Seize the Stars

Here's my Saturday dress! As a little preface, I should mention that the fabric this is made out of has been in my stash longer than almost anything: I saw the bolt on clearance as a kid, and I begged my mom to buy it, because I knew it would make a perfect Victorian dress. All these years later, it finally has!




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I'm finding that my decision to not do any theatre this summer in order to concentrate on sewing has left me rather bored and bereft of a social life, but at least I've started to make progress on my historical sewing projects, which is some small consolation. I've finally got my late 1880s bustle done, so I can at least start on skirts now, but for the life of me, I CANNOT find a late 1880s bodice pattern that fits AT ALL. The late 1880s is one of my favorite costume eras, and this year's theme at TeslaCon *is* late 1880s, but I've tried so many patterns that just don't remotely work (and I'm terrible at making patterns from scratch) that I'm just about to give up in despair. *sigh* (On the bright side, I finally made an 1860s/early 70s bodice pattern that fits, so I'm super excited to make some new stuff when I get back to Civil War reeanacting next year!)

In fandom news, I'm terribly, terribly sad that Deborah Watling, who played one of my very favorite Doctor Who companions, has passed away. It was apparently a very recent illness- I just saw her at a Doctor Who convention 8 months ago, and she certainly didn't seem ill then. I first met her at the same convention two years before that, when I'd made cosplays of two of her costumes, and I actually cried the first time I talked to her and told her how much her portrayal of Victoria meant to me! But she was very sweet and hugged me, and asked how long it had taken to make them, and said they looked just like the original outfits she wore. And when I fretted that I had to just guess what color to make the dress from 'Evil of the Daleks' because there were no color photos of it, she said that it didn't matter, because I'd made it with love, so even if it wasn't the exact same color, it was still perfect. I'll never forget that as long as I live. You cosplay a character because you love them, and to be able to let the person who created the character know that means so much.

I think Victoria is a hugely underrated character, and Deborah made her so real and lovable. Her scene with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor in 'Tomb of the Cybermen' where he comforts her about her father's death is honestly one of the most beautiful scenes in Doctor Who. It feels like far too soon to be saying goodbye to someone at 69, in this day and age when people live so long, but I'll always treasure the work she did, and the brief time I got to spend with her. RIP Debbie. ♥

I've been trying to get back to sewing again after the craziness of Costume-Con, so I decided to start by making some doll dresses. I have a huge stash of doll clothes patterns and little fabric remnants to use up, and I'm quite pleased with this Vogue 1950s Barbie sundress I just finished:


(I'll have to find a doll without blue legs to model it sometime later lol)

Also I've been a little remiss in my Doctor Who watching- I'm taking a break to go back and watch season 1 of Agent Carter. I'm horribly put out that it just got cancelled, as it's a great show, and I think I have a need to cosplay Peggy Carter now! I have a vintage 1940s felt hat that I think could work if I can find a red, white and blue ribbon for it, and I'm sure I've got a 1940s suit pattern I can use. (And if the hat doesn't work, there's a vintage clothing fair in town next month! Of course it's on the same day that the play I'm on the crew for has two shows, but I'll just have to get up early so I can go vintage shopping before the play starts!)

Costume Con is this week! The 1870 day dress is almost done but for a few finishing touches, and the 1870 ball dress should hopefully be done just in time! Building a new era of dress from the ground up, including all the underpinnings, took a lot of time, and consequently I have nothing else new to wear during the day on Sunday. I'm wondering now what I should wear, and thinking either the 1870 day dress again; my Lady Mary Crawley cosplay (because when else will I be able to cosplay a character from Downton Abbey? Even if no one gets it, it's still a fun flapper dress!) or my 1860s summer dress- which, while it is pretty, it's also the only 1860s dress I have that currently fits, so I wore it reenacting all last year and am rather tired of it. However, it already has accessories, and hoopskirts have more wow factor than most other styles. IDK.

