Curtain-along for October

Hey everybody! I just thought I'd check in and spread the word about a few cool curtain-along projects that I've seen this month. I doubt that anybody who follows my blog hasn't already seen American Duchess's finished dress, but let me just add my own "OMG!!!" Can you believe how gorgeous that turned out?  Be sure to check out Lauren's post for the fabulous photo-story that she created to go along with the finished dress.

I've also been trying to keep up with all of the in-progress blogging about Curtain-along projects, but October is one of the craziest months of the year for me, so I know I'm missing a lot.  But here are a few that I bookmarked over the past month.  Please let me know what else is out there in the comments if you know of others!

• I've been dying for somebody to make a cloak out of the noir curtains, so I was thrilled to see the work being done over at Chelsea's Costume Blog.  Her cloak is looking wonderful so far, and if anybody has any scraps of the noir colorway that you would be willing to donate or sell to Chelsea, she is looking for a little more fabric to use for the ruffled trim.  
• Loren over at Costumer's Closet is getting close to finishing her gown with the noir curtains.  She writes: "One of the nice things I discovered is that 2 curtain panels are enough fabric to eek out a gown with elbow length sleeves AND have enough fabric left over for a jacket."  That's great info!  
• Megan at Mistress of Disguise is making great progress on her caraco and petticoat too.  Although she has run into a slight hiccup with her pattern, I LOVE the way she has done the pleating on the back!
• Other bloggers who have announced their participation in this project since my last post include Sarah from Mode Historique, and Merlina from Merlin, Stitched in Time.  I've also seen several others who have mentioned buying curtains in venues other than blogs, so I know there are a lot more out there than this, but they are just harder to link to.

I am SUPER excited to see so many people joining in on the fun, and I can't wait to see more completed curtain projects soon!

a fairy for faire

This past weekend, I took a trip with my family to the Texas Renaissance Faire.  I ended up wearing a new-to-me fairy costume made up of lots of old bits and pieces, and I was really happy with the way it all turned out.  

The under-dress was a formal gown from the 1970’s that I wore for Halloween way back when I was in college.  I dyed the hem a little darker for that first wearing, and this time I also added ragged cuts along the hem.  The over-layer was a length of cloth with an interesting openwork pattern.  The fabric was going to become the skirt of another fairy costume that I started before my son was born, but then I never finished it.  I dyed that fabric green and washed it several times to fray the edges, then I left it wadded up in a heap on my back porch for several years, which gave it a cool sun-bleached effect.  I didn’t shape the fabric at all other than to drape it over one shoulder and gather the fabric up with some big sloppy stitches.  The other shoulder has the selvage of the front and back stitched together.  This just holds it on my body with a nice draped neckline, and the corset does the rest of the shaping. 

You might recognize my corset from my Steampunk costume from last year.  I’m so excited that this corset is getting some good use!

I made the wings 2 years ago out of several layers of paper glued onto a wire frame.  They are supposed to look like hawk moth wings, and I was very inspired by the gorgeous wings made by Renae Taylor, although my wings are a poor substitute for hers.  

For my hair, I wore a dread fall that I bought on ebay many years ago.  This time I flattened it and pinned it to the top of my head, then let the dreads fall over my natural hair, which I clumped up a bit with pomade.  The wreath was just a pre-made cluster of flowers from Hobby Lobby that I bent into a circle.  Big wreaths hide so many hair sins!  

And that’s pretty much it!  I had a lot of fun recycling old pieces into a new costume, and I was reminded yet again how fun it is to be a fairy at faire!