Wednesday 26 October 2016

GAMMA.CON

Last month I attended GAMMA.CON which is a small pop-culture convention in Canberra.

Originally I had planned to go with a group of friends but when the time came most of them couldn't make it. I had never been to a con before so I was a bit apprehensive about attending alone – but then I was asked to be part of an exhibition of student costumes as part of the Cardif Collective stall.
I contributed five outfits: Viking, Esther, Ice Goth, Tia Dalma and 1901 Reception Dress. The TARDIS dress was made by another student.
I wore Misery (from Ruby Gloom) on the Saturday. Despite making it four years ago I had never worn it before except to take pictures. I had a hair tie safety-pinned to the end of the train so I could attach it to my wrist and draped the veil over my arm. This protected them from being stepped on but I will think twice before hanging three metres of fabric from my head again (actually I won't – but I ought to think twice). Even though I was carrying most of the veil on my arm, my neck was feeling it by the end of the day.

Because I was wearing and taking costumes I already had, the only thing I needed to make in preparation was a bag. I'm glad I wasn't working on anything more significant because even though I started work a week out, I was still up past midnight the night before to finish it.
On the Sunday I wore my Eowyn costume to compete in the costume competition. I had a good time with the competition which is kind of odd given that it was mostly waiting around, either to be judged or to go onstage, but it's definitely something I want to do again. I didn't get a prize but had a very positive reaction from the audience.
Other than that I didn't find the experience of being 'in costume' particularly noticeable. This might be partly because I was mostly by myself which allowed ample opportunity to forget about what I was wearing. But I also think it is because my focus is so much more on making rather than wearing. I had a friend come to watch the competition and going around the floor with them afterwards was a lot more fun for me than the day before had been. I definitely want to go again – but next time I will drag a few more people along.

Monday 3 October 2016

Peacock coloured maxi-dress

When this beautiful bordered lycra arrived at Needlewitch I had to have it. It was more expensive than I usually like to pay for fabric. However, I first saw it at a time when I was going through a spate of Vogue 8323 tops which didn't use a lot of fabric so I bought 1.2 metres of it. But before I got to it, I started being dissatisfied with those particular shirts. I'd made enough that the flaws I hadn't been able to solve kept standing out and disappointing me. I didn't want to use my lovely fabric on a shirt I would be unhappy with.
Then I made this maxi-dress which I loved. (More about the pattern is in the linked post). This seemed like the perfect way to use the lycra. The big expanses of fabric would show off the print nicely. I got out my shirt-sized piece of fabric and found that, pleasingly, the width was sufficient that it could fit the pattern sideways. This meant that I didn't need as much fabric as I had used for the first dress and that the border print would be on the borders. But I still only had enough fabric for one of the three pattern pieces.
I hurried back to Needlewitch and bought the remainder of the bolt which was just enough. I got one back and the sleeves from the first cut of fabric and the front and other back from the second.
The dress has a viscose lining to help secure the shape. The neck and sleeves are finished with gold foldover elastic. The hem is twin-needled over edge tape.
I made a gold cardigan to go with this dress from some fabric in the stash. I used the same pattern as the maxi-dress, but increased the width of each pattern piece. The cardigan turned out surprisingly well for something that was thrown together the day before I wanted to wear it.
I continue to be exceedingly happy with this pattern. This fabric is spectacular and made a dress I am very pleased with.