape to match the style of Peter's in the movie. All in all, I'm pleased with how everything turned out. 

Now it's time to turn my sights onto recreating Peter's crown. I've never made a crown before. After some looking around on the interwebs, I came up with my own blend of things to make a crown fit for a king. Alas, there's no gold-smithing involved with this process. Just lots of foam, cutting things out, painting, and glueing. I'll post a more detailed post after I get it finished.     

Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia.

Until next time!

SG

High King Peter

I promise that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth; I'm still here! A friend has asked me to make Peter Pevensie's coronation ensemble from Disney's 2005 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' for a quickly approaching ball. So while I'm sewing away, I'll leave you with some inspiration for the costume. I'll do a more detailed write-up after I finish. :) 

Until next time!

SG