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

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

Lily Jewelry

You remember that post, a few back? Where I said I was freaking out over getting inspiration at the weirdest times? Well, here are the results of that burst of inspiration : Lilies!


Each of these lilies are made from leather (and, for a few others, they have accents in snakeskin), off of a pattern that was a *poof* of inspiration, took about five tries to get right, and I've been going crazy with.

So, in some of those pictures, I am wearing a necklace of lilies (one or two) and matching earrings (which I thought I would not do, until my wonderful husband Chris convinced me to try for the heck of it). There are also some hair bits - I only have pictures of the bobby pins, but I've also started putting some on headbands that look really beautiful as well.

I love leather - I have no compunctions about using animal products (although I do understand people who do have an aversion to things of that nature as well) and actually prefer to do so. They are amazing materials, IMO, and too often overlooked in both costume-land and jewelry making. Not to mention, it gives me something more to do with all of the scraps I have left over from corset-work, since some of the leathers I have are just too absolutely beautiful to throw away (beautiful browns, and blues, and an amazing few hides of green doe-suede that I still don't know what else to do with, but I sit and adore whenever I can...)

I'm even contemplating cutting up my super amazing stingray hide to make myself a piece of this jewelry, but I can't quite convince myself to do it (yet), since I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to find another one~

Obi obi belts - on their way!

So, okay, I've already uploaded a few sneak-peeks of these obi-obi belts, but we finally got to shoot some pictures of them today. The weather was a blustery 43 degrees, and we both froze our butts off, but the pictures turned out pretty darn well, if I do say so myself.

Here are the first few pictures from this mini-photoshoot, which will be used as the "example" pictures on the Etsy listings!

I'm off to take pictures of the obi belts that I've finished, and get ready to get them posted so that people can order them in time for Mother's Day (ya know what my mother is getting - lucky she doesn't read my blogs!).

And, as more obsession goes, I have ideas for how to make Steampunk variants on these - a pattern re-draft is in order, but I have a few designs digitized and ready to test!

Win some, loose some

That is the theme of today. I've had phenomenal success with the obi obi belts embroidering how I want them to (trust me, that is truly a feat - and hopefully not a fluke!) so it stands to reason that something as simple as photographing the belts would be a pain, resulting in much failure.

Obi Obi Belts

So, I may not be ready to post finalized pictures of these yet, (mainly because I'm a little too lazy to finish ironing a few of them ^^; Please forgive me!) but I can show you what designs I've currently digitized!


(all of these images are free-use images, I am not infringing on any copyrights by using or posting these)

I may be working on a few more, but so far, those are the "core" of my Oh! Be Square obi obi belts!

The last two (the circle with the flower at the bottom, and the fan) are actually applique pieces, where there will be kimono scraps filling in the open areas!

Also, at a wonderful suggestion from my dear friend Becky, I plan on making patches of these, to adorn whatever you desire :D I'm so excited!

Why hello thar!

Okay! So, after spending more time than I expected getting this blog set up how I like it (isn't it purdy?) I'm off to get some more work done.

Right now, I'm working on (yet another) new idea, and, surprisingly, it is not millinery!

We've taken to calling these "Oh! Be Square" belts, as a bad pun - they're obi belts (Western name for wide belts, I know, I have a beef with calling them obi belts as well, but I can't single-handedly change that) that are made from vintage kimono fabrics :D

So, technically, they're obi obi belts (especially once I work up the nerve to cut into some of my actual obi).
Or obi².
Or, Oh! Be Square.

See, we're witty.