Still Here!

Brief update over on my personal blog.

Christmas Presents and the best OUAT costumes

Hi guys.

So I continue to deal with crazy health stuff, but Christmas adrenaline has helped me power through making some gifts, even though most of the time I'm feeling super awful while working, and I can still only do little projects in little spurts. Bleh. I hesitate to say that I'm making progress, because I seem to have a good week only to then have an awful one, and my brain fog remains so bad that I'm reluctant to work with expensive materials. But the fact that I've actually been able to do some knitting, some weaving, and some very simple sewing projects is a boost to my spirits. It also means that I'll have a few new things to showcase on the blog soon... gotta give them out first!

Anyhow, I know some of you are probably missing my Once Upon a Time costume posts. Honestly I haven't been inspired enough by any of the more recent episodes to go through the work of getting the screen captures and editing them and such.

However, I'd love to pull together some sort of post on "the best costumes of OUAT" and collect fan votes over the season hiatus. Any thoughts on how I should begin that process? There are so many costumes to choose from! (don't have a Blogger account? You can leave a comment on tumblr or Facebook instead!)

Kitty Pryde "Shadowcat" Doll

The last two weeks have been a bit better for me healthwise, so I decided try making something - specifically a Kitty Pryde "Shadowcat" doll for a friend's birthday/Christmas gift.

Unfortunately, I was so focused on making it that I didn't take many in progress pictures! She started off looking something like this doll. (I rescue Barbies in good condition from thrift stores for projects like this).

 I painted her eyes, and also her lips because they were a weird light pink color.

Curling Barbie hair is SO FUN. If it isn't already straight, you dip it into some boiling water for a few seconds, comb it out and let it dry. Then you roll it up in little straw pieces, secure them with bobby pins, and dip the head in more boiling water. Let sit overnight to dry.

After taking Kitty's hair out of the curlers, it wanted to kind of spring up around her head. So I pinned it down with bobby pins and carefully set just the top of her head in hot water, just enough to set that bit down smoothly.

I didn't use any patterns for her costume. I took stretchy black fabric and basted it into the shape I wanted, took it off, sewed the seams with my machine, then pulled it back on and stitched the final seams closed with hand stitches (all covered by the top details).

 

 For the yellow contrast pieces, I stitched them onto the black while the bodysuit was on Kitty (there is no way to take her costume off). I folded the edges under and whipped stitched them down with some of the tiniest stitches I've made in my life.

For the gloves and boots, I used the same method as the black bodysuit. The only difference is that I hemmed the raw edges first!

I used a little bit of black pleather for the belt and painted on the "X" symbol.

For Lockheed, I asked my husband if he had any miniatures in his HUMONGOUS collection that would work. We found a little winged guy with potential, made a few alterations, and then Nathan painted him up.

 We spent three days perfecting all the details, and the look on my friend's face when she opened it made it all worth it!

Costumes for Sale

I've been sick now for 4 months and unable to work much at all during that time. We went through my costume stash and identified some that I could sell in an effort to bring in some more funds. 

These are mostly between 5 and 7 years old. They are clean and in good repair, but because they were made awhile ago, they are not up to my current standards, hence why they are listed for relatively low prices. 

The biggest issue with most of them is that there are exposed seams on many interiors, seams that I would now serge to prevent fraying. The bonus to this, however, is that this makes for fairly easy alterations if you need to take anything in! (Not all of the zippers are as smoothly inserted as I would do now, but they all work quite well!) 

For more photos, prices, and details on purchasing, please visit the Facebook album here. 

For more photos, prices, and details on purchasing, please visit the Facebook album here. 

The Once Upon a Time Fan Meetup and Cosplay Photoshoot at CONvergence 2015 (Guest Post)

I'm delighted to introduce a guest post by Melissa Adorn! Melissa and I have frequented the same convention before (I actually photographed her Arwen costume once!) and she contacted me earlier this year to attend a OUAT fan meet-up at CONvergence this past summer. I was unable to attend, but was excited to see the photos Melissa shared with me. I also appreciated her writing style and initiative, so I asked if she'd write a post about her experience with the meet-up and OUAT costuming, and she graciously agreed! I hope you enjoy her thoughts as much as I did!


