Padme's Tatooine Peasant Disguise from The Phantom Menace.

Because this year was the 3D re-release of The Phantom Menace I decided to make Padme's Tatooine disguise for it.  I didn't finish by the time the movie came back out unfortunately but I decided that I needed to get it done this year - preferably this spring.  I finally finished it (for now cause I know myself there will be tinkering and updating as I use it) tonight.  This was probably the easiest Padme costume I have ever done.  It didn't take too long to sew but the belt slowed everything down.

I started by looking for dye-able fabric that was the right texture as the original was loosely woven but had to be able to stay together and withstand the rigors of trooping.  I found two different silks in a home textiles shop down in New Jersey.  One has a small rough looking weave, the other has thicker threads in a more open weave.  The were both white so I started by cutting off enough of the smaller weave fabric to make the arm wraps and set it aside. I then dyed the rest of the small weave blue using Dylon Ocean Blue.

The Fabrics Un-dyed

The blue dye bath

Finished blue fabric

I then dyed the rest of the small weave fabric grey with Tulip light grey dye and attempted to dye the loose weave fabric with the same dyebath, However the Tulip was not strong enough to color the thicker fibers enough and the smell was HORRIBLE.  So I went back and bought Rit Pearl Grey powdered dye and re-dyed the loose weave fabric which did work.

Grey dye bath

 Once I had the fabric the way I wanted it I started putting together the tunics first. I used Simplicity 3568 view A shortened to the view C length for the blue under-tunic. I didn't change much at all as it was already so close, however I did lengthen the sleeves a little bit and add elastic to the wrists that is tucked under to give the folded under look of the original costume.  Since there was a bit of variation in the blue due most likely to overcrowding in my dye pot, I cut the belt off first as it was one long evenly colored piece, then I cut out and pieced together the under tunic following the pattern's directions. While my machine was still threaded blue I folded the strip I cut for the belt in half and sewed up two of the sides, turned it inside out and sewed up the last side  to make a tube with all the rough edges inside for a neat looking belt.  I added snaps to one end and the point that reached it when I wrapped it around my waist (it wasn't quite long enough to tie on).

undertunic with flash

without flash

I then used Butterick 4523 for the over tunic.  I had to do a lot of alteration on it.  The pattern had two lengths, I used the shorter one but it also called for slits on the sides and in the front and the back which I took out. The front was supposed to be cut in 2 pieces and then sewn together with a center seam (the back was as well). I cut them both on the fold to eliminate that seam and then sewed up what should have been slits on the side seams when I put them together.  Instead of facing the neck and arm holes I did a wrap over so it looked piped like the original. I was careful to measure the length on myself and adjusted it to get the right look as the pattern wasn't as exact as I wanted.  I then stitched up the arm wraps the same way as the belt but just put snaps on the top end.

For the pants I took a pair of crinkle cotton pants that I had been using for my Jedi (I found a better pair to replace them for that) and dyed them purple using a full bottle of purple Rit mixed with a half bottle of wine Rit.  I also redyed the rest of the blue small weave fabric (I left the pants in for a long time, the silk I only dipped in briefly).  (Tip: I always heat set my dyed fabric in the dryer on warm before sewing with it or washing it). I cut the silk into strips and sewed them up in the same way that I did the belt and arm wraps for the leg wraps (I did have to sew 3 strips together end to end for each to make them long enough - I measured that out by testing it repeatedly before making the tubes.) I sewed snaps on my shoes and on the leg wraps to keep them in place.  For the shoes I actually got indoor/outdoor slippers - they are SOOOOO comfortable! They are leather so it was hard to get the needle through, and hurt my fingers - A LOT, but it holds the fabric well and makes it very easy to wear.

