As a part of my Loki costume I needed to make a petticoat to go under the green skirt.  I wanted it to have some decent "pouf" - that's totally a technical term - and so I used a pattern intended to go under a 60s poodle skirt.  I used the same pattern to make the skirt as the base of the petticoat. See here it is, innocuous, quick, easy, but I should have listened to Admiral Ackbar because the simple beginnings of the petticoat... wait for it... It's a TRAP!!! 

For the next step I began to cut strips of tulle (the "pouf" of almost every petticoat.) I cut 36 strips 6 1/4" wide and as long as the normal bolt length they come in, so 54" in in this case. Again, very simple, even my cat and Duncan were helping. I then sewed the strips together (using a piece of the cotton skirt material to bind the tulle netting together at the seams.)   In order to accommodate the difference in circumference in skirt as it narrows to the hips I sewed 14, 12 and then 8 strips together to make giant loops of tulle. All the while being careful not to make mobius strips of tulle.)

Here is where our tale takes a darker turn.
For, in order to gather all of this light and airy tulle, you have to sew two line of thread into the tulle along one of the edges and then hold the string and pull, thus gathering one edge of the fabric together, where you then sew it to the base skirt.  So I started to do just that. Sew one line 1/4" from the edge, sew another 1/2" from the edge. OK, one piece done...sew one line, then sew another. I hadn't really thought through just how much thread and time it would take to sew essentially 54" x 36 strips x 2 lines of thread per individual piece = 50 miles of tulle, okay, maybe not that much, but that was what it felt like. Time flowed past like both water and sticky, hot tar as I sewed 324 feet (or 107 meters) of straight lines into the tulle. TV shows passed, I swear I could feel myself aging as I sat at my steadily growing warmer sewing machine for hours just sewing straight lines. The only punctuation to this activity would be when my bobbin would run out of thread and I'd have to stop, un-thread my machine, reload the bobbin, re-thread the machine and start back up on the endless desert of grey lines in the black tulle.

- it was at this stage, after it had been 8 hours of work and I still had miles of tulle to sew that I almost gave up. I almost went to Etsy or eBay and just ordered a damn petticoat. But I dug deep, like a marathon runner or that moment in action movies where the hero is down and has to make the choice to get back up just one more time, yeah, that was totally me. I ranted, raged and then returned to the sewing machine (who, I think, was getting close to forming a union against me) and I labored on. -

And as I was languishing away on the petticoat of despair...I ask you, where was my cat then, she who had been so eager to play in the tulle earlier?

Trying to catch lizards, that's where.

Me: "It's on the other side of the     window, you fluffy little deserter."
   
Her: "Then my actions are as futile as yours!" she quipped back.   

                                                          Me: "Touche"

To break the monotony, once finished with a full strip of tulle, I would stop and gather it into the smaller circles of pouf which were then ready to be sewed to the base skirt. This was only slightly less monotonous than the sewing. But I was starting to see some shape and form to my actions, I felt hope for the first time in days, and once gathered I began to sew the now puffy tulle to the skirt.

And then, all of a sudden, after 12 hours of work, like sunlight breaking through after a storm, it was done. All I had to do was trim the excess thread from the gathering process and I was done...and my evil little petticoat was even standing up on it's own tulle feet...they grow up so fast...*sniff*

To get some good pics I paired it with a black corset, which ends up looking a little Black Swan-ish, but still cool.  And when I am done hemming the skirt and jacket of my Loki outfit I will post the rest of the process "On the road to Dragon*Con 2012."

30 days left, holy God, OK, I'm going back to sewing now...

So, I discovered an AWESOME wasp yesterday. I first had an inkling of something amiss as I waiting for the AC guy to attempt to fix the air handler fan, again. I heard this screaming, which I knew Cicada insects to make and then saw a scuffle - this HUGE yellow and black wasp brings this tail spinning cicada in for a crash landing. Then I see it drag this full grown cicada into a hole the wasp has dug in my front yard. If you see a patch of longer grass in my front yard, that's where I didn't mow over the wasp's burrow in the ground. It was so cool, also the biggest wasp I have ever seen.

The wasps are not aggressive and help control the cicada population so add this to the "scary insect doing something cool" column. The wasps are found all over the U.S. and I am going to keep an eye out for more burrows.

Update: The wasp got another cicada today, I could hear the screaming and then it stopped. Another cicada down.

Neil Gaiman announced about two hours ago at the San Diego Comic Con that he is working on a new Sandman story. It will tell the story of what Morpheus went through right before getting trapped in the glass sphere at the beginning of the first Sandman comic.  2013 cannot come soon enough now.  His work is simply amazing and I recommend going out right now and getting his Sandman series in trades.

Christmas came early this year ladies and gents. Thank you Neil Gaiman, thank you for returning to your amazing story and characters. I am ready to cheer and shed tears yet again.

This is my first attempt at a Nook cover. I used double sided fusing Pellon to reinforce and bind it together and plastic latticework to reinforce underneath the nook itself.  I framed with ribbon and used elastic to hold the nook in the cover.

1st impressions: it is a little too large for the dimensions of my Nook (1st gen, original B&W, e-ink.) I could use to reduce it by 1" off both the length and the width. Also, I either need to get a wider ribbon or use contrasting fabric to make a true binding around the edges. 

Also, I need to have more patience when sewing.  That is all.

Here's proof that blood, sweat and tears is going into this thing. First blood goes to the costume; one of the pins got me as I tried it on.

See, isn't this as exciting as Hunger Games?

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, you are getting a bonus edition to today's blog!  And it is rife with excitement. Not only did I cut out the pattern pieces and pin them to the fashion fabric of the skirt (the ones that goes with the Loki costume), I also cut out the fabric pieces and sewed that sum-of-a-beech together! 

The skirt is a basic circle skirt, in that is makes a full circle when you lay it out.  This will give lots of nice waviness and fullness to the skirt.

Cost: $18 top/coat fabric, $14 skirt fabric, $8 in zippers, $4 in thread

Time: 6hrs (for top and skirt)

I found this online and had to share.  It is just stunning and I hope I ca experience this.  It really opens up so many movie and entertainment options.  I mean, how many would love to be a part of such an immersive experience.  Or, imagine it for your favorite video game.  I'm thinking of some amazing World of Warcraft scenes - a tour of Azeroth or a Deathwing Encounter.  Just so cool, I love to see such creative projects - always gives me hope in the power of imagination.