Egyptian Mask Thoth

This weekend, we will be away for a mini-vacation to the House on the Rock to spend the weekend there, for the Neil Gaiman "American Gods" event, which is pretty damned awesome, if you ask me! Finally, something fun like this in one of the coolest places in Wisconsin! (if you've never been there, it is definitely worth the trip - just wear comfortable shoes, the place is huge, and crazy, and honestly cannot be described easily...)

They are having a costume contest. So, of course, we're excited.

But, I got even more spazzy last minute yesterday - I decided that Chris needed another outfit to compliment the one he has been planning. And, it involves a huge mask. Of Thoth. The Egyptian God. Out of leather.

Yeah... yeah... it was an insane hope. But, it is nearly completed ;3

That is all leather. The pattern was developed at around 1:30 yesterday afternoon. It was transferred to leather around 2:30. Then, the tooling took until around 4:30 to do. Painting was a huge pain in the butt (pristine white had to stay pristine) and finished around 8:00 last night. Sealed and put together after the paint dried, I finished up around 10:30 last night.

So, as you can see, insane work, but well worth it. I hope Chris likes it - it's now his anniversary present!

Seems like I've killed enough time, my coffee is empty, and I have more work to do on that (and a cloak) before we leave, so wish me luck, and if I don't get to update, I'm sorry! I have no idea if they have internet there ^^

edit @11:56pm

Well, they do have Internet. However, I do not have cell phone service out here, so I cannot bombard you with Twitter updates tomorrow... so sad!

However, I did manage to snap this earlier in the day, the mask completed, and it truly kicks some ass, if I do say so myself! Didn't think I could pull it all off (and with only two burns, a few bruises, and a really sore hand at that!) but it seems to have been a success!

A different kind of convention

Heck yeah!



And the man himself, Mr. Gaiman (who has a dream of a voice btw) being "stoic"

New Steampunk top design - Needs a name!

Inspiration struck again. I seem to be coming out of this dearth of ideas, and now, I have too many little sketches (almost wholly on the back of receipts or on sticky notes) that I really, really want to get made.

This is todays prototype: a new Steampunk bodice type thing.

I've been in love with knits lately for some reason (probably because I finally have the hang of sewing them) and have wanted to do something perhaps more on the simple, versatile end (also: affordable), and this idea just seemed to do it.

Not to mention, I have about 300 of those buttons in a bag. No joke.

So, here is a quick pair o' cell phone pictures of new top. I have an original version of this one (fully lined, with a few changes) that, if anyone is interested, is a size small and I wouldn't mind selling for dirt cheap (around $20, to cover the fabric it took, including shipping) if you're interested. It's meant for someone with a waist of 24" or less, so very small.

Also, this outfit is unofficially dubbed the "I need to sell these at a reasonable price to help raise funds to get another dressform with collapsible shoulders, because trying to put these on my existing dressform is like wrestling with a cat to get it in the bath." Meaning: not fun at all. And I think I hurt my hand from it.

I am not sure when this design will be available, but I am going to make a point of having one new design available for order on my Etsy store at the beginning of each month, so who knows...!

What I need from anyone who is interested in helping : we need a name for this! I have no idea what to call it, and "Steampunk bodice" is made of fail. So, anyone out there with an interesting idea on what to call this design? I'll love you forever :3

Etsy Treasury by Taeliac: Comfort Food

'Comfort Foods' by taeliac

I don't know about where you are, currently, but here, it is a chilly, drizzly day. It feels like fall, and summer is definitely well and truly behind us, now. So, in honor of that, I am cooking comfort food for dinner tonight - a pot roast and potatoes. To celebrate, how about a treasury all about comfort foods - including some actual foods, some things that smell like foods, and some things that are just plain comfortable.

Comfort and Joy Set of 10 Ca... thesweetunfold... $18.00	Creme Brulee Soap sunbasilgarden $4.00
Zooey Perfume Oil 5ml wiggleperfume $15.00	Beautiful Disaster- Giclee R... chankinspaint $128.00
PUMPKIN FRITTERS Candle Tart... oldhickorycand... $4.85	Toasty small Casserole Dish ... claycoyote $36.00
Cafe Latte lip balm gloss mo... aBreathofFrenc... $3.50	HomeMade Awesome Banana Brea... Gallivants $9.00
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cara... FusionSweets $16.45	Small Cutting Board on Feet ... tauntongreen $49.00
Jeweled Trees (Comfort) jessadee77 $100.00	Simple, Sweet and Striped - ... Lilikin14 $18.00
Golden Brilliance - 5x5 Fine... CristyBeckImag... $10.00	THE BREAK-UP COOKBOOK (Color... thebreakupcook... $24.95
Roscata Pumpkin Pie Slice Ne... roscata $16.00	Holiday Sale Neckwarmer - TR... tricotaria $22.40

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Fleur de Steam

Well, even though it was my birthday yesterday, I still got to putz around in the morning to create the template for a new piece of leather work I've wanted to do for a bit now. I thought I'd share the design with you here!

This will be tooled out of a heavier leather, like my eyepatches. It was originally intended to be a small cocktail hat, but it will also work wonderfully as an arm badge, or shoulder armor piece - I'm doing my very best to make this incredibly versatile, so it can be used in multiple ways without the need to order multiple of them :3 I like multi-use items, and this is no exception.

I am unsure when I'm going to have the time to actually get to tooling/dying/painting this, but hopefully it will be a fun weekend project! I'll post pictures as I create it, just for fun!

Going with your gut

Yesterday, I just felt the need to create something new. I get this urge on a regular basis, but I had an idea that simply wouldn't go away.