The last couple of pieces are the belt pieces.  The center stone was easy.  It appears slightly textured so I bought a large textured button and a plastic paint pen and painted it red.  It took a couple of coats but it did stick very well.  I then bought a little wooden circle at JoAnns, my sister helped me drill a hole for the back of the button in it and I painted it the dark brown to match the edge of the stone. I hot glued the wooden circle onto the back of the button after threading the button onto a thin string.  For the brown macrame'ed parts of the belt, I bought "chocolate" colored crochet yarn and cut 5 strings each about 3 wingspans long (aka hold one end on one hand and the ball in the other and stretch both arms out to the side as far as you can - that is one wingspan) I folded them in half and tied a knot leaving a small loop, and giving myself 10 strings to work with.  I then started an epic friendship bracelet. I used the 4 knot system (you take a guide string and a working string and make a number 4 with the working string over the guide string and wrap the tail of the working string around the guide string and then through the opening in the 4 and pull the working string up and the guide string down, do this twice for each knot to keep them strong) and the rag rug pattern - tie every other thread over its neighbors (odd numbered ones if you laid them out in a line flat on the table over the even numbered ones) then tie a knot in between each of those pairs (even over odd if you renumbered so the slots maintained their number instead of the string).  Continue this pattern to the end.  I added the lighter colored bits by randomly adding small pale tan wooden beads on the guide string of a knot.

Belt.

The last step was my hair.  I bought a braid head band and a package of fuse on hair.  The hair was in two bunches, so I cut off the fuse tops and braided each bunch so I got two small braids to loop through my hair.  I pulled back the front of my hair into a pony tail, then braided it into 4 braids.  I then wrapped the outside to other my head into a headband hiding their ends under each other, I put the braided headband I bout just behind it and pinned both in place.  I then took the two little braids I made and pinned them into loops on the underside of my pony tail and then I wrapped the other two braids of my own hair into a bun covering the edges of the things I had added and the ponytail holder on my own hair.

back of hair.  I did it rather quickly for the pictures so I didn't manage to get everything tucked in the way I would want. 

The side view.  I think I will get another braid head band to use in place of my own braids to wrap around my head, that way I can thicken up the bun as well and hide edges better.  

And finally the "completed" costume:

With flash

Without flash

Update, 4/24/12: 
Upon submitting this for approval it was suggested that I should darken the pants to be more accurate.  I redyed them in the Wine Rit for a half hour which did darken them considerably:

the newly re-dyed pants with a shoe and leg wrap.

However I'm afraid that they are too red now, so am thinking of getting some dark blue and layering that on to even it out a bit (or another dark purple), once I get feedback from the ladies of the Senate.  But we shall see what they say.

Update, 4/25/12: 
I did decide to try adding the Navy Rit and while it did help I'm still not sure if it is good enough. May have to try a different brand and see if it works better:

they are a bit more plum but still not sure if they are dark enough.

Update, 4/26/12:
I tried dying it once more, this time I used iDye Poly which did seem to work a bit  - as it is a little darker, but I'm still not sure if it is quite right.  I used a full package of violet and a half package of brown to achieve this color.

Dye attempt 4 a bit darker...

Projects from Fall 2011

So this fall was another break for other projects, mostly one very large stuffed dragon, which was a Christmas present for one of my best friends, so posting progress pics could not be done, secrecy, ya know.  But now that she has it and LOVES it I can post up how I did it:

Step 1: covertly study her dragon drawings.  She is an AMAZING artist and loves dragons (she has always said she wanted a pet dragon: purple with emerald eyes) and so draws a lot of them  She usually draws them with the same features so that was how I wanted to make her pet. Also stop at Build a Bear and buy a recordable voicebox so it can roar, start searching for good sound clips online.

Step 2: Go to the fabric store, look for purple fabric options - I wanted it to be a nice royal purple, not light purple, or Barney Purple, a nice regal purple fit for a dragon friend and guardian. Also look for emeralds that can be used for the eyes - ended up deciding on Swarovski crystal beads (4 mm Faceted Bicone) in emerald and then 1 mm faceted bicone Swarovski crystal beads in Aurora Borealis for the white part.  I already had black beads left over from my Padme Fireside choker for the pupils. I found the perfect purple - however it was only in the red tag section as a  large remenent.  I got the whole 4.5 yards and hoped it would be enough.  I also picked up a remenant of white pleather for the teeth, horns, tail spikes and nails, and a large bag of super soft stuffing. I already had lots of muslin at home to draft the pattern so I didn't worry about it but I wanted to make sure the eyes were to scale so I wanted to have that first. Finally I found a beautiful silver meshy-lace for the wings, just randomly - it was new and featured in the center so it caught my eye.

