misc
During a shopping trip with BlackAngel I found some meters of a striped fabric she used to make a fabulous regency day dress. We agreed that I should make an evening gown, so we would never both appear at an event wearing the same fabric :)
Striped evening gowns did obviously exist; mine is currently in the process of “which pattern will I use?”
“With this revolutionary device we will find get to the bottom of your nocturnal distress in no time, young sir!”
IBM just found out that steampunk will become a mayor trend. “During the next two years, IBM predicts that steampunk will shift from low production, high cost “craft” manufacturing to mass production.”
Dear chaps – the news content of this is so small, we even already have lots of anti-mass produced steampunk item movements.
Not fair! they upgraded TV 462 to include another front, an Asian type of collar, similar to this dress from the 1880ies.
I wanted to make such a tail bodice and had ordered very unorthodox black-and-white fabric, but the pattern turns out to be rather large. Probably this fabric will go into a rococo dress instead, and for the tail bodice I’ll stick with the original plan (a black striped tail bodice).
For the asian collar – that could become part of the time dress instead.
Actually, there are as many never-ending discussions as there are topics in this world.
As for the question: what is steampunk fashion? I found a compelling piece written by Mr. G.D. Falksen which I like for three reasons; the first one being its positive attitude and gentle approach of guiding to-be-steampunkers towards an approach I heartily approve of: namely to be creative and think for oneself. In other words, imagine the character you want to bring to life, her character, her profession, her quirks; then carefully create the outfit and show it to the world saying: “I think this is steampunk because” – instead of just being the umpteenth person with gear-encrusted goggles.
Another reason is the choice of awesome illustrations that accompany the article. And lastly, this quote: “If you’re afraid that your outfit is ‘too Victorian’ you’re probably doing it right.”
Yours truly, travelling in time and style
I try to be a good vegetarian, but I really really like my milk. So I tried to find substitutes and tested them with tea, my favourite coffee, café au lait, cocoa, and muesli/corn flakes.
Spar Natur pur Bio Soja Drink: a little watery, I was not convinced.
Natuerlich fuer uns Sojadrink Natur Calcium – Zielpunkt has it. It’s too bitter for my taste though.
Provamel Soya Natural (unsweetened)
Alpro Soya light
Alpro Soya
Provamel Reis-Mandel
Billa Bio Soja Drink
Rewe Bio Soja Drink
Alnatura Reis drink Natur – todo
Natumi SoWell Soja-Reis-Hafer
Alpro Mandelmilch
The design of our company webmail (clicking reveals the full glory):
Purrrrr awesome. Their eyes look like they all had a healthy dose of catnip.
As I wrote in last year’s Hall of Food Shame post, I lost half a kilo of high-quality honey to the fickleness of a plastic shopping bag whose strap broke. One minute after buying both items. Needless to say, I was moderately annoyed and immediately sewed several fabric shopping bags which I distributed into all of the purses and backpacks I use in daily live. This way I will never have to rely on crappy plastic bags again.
I also started to wrap my christmas gifts in fabric bags; there are always remains of pretty fabrics to make gift bags out of, less waste is created, and presentees can reuse the bag.
I recently acquired a waffle iron and tested it with this recipe. Very enjoyable, quick breakfast, and not too sweet (you can easily balance this with the things you put ON the waffle). Plus the cat doesn’t beg for a bite :)
Whee, a new installment of the Gala Nocturna. Tickets, hotel and flight are booked, now it is high time to make the dress: My inspiration is the Venetian Lady (1495) by Albrecht Durer, it is even hailing from the correct country (pope, Italy, yadda). Also remarkable is the cut of the gown: High waist, low shoulders with a pretty V shape. No idea how she manages not to fall out of her dress, but certainly pretty.
If you look at it closely, the overskirt has a paisley pattern which I’ll try to replicate on my dress. The colours are dark violet and black, as seen on the sketch below: I have made a violet base gown on which layer(s) of black chiffon (hopefully with paisley pattern) will be draped. And I will try to find elaborate trims to finish the gown. The sleeves – well, there are so many sleeve variations to chose from.