I’m super excited to be writing a guest post for Confessions of a Seamstress; as a cosplayer and a Once Upon a Time fan, I just love what Elizabeth does on here.

The Once Upon a Time meetup at CONvergence was kind of my fault. I had been planning to make Belle’s gold ball gown for the convention anyway (I have a fondness for ball gowns and for Rumplestiltskin—it seemed the most appropriate choice, considering).

My finished Belle dress (photo by Nude Carbon Studios)

I had a couple friends who were also planning OUAT costumes, and I came across other cosplayers in the months before with the same idea, so I figured, why not make it an official get-together? With the encouragement and help of friends, I made a Facebook event, posted it in the CONvergence group, and invited everyone to invite anyone who might be interested. We wound up with a turnout better than I think any of us expected.

    

(Note from Elizabeth - this is the only time I've seen another cosplayer do Regina's blue riding coat! Cool!)

Group photos from the beginning and end of the meetup, as people came and went (photos by YGK)

About 25 people came along for part of the fun, and a few stuck around for everything. Not only was there a fantastic group of cosplayers, but lots of other Oncers came along to watch, hang out, think up with photo ideas, and take pictures. Meeting everyone and being able to geek out together was really exciting (nothing tops cosplaying with people from the same fandom, to my mind). We also had two of the kindest cosplay photographers ever join us to help get great pictures; Chase from Nude Carbon Studios and Kai from YGK.
 

The Three Faces of Regina (YGK)

After meeting in the convention we trooped outside (picture a OUAT parade through the parking lot) and took lots of photos, sorting by characters, ships, and whatever else we could think of. There was lots of goofing off and general OUAT nerdery.

Mother and Daughter (NCS)

Pretty much everyone had made or scrounged up their own cosplays. The attention to detail and craftsmanship was impressive. The silver shoes that Belle crafted, all the grommets (and makeup!) on Rumplestiltskin, Emma’s handmade badge, Gold not cutting his hair for months, two sets of full pirate gear, epic Regina coats….I wish that I’d had more of a chance to learn about all the effort these incredible cosplayers put in.

CaptainSwan vs. Rumbelle (YGK)

After an hour or so outside a group of us went over to DQ to eat and pretend it was Granny’s. After that it was back to the convention to watch Art of the Dress (Costume and Couture Show) and change into Cinderella for the Disney meetup (that’s what I did, anyway!).

Rumbelle hamburger date (YGK)

We’re hoping to do another OUAT meetup at CONvergence this July, but I think we’ll keep it inside more of the time for the comfort of the cosplayers in heavy leather coats! As of writing this, I’m not sure what I’ll cosplay yet (there’s just so many incredible outfits!)…but if you’re curious what I come up with, want to see next year’s pictures, or want to join us next year, keep tabs on Adorn Cosplay on Facebook. If you’re anywhere nearby, I hope you can come along for more OUAT meetup adventures!

Here’s a few more favorite moments:
 

Regina and Emma at odds (NCS)

 

Eat the apple, Snow (YGK)

Dr. Hopper has a long day of counseling ahead… 

 

Hook handcuffs two Emmas/Emma handcuffs two Hooks (YGK)

Gold being pleased with himself (NCS)

Another Curse?! (NCS)

Credits (sort of left to right from the last picture)

Mayor Mills: Kiki Snell at Kikicraft
Hook and Emma: Lizzie Waters and Jason Ripplinger at Once Upon a Timey Wimey Cosplay 
Evil Queen Regina and Rumplestiltskin: Michelle and George Reisdorff at Kirideth 
Ball gown Belle and Dr. Hopper: Melissa and Steve (my awesome dad!) at Adorn Cosplay
Mr. Gold: Andy Freeman at The Poetry Ninja
Emma: MK Marino at Pepperann Hit Squad
Blue dress Belle: Kate Bruner at Organized Chaos Costuming
Mary Margaret: Cathy Brown at Pepperann Hit Squad
Hook: Bill Rod
Elsa: Nicole Sylvestre
Emma: Karina Basso
Young Regina: Emily Thon at Emmy Kay Cosplay
Snow White: Unknown

(Note from Elizabeth - if you are one of the pictured cosplayers and would like to edit/adjust any information, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!)

