Manwariel's Costumes

Autumn Elven Gown

2011-12-11T12:39:00.001-08:00

Okay, here it is at last! :-) I finished this at the beginning of last month.

This dress was inspired by the Elves in The Lord of the Rings. I used Simplicity 4940 and altered the sleeves and yoke a bit. It's the same pattern I used for this dress, and coincidentally, I lined the sleeves with some of the leftover fabric. The green fabric was purchased at Wal-Mart about a year ago in their mystery section. The texture looks just like silk dupioni, but I don't know what the content is. I used the reverse side for the yoke. I didn't think through lining the sleeves all the way and didn't do them how I intended, but I liked the design change, so I went with it and closed them at the ends with jewelry toggles (see third picture). I also made the headpiece. The sash is an organza table runner I bought on eBay.

God bless!
- Manwariel

News

2011-12-02T17:15:00.001-08:00

Half my November sewing plans got thrown out the window. At least I finished my Elven gown, and at least I succeeded in my "try a new genre" garment. When I went out-of-town, it was to see my boyfriend, and he proposed (story here). So now I'm planning my wedding and bridesmaids' costumes (yeah, costumes). I sure hope I can get it all done in time. It may be a while before I update the blog.

God bless.
- Manwariel

Wrenches

2011-11-16T13:23:00.001-08:00

I keep getting wrenches thrown in my sewing plans for the month. The latest is that I'm going out-of-town for a week. So I'm not sure how much sewing I'll actually get done by December 1. I'll try to remember to post an entry on my Elven gown soon.

Success So Far

2011-11-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

I finished my Elven gown today. I wanted to finish it yesterday but there were complications. I don't have any good pictures of it yet, but here's a sneak peek:

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. =)

God bless.
- Manwariel

November Costume Challenge

2011-10-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

November is National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/). I've done it and my writers' group's summer variation several times, but I don't have the motivation, inspiration, or desire to try again this year. Instead I'm setting costume goals. I'm doing, uh...LoCoSewMo (Local Costume Sewing Month). ;-) Here are my self-imposed rules.

1. The first week will be dedicated to finishing the Elven gown I've made a bit of progress on.
2. After that, I will try to make three other costumes.
3. I can ONLY use supplies/materials that I already have. No buying anything new.
4. I must make 2 or more pieces for each costume.
5. One of the costumes must be from a genre I've never tried before.

I will post the results on my blog either as I go or at the end of the month. :-)

God bless.
- Manwariel

Green Renaissance Dress

2011-09-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

I made this forest green, cotton twill dress to wear to the Georgia Renaissance Festival last season. I used Simplicity 2832 for the bodice and the skirt is just several straight panels sewn together (they were already cut out when someone gave me the fabric). For the lacing on the front, I inserted eyelets into twill tape and used gold cord. The trim to the sides is plain, black ribbon I went over with a decorative stitch. All edges were hemmed with bias tape. This is my favorite dress I've made so far.

When making it, I coordinated with my boyfriend, who was making his own costume, so we'd match. When I wore it with him, I used brown lacing to match his, and then switched back to gold because, well, it's prettier. This first photo is the most accurate capture of the fabric color. I made both the hats and am wearing the chemise I wore with my pirate costume (I actually made it for this one). My boyfriend made his shirt, doublet, and pants.

Page Views

2011-09-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in a previous entry that Blogger didn't have an option for not counting your own visits to your own blog. Now they do, so I changed it. Either it's a semi-recent development (I hadn't blogged for several months until a few days ago) or I was looking in the wrong place before.

Blue & Silver Renaissance

2011-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

I made this garb to wear to the Georgia Renaissance Festival last season. The bodice is trusty Butterick pattern 4669, made of a blue cotton with a vine design. It's lined, boned, and bias tape-bound, and has two lines of silver trim on each side of the front. The waist cincher is dark blue cotton broadcloth made from a pattern I drafted. The skirt is three straight yards of poly-cotton broadcloth gathered into a black, cotton waistband I drafted. I sewed the same trim I used on the bodice around the skirt where the waistband meets the rest of it.The hem is turned up five inches and there's a decorative stitch running along it. The muslin chemise was made with McCall's 4091.

Yes, I'm wearing flip-flops with it. Shame on me, but it was very hot that day.