( pics of said 1860s dress, for the curious )

I really did want to do a dress diary type thing with work-in-progress pics but now it'll have to wait till my next historical dress project- I've got so much sewing to do yet that I even skipped the season finale of Grantchester, and if I give up Masterpiece or Mystery!, you know it's serious! But I still had to watch Mr. Selfridge because no one can give up everything :p

(Grantchester has finally grown on me after all, though it's generally a bit of a downer. But it's a British period mystery show, so there's wasn't much chance I'd able to keep away from it for long, lol. I usually want to scream at Sidney for being a self-destructive human train wreck, and I really don't care for his tortured romance with Amanda at all, but it's all very nice to look at, at least! I'm genuinely fond of Leonard especially, and I very much hope his tentative romance with his new boyfriend doesn't end sadly, because he's a beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves happiness and I will cry if anything bad happens to him.)

Onward to more sewing!

Behold: a random blog update! Nothing terribly exciting to speak of- I've been sewing pretty much constantly and will continue to do so up until the first weekend in May for Costume Con. I have six new Victorian dresses in the works, which means several new period correct undergarments to go with them, so it's a big project, but it's been my dream to go to a costuming convention with a fabulous historical wardrobe to wear for as long as I can remember, so hell or high water will not stop me until they're all done!

Of course, this also means I have very little time for anything else, and already had to give up auditioning for three plays that open the same weekend as the convention. I signed up for dw_guestfest too, and really want to do it, but I've found absolutely no time to write lately either. Still, I hope a miracle will happen between now & my chosen posting date and I'll find time to do it, so I'm not quite ready to give up on the possibility just yet.

Still trying to keep up my epic Classic Who watch-a-thon as well, albeit at a much slower pace. I'm currently watching the beginning of the Fourth Doctor's run, and enjoying the team of Four, Sarah Jane, and Harry immensely. (And now I've finally seen episodes with every single TARDIS team in Classic Who! I'm nearing the end of the voyage! Only two full seasons and a few stray serials left before I'm finished! IDK whether I'm happy or sad to be almost done with this wonderful crazy show.) The Ark in Space was so very good- the design of the space station looked really great, and the story was very suspenseful and totally nail-biting throughout. And Harry is just delightful- I think he wins the prize for best under-reaction for a first time TARDIS-traveller with his mildly concerned "oh, I say!" upon landing on a space station thousands of years in the future! Too bad he doesn't stay through all of next season. And it's still a bit strange to be seeing Sarah Jane so young, after having met her first in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', but it's also kind of interesting, because if you think about, that must be what it's like to actually live in the timey-wimey Doctor Who universe, where time-travel is real and you don't always meet people in the right order. Doctor Who is weird and I love it.

Anyway, away I go to get some sleep so I can sew more tomorrow.

I think I'm going to have to have a mid-winter houseclean, because I need a more organized workspace for sewing. I've already got most of my cosplays planned out for next year's Doctor Who convention, and I'd like to get them done early so that I don't end up finishing last minute sewing in my hotel room all night during the con again!

Also I'm going to Costume Con next year, so that means all the historical dresses I ever wanted to make will have an indoor event to be showcased at, and thus, I need to get started on that too! I've been hoarding silks for Victorian bustle dresses for too long, they shall get done this year at last!

I should also get back into my Classic Who watching, since I still have 5 prompts to fill at dw_allsorts and I would ideally like to finish them before I start the second draft of my play, and I need something to inspire me. But now that Downton Abbey is back, and I'm in the midst of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, my TV viewing attention has been a little diverted. I'm listening to some of the missing Hartnell eps though, just watched the recon of 'Galaxy 4' which was a little slow, but still worthwhile.

Been trying to watch Pertwee's era in order too, and am currently in the middle of 'Colony in Space'. It's rather amusing to pick out actors who have been in other Doctor Who stories and play the 'where do I know them from?' game. Correctly picked out John Ringham and Bernard Kay this time! Third Who story for both of them, and now I think I'm getting to be one of those fans who knows every actor in every episode. Eek!

And I think I'm getting into Steampunk. There's a convention not too far out of town in March, and I started planning a dress for it the other day. I've already got all the Victorian stuff, so why not? We'll see what happens!

Since life is dull, and full of tedious things I don't want to do at the moment, time to distract myself with fannish rambling!