Step 3: I got another friend to draw me a very basic dragon in shapes so I could figure out each part - just standing still - not flying or doing anything fun like her drawings, and no details. I used his drawing to sketch out basic pattern pieces for the main body parts on the muslin - I skipped all the pleather parts as they are all just triangles and weren't as difficult to size and get correct as the actual dragon body.  I also held off on the wings because I wasn't sure if I was overlaying the lace on the purple or if I wanted the webbing of the wings to be all lace, or how I wanted to try to get the "finger" part of the wings stuffed and attached.

Step 4: I started the pattern at the end of September and tweaked it, pinning things together to see if they were to scale and would actually make the shape I wanted until just before Thanksgiving.  During this time I decided that I wanted its belly to be a different color/texture but not too different, so I went back and found a coordinating purple with silver flecks in it and got just a little bit - 1/4 of a yard. I also decided that I wanted the wings to be just lace so I needed to make 2 sides to the "fingers" and sew it in the middle somehow.  I decided that if I made a smaller inner layer and then did the main outer layers I could make sure the edges were perfect and neat.

Step 5: I knew I had limited fabric so I tried laying out the pattern pieces on the fabric to make sure they fit so I could do final adjustments before putting together my final mock up.

Final cutting layout 

I decided the upper leg was WAY too big and cut it down a lot - which also mean cutting down the lower leg.  The fabric in the picture is folded and the wings are cut on the fold so that it stretches across the dragons back.  The tail is at the bottom folded over as I only need one of those (most of the parts I needed 2 of) and so it was ok for parts to over lap between the few pieces I would cut after unfolding. I left off the inside of the mouth deciding it could be in the same fabric as the stomach and the inside (unseen) parts of the wings as I thought I could do them out of the pleather to make the wings stiffer.

Step 6: After trying MANY multiple ways of arranging pieces and cutting the legs down A LOT, I decided I was never going to fit the other side of the wings on this fabric, so I went back to the fabric store looking for either of the 2 I had had originally - I didn't find either but I found another coordinating purple with some silver shimmer (kinda random stripes up close).  I decide that I want the stomach to match the underside of the wings so the flecked fabric would just be the inside of the mouth.

Step 7: pin everything together into a final mock up - make adjustments to make sure it all fits without any gaps - that included making a chin piece because I realized the head wouldn't stuff properly or connect to the neck nicely without one.

Head!

Torso, arms and wings added

the whole dragon! No spikes, horns, nails or teeth (but there was no pattern for them)

Step 8: Freak out on how cool the dragon looks, unpin and put the pattern pieces into piles based on the fabrics they go on and how many are needed on each fabric.  I needed to cut out anything on folded fabric first then I could do the single pieces on the unfolded.

Step 9: Take a deep breath and cut main fabric.  I started with the main purple color, folded then unfolded then the shimmer fabric, folded then unfolded, then the flecked fabric only unfolded.  Then the pleather which was very difficult as it was so thick.  I cut the inside of the wings first as they were the only pieces with a pattern and the biggest ones.  then I cut the tail spikes - very wide triangles and still a bit long that were attached at the bottom, then the horns, long and skinny triangles and then the nails and teeth - small triangles - teeth skinner than nails but all about the same length.

Step 10: sew the pleather pieces.  Since they were going inbetween the other pieces they had to be sewn and turned first.  turning them right side out was SOOOOOOOO hard especially the little tiny pieces.  It actually took me hours to turn them but only about 15 minutes to sew them all on my machine.

Step 11: Sew the arms and legs starting by stuffing the nails with leftover fiberfill from my sisters kitchen chair cushions (her Christmas present from me - which I worked on during breaks from pattern drafting) I wanted them to be more firm so I picked a harder stuffing than the soft stuffed animal one I had bought for the main body of the dragon.  Once the nails were stuffed I pinned them into the seams of the hands and feet one on each corner of the end of them, so it would look like it had 2 fingers/toes on each.  I sewed the hands and feet together and turned right side out then sewed the lower arms and legs and attached them to the hands and feet by sliding the hands and feet inside and sewing around the edge, and turning the arm/leg right side out then the upper arms and legs and attached them in the same way.  I stuffed the hands and feet because it would be hard to reach them once the arms and legs were attached to the main body.  I did a double row of stitches on all of the seams on the whole dragon for strength.

