Saturday, January 28, 2012

Didn't do as much as I'd like this week, since a slept-wrong stiff neck turned into a pinched nerve...or something...that lingered miserably all week long!  I spent most of my time trying not to move the wrong way, or at all.  I did make some headway though:

Wickedfaire:  I finished my slit throat necklace and gun (photos soon!), and the corset is coming along -- unfortunately, all that edging requires a LOT of hand sewing, so that's going slowly.  And, my wig is DONE.





I have a few outside projects going too, though I'm trying to focus on getting WickedFaire done.  Just got my new business cards, and opened the official new etsy shop (MagiciansAssistant.Etsy.com -- nothing stocked yet though!); I've been asked/volunteered to do WF's fashion show, but I'm thinking that I'm better off holding off a year and REALLY making a collection that sings, rather than just throwing together what I already have.  I'm working on a headband that's a new knit technique, which is going slowly but keeping me engaged; then today I did this:

Friday, January 20, 2012

I made this a while back but never posted it -- a little crochet envelope for Phil's GPS.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Wickedfaire

...is chugging right along!  I'm holding on a few things (Delicious LLC is disappointing me lately...I should have my things by the next day since they're only in Philly but I've been waiting almost a week now -- so I can't do much more on the corset for now) pending materials and decisions, but here are some of the things that are going ahead!
 Outside of the corset.  It doesn't look like too much right now.
   
 Cutting bias for binding the corset edges and decorations elsewhere on the costume.

 And turning that bias into something useful!  On the right you see all of those strips cut out and sewn together...at the top is the finished product on a roll....and at the bottom you see my secret weapon, the bias tape maker!  It folds the edges of the fabric in place so that when you iron it you have perfect bias tape in whatever width you need.

 Hoop steel for the panniers....finally finished spray painting it, over a week after I started.  Would have gone faster if the paint wasn't much happier drying overnight.

 And my little pantaloons, about halfway done.  This was when I was on the way to sew on the waistband.  I need to finish that, hem and elasticise the bottoms, add some decoration, and attach a closure.

Still to do:
Style the wig (more to the point, fix the factory-arranged style)
Finish pants
Panniers (decide how to do them)
Finish corset
Paint and finish figuring out the ribs
Decorate shoes
Make necklace
Make chemise

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Wicked Faire

We're a long way from done...no corset pictures yet...but I can show off a couple of things that are underway!

First is Phil's Pestulance mask, still in progress:




 And next is my first Steampunk weapon. No, nothing cobbled together like the good ones, just found one that looked appropriate and painted away...

Before:


And After (in progress.  Enjoy the blue tape):


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

New Years Resolutions and Goals

 Since all the bloggers seem to do it, my goals and resolutions for 2012. 


Lose 15-20 lbs by April.  Phil seems to think this will happen in time for WickedFaire in February...I'm trying to be realistic.  Last year, I was down 15 pounds by April with a minimum of suffering, so I'm keeping that as the official goal.  If we succeed in 6 weeks, so much the better.  The correlation to this one is to KEEP IT OFF.  I lose my will to diet after about 3 months and never seem to get it back, then everything goes to hell over the holidays.  Not being at derby certainly helped this season.  Phil is working on this one too...we're doing some working out and watching what we eat, so hopefully we'll motivate each other.



Get to derby once a week.  I need the exercise and I'm required to be there 3 times a month, so I need to get back into doing that.  Phil also wasn't going and keeping me honest, so his going back too should help.


Get more sleep (& get up earlier?).  I need to work on getting more rest, especially for when work won't let me.  I'm still dialing it back from the holiday (I default to a bed by 2 am-ish up by 11 if left to my own devices).  I'd like to realistically be in bed lights off by midnight when possible (obviously this won't happen during tech weeks), and ideally make that more like 11:30 or earlier.  (The idea being that I be well-rested enough that I won't die when we're in tech and I'm shorting on sleep, and that the catchup won't be so dramatic.  And not get sick.)  I'd love to get up earlier in the morning, but realistically aiming to be in to work by about 8:30 will probably be as good as I get.


Keep positive/motivated at work.  Particularly when I'm tired, overworked, and stressed out.  This definitely ties in with being better rested! 

Watch spending - particularly crafts.  I've been better in the last few years about my spending habits, but I'm still apt to go overboard if I have a project or craft I'm currently passionate about.  This isn't a HUGE resolution, just really a reminder to myself.  (If anyone needs to watch my spending, it's my damn car, who seems to think I'm its sugar mama.)

Do wicked faire costume to my standards.  My last couple of costumes have ended up being rushed and finished in a half-assed way.  They look good on the outside, but they're not the level of done that I tend to reach when I do something for someone else.  I want one of my costumes to be done to MY satisfaction for once.  I've got a month.

Do sew-along corset (preferably along in time).  I've mentioned before the sew-along I'm interested in doing.  It's looking like at the moment I'm going to have to defer that one until I'm done with my Wicked Faire costume though, just due to the amount of work that both will take.  Luckily, I know enough about patterning and corsetry that I should be able to catch up easily.

Work on website (or at least etsy store).  I vowed last year to revamp my website.  Maybe it was the year before.  I doubt I'm going to get to it now.  At least I can remind myself, and I'm not paying to host the damn thing.  In the meantime, I can stock my etsy store...

Read more (not just on vacation).  I'm in the middle of at least 4 books at the moment.  I start one, then another, then more, and never finish, unless it's a break and I'm sitting around my parents' house or the beach with nothing better to do.  I need to do more every other time, since I do enjoy reading a lot.  I need to finish Bane-ana's book, and Hiding the Elephant, and Jane Eyre, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes....and I'm obsessing over The Girl Who Played With Fire and dying to read The Hunger Games.  And have a few that I've been wanting to reread for a while.

So.  Clones.  Anyone able to help with that?