It's been over a month since I updated, so I know it's about time. I went to 4 cities in 4 days at one point over the holidays and spent NYE in NYC, which was fantastic. Also, I've been taking pole dancing (for fitness) 3x/week, which is ridiculous. Seriously, if you are a female and need something awesome to do, I highly recommend it if it's in your area. I go to
Goddess Dance Studio. It's super hard, but a lot of fun. I've learned to do things that I would never expect to be able to do. Also, I totally made my own tutu as I'm taking a ballet/pole crossover workshop. It was so fun! And so easy!
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| Tutu! |
I (99%) finished my bustle skirt after breaking no less than 5 needles on my machine. I definitely need to upgrade machines soon. Six layers of bunched lace plus two layers of interfaced satin make for quite a thick packet for the machine to power through. I'll admit, it's not as pretty on the inside as it could be, but the inside doesn't really matter. I did decide to edge it with lace trim after all to save on hemming/rough edges, and it turned out quite pretty. The lace they carried at Hancock's wasn't exactly the same color as the main lace of my skirt, but that's unavoidable unless you want to dye all of your fabric (and dying fabric terrifies me). The only things left to do are to add a hook/button/something so I can hook the train up and off the floor for walking and maybe add a wrist loop. Oh, and make it smaller, because I'm down a few inches in my hips.
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(Instructions on finishing the skirt after the break.)
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Next I made an underbust harness, but I made it out of the same gold fabric I'm using for the belt so everything would match. I interfaced (I think it's medium weight interfacing) both the gold fabric (I think it's a satin, too) and the lining (I just used a generic brown cotton) so it would have some weight. If I were to do it again, I would use heavier interfacing. It ended up being super easy. I'll do a mini-tutorial on that another day. Also, I finally used hemming tape for the first time on this, so the entire harness is a NO-SEW project (though lots of ironing)!
I still have to finish off the straps.
When I bought the hardware (buckles) from Tandy Leather, I also ordered the contraption the goes on the back of those oversize/interchangeable belt buckles you can get, so I can make my own Ironette buckle. Any ideas on what to use? I was thinking Sculpey/Fimo.
Still to come for this costume: Belt buckle/belt, underskirt (basic miniskirt), my experience recovering a bra, glove/armwarmer things, and a mini top hat.
