Half Agony, Half Hope Sewing

Jane Austen Festival 2017 After a grueling semester and a not so good grade in Physics I was looking for some kind of escape. I wanted to get more serious about sewing but I didn't know how to read a pattern or how to use my machine (honestly it used to hate me). I wanted to start with something simple but I didn't want to make a costume for no reason. Then I found the Jane Austen Festival in KY. The festival occurs in June and I found out about it at the start of May. So I only had a month to pull together a chemise, stays, and a drawstring gown. Note that I have never made any of these things, especially something that is corset like. So naturally I had to choose a pattern first. The most user friendly one that I found was The Elegant Ladies Closet Pattern and the Regency Underthings Pattern from Sense and Sensibility. I read all of the instructions (or so I thought) and then got started on the chemise. Patterns used I'm glad I started with the chemise b...

Sassy Katniss Oh Halloween. I feel like I wasted so many years on sexy costumes when I could have been making cool ones. Case in point; this girl on fire creation. I have an obsession with The Hunger Games. In fact I think the costumes that were used in the movie were what really inspired me to get into costuming. Chariot Scene This costume was last minute for sure. Being a full time college student with too many responsibilities I needed to make something that was quick.  I love the chariot scene in the Hunger Games but there is no way you are going to get me into a skin tight bodysuit. So I had to figure out what else to do. Sketch of concept and tulle for fire effect This only took me one evening to put together. For the base outfit I wore a black sweater, black pants, and black boots. Easy enough since I had both of those things! The fire and weird shoulder pokey out things were another story. For the shoulders I used card stock spray painted black then I...

Romana II at Time Fest New Orleans I am a big Doctor Who fan and I love to attend Comic Con Conventions. I have done a few cosplays but never any that I had to sew. When I discovered Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana for short) I knew I had to create something. Romana sketch. I deviated from the skirt quite a bit. For those that don't know anything about Doctor Who it features a Time Lord, known as the Doctor, as he travels in time and space helping people with his companions. Romana (Lalla Ward) was is a Time Lady that traveled with the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) for a short time in the older serials of who. Typically the Doctor is male and the companion is female. None of the companions really spoke to me except for Romana. One of the easier costumes she has worn is the ensemble above and that's what I chose to create. It consisted of a blue striped skirt, red waistband, lacy shirt, and a small blue hat with cherries and flowers on top. I was really picky about t...

Katniss Everdeen Wedding Dress Photo by Rick Heno Photography Sketch of the costume In 2015 I saw the previews for Catching Fire and fell in love with the wedding dress Katniss wears and I knew I had to recreate it for Halloween. But, to be honest, I didn't know how to go about doing it. I knew that I didn't want to make the entire dress myself, so I headed to the thrift store and found a strapless wedding dress that fit me for about $20. Next, I went about figuring out how to do the metal working on the dress. I studied the one photo I had (which was only shown in the movie previews) and tried to figure out what it looked like most to me. Working with limited photos was a drawback but I think having the limited resources forced me to be more creative. My form of creativity was using pipe cleaners and tin foil! So I started with a duct tape dress form I saw on pinterest. I knew that would be easy to work off of and I could pin to it if I needed to. This...

Hi! My name is Kayla and I love to sew and create things. I started out with cosplay, modifying clothing items I'd find in thrift shops to fit what I needed. But I often don't stick to just those materials; I've used other odd items, like foil, before as well.  In May 2017 I started to get serious about sewing when I learned about the Jane Austen Festival in KY. That was when I made my first costume and underthings from scratch. Since then been on a mission to sew period specific pieces. While I want to obtain historically correct costumes, it is difficult for me because I am also a full time student. So I try to get as close as possible. With this blog I am hoping to catalog my journey, share my success, my failures (hence my blog title, ha!) and just keep a record of my projects and what worked for me. Thanks for coming along on the ride!