flummoxicated: (pirate crafter)
Flummoxicated ([personal profile] flummoxicated) wrote2009-07-06 07:56 am
Entry tags:

craft and dope and fresh

I'm probably the only person awake on LJ right now!

This weekend was a creative one. I spied some ostrich feathers at HoLo in a lovely brown and decided now was the time to redo my Elizabethan feather fan. The peacock feathers, while lovely, didn't hold up too well over time, and I remember [profile] flaming_mo  suggesting ostrich at least as the main feathers. I may work in a couple of peacock feathers still...

I also got around to fixing a painting I did a LONG time ago, it was a painting in acrylic of a woman with her head turned. Probably from a photo I found in a magazine. The pose placed her ear pretty much in the middle of the frame, and I could not get that ear to look like a human ear. Ears are harder to paint then hands! At some point I got the idea to make this a mixed media piece by placing silk flowers strategically to cover the abominable ear. Worked pretty good. The painting is so PINK. Right now it's leaning next to the fireplace in the living room - it doesn't exactly go with the decor. PINK.

My costumes are in need of underpinnings so I've begun work on a couple of petticoats. I waffled a bit as to whether or not to make the first one a corded petticoat, but the time to think about that was BEFORE I started. So I'm almost done with a basic petticoat. I picked up some pale purple fabric and rope for a second, rope petticoat. I love how this one looks; the rows are so perfect! It occurred to me to maybe try one of those chalk snap line things to get precise lines. Maybe that would work.

This project stalled, thanks to McCall's: At one of my many JoAnns runs I found this fabric (yes, I'm on a skull kick). The pattern I decided to use was a full skirt, but the way the pieces are laid out does not allow for designs printed from selvege to selvege. So I think now I'll make a little wrap skirt.

A couple of weeks ago I made some pillows for the little love seat in my office. Pillows, like curtains, are projects that are so easy and yet I always procrastinate making them.

With all of these projects I have to go to the library to get some reading done today. I am prone to wandering when I should be researching. Plus, the cats are being rowdy.

For pictures, clicky!




Pink lady painting is PINK



Always been a big fan.




That costume fabric is pretty neat. I only got one piece, a decorator's sample. I've had it for years and couldn't decide between displaying it on a wall or making a pillow. All I know about it is that it's a Schumacher print from one of their colonial Williamsburg collections from the mid 1990s.



The view from the sewing room.


crazy Dexter is crazy.

[identity profile] flaming-mo.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 04:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I recognize that fan! And yes, you recall correctly - due to the unfortunate experience of having a beautiful peacock feather fan destroyed, I realized that having a ostrich feather base layer under the peacock feathers lent greater longevity. The rachis of the peacock feather are too narrow and fragile.
ext_78889: Elizabeth I armor (beatnik vamps)

[identity profile] flummoxicated.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
You are wise in the way of craft as well as beautiful!

[identity profile] noxcat.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd love to know how to make a fan like that. :)
ext_78889: Elizabeth I armor (pirate crafter)

[identity profile] flummoxicated.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know if you follow [livejournal.com profile] dame_eleanor, but she just posted how she made something similar here (http://dame-eleanor.livejournal.com/157233.html#cutid1). I was given the fan so I can't take credit for the handle.
Edited 2009-07-07 01:24 (UTC)

[identity profile] flaming-mo.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Actually my lord made it several years ago, and his construction technique is similar to dame eleanor's. However, he used a decorative dowel (aka "spindle") for the handle (available at many hardware and woodworking stores) and drilled the holes for the feathers in the plywood middle piece using an electric drill.
ext_78889: Elizabeth I armor (Blackadder Queenie)

[identity profile] flummoxicated.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, and I do love it all the more for his excellent craftsmanship gave me a great accessory without having to touch power tools!
(deleted comment)
ext_78889: Elizabeth I armor (kitty in a poptart box)

[identity profile] flummoxicated.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
Possibly. I think we adopted him in the fall of 2007. He was a cute booger who was looking through the glass door at breakfast. He was also terrorizing / eating the wildlife in the backyard.