Costuming Madness in Newport

It's been forever I know! I've been a bit busy, and also probably avoiding an announcement of the end of my last relationship a couple months ago. See how I'm just skimming over that? But I'm back to post about my fun weekend! It's official. I'm obsessed with costuming. But you probably already figured that out, didn't you? So that's what I've mostly been doing in my free time from work, church and my social life. And here are the most recent results!

I also posted these photos on my costume blog so sorry if you read both!

So my costuming group, The New England Costumers, went to Newport Rhode Island this weekend to tour the mansions in Bustle Era dresses/fashion! It was a lot of fun and the weather could not have been better for us. We got lucky as it had been threatening to rain the day before, but the morning of, it was clear skies and not too warm! Well, 75, but it could have been worse! We had a very leisurely, unhurried day, and I think we all enjoyed ourselves immensely! We toured the Breakers and Marble House and we're already making plans to go back so we can see a Fashion exhibit at Rosecliff, which was closed this weekend because of a flower show.

These "cottages" were amazing! And we spent the day dreaming up our own versions of our ideal mansions. We also were stopped repeatedly with requests for pictures or to just know why we were dressed up! It was a fun day!




Overlooking the sea.


Jenni, Gloria, Zarabeth and me (and Mike behind the camera...)






In front of the Chinese Tea House


Diet Coke toast with Jenni!


And the ubiquitous shoe shot. :)

More of my pictures can be found here.

If you want to read more about my outfit and how I made it, check out my costume blog!

The summer is just getting started, so hopefully I'll have more to post soon! But yes, a lot of it is going to be costume related! :)

Regency Tea Pictures

Finally, I have something to post about! This is a cross post from my costume blog, check it out:

Today's event was so much fun! Let's get right to it, shall we?

The whole group! Well, minus Mike, so....

Gloria and Mike, the perfect Regency couple!



Shoe shot! My pink suede flats matched perfectly.

And now for some shots at home:




The Muff in all it's glory!


Action shot from the back where you can see more details (and a mess in the background)


A side view of the bonnet.

So unfortunately I didn't have time to put the buttons on the sides of the jacket, but other than that it all came together with literally half an hour for me to get ready, which was really cutting it short! But I got there! And the tea was lovely, the food was great {there was clotted cream! my favorite!}, I had so much fun meeting everyone and the tour was really amazing too! So so fun and it got me so excited for even more events! I've found my people! :)

If you want to see more details about getting the whole look together, you can see more posts over here!

Costume Blog

Sorry I haven't posted in a while!
Nothing too interesting going on really, but I have been doing a lot of sewing/costuming lately.
I'm going to be attending a costume event in the beginning of December so I've been getting a new outfit together. It's a Regency Tea at a historical home here in MA.
I can't wait I think it's going to be fun!

So, if you want to see my progress, thoughts and pictures you can check out
my new costuming blog:
Bella Miss Ella
{she's my dress form}

The reason I started a Live Journal blog is because there is a huge costuming network going on over there and it makes it easier for me to keep tabs on others and vice versa! I'm kind of enjoying it so far, although I like the formatting options for blogger more. But that's neither here nor there!

I'll be sure to post pictures from the event here when it happens so don't worry too much!

Halloween Masquerade Ball!

Finally!

What I'm sure you've all been waiting for...
Better pictures of my costume!
And of the Masquerade!

It was a great night, at an amazing location
with 600 people!
So much fun!

My feet hurt by the end of the night,
I'd lost a feather from my hair (wah waaahhh)
and I got some frosting on my dress somehow
{even though I avoided the treats table, except for a cookie}
and driving in a corset is hard
{thanks to my roommie for driving home}
but all in all it was good times!

On to the pictures!

With Nicole and Janey


Inside the Ballroom, which you can't see too well here, but had amazing wood paneling and incredible chandeliers!

A group performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" which was awesome, I just wish I had a better view! I could only see their heads really... People were going crazy!

With Natalie, the 1992 Moonlight Masquerade Barbie
{she painted her mask on! how cool is that?!}

With Aimee, showing off our lovely fans.

A view of my shoes

And from the back
{man I have bad posture, even in a corset!}

I pretty much just said "Thank you!" the entire night,
most people thought I'd bought it at first,
but it soon spread that I'd made it myself,
so people were asking for pictures with me!
It was pretty crazy.

I'm glad I did it, but next time I might try to give myself more time to get everything done.
There are still a few little things that I haven't finished on the corset and with trimming the dress, but I was glad I was able to wear it two weekends in a row.
Who knows when the next time will be!

Another small preview...

OK, so I know I promised lots of pictures of my costume and the party and everything but unforunately my cameras weren't working and so I had to rely on others to get photos.

I have gotten a few so far, so check it out, but I will
FOR SURE
post pictures of each part of my costume after this Sat.

It's the Halloween Masquerade Ball
for the Education Conference
(you might remember that from a couple years ago)
and I can't wait because it's going to be awesome!

So for now, here's a look at my
"Queen of the Dead"
costume and then a link here to more pictures from the party!

With my friend Janey who's a vampire.
{notice the slit neck that's been "stitched" back on...}

A fuller shot, but my face looks funny here... just ignore that.

More to come soon, for sure!

Playing Dress Up

I just love Halloween!
Dressing up is one of my favorite things
so when I get a chance it's hard for me not to go all out.

Last weekend I was invited to a Halloween Dinner Party.
I was the only one who was remotely dressed up,
and this was toning it down for me!
Hello people, it's a HALLOWEEN dinner party!
You would think costumes or at the least all black is appropriate!

Here's what I wore:
A little witchy-fun!
I didn't get a picture of my nails but they were halloween inspired too,
with little spiders on an orange french manicure.
{Please ignore my messy room in the background... I've been sewing so much I haven't had time to tidy up!}


And since we're on the subject of costumes
here's a look at the undies I finished for under my
Marie Antoinette costume!