Step 12: Sew the tail.  Sew the spikes together so they are a little circle with no opening in the center, stuff them with the fiberfill, then sew the tail piece leaving the end open and stopping 2/3 of the way up for access to stuff once attached to the rest of the dragon. Insert the spikes so that the filled part is a quarter of an inch from the end of the tail, tail should still be inside out and the spikes should be inside and the circle part just on the edge. Sew across the bottom to attach the spikes.  Turn right side out.

Step 13: Sew the head starting with the mouth sewing the nose and jaw to the inside of the mouth putting the teeth at the corners of the nose so they point down.  Turn right side out.  Sew the sides of head to the nose and then add the forehead, sew the gap in the front of the head between these two pieces (sides of head together).  Then sew the jaw to the sides of head and then the chin on and sew up the gap between (side of heads together again,  Sew the inside of the mouth together to make a channel to hold the voice box. Turn head right side out.

Step 14.  Sew the eyes.  I sewed the beads onto white ribbon, the black pupil first then a ring of the emerald with an extra line on the top, then the clear around the top and sides. I cut out ovals slightly larger than the beading folded under the edges and appliqued them onto the sides of the head.

Eye beading

Eye sewn on head

Step 15: Start to put together torso.  Sew the center of the back of the neck above the wings and the back below the wings to the sides of the torso, leaving an inch gap where the wings will go.  Then sew the arms on (this is really tricky so be patient because they are small and puff out a bit).  Finally add the stomach and leave the whole thing inside out.

Step 16: Attach the head to the torso.  Stuff the horns with the fiberfill.  Slide the head into the torso lining up the neck edges and slide the horns in so the fill line is at the seam line horns pointing in - between the head and neck.  Line them up with the seam lines of the back of the neck and the forehead.  Sew the edges, and turn right side out.

Step 17: Stuff the arms and and nose and jaw.

Step 18: Sew on legs and tail.  Sew the top edges of the legs to the torso and leave open the bottom edge. Pin the open edge of the tail across the back and along the back sides of the legs and sew leaving about 1/4 inch on each side free.

Step 19: Stuff the head and torso until you run out of stuffing.

Step 20: start the wings, sew the main purple fabric to one of the inside pleather bits, try to turn it right side out shred the purple fabric trying.  Realize that the pleather is not going to work cut out new inside pieces out of the shimmery material, realize that I should have waited until I bought new material to do so.

Step 21: go looking for any of the 3 purples already in use.  Find none, get a 4th purple with little specks of purple (much closer together and smaller than the flecked fabric). Get it home and realize it isn't as wide as you thought so cut out each wing separately (not on the fold).  Sew both sides of the first wing and put it all together (sew the inside pieces to the outside and turn right side out and then the outside edge - top - of the outside pieces together, fold to make right side out). It will open on the bottom to insert the lace.  Tip: on the middle branch only sew up one side on the machine before turning, blanket stitch the other side closed folding in the edges.

Step 22: Start to sew the other wing - realize I cut the speckled fabric out backwards, and there isn't enough left to correct.  Go back and buy more (of the same one!) also get more stuffing. Recut it and finish sewing the other wing.

Step 23: Put in the lace on the wings.  Trace the curve of the wings on the lace and cut out.  Insert the lace between the two sides of the wing, pin the sides together carefully over the lace.  Sew on the machine along the inside of the outside branch and down the thick part of the middle branch then across the inside edge of the part connected to the back.  Hand sew the rest in - it is too thick for the machine.  Repeat for the other wing. Trim the lace so that it goes from the end of the outer branch to the middle branch to just before the wing connects to the back.

Sewn but not trimmed.

Step 24: Stuff the wings with the soft stuffing.  I used a knitting needle to get the stuffing into the tiny areas at the end of the wings and to make sure it was packed in tightly.  Fill up to the middle section that will attach to the back of the dragon.

Step25: Lay the wings across the back over the opening folding under all raw edges.  Handsew them on - using a doubled thread for strength. Make sure to go across the area on the sides on the underside of the wings only.

Step 26: Finish stuffing the torso, legs, and tail.  Hand sew up the tail folding edges in and continue stuffing.  There should only be a small hole between its legs and the bottom of the tail.  Stuff until you can't get more in and still pull the hole closed.  I ended up running out of stuffing again - used 24 ounces total and could have probably used another 8.  I made up the difference with soft cotton balls and little scraps from the dragon itself.  (No pleather just the purples.)