Television hasn't provided much distraction as of late, since The Paradise continues to be a clichéd soap opera. The costumes have gotten somewhat better since last season, but I still find the romance between Denise and Moray rather gross and creepy. Aside from the fact that he's too old for her, the whole employer/employee thing is icky. I cringe every time he calls her 'my little champion'. Eeeew. I can't think of a creepier nickname to have for your employee OR for your girlfriend, and she's BOTH. Like what even??? But I heard it got cancelled already, so we won't have to sit through any more after this season. Hopefully a better period drama will take it's place on the Masterpiece schedule. (Of course, they already had better in Lark Rise to Candleford and Garrow's Law but I guess those shows were too intelligent. Sigh.)

Apparently, PBS isn't showing any more of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries even though it's already had another season in Australia. Boo. I'm just going to have to track down the DVDs then, because Miss Fisher is awesome, and I love that show so much!

Doctor Who was actually pretty good this week, and I would say 'Flatline' is one of the best this season, but on the whole it's been a wash out for me. ( Some criticism of the direction the show has taken this season )

Sewing is coming along rather slowly. I'd hoped to have at least half of my planned cosplays for TARDIS done already, but alas, only my off-the-rack outfits are finished. Lots of re-working to do before I get the patterns right for the outfits I'm making. But I'm trying to stay focused; Victoria's outfit from 'The Abominable Snowmen' only needs the knickerbockers and it'll be done! So close!

Haven't had a lot of time for my Classic Who watch lately. But I'm still saving 'Keys of Marinus'; I'm going to watch it for my birthday next week. It'll be the best gift after a horrible couple of months. My fave team TARDIS!

Gah, haven't had time to update LJ in FOREVER. I've been writing a play, and am still writing it, and should be writing it now instead of doing this, but sometimes you gotta take a break! I've also been working on several dresses for a convention this August, which has sorta become my epic cosplay fantasy weekend: I'm making Jane's yellow bustle dress from Disney's Tarzan, Christine's Hannibal costume & dressing gown from The Phantom of the Opera, AND Christine's wedding dress from The Phantom of the Opera! The other two I've had planned for a while, but the wedding dress got added at the last minute because everything kinda came together: I acquired a roll of white silk taffeta, I'm going to be making an 1880's bustle for the Jane dress anyway, & it's an indoor venue, so I can wear a silk dress with a train and not worry too much about it getting destroyed. Add to that the fact that the wedding dress in the Broadway production of Phantom is possibly the most beautiful, perfect Victorian bustle dress this girl has ever seen, and I want one so much I could die, and there was simply no way I couldn't do it. So I've got four months, approximately, to make it all happen. While also writing a play. Heck yeah! Let's do this!!!

All this work to do, and still, I find time to watch TV. (Probably why I haven't gotten much done yet!)

Downton Abbey is getting nuts, they'll have to stop randomly killing off everyone's favortie characters if they expect us to keep caring about the show, but hey, as long as there's pretty clothes, I'll probably still watch.

Mr. Selfridge has proven to be surprisingly good thus far. We're only one episode in, but I actually CAN accept Jeremy Piven in a period piece. Wonder of wonders. I'm pretty interested to see where it all goes, even if we already know the store will be a success!

The Borgias was actually, dare I say it, not awful in season 2! (I only just got cable again, so I just got caught up.) There was actual like, PLOT and DIALOGUE, man! WOW! I actually watched most of it, rather than just pushing the fast-forward button on the OnDemand until there was a scene with pretty clothes, which is how I got thru season 1. Though I fear the show is making me a worse person, because seriously, I'm rooting FOR the Borgias! I mean, I actually care about them! Granted, there was a helluva lot fewer murders, rapes, tortures & whatnot this year than last, but still, the very first show began with the drowning of an altar boy! Not good! Of course, that's pretty tame compared to most network shows these days, and this IS a totally first-rate piece as far as production values are concerned. Unbelieveable quality in costuming and sets. I'm definitely excited for season 3 starting next week, but have a feeling it'll probably be a return to more gross stuff again. Thank goodness for OnDemand viewing and that lovely fast forward button!

Doctor Who continues to be adorable and fun, and I hope it stays that way for at least this season. TV needs more nerdy heroes and zany adventure, if you ask me.

