Ookings of d00m

A list of ongoing creative sewing projects, in no particular order;

• Great sarong tie review; I have grown gradually fatter since I started wearing sarongs, so the older the sarong, the shorter the ties. The older ones are now too shrot to wear. So, I need to sew on longer ties to the older ones. also, the black sarong I got last year has no ties at all on it.


• Make two new satin cravats. I have the material, just need to rearrange the living room so that I have the space to measure and cut.


• Fix both pairs of thai fisherman's pants. The bigger pair have a gaping crotch hole that needs to get patched. Thankfully, the pants came in a bag of the same material, so I have somethign to patch with. The other pair just need to get some sitching replaced.


• Sew buttons on to pinstripe pants. This is for attaching button braces to. I also need to get at least one more set of button braces.


• Steampunk Kscope outfit. I'm thinking sarong-weight double-breasted waistcoat over wrap pants or a sarong, big boots, bandana, goggles and leather cuffs. Maybe a cravat, and maybe a standalone collar to go with it above the waistcoat. And the bat-utility belt, of course. Sketching will hopefully happen at lunch time today.


• polar fleece arm-warmers. These have been sitting in the sewing bin for probably close to two years at this point.


• Utility belt. Needs more grommets, another pair of pouches and two more belt loops. Also considering making a removable larger pouch to hang down one side to put a paperback in.


• Raven hoodie. Black hoodie with a raven cut out from an old t-shirt, plus glow in the dark skull and crossbones patches on the arms. I want to lengthen the sleeves with some sort of black and white stripe pattern. Do I want to use alternating strips of black and white sweatshirt material to match the hoodie? Will that result in the white getting greyed out when the hoodie gets washed? What about using white spray paint or screen printing ink to add white stripes to black? I suspect that I will continue to add bits and pieces as I find more neat stuff to sew on to it over time.


• I should also make a pair or two of gaiters to wear over combat boots etc. They'd also be useful when biking, as long as I made them snug enough.


• black flannel hakama; because 7 layers of flannel should keep me warm pretty much anywhere... Again, I have the material and a pattern, but no space to lay out the pattern, etc. Also, i still suck at using patterns.

part 1: fashion.

Last night, the belt I wear with my work pants broke. It has been getting worn, but I realised that I can put my finger through the hole that the buckle goes through. Since I was at work until 8:30 last night, this meant that shops were closed by the time I got back near home, leaving me beltless for today.

Since I had no belt, I wore suspenders to keep my pants up. I also added a grey vest over the standard black oxford shirt to cover up the suspenders and give me a pocket to keep my phone in. The pocket watch was a natural addition at that point. As was the grey silk brocade tie. I used my new skills and did a full windsor knot. I considered a fedora, but since I lack a good overcoat, the effect would have been wasted.

I need to go buy a new belt this weekend.

I'm not sure what to do about footwear - my combats have a big split in the leather, but I can't afford to replace or repair them right now.

part 2: medical.

A wheezy day today, despite the advair. I called off the planned gym experiment - I am concerned that if I have to leave classes gasping for air too often, they'll have to ban me from the gym. and that would upset me greatly.

part 3: gaming.

I've decided on running Nano-Victorian Futures and Sleepers at ACUS. The website has stymied my attempts to register games thus far. I have been mucking around the wiki adding more NVF character gneration examples and the skeleton of a section for Sleepers. I've got a plot seed for NVF that should grow into an actual plot before the con. Still not sure what Sleepers will be about plot-wise, but if all goes according to plan, I should just need to nudge the players a bit and sit back to watch the mayhem. I'm really hoping someone comes up with a Sleeper that is weirder than my sample ideas.

part 4: NOMs.

I really want chocolate right now. Instead, I have apples. I do not want apples.

How to reproduce the cravat knot seen on Charles Babbage here. It's also the same knot used by Doc Cochran on Deadwood.

Babbage's version uses a relatively stiff fabric, and a cravat that is roughly the same width throughout. Cochran uses the same knot with a softer fabric.

Instructions on the knot can be found here. It's basically the same as tying a bowtie, if you happen to know how to do that.

The cravat in the instruction set is widens towards the end, which will give the nice puffy bow instead of the severe one Babbage wore.