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I found other examples of the time here.
Not much blaspheming in the design so far; this might happen on my head: maybe a halo look (see for example Jessica Stam for JP Gaultier – heck, the whole collection is wheee). Then again, why not something classical; I am undecided.
And holy hell, was I underdressed at the venue. Next time there will be decidedly less A factor!
Thin blue summer confection.
Wordcloud I just found on a self-help page for hapless bachelors, emphasis mine:
or: have writers of ME3 LOST it?
As you may have guessed, I just finished Mass Effect 3, and am a bit flabbergasted. No, make that a lot flabbergasted. And yeah – may contain spoilers.
Places to eat: Cafe An-Do The dishes are huge and tasty.
Places to shop: list of eco-friendy fashion shopsI will report back.
Today’s nom – braised coconut spinach and chickpeas with dried tomatoes, found at thekitchn.com – was very simple to prepare. The only thing to remember is to soak chickpeas overnight, if using dried ones, and then cook those bastards for at least one hour.
I used oil instead of ghee to keep it vegan, but stuck to the recipe otherwise. Verdict: easy to make, tastes NOMinous and is very filling, even as main dish. The recipe say the remains can be frozen, so will try that out too.
Just finished watching Snow White and the Huntsman. While it is a rather unmemorable movie (the evil queen was the only highlight – and I couldn’t help smiling when I read how many people did not want to be in this movie), I noted that there now are a couple of movie characters with respectable female armour. Most of them are obviously meant ceremonial, as they are heavily decorated and missing a helmet, but at least they are effin’ full-body armour and don’t look as embarrassing as for example Xena’s leather miniskirt with matching corset (don’t get me wrong, I liked the series, but her outfit cannot be taken seriously), or just about any computer game I’ve seen so far.
We have Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth (I really need to rewatch the DVDs to remember what she did wearing that. In any case it wouldn’t have looked out of place in LOTR)
Miranda Otto as Eowyn, who stabs them right in the face
Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth, the Arse-kicking Maiden. She looks the most believable, I think.
Mia Wasikowska as Alice, who wears hairspray instead of a helmet
And poor Snow White who also did not get to wear a helmet, but a long braid which made it easier for the Evil Queen to grab her and drag her around a bit. Seriously – sensible hairdo anyone?
Let’s end this short collection with someone who is a true role model. She is not of this world, but also in space, arse-kicking is never out of place.
We made it, through the end of the world and another year (almost).
I started my holidays with taking my kittie to the vet. She is in ok shape (for her age), but will need medicine to regulate her thyroid gland. I spent some time picking out cat food that won’t worsen her health, and I intend to feed myself well over the holidays, too – less milk products, no processed food and the like.
So beware of food-related postings in the upcoming days :) I’ll try to keep it short though. Today I started by changing my breakfast to routine from croissant and black tea to muesli with grated apple – and less black tea.
Going to soak chickpeas for tomorrow’s recipe now… have a great weekend!
Downward facing cat
She can keep this position up for hours.
Whee – after four years I finished a jacket. And a skirt. No, make that two skirts.
Short story short: I tripped over wool fabric and matching trims. Since I had just started sewing again, I chose a simple project, i.e. a skirt. (from Easy Fashion autumn/winter 06)
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During this process I fell in love with wool fabrics – they don’t stretch, they simply behave well. So I picked up several more meters of the same wool fabric and made another skirt (pattern from EF again).
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Who of you paid attention? Yes, I had more than two meters left. And I felt lucky enough to dare and start a slightly Victorian jacket (Butterick 4954,). It needs to be lined. And I don’t like the style anymore :(
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Gogol Bordello – Start wearing purple
I decided to take notes of all the food stuff I threw away in 2012
Most of the time the things went bad during periods of long working hours (and I did not cook at home).
Working less might improve a couple of things, it seems.
Steampunkers, if you happen to be in Nantes, don’t miss this art exhibition! (inspired by Jules Verne and Da Vinci among others)
I made a test piece using the Sense&Sensibility pattern: Ms. Bingley’s favourite country bumpkin
This pattern totally works, so I might make a pretty evening gown. Red would be nice, or something with net overlay.
