A Twist of Metaphor

I’m going through and dusting off all my various social media bits, and I’m posting this here so it doesn’t look so awfully empty anymore.

I'm an IT project manager by trade and temperament. Not for nothing is my handle "I'll organize anything you put in front of me." I like to create long, intricate projects that require hundreds of lines in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet creation is not incidental; it’s part of the enjoyment. The project itself may or may never actually be completed.

Carrot and Beet MuffinsServings: 18 Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 25 mins Print I cobbled this together from a few different recipes when I was looking for a way to use up beets, which neither Becca nor I love all that much. Ingredients 2 c flour (mix of white and whole wheat worked fine) 1/2 t salt 3 t baking powder 2 t cinnamon 1/2 t nutmeg 3 eggs 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce 1/2 c vegetable…

It took two more tries, but I ended up with a dress pattern...I hope

I got the dress muslin more or less figured and tried it on – due to using the blazer pattern instead of the dress pattern, I actually ended up with a mock-up that was too big, among other issues: Too much gaping in the front armscye Too little room in the back armscye Needing a tiny bit of waist curve at both side seams and the center back Amazingly, I’m not going to need a full belly…

I’m switching gears to start thinking about my underdress. I knew I wanted: Something nice enough to be worn alone A deep square neckline (so it couldn’t be seen under the neck of my gown) Princess seams to lessen the need for bust darts Knee length, to not add to the bulk and warmth of wearing it, but also Long sleeves with a prominent cuff, since those will be seen Does this pattern…

The corset is finally completed, and I probably leveled up at least twice while making it

On Thursday evening, a generous friend let me use a local maker space to set the grommets on Shoryl’s corset. (Our condo neighbors are deeply appreciative, even if they don’t know it.) Back view of the completed corset I knew this would be the most challenging piece of the costumes (we’ll see if that ends up being true) but I definitely didn’t expect it to take a month on its own. Some real…

I go back to the drawing board and finally, finally find success

I managed to rip out the offending stitching on the twill tape, though the trim itself was damaged and I had to cut a new piece. I briefly forayed into hand stitching the damn thing down, but after two hours of tying to neatly back stitch black thread on black fabric, I admitted defeat and ripped that out as well. Meanwhile, I had managed to get around the inability to buy $4.80 worth of boning…

Things begin to go...less well, in corset making

Having basted the seams of the outer shell and interlining together, I started looking at the hardware: busks, boning, and lacing. I immediately noticed a problem: the bones I had gotten from Corset Making Supplies were 1/4″. The twill tape was 3/4″. This is… a large gap. I raided my supplies of trim and found a navy grosgrain ribbon that was 3/8″ instead, thinking that would work…no. In theory,…

First cuts into the actual fabric for the costumes!

The first actual fashion fabric work I started with was Shoryl’s corset. I can’t measure for their waistcoat or cape until that’s done, and we also can’t go get their pants tailored. It started off well: I had previously transferred the duct tape pieces to an old sheet, and used that to cut out the pieces. Corset outer, interlining, and lining went together well, though there was some seam…

Sometimes the costume pieces are just what you need to be able to have the best shot of being able to walk

Sometimes, the consideration for costumes is less what you want to do and more what you need to do to make it work. On any given day, Shoryl may or may not be able to walk without significant pain, due to both a permanent back injury and arthritis. This is exacerbated by traveling, both due to the flight required and sleeping on a possibly less-than-stellar bed. In order to manage this, we carry…

For once, I do not fail at math

Shoryl has always had an uncanny ability to ask for things I have no idea how to sew, and they did so again for this one: a “dragon wing” cape. …What does a dragon wing cape even look like? In thinking about this, I decided it needed: Something to mimic the wing bones A scalloped edge To be large enough that they could hold it outstretched like, well, like wings In researching houppelande…

Three hours of fabric shopping, but we found the absolute perfect fabrics

We are absolutely blessed in Minneapolis to have a very small chain of discount fabric stores. You may never know what SR Harris will be stocking at any particular time, but if what you need isn’t exactly something you can buy off-the-shelf at Jo-Ann Fabrics, it’s likely you can buy it there. It took us two hours at SR, and another hour at Jo-Ann’s, but we did indeed find what we were looking…

Having determined the answer was one corset, I had to start making the thing.

Having determined the answer was one corset, I had to start making the thing. When I was but a young costumer doing fest garb on the cheap, there was a technique we all could do mostly in our sleep (and often did): the duct tape corset pattern. None of us had dress forms, and couldn’t have fit them in our apartments even if we could have afforded them. The solution to “how do I learn exactly…