Step 27: Sew up the hole.  I needed my sister to hold it upside down while I stood next to it and sewed it with doubled thread.  It isn't the neatest closure but it can't really be seen.

Step 28: decide on a sound clip and record it on the voice box.  Shove it down the dragon's throat, and test it by hugging its head.

Completed dragon sitting in my chair

A look at the wings and its back

with me to show you its size.

Step 29: Tie a ribbon around its neck because you can't give a pet as a gift without and bow.

Ready to be a present

I gave her the dragon and she loved it.  Decided the dragon was a girl and named her Polaris.

In this time I also completed my Hermione costume for Halloween, I sewed on the patches and the ribbons but the rest was purchased.  The robe was my Master's robe from St Rose, cause really when will I ever wear that again.  I cut off the weird tail things on the sleeves and rehemmed them.

My final project was a hoop skirt to go under my Victorian gown from last year (and anything else that needs a hoop).  I simply took the muslin pattern for my Picnic Gown circle skirt, sewed the pieces together, hemmed it and added a channel around the bottom to put the hooping in.   I put a zipper and hook and eye closures on the top and threaded the hooping in.  I don't have pictures because the Victorian ball was cancelled so I didn't end up wearing it this fall at all.  However it is nice to have it done so I can wear it to the next ball without needing to rush around.  I still need to get it properly straightened out and figure out how to get through doorways with it.  It is big enough to make a Scarlett O'Hara costume easily.

This winter the plans are to go back to the Picnic Gown and to create Padme's Tatooine Peasant disguise for the Phantom Menace 3D release.  I have fabric dyed for that, and more to fix with new dye.  That's the plan for January.

Making of the Meadow Gown Part 5

So I did decide to just sequins the top part of the skirt and then sew it together so that I could wear it for Pumps and Pearls at camp.  This allowed me to finish everything on my machine before leaving and just have to hand sew at camp - which was a nice calming activity when things got stressful (though I did lose sleep the night before Pumps and Pearls to finish the hem and it is definitely not complete).

Step 30: Finish sewing all the sequins along the top half of the skirt.  Cheer for a second then remember how much more there is to do.

Step 31: Sew the skirt to the bodice gathering it as evenly as possible. Note that the center section where the seam is will be hidden by the corset so perfection isn't so important.

Step 32: Sew in the lining - I have it so that the lining only attaches  at the neckline so that all seams are hidden between the lining and the main layers (to me the gown feels nicer with no seams pointing towards me).  Once the lining is sewn turn to the inside and press down.

Step 33: Sew in back zipper and complete back seams on all layers separately.  Congrats the gown is now in one piece!

Step 34: Figure out that the sleeves plus all the layers of the bodice will not fit in the sewing machine and so will need to be done by hand, so the straps and the edging around the top will also need to be done by hand after.

Step 35: Cut the strips for the straps and the top edging.

Step 36: Pack everything together (including remaining sequins and the rest of the pieces of the gown - sleeves, straps and edging - as well as eye hooks, thread, needles and pins - on cushion) into a bag and bring to camp.

Step 37: Spend the first 5 weeks working on sequins - realize that you have so little free time to sew - esp since you tear your shoulder and can't use it very much at all for a month - that you will never finish the sequins and everything needed to make it wearable.

Step 38: Switch to sewing the hems - take 2 and a half weeks to finish them - including a couple really really late nights.

Step 39: Realize that there is no time to put the sleeves on (and that the heat this summer would make wearing them unbearable) so sew the straps instead.

Because on the screen used gown it appears that the straps are part of the corset and just tack onto the gown but with my pattern and this gown  they are needed to help keep the dress on I sewed them first as tubes then hid the stitching in the back of each strap and sewed them starting at the waistline in the front over the bodice.  I tacked them at the top to help hold it up properly (and because I know I will have to take that stitching out to put on the sleeves and top edging I didn't sew it more securely) and then sewed the back inside the gown as that doesn't show under the corset and hair.

Step 40: finally try it all on together - and realize the straps are way too long - due to time restrictions fold them over and resew the back to shorten - twice.  Figure its good enough for pumps and pearls in a few hours...