More to come…
I want one! with an evening front, using TV 462. Inspiration looks like
I started making this bodice a year ago, using a black-in-black striped fabric, then the project screeched to a halt. I do so hate fitting!
Also I suspect the fabric is too stiff to achieve the elegant folds of the inspiration, so maybe I need to start over with different fabric. Sigh
Sometimes it so happens that a fabric robs me of my senses – and after regaining them I realise it has moved in with me.
This happened recently with black-green striped fabric. And I know what I want to do with it: Victorian! a partly striped TV Parisian trained skirt, and a dinner bodice similar to this one.
And to go with it: jewellery.
This is the sketch, and here‘s some inspiration for the skirt – since I was particularly puzzled about how to do the skirt side panel. It somehow breaks up the lines of front apron and the back pouf and I couldn’t parse it right at first. Su’s amazing WGT dress deserves a special mention.
I cut pattern pieces D (back pouf), G (top apron), H (lower apron), E and F (train) from the striped fabric – I don’t recall exactly, but I think 4 meters ought to be sufficient. The remaining pieces are made from black taffeta.
Cradle of filth – Nymphetamine
but instead I fell into watching Project Runway.
Unfortunately it has all the horrible characteristics of reality TV shows, but I like the part where sewing, designing and styling are discussed. I do not like many of the styles presented by the designers, but even with them, after some time I started to see interesting and useful details: all the kinds of tricks you can pull off to make a so-so outfit much better with the right accessories and styling, what you can and cannot do with certain types of fabric, and picking the most flattering proportions.
All the catchphrases they use (“sad clothes”, “angry coats” “vibes”, “amp it up”, “tone it down”) and the borderline schizophrenic judgements (“make it more exclusive” vs. “make it sellable” bothered me the most) were quite annoying at times, but the very few killer quotes made it worth wile. Some of my favourites
S10E03 – Christopher about Andrea (fast forward to 1:52 to get the drama in all its glory): “She – she – SHE WAS LAUGHING AT THE SEWING MACHINE!” – Yes, it’s amazing but there actually ARE people on the show who are able to put the whole thing into perspective (although many blame Andrea for not taking the show seriously). Tone down the drama already, guys.
S10E08 – Dmitry to Elena: “If you thought you didn’t have enough to do, you could have made a nicer coat.” – instead of bitching about the other designers.
Dmitry about Ven: “I think Ven is a one-way monkey” – taking the one-trick pony to the next level.
Favourite show elements:
I will go now and continue working on my angry winter coat.
I researched a bit in the aetherwebs and found an amazing white linen coat (it has been sold, so no link anymore…) to go over a bustle. It’s an original so I think I don’t have to hide a carefully sewn linen outfit – they did use linen for elaborate garments after all.
What happened so far – I made a TV261 four-gore underskirt, “avec le pouf”, from dark red linen (I have enough linen and it doesn’t show the dirt as much as lighter colours). I applied netting (adding a layer of something tulle-like) to the back to back up the thin fabric. Thanks to Mme. Kupferfeuer (for helping with the drapery), the underskirt is finished.
TODO
Wheezer – Island in the sun
And another stash reducer: I had bought some light blue fabric from la vivandière and finally turned it into a day dress. Pattern from Sense&Sensibility again.
On a side note: I am relieved that also she thinks dresses made from this particular pattern look better with a modern bra than regency stays.
From the elvish gown that is no more I have lots of *ahem* silk left which will go into a spencer and/or a head thingamy. These tiny day caps are actually cute.
I have been entrusted with R. Kaufman fabric:
Fit for a pièce de résistance, I’d say.
Let’s see – at least I now have some idea and a pattern in mind: the Truly Victorian Butterfly train. It needs about 4.5 meters, I hope I have enough fabric.
I made a grey wool skirt (very simple, 8 identical pieces, with lots of lace), and wore it to a wedding.
This is me with the groom having fun (yes,he is playing air guitar, and yes, they had red festival-style bracelets for the wedding guests!):