I wore a white straw hat I bought at Kohl's and tied a blue ribbon around over the snood I bought at the faire a couple of years ago and finished it off with a black and silver cross necklace.

Periwinkle

2011-09-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

I made this dress and chemise for my younger sister. The chemise is McCall's 4091, which I don't recommend due to the weird way it has you attach the sleeves, but it looks nice when finished. I shortened the sleeves. It's made of muslin. The dress is mystery fabric from Wal-Mart. I attached Butterick bodice 4669 to a skirt from McCall's 4109 and added lacing in the back for a more customizable fit.

Pirate

2011-09-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

I made this costume for the premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I made the shirt and bodice. The shirt is muslin and the bodice is cotton twill. I ended up wearing a different hat than in the first picture. The pants are pretty normal - I bought them at Kohl's - and I found the boots on Amazon.com (I don't think they're still available, though).

Pardon the photo quality; I was reduced to taking mirror shots in a poorly-lit room. ;)

I accessorized with a big cross necklace, two belts, and an aged skeleton key hanging on a chain.

My boyfriend made a matching costume (he made the hat, shirt, vest, and pants). The hat I'm wearing in this picture is a large, straw hat with wire in the brim that I folded up into a tricorn and added feathers to. I bought the hat and feathers on eBay.

New Home

2011-04-11T11:53:00.001-07:00

So, yes, I moved my blog from Wordpress to Blogger the other day. That's why I currently have relatively few page views compared to posts. Too bad I can't bring over my 18,562 hits from Wordpress, and too bad Blogger's counter counts my visits, while Wordpress's only counted everyone else's, but oh well.

I've been sewing like mad the past couple of weeks after having taken a break from it. The Georgia Renaissance Festival opens this coming weekend (April 16), so I'm trying to finish my costume and my sister's costume in time. They're going pretty well. I should procrastinate less next time, though.

By the Way

2011-04-10T10:47:00.001-07:00

The reason I blur my face in photos of me on here isn't because I'm paranoid about stalkers or anything. It's meant to make the costumes stand out more, but I go back and forth on thinking it helps and not.

Blue Cloak

2010-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

I used Butterick 4030 for this cloak but didn't line it. The fabric is dark blue with darker blue stripes, cotton or a cotton blend. For the clasp, I sewed a button to either side of the neck and tie them together with a piece of black ribbon permanently secured to one side.

Warrior Maiden

2010-12-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

This outfit is the bodice from "Gypsy," a black circle skirt with a yoke that has lacing on the sides and front (like the red skirt from "Red & Silver Ren."), and the black shirt from "Shirts." I accessorized with a wide, black buckle belt; a beaded necklace with a cross; a brown ring belt for my sword; a dagger tucked into the buckle belt; a pair of long, navy blue gloves; and black boots.

The last two include my most recent cloak, which is about to get its own post.

The Return

2010-12-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

My internship ended near the end of October. It was an excellent experience, and I'll let you know when the movie comes out.

I've sewn little since I returned but hope to pick it up more again soon. I have a couple of things to add here, which I'll try to do in the next couple of days.

Internship

2010-08-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving next week to do an internship as a seamstress for a film-making group, so I won't be updating for 2-3 months.

Steampunk Time Traveler

2010-07-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

By the fourth and last time I went to the Renaissance faire this year, I wanted to do something more interesting, so I dressed as a steampunk time traveler.

I wore my steampunk corset, which I made; a tiered, hand-me-down skirt that I altered; a pair of black, knee-length shorts; a white, button down shirt over a black t-shirt; a rusty skeleton key (to my time machine) hanging on a chain from a belt; boots, belts, goggles, fake-clock necklace, and my floppy hat. I stuck a copy of H. G. Wells' book The Time Machine in one of my belts but when I went back out to the car for lunch, I left it there on purpose so I wouldn't have to worry about dropping it.

God bless.
- Manwariel

Gypsy

2010-07-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

This is an outfit I threw together for another weekend at the Renaissance festival.