Step 41: Wear the gown and problem shoot issues as they come up, mentally noting all the alterations that need to be made before a "real" event.

Here is the dress on me with Snowy - nothing added to it.  You can see how  lose it is in the skirt - the corset will give me more of a waist but this allows the fullness I want.

With all of the UCs in my Unit.  We added a ribbon belt just for the event (its literally just tied on me)  but in this pic you can see the fullness of the skirt which is perfect! And you can see how the corset will give more definition since the belt did and its much smaller.

With Kit Kat walking in.  You can see that it is still a bit long (and I was wearing really high heels - much higher than I will as Padme) so I'm glad I didn't finish the bottom sequins because I need to hem it up quite a lot and I would hate to lose that much sequining! 

Still with Kit Kat - stopping for the "official" photographers of the evening.  You can see that the straps are still a bit too long and are slipping.  I plan on cutting them off in the back just above the bodice (then pulling out all the stitching holding what is left in place).  That way I will have a better measurement of where  they need to be sewn to be in place when it is done.  I will put on the sleeves and top edging before sewing the straps back in place.  

So setting a hard deadline - with the need to wear it helped a lot in getting this done this far.  Now its time to go back put on the sleeves and edging, then fix the straps and get help measuring it (on me) for the correct length and rehemming.  When all that is done I will go back and finish the sequins (but I don't want to put it on areas that are just getting cut off when I adjust the length).  Hoping to have all this done by Halloween - I still have the ribbon for the belt so I could wear it again then as a Medieval lady or something just to have another wearable by deadline.  Then all I will have left is the embroidery on the corset and putting that together, then I can quickly sew the headband together and add the roses and it will be completely done!  Perhaps by CVI it will be all done?

Making of the Meadow Gown Part 4

Step 27: Continue sewing sequins - forever... Finish one panel in both colors.


Step 28: Go to a build day, take a break from sewing and instead construct the brooch:

To make this I took silver Sculpty (clay) and rolled out one thick log (about 3 inches long), one thin log (about 1.5 - 2 inches long) and one very thin very long log.  I broke the thick and the thin (middle) logs in half and flattened each half shaping them into rounded-edged trapezoids with right angles on the bottom edge.  I pressed the thinnest part of the four together with the bigger two on top of the smaller two and the smaller ones angled down as you can see above. At this point make sure they are as equal and symmetrically as possible. I then took the very thin, very long log and starting in the center top of the big wings carefully pressed it along the edges.  I went completely around the two big wings in one piece then broke off the rest of the log and did each of the little wings individually. where the big wings start to overlap the little ones, I tapered off the edging so that it forms a double line for a little bit.  I kept the rest of that log and set it aside carefully while I put on the gemstones.  Looking carefully at the pictures of the costume found on thepadawansguide.com I had bought a mixed bag of gemstones (plastic) and selected out one medium pink oval for the center gem. I started decorating the brooch by carefully pressing this one into the center, making sure to cover all the seams and imperfections from joining the wings together.  I then selected out the smallest circular stones in the collection: two light green, two baby blue, two light pink, and 4 gold (or 2 yellow and 2 golden orange - but those weren't choices in my mix).  I pressed three into each big wing and 2 into each small wing starting at the outside edge. They should be in a straight(ish) line and the colors alternate but not evenly (symmetrically) nor in any pattern.  I forgot to bring a pic with me so I attempted to see the site on my phone to get the colors right.  I ended up with (from left to right) on the big wings green, gold, pink, then gold, green, blue and on the little wings gold, blue, then pink, gold.  The original goes green, pink, missing, then yellow, blue, pink, and on the little wings gold, blue, then pink, green.  I then took the set aside log and broke off tiny circular pieces and used them to finish connecting the line of gems (visually) with the center gems.  I then baked the finished piece according to the directions on the package and when it cooled hot glued on a pin back.  

This project is a good example of why you should have a picture with you to look at before starting/attempting something like this.  Mine quite a bit bigger (finished dimension is 3 1/4 inches across the big wings) and more rounded than the original and the wings are wider at the center by a little bit than the gem where as on the original the gem is much bigger than the center of the wings.  And as I said before my gems are not quite right in color placement.  I will probably re-do it at some point, esp if I can get my hands on some jewelry clay (the kind that bakes and looks like real metal). But for now this looks good and will work just fine for the costume.  