I have this fascination with working with squares to create interesting pieces. I think they're oft overlooked in pattern making, due to harsh corners and the like. Either that, or they are very stark, geometric things with pointy corners that scream "I will hurt you!" or somesuch.

I love taking squares, and finding ways to soften them, but still keep the simplicity of angles and shapes in them. I am discovering, over time, that I really am a designer that likes things to be elegant, but look simple, until you really look at it (if that makes much sense).

I am also kind of a minimalist. I absolutely adore ruffles, don't get me wrong, but they seem to never find a home in my designs unless it is specifically "girly" or "frilly." Those designs that I think represent me, as myself, at a given time, tend to be ruffle-less, or detail-less. I'm not sure why, but it may have something to do with this perception that adding those "details over the top" is just a way to hide shoddy construction (this is probably due to one instructor in college who thought that that was truly the solution to any problem for a stage production, which, if you can guess, I didn't get along with very well...).

However, I do not agree with that philosophy. I don't like "hiding" things and hoping that they look okay. If something is not done correctly, I will rip it up and redo it. Hiding is not an option. Now, I know not everyone who does that is trying to hide a mistake, and I am sorry if that is what it comes off as. It is just a personal thing, something I do not like.

And something that surprises me is that I have just come to that realization. I actually am developing, at this time, a "design voice" of my own. I have heard fashion students talk about their "voice" before, and usually just kind of laugh it off - to be honest, most of the time I see those as knock-offs on something else, or really not very original. However, I am starting to understand that. See, my education focused on the construction, patternmaking, and all the other details that go into creation, not the designs. The designs are something given to you by the Costume Designer - your job is to realize the designs, not critique them, not impose your own ideas on them, unless it is the only way to actually take that drawing (and usually a very sloppy drawing at that) and make it as a garment.

It is interesting, then, when I found myself yesterday playing with a skirt idea I had, and just... thinking critically about it. Not from a "does this match the original design" critical thinking, which I am very good at and very used to doing, but more from a "is this me?" angle, which is something very new still.

I spent about an hour playing with the drape of one side of the skirt, just trying to get it right. The back had already dictated the design (which was absolutely nothing like I had originally envisioned when I started) and the front needed to compliment it. The back was totally what I think of when I think of "Sam" or "Taeliac" but the front needed something.

Well, long story short, I redid it many, many times, and it was worth it to explore, however, the first one that I truly liked, I wound up marking the placement with safety pins, and it was what wound up being the one I was most satisfied with.

So. When designing, play around. Experiment. But, let your gut tell you what is truly you. Don't be afraid to rip it out, play some more, but if nothing avails, come back to that 'gut' moment, and take a step back. It seems to be your gut telling you that this is you, and go with it.


I do hope that made sense, too. Rambling away and all ;P

Utility Skirts!

Long time, no update, I know, but things have been rather crazy here. I've been bouncing from sick to not sick to a different kind of sick, so sewing has really gotten a little lax. Not to mention, we have just about finished remodeling yet another part of our basement for me to expand my sewing studio, so I have been working to keep things sorted in the transitional period until it is all completed.

That said, another angst was that the silk noil I use for my Utility Skirts was on backorder for a very long time. Unfortunately, while silk noil is easy to find online, it is exceptionally expensive, and as it takes approximately 5 yards to make one skirt, if I were to order it anywhere else, I would have to charge even more to create the skirts than I already do. Which is something I would really prefer not to do, if at all possible. I had used up all the silk I had on hand for one custom made piece, which I'll have to ramble about in a moment...

However, a pleasant surprise awaited me last Friday - a box! A rather large box, at that. And, inside, was my last back-order of silk! Enough to make only two skirts, true, but that was what I had on order, so I was really happy and quite giddy. Called them and found out that yes, indeed, they had gotten all of their supply, too, and would be able to keep offering the noil for sale.

I am so happy!

So, I created two more Utility Skirts over the weekend, which will be up on Etsy as soon as I sort out my other problem.

As some of you may remember, I worked on a production at a local High School that my husband teaches at as the costume designer. It was hard work (and I still get a little dizzy thinking about how much work went into those dresses!), but I had loaned my main non-industrial machine to the students who made up the costume crew to use. Well, they broke it, which isn't too big of a deal, since the school agreed to fix it for me.

Now, I am really miffed. I haven't really used that machine much since it was fixed - I rely mostly on my industrial straight, as it is insanely fast - except for a few little things like buttonholes.

I bet you can see where this is going.

I go to use it the other day, and for some reason it feels like a belt is sticking. No big deal, I figure it's a new belt, and needs to just be run through a bit to get it stretched and whatnot. Well, it finally starts working decently... until I try to do a zig-zag (one of those vital stitches for creating buttonholes *sigh*) and nothing is catching. I test it out for about an hour, trying different settings, and the machine starts going slower and slower, and then speeding up again.

I have no idea what actually is wrong, but I know it's not working, and that is causing a huge pain in my ass, as all I have left to do on all of these utility skirts is the damned buttonholes on the ties! And, seeing as each set of ties requires 8 buttonholes, I'm sure you can see how much of a pain this really is.

So, no idea when that machine is going to be fixed, and I'm dreading the bill - since I didn't notice the issue within 30 days of the repair (since I don't use it all that often...) I'm probably going to have to pay for their shoddy work. Unfortunately, it's the only repair place in the area, and, after consulting with a few sewing friends who have had to have work done on their machines, the quality of the work there has just started going down the toilet. Depressing, since they used to be just plain awesome.

Anywho, that's what's been going on with me lately! Also, Etsy orders have been rather crazy thanks to Halloween coming up, which is always nice. We're looking at some holiday art shows, but who knows how that will go. Just going to keep on putting one foot in front of the other and see what happens.