Bodice: I used Butterick 4669 but made the neck higher. I really, really like that pattern. The bodice is made of some home decor fabric I got for a steal of a deal.
Skirt: I used McCall's 4109, view D, but cut out three pieces instead of two and altered the waistband a bit. It's made of homespun-style cotton.
Shirts: A tank top and another shirt I had in my closet.
The scarf around my waist I dug out of our old box of dress-up clothes my sisters and I played with as kids.
Hat: It's one of those floppy hats that are conveniently in style right now. I bought it at a mall and added ribbons and feather (temporarily).

I don't have any very good photos of it.

I know, I know, my big camera kind of ruins the effect.

God bless.
- Manwariel

Pirate

2010-07-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

I made this dress to wear to the Renaissance faire and since it was pirate weekend, I pirated it up.

It's made of burgundy, poly-cotton broadcloth. I used some fantasy dress pattern, drafted the princess seams out, closed the back, and laces the sides and front together. I wore my chemise, black pants, a head wrap I bought at a faire in Texas, a couple of belts, fingerless gloves from http://www.defenderknives.com, and a couple of belts. I tucked the front bottom corners of the dress into the rings on one of the belts.

Closest to actual color:

God bless.
- Manwariel

Red & Silver Ren.

2010-07-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

I made this garb to wear to the Georgia Renaissance Festival. It's Renaissance-inspired fantasy. I don't bother with historical accuracy. It consists of:

Circle skirt with yoke; I drafted the yoke myself. Any circle skirt pattern will do.
Bodice; I drafted the entire pattern.
Chemise; also drafted by me
Hood; also drafted by me
Bracers; also drafted by me
Boots I didn't make

Yoke closeup:

It's not perfect, but it turned out okay.

God bless.
- Manwariel

Sorry, sorry

2010-06-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have half a dozen costumes to add, which I'll do eventually (sooner rather than later, I hope), but life has been rather busy.

The costumes include:
Pirate
Fantasy/Renaissance crossover
Gypsy
Cloak
Time traveler

Hi

2010-03-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

I posted an entry on my steampunk corset. I've been sewing like mad lately in preparation for this year's Renaissance festivals. I plan to attend GARF as usual and I'm going over to Texas to visit friends and Four Winds Faire.

So far I've made
1 cloak
2 hoods
3 pairs of bracers (2 Ren., 1 steampunk)
2 skirts
1 overdress
and 1 bodice that's not quite finished but almost.

I'll take and post photos as I have time, which might not be for a few weeks.

God bless!
- Manwariel

Steampunk Corset

2010-03-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

I used McCall's 4109 (and actually followed the instructions except for the front closure and back lacing). It's of corduroy with a sturdy lining. This is the first corset I've made.

God bless!

Kahlan-Inspired Dress

2010-03-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

This dress was inspired by Kahlan's in the TV show Legend of the Seeker. It's made of mystery fabric from Wal-Mart. I used Simplicity 2573 for the bottom of the sleeves, either Simplicity 4940 or McCall's 5499 (I don't remember which) for the main part of the dress and upper sleeves, and Butterick 4030 for the hood (altered to fit the dress's neck).

There are two different trims on the sleeves, one right on top of the other to achieve the look I wanted. I went over the center back seam and front princess seams with an X stitch. In the pictures, I have on beneath the dress a skirt I made and a long-sleeved t-shirt.

Trim:

I finished my steampunk corset and a Renaissance skirt so hopefully I'll get some good pictures of them soon.

God bless!
- Manwariel

Steampunk Costume, Take 1

2010-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

I put together my first steampunk costume. It's a work-in-progress. I haven't had much time to sew, so I used a lot of items from my normal wardrobe, many of which I modified. It consists of
- A vest that's a stand-in for the corset I'm making. I simply cut the sleeves off a collared shirt I never wore using pinking shears.
- Long-sleeved t-shirt
- Black pants
- Tiered skirt hiked up with ribbon & safety pins
- Boots
- Goggles (from Amazon.com)
- A necklace I made
- Belt
- Gloves I cut the fingertips off (because I don't like when they're covered)
- I tried it on with two different jackets. I got both of them at Good Will. The first is a corduroy jacket. All I did was remove the brand name from the front. The second is a leather jacket I patched up. It came with brown, plastic buttons that I replaced with ones similar to the buttons in the third image on this site.

Without jacket:

With corduroy jacket:

With leather jacket:

God bless!
- Manwariel