Presentation Make-Up

I did my make-up all fancy for the dress presentations on Friday.

Eyeshadow/Eyeliner: LimeCrime and Make Up Forever eye shadows
Mascara: Falsies by Maybelline
Lipstick: LimeCrime
Earrings: Black Market (local)
Plugs: Adept (local)
Headband: H&M

Dress Project: Finished Product!!

On Friday, we had our little "fashion show," to present our finished garments.

My creation!

I ended up changing some things last minute, like the sleeves. The sheer fabric I bought turn out to be delicate to the extreme, so I redrafted a sleeve I could do in cotton so that she'd actually be able to wash her dress like a normal piece of clothing.

This is my favorite picture from the day :)

I'm really pleased with how the dress I made turned out; it fits her really well AND she likes it. Also, I'm in LOVE with the one she made me! It's so adorable, with that floral skirt and the details on the bodice.

I can't wait for summer when we can wear theeese.

Dress Project: Part 1 (the mock-up)

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY

Draftingdraftingdrafting

All cut out and traced!

My little buddy keeps me company

Top half done

Both halves done!

Rach and I are the same measurements so I tried it on

Skirt came out perfectly :)

Practicing with sheer fabric for the sleeves

Also known as "satan fabric" (this stuff at least)

On the actual model!

Sleeves came out TOO poofy, that'll be toned down

That's the first half done!
I just spent 11 hours in the studio today working on the dress in the real fabric. It's going to be niiiiice. It's due on Friday, so I'll post a final version soon after that!

((All photos taken by my craptastic camera phone))

Backstage Fo' Eva.

I'm the Head Dresser for DalTheatre's last production of the season, The Country Wife, and with this past weekend being tech weekend, and it running all this week, I feel like I've been living backstage (and, more annoyingly, in my blacks!).

Sitting in the green room

I'm getting so annoyed with my hair, especially my bangs. I need to figure out more ways to keep them up and out of my face until I decide what to do with them. And the rest of my hair.

On the plus side, the theatre department gave us this!

I think they're bribing us with sugar because they started the play a half hour late tonight, which means laundry won't be done until after midnight.

Only Schoolwork I Want To Do

Our final project for our pattern drafting class is finally coming up! It's really the only thing left in this school year that I want to do.
We picked partners at the start of term and drafted basic patterns to fit them. Now, we get to pick out a dress or jacket to make for them. It has to have certain things (just so we don't all make something really easy) but we basically just get to pick a picture of something we like from a magazine, then make it!

I picked this, found it on Karmaloop

My partner really likes wrap dresses, so this was a good choice for her. I think it looks a bit like a dressing gown, though, so i'm going to change some things when I make it. I'm going to make the skirt all one piece, without that rise at center front, and I'm not going to make it out of a silky fabric. I'm leaving it up to my partner whether she wants the sash.

We went out on Friday to pick out fabric for our projects, and actually having the fabric is making me so excited to get started.

Fabric for the dress!

The solid pink is cotton, and going to make up most of the dress. The pretty (so so so pretty) sheer pink fabric with the little gems is going to be for the sleeves. I'll also probably use it to cover the waistband and the cuffs. There'll be am invisible zipper on the side, so the back will still look clean and uninterrupted.

Ooooo, I just can't wait to start this!

Summer Trip to Europe!!!

I just down a deposit for what looks like an AMAZING summer course that Dalhousie offers. We'll be going to the town of Český Krumlov, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site in the Czech Republic. It has a castle. No big. And inside the castle there's a preserved and functioning Baroque Theatre. Holy crap, it's going to be amazing. We'll even be there during a Baroque theatre conference AND festival. I can't imagine how great it's going to be... but Google Maps helped me! The street view caught the town on a beautiful sunny day, and the the river sparkles beside the twisty little cobblestone streets: I'm not sure if my camera is going to be able to handle this trip, ahah.


I want to stand on this spot when I visit.

The Castle, from the town's website

Not to mention, the website includes a bunch of legends associated with the castle we'll be staying in. I think this is my favorite:

With the Masquerade Hall, a story is told about a servant who, during the whirl of the ball, 

spotted a string of pearls slipping off a beautiful lady\'s neck without her noticing it. 

He wanted to keep the necklace. His malicious intent was foiled by the figures of grenadiers 

painted on the wall which stepped out of the wall and prevented him from completing his immoral deed. 

The frightened servant gave the necklace back to the lady and from then on was an honest man.

- Source

I've been around Europe, but never to the Czech Republic, which just makes this more exciting!

Costume Overload

Just when I thought the term was off to a wonderful start, this week hit. Holy crap! I've been up to my eyeballs in stress that I did not see coming!

The two things at school that have been getting under my skin (literally, at some points... stupid hand-sewing) are costume related. I feel like I'm drowning in Theatre sometimes. My class is making all the costumes for DalTheatre's third show this season, so I'm taken up with that. The actor I'm making costumes for is one of the skinniest men I've ever met... the alterations to his clothes have been crazy. It's good to learn this stuff through doing it, but it's still pretty crazy that we're in charge of a whole show. On the plus side, I'm doing a pretty neat alteration to a jacket. I'll try and get a picture up of it when I'm finished =)

Otherwise, all my spare time this week has been taken up with my research project for my theatre class. I elected to do an essay which would describe possible costumes for a play we're reading from the English Renaissance, called The Duchess of Malfi. Historically accurate costumes, of course. And I picked the scene with the most characters in it, of course. I just [finally] got the essay together... and oh my. It's been an ordeal.
Here's a picture of the Duchess of Amalfi that the play is loosely based on:

I love how hard they tried in Renaissance art to accurately depict the fabrics their outfits were made of. Look how luxurious her over dress is! It seems almost touchable