Step 29: Go back to the sequins.  Finally finish both colors on one third of the skirt! I found a better pattern to sew in (following the top half of each line down to the center, then once the top half is done, flip the skirt over and start at the center and follow each line down to the edge, repeat on the second color - start the next panel with that color).  This is what I have now: 

This is just the 2 panels (1/3 of the total skirt) that is done - the rest is hidden on the chair behind 

With the flash it was really hard to see the sequins - they are so small

This and the next are without flash and you can see them a bit better, but not much.

In person they are hard to see too - hence why its taken so long....

The 1/3 without the flash - you can see some of the sparkle in the sunlight

Now the question is: Do I finish just the top half of both of the remaining panels and then sew together the gown and finish the sequins with it together, or do I press on and finish all the sequins on at least the next panel and the first color of the last (plus the top half of the second color) before sewing it together?  Since I will be going at the bottom half from the bottom it is do able to do just the top parts then sew the sequins on the bottom half separately and I won't have access to my machine once I leave for my summer job (but could keep sewing by hand).  Thoughts?

Time out for the real world

So I'm not a political person normally as my much more politically savvy friends can tell you.  But the events over the past couple of weeks in Egypt have really gotten to me.  As any of you who have been following this from the beginning know, the beautiful fabric sitting beside me getting all sequin-ed up came from the fabric market in Cairo.  I went through Tahrir Square less than a year ago, going to the fabric market from lunch at the old AUC campus right off the Square, and crisscrossed it a few more times that afternoon hurriedly shopping for the last few souvenirs for my family - and myself - before heading back to Kerry's house to carefully cram it all into my suitcases and head to the airport for my (very) late night flight home.  But of course that was not the only time we had at least gone through the Square.  We decided against going to the Egyptian Museum as we had to prioritize and there were other sites and museums that we thought were more important/more relevant to the "theme" of the trip that organically popped up.  But we still walked/rode past it many times and talked about it as a possibility if we ended up with more time.  And the first day, after spending the morning in Zamalek at a Coptic Church, we walked (most of the way) back to Kerry's stopping to take a couple pictures on the Kasr al Nile Bridge, because as Kerry told me, you can't visit Egypt and not take a picture or two of yourself with the Nile in the background and where better than on a gorgeous bridge over the river.

The bridge - aka pretty lions

Me on the bridge

I'm pretty sure that I never told Kerry that this trip was the best vacation of my life.  I may have traveled Europe for a year (with annoying breaks for school ;-) but it got me there so I can't really complain) but traveling alone is no where near as fun as spending the time with an amazing friend and her awesome friends. Not to mention getting to see a friend from France and catch up with him.  He took us out to dinner and then we went to the Corniche to stroll and people watch. 

Dinner out with Rushdy

We met a couple taking their wedding photos on the Corniche and Rushdy's brother asked them if I could take a picture with them.

It has been very sad and surreal to see all these places looking the way they do now and to recognize the names of the neighborhoods in the news reports, especially the areas we spent the most time.  But it wasn't the places, as amazing as they were, that made this the best vacation ever, but the people.  Kerry, of course most importantly, and I have thanked God every day that she was not there this year, not caught up in this and not in danger; but also her roommate, who I spent a couple days alone with while Kerry was in class; all of her friends that I got a chance to meet; Rushdy, my Egyptian friend from my study abroad in France; and his brother. But also all the people we interacted with who were friendly and welcoming - from the people of the church in Zamalek who did their best to talk to me even through the language barrier, to the fabric seller who invited us to come into the stall/shop and sit out of the sun while he measured and cut my fabric, to the Coptic young lady who gave me her own prayer scarf when we asked her where we could find a store that sold them, to Kerry's neighbors and the vendors in her neighborhood who always had a smile for me.  They were the friendliest of the people from all the countries I have visited and that certainly makes the trip.  And while I thank Kerry entirely for offering me the chance to experience this amazing country, I have to give Rushdy some of the credit.  I spent the 2001 - 2002 school year in France and was supposed to fly out on 9/11 (yes that one), so we ended up having to delay our entry into France and as such had no decompression time between getting to the country and starting class.  Needless to say I was rather shell-shocked and unwilling to trust anyone of Arab background when classes started, and while that could have been that I avoided them all year and stuck to other groups (and some people in the CIREFE program did that - sticking only to people with similar backgrounds to themselves).  But  Rushdy and a couple of the other Middle Eastern students did not give up on befriending me, and they gave me the space I needed to process and were the first ones there for me when I finally lost it - in school of course.  Were it not for Rushdy showing me the compassion of his culture and country I may not have considered going no matter what Kerry said about it.

