War of the Seasons & Athena's Daughters

Time for a short break from costumes for something peripherally related.

Lots of big doings for Silence in the Library Publishing! The first thing is fellow costumer Janine Spendlove's Kickstarter for her fantasy trilogy, War of the Seasons. In the interest of full disclosure, I was a beta reader on all three books (that's right, I've already read the unreleased 3rd book!) and she's one of my best friends, and I just so thrilled for her success.  Her trilogy and all the associated short stories are so great.

If you haven't read the first two books - this Kickstarter is your chance to get all three books in either paper or e-book.  ($5 gets you the e-book for the 3rd bok, $15 gets you the whole trilogy on e-book! And both of those contributions will get you cool free stretch goal stuff. And there are some awesome stretch goals, which include stories set in the War of the Seasons world by authors like Mike Stackpole, Aaron Allston, Cleolinda Jones, and ME! Yay!

Please check it out (and tell all your friends):

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/103879051/war-of-the-seasons-a-fantasy-trilogy-by-janine-k-s?ref=live

After War of the Seasons, in December 2013-January 2014, we'll be doing a Kickstarter for a SF/Fantasy anthology called Athena's Daughters. This anthology features stories written by women about strong female protagonists, with artwork by a woman - and edited by Jean Rabe. We're really excited for it. We have a lot of great authors lined up including Mary Robinette Kowal, Sherwood Smith, Gail Z. Martin, Janine Spendlove, and rising talents like Melanie Clegg, Ginger Breo, Conley Lyons. And me!  I'll post more on this as we get closer.  I've read a few of the stories submitted already and they're fantastic.

Pirates, AARRRR

Oh, wait, it's not Talk Like a Pirate Day anymore.

So, I wore my brand new "Rum Island Shift" from Pirates of the Caribbean at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party this year.  Last year, riding Space Mountain in Star Trek costumes was awesome. This year it was riding on Pirates of the Caribbean in a PotC costume. Achievement unlocked!

Our whole group had pirate costumes. Of a sort. I didn't have anything for Doug, so he wore shirt.woot's Arrrgyle shirt. And a parrot.

This last photo is us on the scariest ride at Disney - It's a Small World.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Since today is Talk Like a Pirate Day, I thought it would be a good day to post about some pirate costume pieces!

First up is the Pirates of the Caribbean "rum island shift." I made mine almost 10 years ago and I was never super happy with it.  It ended up too low-cut and the fabric wasn't even close to accurate.  I had more accurate linen in the stash, but I never got around to redoing it. Mainly because of all the eyelets. The first time I made this, I had a machine that would do eyelets. My current one does not. 

So I did 90 something eyelets by hand in one weekend. Ouch!

I'm much happier with this version, though I used my old pattern and should really have shifted the shoulder seam to the front, in a more 18th century placement. Also, the first time out, I didn't put a center seam down the front (though I had one down the back).  This time I goofed and should have cut on the fold but I didn't.  It's really hard to see in the few pics of the real one whether there are seams. The front sits more nicely with a seam there. But my guess is there isn't one.  So an improvement over the last version, but not 100% accurate. Oh, and mine probably needs some aging and dirtying. :-)

http://costumersguide.com/pirates_plum.shtml

My friends and I are planning on pirate costumes for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party at Disney coming up in October. Last year we did Star Trek. Riding Space Mountain in a Trek costume? Achievement unlocked!  So this year, it will be riding Pirates of the Caribbean in a PotC costume.

But since the shift doesn't have pockets, I bought some accessories on Etsy that I'm really happy with.  But first, pictures of the shift.

 

So... accessories!

I need something to hold a wallet, phone, etc.  So I bought this bag on Etsy - how cute is this? Here's the seller: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/148757548?ref=fb2_tnx_title

Then I decided I needed something smaller to go inside the bag.  So then I bought this.  It's seriously adorable.  Here's the listing: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/149600793?ref=fb2_tnx_title

Both bags are really well-made and I love the pirate map theme.  Hope ye will all have a hearty Talk Like a Pirate Day, maties!

Speaking of Star Trek...

Here are some of the pics David took at DragonCon! Thanks, David!

Again Doug's costume I made (actually he's wearing the Anovos undershirt.) and mine is Anovos.

And Doug's photo from the World Record.

Star Trek purse!

I just bought this on Etsy and my only problem with it is that I didn't buy it before DragonCon! Seriously - it is such a cute little bag and I had no pockets when I wore either Star Trek dress and this will be perfect in the future for carrying my phone.  It's really well-made and was only 10 bucks!  Here's the listing in case anyone else wants to contact the seller for one!

https://www.etsy.com/transaction/148840069?ref=fb2_tnx_title