2019 Costume Year in Review

(I'm behind on updating events for the second half of the year, but you'll get some of that within.)

I… pretty much did nothing this year. Ok, that’s not totally true, but going through year two of motherhood + working full time leaves not enough time for me for sewing. At least, not enough big, contiguous chunks of time. I used to take a whole free weekend (when I had them) and spend all day on a project. I don’t have that anymore. And my evenings are for relaxing and recovering, and they are just enough time to take stuff out before having to go to bed. It’s just not working for me now, but I know that will change. And someday she will want to do her own thing, and I’m going to wonder what to do with my time!

Knowing all this, last year I said, “ Since my sewing time/drive has been so low, I think my main goal for 2019 will be to have as many of my older costumes photographed as possible. At least I’ll have a good record of them that way! So it’s accomplishing something.” and “ So next year, I’d like to finish the mending pile, to include actually assembling that new regency dress. Trimming the francaise would be good. As would doing literally anything else. I clearly need a bustle gown. Other than that, I think I’ll just try to rewear stuff that never was well-photographed, and get as many pics as I can.”

Since I set the bar so very low, I can say that yes! I accomplished this! I rewore stuff, I had photographs taken of old stuff. I did not trim the francaise, though that’s not because I didn’t try. The trim I had envisioned just didn’t look right with the fabric I had, so after trying a couple different ways to pleat the fabric, I put it away for another time. So I did at least try. And I did finish my mending pile!! I did not assemble the regency dress. I took it out a few times and just wasn’t into it. And since the Pumpkin Tea this year was bustle era and not regency, I figured I can do it next time I need a new regency day dress. So I deprioritized it.

I did go to quite a few costume events, which was nice. And I bought two Victorian gowns on FB, so I finally have things to fill in the gaps where I have not had time to sew. One of them still needs hemming, though I hemmed the first one I bought.

So here was my year.

February: Victorian Tea at Dupont Hotel



The lighting was terrible but Mike and Gloria did do some pics. I wore my old 1840s watered silk gown with an antique pelerine over it just to do something new. Here’s their pic of me:



I participated in In the Long Run Designs New Kit-Cat Club photo project. Here was my photo from that project. I wore an older gown, but one of my favs. Red and white striped silk and a take on the famous gown from the KCI collection. I got some nice photos of it from that shoot!



More below the cut!

Salem/Costume Con

Gloria and I spent a day sightseeing in Salem. After our day, we headed back to the hotel to get dressed up to go to the CostumeCon social. I brought myy Anovos Trek dress because it was easy to pack and wear.



Meanwhile back at home, Doug and the munchkin were grocery shopping:



With Gloria and Sarah:

A fun pic from the past...

Here's a bunch of us at the Star Wars FIDM exhibit:

Celebration III

Someone posted this on Facebook - it was from a skit a bunch of us did - I think it was called "Anakin's Nightmare" and it was pretty silly. I fear there is video evidence somewhere! I'm 2nd from the right in my blue embroidered Padme outfit.

Padme Quilt Square

I'm not sure what the status of this project is, but a few years ago a bunch of us made quilt squares representing different Padme costumes. I made one for that Blue Tattooine homestead dress. (I had leftover fabric!) I was pretty happy with it. Considering I'm not a quilter. :-)

Padme Episode III Dressing Gown

This dressing gown was made because I found a good fabric match - a blue (with a touch of purple) poodle sweater knit from fabric.com. The trim was custom made by Suomynona Couture, and is still available if anyone is interested. It is nearly an exact match to the real trim. I hand-beaded the tassels for the front, and the smaller tassels for the wrists and shoulder. The robe also has beaded/sequined accents at wrist and shoulder. I made the lace underdress from poly lace found on ebay - it is lined with white silk satin. I made this in 2005, but never really wore it.  It's kind of warm. I don't love the underdress, but I actually do love the robe.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/padme_robe.html

Padme Picnic

This costume was made for Celebration III in 2005 - it took me about 5 months to make. The corset is hand-embroidered. The shawl, formerly a Walmart curtain (and a very close match to the original fabric) was hand-dyed, and edged by machine, with fabric paint details. The circle skirt and blouse are made from silk chiffon overlayed on sueded silk charmeuse. Vines were machine embroidered on both, and nearly 3200 4-petaled flower sequins were hand glued onto the vines. (The sequins were too hard to sew through - they would break too easily). The headband is made from the exact ribbon used for the movie (though in a slightly different shade of green). Two pieces of the ribbon were sewn together, and roses cut out of the shawl fabric and sewn onto the headband. The bun covers for the hair were croched by Lady McSnood. The ribbons for the arms and hair are silk satin - not an exact match - but we haven't found an exact ribbon match yet that is the right width. I made the brooch out of sculpy, and it has real gems in it!

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/padme_picnic.html

This was taken in the real picnic meadow near Lake Como.

At FIDM in LA for the Star Wars exhibit.

With the real picnic gown!

Padme's Blue Tatooine Costume

This was one off my first difficult costumes - it was started early on, abandoned and put away in a closet, and then brought back out when I had a better idea of how to tackle the embroidery. Near as I can tell, I made this in 2003. The "poncho" is made of blue wool - the sleeves are embroidered in a machine satin-stitch with yellow and orange thread. The "fleur de lis shapes" are appliques that were largely embroidered by hand. The neck and sleeves are hand embroidered with thin knitting yarn. The circle in front is done with knitting yarn, fabric paint, and hand embroidery. The ribbons in the front of the gown are silk, and the beads are African Trade beads. The underdress is hand-crinkled, hand-dyed Thai silk.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/blue_tatooine.html