Thursday, August 8, 2013

Projects, Projects and More Projects

Hello all! Welcome back! The last few days have been crazy busy, as I assume the next few months will be. I made sure to drink plenty of coffee to keep me going. Who needs sleep anyways?

I've been starting to go through all my stuff because I really need to start packing in preparation for the move. The tentative date to get our keys is the 21st. So roughly around that date we will officially get our house! Which is awesome! Too bad I'm a pack rat with way too much junk that I never throw away. So that's the major project right now is to condense as much as I can, or more importantly throw away or give away as much as possible. I've already gone through 4 overflowing Joann Fabric canvas bags of old bills and credit card receipts. Bills going back like 5 years. I don't need you...into the fireplace you go! I also found 2 boxes of old birthday, Christmas, thank you, etc cards. Some from people I can't even remember anymore. Found one from parent's of an ex that didn't end very well...immediately into the trash. Why I have all this stuff, I don't know! That is my resolution for this time- throw stuff away!!

I've also been busy making Fat Cat Pincushions. Some new styles I've made are 60's style Cat Woman and The Wicked Witch of the West. Cat Woman is my new favorite style now. I love her necklace which is all made from sequins, rhinestones and chain. Guess I'm a jewelry maker now!

And I've added on another custom request: Monet Cat. And I've been playing around with dyeing some pom poms to get the right Zombie gray-green color for the paws. Those lime green ones just don't work. And yes the red one will be the Michael Jackson Thriller zombie. What can I say, I'm a child of the 80's who loved that video. Of course I had to make it into a Fat Cat!


And I will be turning this mess of felt squares into this brilliant scrapbooking divider. I think it'll fit my fabric...I hope. Something seriously needs to be done with that area.
<----------this needs to be converted into...

                                                   This!!------>

I need to also start trying to figure out what Star Wars costume to make for our library's October event. It's a pretty cool event, even for a non-Star Wars fan such as myself. I have nothing against it, I've just never been that into it.








But the event it great because we get performers from our local 501st and Rebel Legion groups.






Which means we have lots of Storm Troopers, Jedi's and Rebel Pilots walking around and interacting with the members. 
And it's an after hours event so we don't have to worry about disturbing anyone trying to read and we can be as loud as we like. Last year I was Padme.

But I'd really like to do something different this time. No idea what that'll be though. Any suggestions?? I need to have it sewn by the first week of October. I also need to figure out my actual Halloween costume. And sometime in November is our Doctor Who event at the library. So there will be 3 costumes back to back to back. I'm also going to the Columbus Comic Book Convention in mid-September, which I'd really loved to make a costume for, but I don't see it happening. With the move and everything happening around the same time, I think it'd be a lost cause. Unless it's something I could whip up in a day...Hmmm, what's a very VERY simple comic book character?

Well, those are my projects for now, some completed, some started and some, well, not so much. 

Talk to you later!
 -Kathleen






8 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice dresses!!! In the white dress you looks like super woman. I like white color.

Regards,
Kopi Luwak

Unknown said...

Hi, would you like to sell the accessories for this costume? I can't find them online!

Unknown said...

Hi, wold you like to sell the cloak and utility belt?

The peasant said...

I really like your padme costume! Did you buy it or make it? Where/how?

Kathleen said...

Hi Mandi, thank you I'm so glad you like my costume! But unfortunately I'm not selling it or any of the pieces at this time. Sorry about that!

I made my cloak and belt from pieces I found at Goodwill. I found a blanket that looked good, then reshaped and stitched it to my liking. And with the belt, pretty much the same thing. Found a belt with a good width and covered it with fabric and made some little pouches to add on. I tend to make my own accessories and costumes since, like you, I can't ever find what I'm looking for in stores.

Kathleen said...

Thank you, The peasant! I did make the costume and here is how I did it:

I had recently just made a cat costume a few months prior, so I used the same patterns for this outfit. Unfortunately, I made my own patterns so I don't have a commercial one to provide you with. (I bought a cheap dance unitard from a shop that was closing down, ripped it apart, made some modifications and redrew my own patterns for the bodysuit from that.) And for this one, I used my patterns but chopped it in half to have the 2 separate top and bottom pieces. and I used stretchy white dance material I bought at Jo Ann Fabrics.

The cape was my favorite part to make. Went to Goodwill and found a blanket that had the right color and knit to it, cut it to the shape of my liking, put it on my sewing dummy and hand stitched in all the folds. Just don't do what I did I stitch the fabric INTO the sewing dummy.

The silver arm cuffs are belts I found at Goodwill and cut them to be arm bands. I sealed it by making the cuff shape and adding some elastic strips connecting the open ends on the underside. This way it stays closed but it will expand slightly if you need it a bit bigger to slide onto your arm.

The belt was made from a regular belt I already had and just covered it with fabric and added a snap closure to the back, which is covered by the cape so I didn't really care how it looked as long as it stayed closed. I think I added some velcro to the back as well just for extra closure support. The pouches were just sewn up from some scrap fabric, added some loops to the backs so I could slide them onto the belt. Added to velcro to close the pouch.

The boots were made from short boots I found, again at Goodwill, and pretty much built up the height with that plastic canvas grid stuff. The stuff that you use for yarn cross stitching...I have no idea what that's called. Then covered the boots with fabric and added in velcro and hook/eyes along the sides to close them. I thought about actually adding in a zipper but this was way easier.

Hope that helps! If I left out any parts or if you have any more questions, ask away. I'll do my best to answer!

Unknown said...

Wow, thank you for the tips! I absolutely love your Padme costume! Thanks for the ideas, I am embarking on making my own. have 2 weeks to get it done!

Kathleen said...

Thank you Glo Plaza!

Best of luck to you in your costume adventures! If you have any questions, feel free to ask away and I'll answer as best as I can. And I'm in the same boat as you, I still plan on trying to get a new Halloween costume done for this year and I haven't even bought the fabric yet.