Miss Fisher Mysteries was a total chance discovery on the PBS cable station late last night, and I'm happy to have found it. Sophistocated heiress becomes private investigator in 1920's Australia sounds as good a premise as I can think of, and Phryne Fisher is a wild, independant, badass sort of character, which makes it even more fun! I'm totally excited to see where her next case will take her.

So that's my bit of chatter for today; now I shall go forth and sew! And write! And listen to cast albums! You can listen to A LOT of cast albums while you're cutting out fabric... that'll have to be a whole other post some other day...;D

I think there might be a flying pig up in the sky somewhere, because I've actually been doing some sewing! *teehee* The reenacting season is coming up again, and I really need a new corset; ever since I started getting acid reflux 2 years ago (I'm 25, I eat whole grains and vegetables and never touch burgers and fries, so go figure!!) I've lost a lot of weight and my old one doesn't fit AT ALL now. Normally having a waist 6 inches smaller than this time last year would be a good thing, but it means none of my Civil War stuff from last year fits anymore. Arg!! So I'm really going to have to get to work so I'll have a dress to wear by the time our first event rolls around!

On the other hand, a very tiny waist is a great thing as far as trying to look like and animated Disney heroine for my Jane outfit! I've sorta started on it; I traced the pattern for the undies, and hopefully I'll be able to get away with using my civil war corset with it, because if I have to make another corset for this I'll never finish by September! And it's for a Con, so there's a whole group of other Disney heroines, and we might want to enter the Masquerade together, so it's gotta be fully finished and awesome, or why bother to go? Scary biscuits, but still exciting, and I hope I can just stay positive and make it work! (As Tim Gunn would say! There are days when I really wish I had him around as my dressmaking mentor!)

So between all that I've been pretty busy, but never too busy to be distracted by Downton Abbey! I must say I'm properly hooked on it this year, I'm glad there's more than four episodes this time round! The first couple of episodes were really good, it seemed to be getting more serious and less soap opera, but then the disfigured soldier claiming to be Patrick, and now Vera Bates dead, it's veering into sensational again, but I kind of don't care. Now that I've known the characters longer it's harder to look at it with a critical eye, and now I'm just in "I want everybody to be okay!" fangirl mode! I totally do ship Mary and Matthew this season too. The more we get to know Mary, the more I like her, because you see that she does have a heart, but she has trouble even admitting to herself, let alone other people. Of course she shouldn't marry Sir Richard Carlisle, but now he's put that ultimatum to her, she should have thrown him over right then, because now I fear the next couple episodes (to say nothing of the whole next season) would be nothing but watching her suffer in a bad relationship with this guy, and she's too complex a character to thrown away on a Gwendolen Harleth plot like that. (Watching Daniel Deronda once or twice was enough for a whole lifetime!) But we'll see how it all plays out! And the flu epidemic! Now who'll die in that?! Eeeps! I'm too excited!!!

The reenacting season is officially over - whew! I'm actually pretty relieved, it was mostly fun but really exhausting. And now I've only got the winter in which to make up all the clothing I've discovered is neccessary for next season - a sheer dress for when it's hot and a cloak or coat for when it's cold are a must. And I'd like a bonnet and a ballgown if possible, but first things first! And I've got my Jane dress too! Lots to do and little time to do it in!

Hopefully now I can catch up on all the TV I've missed too, specifically Doctor Who. I never missed an episode before I started reenacting, but now I'm usually out of town on Saturdays! I missed the season finale and I hope they re-run it soon! But I'm actually not too excited, since this season was oddly rather lackluster. (But I can't stand River Song, and she was in almost every episode.) I'm much more excited about Lark Rise to Candleford, but very sad to hear that it was apparently cancelled in the middle of the new season. I can't begin to fathom why, it's the best show on TV right now and one of the all time best there's been in years. I just hope PBS will be airing what little there is left soon! I suppose it figures that an intelligent, original, well made drama would get cancelled in this day and age of CSI and reality shows. If there's no dead hookers or people screaming obscenities at eachother, it doesn't seem to stand a chance, unfortunately. At least there's still the mildly trashy but well costumed charms of Downton Abbey to keep the intelligent viewer occupied. :)