So I have worried about him and his family. And while I was able to talk to him that first week, rather early on, and he said that he was ok and was not getting involved and his family was not either, I still worry that he will be in the caught in the crossfire or just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And reading that one of Kerry's friends, who I had met had had some trouble, makes me wonder what has happened to the rest of the kind people I met while visiting her.  Did they get involved? Are they hurt or worse? Answers I will never know on people I probably would never have seen again.  But I still wonder.  As I have said before it is the people that are most important to me when I travel. There are beautiful monuments and landscapes in every country but it is the people that make it special.  I am sad for the families of all who have died and I pray for those who were injured and for the country to right itself.  But I don't know enough to have an opinion on what should happen. All that I know is what Kerry has been explaining to me and what Rushdy spoke of on the phone.  I don't want to try to formulate an opinion on what should happen in their future - but I do believe that it should be up to them alone as a nation and the rest of the world's governments should back off and let them, particularly ours because if they can't successful run our own country why do they think they have the right to tell others what they should do (I have almost no faith in our government anyway so I don't trust their evaluation of the situation - not the way I trust my friends').  I don't want to be revisiting my friends' thoughts so I will personally refrain from saying anything about that future but I do have to say the reports of Christians and Muslims working together, helping each other and stating that it takes all of them to be Egypt gives me more hope for humanity - if we could all put aside those differences that aren't important at the end of the day and all work together the whole world would be much better off.

I hope things improve quickly and that it doesn't to get any worse, and that these wonderful people get the freedoms they are looking for in whatever way will be best for them - which only they can determine.  

Making of the Meadow Gown Part 3

Step 26: Continue sewing sequins and realize that every arbitrary deadline you set for yourself is too soon.  There are a HECK of A LOT of  sequins on this skirt!

I did  however finish all the gold thread chains on one panel - a 1/4circle panel (There are 2 this size and 2 1/2 circles) which means 1/8 of the gold chains are done.  I still need to go back and do the green chains because I decided for my sanity that finishing a panel in one color at a time was preferable, it only requires one needle and I don't  lose my spot as often, esp since I started following the chains down the skirt (or across as it gets to a section that was more on the bias with how I had to lay it out to cut) instead of going back and forth parallel with the top and bottom between chains.  Obviously my MLK day deadline was not met but progress is being made - slow as it might be.

Sorry for the long absense

So just wanted to pop in and say that I haven't forgotten the blog or the costume but these past couple of months have been crazy with other more immediate projects so it was temporarily put on hold.  


On Halloween was the big Woburn parade which required an approved costume (yes the very parade I wanted to finish this by but as it got closer I decided quality was better than meeting my arbitrary deadline and decided on another costume I had more done) but as both my approved Padme's are rather revealing and thereby cold I needed to finish the shawl for my Frustration (Fireside, Black Corset - pick the name you prefer...) so I could get that added to my approval and stay warm(er) at the parade:

In November I went to a Victorian Ball and had to finish a gown for that: 

Then came Christmas and the need to make presents - namely a vest for my sister, scarf for my dad and jewelry for my other sister and cousins... And of course the whole tons of parties, cleaning decorating (for Halloween party then Christmas - like the same day I undecorated from Halloween after I got home from Thanksgiving...) 

I am still sewing sequins... I have the top 2 rows around the whole skirt done and will be working on this a lot more in January, now that things have calmed down other-project-wise.  I will start the Embroidery on the corset as soon as the sequins is done - only one intricate thing at a time.  And I will sew the dress together and hem around the same time - to take breaks from the detail work.  I'm hoping to at least have the sequins done by Martin Luther King weekend, and the dress together with 2 colors of embroidery done by Feb break.  And perhaps all the embroidery and the headband sewn together by the beginning of March so I can focus on assembling the corset and edging the shawl in the first couple weeks of March and have the whole thing done by St Patrick's Day.  

Wish me luck!