I have on the chemise, stays (aka corset), pocket hoops and petticoat I made over the 3 day holiday weekend. That was only 50% of the entire costume!
I'm almost done with the costume, and I'll be sure to post
TONS
of pictures of it and of the party.
I'm excited with how it's turning out!

The one thing I haven't tackled yet is the wig...
I think it should really *make* the costume.


Oh and here's a little piece of costuming cuteness I just can't resist sharing:
My niece in her cupcake costume!
She really is cute as a cupcake!
Can you believe how talented my sister is?
She made that without a pattern, using a lampshade as the bottom!


I love Halloween!!
What are the rest of you going to be...
if you're dressing up?

Busy Busy...

I've been consumed with planning my Halloween costume for this year!
Can't wait to get it all done.

For now here's what's helping inspire me:






Can you guess what I'm going to be?
I think I've made it really easy for you.
{OK, some of you already know the answer to this one...}

Hello August

So far I've been very busy in the month of August. It started out as a volunteer thing and turned into a part time job. This is where I've been for the last week and where I'll be every night for the next week and a half:



Working on the Boston Common as a Costume Assistant for the annual Free Commonwealth Shakespeare Company production! So far working on the Comedy of Errors has been fun (if stressful going from full time day job, to the Common until midnight) and I've been excited for the chance to meet some new people and get out of my comfort zone a bit! Read the great review the Boston Globe gave us here. If you're in Boston come see us before August 16th!

Then two days after the show ends, I will be here:




Visiting my brother and his cute cute family in Utah! Yay!! I'm so excited!

And then when I get back it's time to move.... Dun dun dun! It's gonna be busy! Hopefully I'll have time to post all the adorable photos I'll be taking of my niece and nephew while visiting them, so check back later this month!

Meet Gemma

Yep!  I bought a car this week!  So there's a little bit of bad news that goes along with this decision... I'm not going to England this year for Grad School.  It's no longer the right time, with the way the economy is going, to leave a great job I love for 40K dollars of debt.  So I decided if I wasn't going to England, I was getting a car!  I really don't think I could have taken another year without a car here in Boston.  So although I really wanted to go to England, I am so happy I have my freedom and independence now it almost makes up for it!

So meet Gemma.  Keeping with the whole British thing, I figured, she's a gem (in my opinion), so it fits!  (btw, she's a 2007 Mazda 6 Sport)

It was that or Lola, but I kinda want to save that name for a dog someday... I can't name my dog after my car...

Yeah, she's got a spoiler (or wings as my Dad likes to call it) and dual exhaust... lovely.

And she greets me every time I start her up.

She's got lots of fun options, which was something that was kind of important to me since I plan on driving this car for many many years to come.  And I really just can't explain how happy I am to be able to get around.  And in style to boot!

Anyway, enough about the car.  Here's a look at some of the fabric I bought to finish up my quilts.  

The fabric to the left on the bottom is for the back of the Amy Butler Modern Block quilt with some pretty damask fabric I found that I'm going to make some pillows with.  The one to the right is the pink backing fabric I bought with the finished quilt top of my Charm School Quilt.

These are just a couple other fun fabrics I picked up.  I've already used the yellow and gray to make the purse from my last post, and I'm going to make a messenger bag from the brown damask.  Man I love that fabric! (As you can tell since I bought the same print in three colors...)

So I haven't gotten as much done on the quilts as I'd like, but I'm determined to finish at least 2 quilts before the summer really kicks in.  Oh, I should mention that I have plans to start two other quilts as well.  This Cathedral Window Quilt and also this denim quilt (normally I don't like denim quilts, but I think this one is really cute!), which I think will make the perfect summer picnic blanket!  Plus, I'm going to use up the old jeans I never wear anymore!

I'm going to try to finish the other two quilts before starting the new ones, but we'll see what happens... I always say that, but I think I have project ADD sometimes...

Oh and in the next post I'll have to show you what I've been up to at the letterpress studio!  And last but not least...

{ Happy Easter! }

Sewing projects going on my "List"

I've come across some really fun sewing projects in the last little while.  They are now on my "To Do" list and there are a couple that I *need* to do ASAP!

Like this Buttercup Bag Tutorial.  Have you seen a cuter bag?  And can you believe it only takes 2 fat quarters to make?  I'll finally be able to use the magnetic closures I bought forever ago as well!  I'm tempted to go out tonight and buy some fun fabric... although I have a lot in my stash that I'm sure would work... maybe I'll make a couple!

{photo by Rae}

Also, this headband!  Gah!  And it's reversible!

{photo from thelongthread.com}

I about died when I first saw it... I've been looking for the perfect headband, but I get frustrated with plastic ones cause they kill my head when I wear them for a whole day.  These are the perfect solution and I can make one to match every outfit!  Just kidding... I wouldn't go that far.  Well.  Maybe.

Here are some more tutorials you really should check out:

Pretty Birds by spoolsewing.com

Lots of pretty free patterns from Amy Butler

Pintuck Pillows by thelongthread.com

This amazing Button Pillow (although I don't think I'd attempt it) on Craft Stylish

Woven Button Coasters again on Craft Stylish to continue the button theme

And there are even more projects here that can all be made from fat quarters of fabric!  Perfect for stash busting!

Also, I think I'm going to spruce up some of the pillows on my bed by tufting them with buttons (like this one).  And I've also been meaning to make a bolster for forever.  Anyone know of a good tutorial?  Maybe I'll make one and share it if mine turns out!

Oh, and I'll try to post an update of my weekend soon... nothing too exciting but Edwin did take some pictures of the "Music Session" I attended on Friday night.  Pretty fun!

{ Sewing Adventures }