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Damn. I think this means I really am a costuming geek, doesn't it?
Now I need to make some more cravats with a variety of fabrics, widths and styles...

Had a very lovely weekend with the Lizard.

Friday we went to dinner at Moxie's, which could be turned into an awesome goth club with little effort. Then we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens - the 2nd time for me, the 1st for Zil. It's a good, fun movie that actually allows the female protagonist to remain female, and yet strong, which is pretty rare in movies. It still fails the Bechdel test, and the women are consistently rail thin while the men vary in body type. At least it's a start, though.

Saturday included kilt shopping and a haircut. Then Zil and I went to Chimichanga's for a long early dinner followed by "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Which, for the first 2/3 of the film succeeds and fails much in the same way that the source material does. Then it collapses into a storm of pointless plot wankery and they completely ruin Deadpool after getting the character mostly right in the beginning. Also, Wolverine's hair is ridiculously pretty, and I am a geek enough that I found that distracting. On the plus side, Live Schrieber is the best possible movie Sabretooth, IMHO.

Sunday was spent lounging around watching tv and movies at home with cuddles and a fashion show.

The final wedding outfit for the ZilBro wedding is as follows: the new black utilikilt (original model), black vest, white wingtip collar shirt and a black puff tie. None of my jackets really came close to working. For footwear, we've provisionally agreed on combat boots, but only if I get them really well polished.

I also picked up something for an upcoming masquerade party, so my outfit for *that* is nearly sorted.

Polyamorous, Bisexual Switch T-shirt from Zazzle.com

check out the back of the shirt.

(disclaimer - I put the shirt up, and hence get a small royalty when people buy the shirt)

The clock claims that it's almost 5am. I think that chocolate cake had caffeine in it.

Regardless, I've finished my first attempt at modifying a modern dress shirt to give it a more Victorian/steampunk edge (by no means historically accurate, but it works better with a cravat). I also finally cleaned up and edged my cravat, and tried it out after pressing it. The neckline looks much nicer when its been pressed first, and the neck is much more comfortable with the modified shirt.

I still can't sew straight, but that'll come with practice. I also picked up a couple more vests and a nice tie today, so I'm getting to the point where I actually have a few neovictorian/steampunk outfits, particularly once I pick up my Gentleman's Emporium order next week.

It may just be time for a photoshoot, if I can get someone to take pictures for me while I run around and change clothes frequently.

I went to visit my riding boots today, too. The stretching didn't add enough room, so they're going to add a slit and a couple of buckles so I can adjust the top five inches or so. This should give me enough room to tuck various pants into them.

Due to the Snowpocalypse, my date for tonight got cancelled, since neither of us had the energy to leave the house again. Hence the sewing.

Tomorrow will be date rain check, and laundry. Of course, if I don't go to sleep soon, it will *be* tomorrow.

There must have been something in that cake...

I have new toys!

I have a pair of riding boots from ebay that were reasonably priced. They fit fairly well, though I think I will have to have the opening at the top widened - I can wear them as is, but the left boot is tight enough that I can't get pants to tuck into them.

I also have the materials needed to modify my cheap plastic internet goggles, and a respirator that I intend to pretty up for costuming uses. I'll also use the respirator for moving books and matresses so I don't have my throat swell shut, but there's no reason I can't look like a post-apocalyptic maniac while doing it.

I'm impatiently awaiting a new alienware desktop (I bought the bottom of the line!) and my back-ordered polar fleece hoodie, and a few different shipments of tie pins.
Why is it always when I'm most busy that I get the urge to work on creative stuff? when I have free time, I decide I'm bored and play video games instead.

How does one go about cleaning leather? I have a few leather items (bracers, a collar, etc.) that I have worn dancing a few times. Which means that I've sweat in them, a lot, to the point where they're salt-stained and, in one case, kind of smelly from the retained sweat. Are they salvagable?

The sewing class pants are almost done. I just have to sew on the button and hem them, and I will have pants! Pants that I cannot wear unless I lose 30-40 lbs (if then), but still, pants.

Speaking of pants; does anyone know where I can buy wrap pants? I'd also like to know if anyone can point me towards a pattern for wrap pants - I'd like to make my own eventually, but if I can, I'd like to get a pair sooner rather than later.

ETA: found a pattern for the wrap pants.