See the Fangrrl Squee

Made some good progress on the costuming, today, although the pix might have you thinking otherwise.

Lucy!Saxon cufflinks. Some dry-brushing of the cast I took from a friend's ring helped bring out the detail. The picture looks terrible, because it's so bloody close up, but they're fine in the, er, flesh. They're about half an inch across, so, yeah, every single wobble in my hands and glob in the paint is frightfully apparent. I have to do one more coat of the green paint, seal it all and get fiddly with some buttons to fake a cufflink assembly.

Sybilline Sister dress. I'm not all that happy with it but, er, there it is. For what it's worth, it looks a bit less frumpy on me than it does on the dress-form. Now I've got to hope I can find some "ethnic" jewelry at the thrift store...

Barring small tweaks (gotta take in the waist of the trousers, put in buttonholes for cufflinks and create ditto) the Lucy!Master outfit is done. I'm going to wear it out to a party tonight and see how it goes over.

I'm... moderately pleased with it - despite some really dumb mistakes on the end-run. I'm still getting used to what it looks like in the, er, flesh, and so I'm still getting used to me in it. The roomie says it looks smashing, but she's a kind-hearted sort. Time will tell, I suppose...

I madly, desperately want these gloves for Lucy!Master.

I particularly want them because they're unlined. I've a pair of sadly beaten-up unlined kid leather gloves - which I used as shooting gloves, back when I used to go to the gun-range on occasion, believe it or not - and I've learned that there's a significant difference in the look and feel between lined and unlined gloves. Even the poshest, fanciest, Thinsulate-or-whathaveyou lining adds bulk and that's not what I want.

Heck, contrast the picture of the gloves, above, with these lined ones from the same seller.

Whaddya mean, obsessive? I'm simply meticulous!

Besides, I just like unlined leather gloves. So there.

*wistful sigh* Maybe in January...

Meanwhile, the shirt continues apace. I found some great buttons that look even better, thanks to a bit of 'rub and buff' - some nasty chemical goo supposedly used by unethical antique dealers. Whatever, it brought out the detail on the little Asian-ish dragon-motif buttons a beaut. Meanwhile, I have to press where the lining has been put in, handstitch it where necessary and then (oh, lawks) put on the buttons and the buttonholes and I'm done. The pattern expects me to put in hook-and-eye tape, under the buttons, but I'm really surprised that would be necessary. I'm going to try the shirt without that feature, first, and then decide if I need to go nigh-blind sewing in hooks-and-eyes.

Speaking of blind, I'm so tired I can barely see. Bedtime for the fangrrl, I think.

Instead of working on the oh gods, did I forget about it again? badly overdue costuming commission that's been lurking in my sewing room for the past, um, *mumblemumble*, I bashed out most of that shirt, today.

It's too bloody big across the shoulders (story of my life) and an attempted last-minute fix wasn't (ditto) but it still looks moderately fabulous. The combination of the black/silver taffeta and the black-on-black paisley came together far better than I had hoped. Finding the correct weight of interfacing so that the collar has a lot of body to it but doesn't cross the line to Ming The Merciless was a stroke of luck. Whether or not that interfacing actually lasts is another matter. I hope it does, as nothing says egomaniac like a funky collar - and nothing says pathetic costumer like a droopy one.

I changed out the damfool ruffle-cuff for a French cuff because a) I love French cuffs and b) I thought it would suit the garment better than the damfool ruffle, and I believe I'm right, if I say so myself.

Costuming purposes aside, it's a fuckin' fabulous shirt. The cut, the flamboyance... it's far niftier than anything by Butterick has a right to be. If I can figure out how to adjust the pattern to fix the issue across the shoulders - and I think I could, if I attacked the pattern paper before cutting another one - I'm going to make a dozen of these things and wear them every day.

So, yes, I'm quite pleased with it. It's a mix of retro and modern, simple style and Hey! Look at this! which I think suits the concept - meglomaniac Time Lord - quite well.

I've been wavering back and forth about the whole trousers vs. skirt thing and have decided to go with a pair of wide-legged (but not palazzo-scaled) trousers in red crepe satin, with a black chiffon overlay - again, a big streak of pay attention to me! going on there. I've worn a skirt in that style and it never fails to be eye-catching... Alas, no chiffon remains in my stash, so the pants will have to wait, for now. When the time comes, I might cut the pants on the bias, although with the crepe the weight that it is, that might be unnecessary. Could be fun, though. I've not done nearly enough stuff on the bias.

Alas, any notions of a coat have been ditched because I absolutely and utterly don't have the money to do it - even with JoAnn's desperately sending 50%-off coupons the house twice a week. Besides, I think a coat might end up fighting with the shirt.

That said, I have a coat made in the same fabric I used for the contrast on the shirt so I could certainly throw it on top, if it still fits me, but I think that might look a little too coordinated. Control freak, yes, but a crazy control freak. Can't neglect the crazy part. ;)

Given how long I've been hemming and hawing about the costume idea, it's a little surprising how quickly this has come together. A shame it breaks my No more costumes that require explanation rule but I think I can live with that.

Now, can someone please loan me a cricket bat to deal with all the goddamn plot-bunnies that have started swarming around me? A shame none of them cared about the Kaldor City fanscript, as I got precisely sod-all done on that, this weekend. Oops...