SO! This is  my final year at Uni(ohcrapohcrapohcrap). I am a costume design major, so far I've designed three shows, one with another student, and two on my own. The director I worked with on the show I did last year really wanted to work with me again, so I agreed and thus Eurydice was born!! This also counts as my senior seminar project which is awesome and one less thing I have to worry about

This is the version Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, its such a poetically beautiful piece, and such a small cast!(the last one i did had about 23 cast members) this time around I only had 7 principle cast members and then a group of 4 'architects/builders' who moved the set pieces around. It is a combination build/pull/borrow show, I designed the wedding dress(es) and swimsuit/rompery thing, so we built those as well as a pair of pants, everything else is our stock or belonged to the actors. It was the second show of the semester.

The inspiration for the set came from Frank Lloyd Wright and his architecture and blue prints, namely the house 'Falling Water', I kind of went with that direction as well, also the stage direction where it says Orpheus and Eurydice are wearing 1950's style swimwear. It is a 'non time' piece but I tried to keep it as vintage inspired as I could, I am pretty proud of how it turned out! Its going to be presented at the KCACTF region2 festival thats coming up in like two weeks, and I submitted it to the design tech management exhibit...

but anyway
Orpheus and Eurydice at the beach


Eurydice and the Nasty Interesting Man(his inspiration was british teddy boys)


Eurydice's father(his original inspiration was F.L.W himself, he ended up a bit more business like, but the builders work for him)


The father explaining building the room to the builders


Arguing with a book in the underworld, we made two of the wedding dress and then distressed one with dye and a wood eraser...it looked like it had snowed in the costume shop.


The stones have a very British dandy feel about them, (name that artist!)


The Lord of the Underworld...on a tricycle


Orpheus finding the right note



 At the end of the show, thats also the suit he wears during the wedding


there are more pictures here http://jpfaces.zenfolio.com/p930690071


but yeah, thats my baby, and I am very proud of her!

Oh haaay... you might remember me posting a Ballgown last year(http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=289051.0)....welll this year, i made another one!
This year(it was on Feb. 13th), our ball began to swing toward the 1870's and the early Bustle era, and as a costume design student in her junior year of uni, i have portfolio building on the brain. Unlike last years Ballgown which was made as part of a class, this years was done as an outside project....Alright then enough rambling, on wards to the pictures!!

so I tired to take pictures of my process...but i think my professor still may have some on her camera, but these are the ones that i have.


bodice, and sleeve fitting....which btw was the most annoying part of the whole process!



all of the seam allowance and facing edges were stitched down to the flat-lining fabric by hand


i used 3 appliques that i got at a fabric outlet in lancaster, which were hand sewn down


Bodice done with contrast fabric draped around the form to see how it looked together... i remember doing a giddy dance when i saw how great it looked together...

when it comes to the skirt i have no process pictures what so ever....it was most frusterating, i managed to put it together inside out and backwards once, it was a mess.... but anyway, it turned out loverly in the end, and now onto the photos!

the really nice shots taken by a professor on campus(there should be more on the way)







this is myself and my professor

other misc. shots





i sewed through the tip of my pointer finger sewing that trim on! it has since healed nicely, if you were wondering!


umm yeah, so there she is, it took about three weeks or so, i tried logging the actual hours....but it got a bit overwhelming, soo...lets say a lot of them! I used the same pattern i used for my other one, the skirt was a basic long A-line, the sleeves, i made the pattern for,  the rusching was done by machine, and sewn on by machine, the trim was done by machine as well...except for the stuff on the sides, which i put on by hand... I got loads of complements, apparently it was a hit,  I also got  a few offers to make dresses for people for next year....

and now to begin thinking of something to top this one for next year! ugh

my doodles mainly consist of these little characters that ive made up over the past few years, they are mainly food based in origin... and i like to refer to them as  'Happy to See You',  i also make little pins and stenciled tshirts with them on...but thats another topic for different forums


lately ive begun painting them, and making little story...comic...thi ngs with them

this one features Mochi and Tofu and the tragic tale of Mochi's ice cream
part one

part two


what a generous fellow that tofu is eh??
they are done in gouche and acrylic and marker....in my sketch book which is for dry media... hence the slight wibbly nature of the paper


this last one is done in water colours and features the first character i drew, toast, and his counter part....girl toast....


they are in love and like to hold hands...


um yes.... i hope you enjoy them....i know i do!

i was wasting time on youtube and lookie what i found


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCi_MsGcFjE

and heres another professional picture of the dress

So,for three weeks before everyone else came back to school from winter break I took an interim class in costume construction...My college's fashion program is having a Victorian fashion ball in the spring and in my class we designed and made our ballgowns....

So my research lead me to this gown

the one the seated lady is wearing,I immediately fell in love with it, but since we weren't allowed to make a replica of any dresses we found in our research, I borrowed the colour scheme(teal and grey ftw!) and the points around the skirt, im really into angles at the moment

my rendering(really bad scan)


we worked from a period pattern which was...well, tiny

sized them up to fit, made mock ups out of an interfacing material

( i made the corset as well)


this was a little over a weeks worth of work

6 yards of ruffle


alot of hand ruching


alot of hand sewing trims together and onto the berthe


also alot of hand sewing 3 inch wide velvet ribbon on to 4 yards of skirt(about four hours worth of hand sewing to be exact)


 but it was all worth it to get to this







there were six of us in the class

there should be more photos from the actual ball when it happens in April, and we are going to the a trustee luncheon all fancied up as living advertisement for the ball, yay!

I am extremely proud of what I accomplished, even though it made my brain want to melt from time to time, I couldn't be happier with the results...

but its still weird to see it as an actual garment, instead of only on paper.

there are even patterns out there for a naughty queen elizabeth....

case in point....


my friends are trying to sell me on the prefabricated ho in a bag costumes...its not working... im not spending my money on something i know im not gonna be comfortable in and that is shoddily crafted....

not gonna do it!

so i learned to knit from my grandmother on spring break... and i havent finished the harry potter scarf that i started since then...im about halfway through..but i did finish this pidge scarf on monday this week.



i like to wear it with it folded over a bit like so


middle button


and on me...both ways




its very snuggly and i cant wait till it gets colder so i can wear it!

so i found this fab wool blazer in the storage closet at upstairs...it fit over my...assets... well but the sleeves were to short and the shoulders didnt fit quite right....i decided that it needed to become a vest....and so it did!

before



* note the totally gnar shoulder pads

after




and i replaced the buttons

(this picture close to what the jacket looks like in real life)



pretty much just winged it with a bit of measuring.... attacked the sleeves with a seam ripper and took them off... took out the shoulder pads, and pinned clipped and sewed, i also faced the arm holes with bias tape...it needs a wee bit of taking in...buuut im in loooove!!!


for the purpose of silly-ness
behold.... the shoulder pads!!!

finally a sucessful recon!!
i had a black tshirt just chillin' in my drawer, and since i had been banned from going to walmart last night(its another story) i decided to do something to it, i also had this stretchy lace tank top that i think i stole from a sister..and some large and small pearly buttons...and i thought...what can i do with these....

ooh i know
this:








sorry if the pictures suck i had to take them with photobooth on my 'puter cause my camera batteries are dead... and some are from last night and others are from today, but yeah thats what Eleanor(my sewing machine) and i accomplished last night... but yeah im proud of it and it makes me feel really fancy!

everyones stuff is lovely!

i took these this past weekend...