More pictures from:
Nude Carbon Studios
YGK

OUAT Cosplay Appreciation Post #1

The sheer volume of "Once Upon a Time" cosplay out there is overwhelming. I mean, I consider how many costumes I've made, and then realize that I can look at 50 different OUAT cosplays and just  one of them is one I've sewn! And that's only scratching the tip of the iceberg! This fandom is amazing.

 This post is just a collection of my very favorite cosplays (costume+photo staging) from deviantart - none of which contain any components made by me (as far as I can ascertain). I could have included a lot more under those perimeters... just thinking of all there is to comb through on tumblr and the rest of the web is crazy! But we'll start here for now, and know that more are coming.

 I'm curious to know - if you've done a OUAT cosplay, what have been the hardest parts? Sourcing Materials? Finding/adapting Patterns? Utilizing new techniques? Tracking down reference photos? I'd be interested in addressing some of these in future posts, if I get enough feedback.

 

MomoCon 2012 - OUAT | Rumpelstiltskin by elysiagriffin on DeviantArt

Cup of Feels by ceiphiedknight on DeviantArt

// How About A Deal // by TheLupin on DeviantArt

Quiet reading time - Belle by giusynuno on DeviantArt

Snow White by NikitaCosplay on DeviantArt

OUAT - Regina by Itasil on DeviantArt

OUaT::To Be Evil by Remembrancer19 on DeviantArt

Our beloved daughter... by falketta on DeviantArt

OUAT--Adventure Belle by Nurt on DeviantArt

Belle - Waiting... by green-fennec on DeviantArt

Snow White.Tense moment. by Veiltale on DeviantArt

Seamstress Goodie Basket 10/26/2015

Welcome to the weekly(ish) round-up of my favorite sewing things on the web!

Disclosure: Some of the links may be affiliate links

Stuff to Read

Cast your own gemstones!

I've seen so many different things that you can do with different molds and casts, but this might be the coolest yet. I definitely have to try this sometime. (Even more gem tutorials here)

Husband Humor
For all of you sewers with significant others who don't sew, this is an article you'll both laugh over!


Stuff to Buy

Sewing Machine Coffee Mugs (Etsy)
My husband has forbidden me to buy any more coffee mugs, but I'm hoping once we get a house I can convince him that I really need a sewing mug to compliment my reading mug...

Jersey Knit (Fabric.com)
I love stocking up  on knits over at fabric.com at least once a year. They have a great range of inexpensive materials to choose from, and something like this cotton/rayon gray stripe on clearance would be great for a beginner to work with. Don't like stripes? There are plenty more knit fabrics on clearance this week!

Gingher 4" Embroidery Scissors (JoAnn.com)
Ugh. I love these little scissors so much, I have two pairs. They are probably the most expensive little scissors you'll ever buy, but they are SO WONDERFUL and cut so well and stay sharp and seriously. You must own them. (I get the best deal possible by combining a sale price with a "total purchase" coupon, which you sometimes are allowed to stack on the sale prices. Read the fine print carefully.) BTW, their full size shears are amazing as well.

OUAT More Camelot and Glitter and Guinevere (5.3 and 5.4)

Wow, I feel almost over saturated with new costumes from "Once Upon a Time," do you?

(Screencaps edited from kissthemgoodbye.net)

By the way, if you haven't watched "5.3 Siege Perilous" and "5.4. The Broken Kingdom" you may want to hold off on reading this costume analysis.

I love love love Belle's green dress. We still haven't gotten a very clear look at it, but here you can sort of make out the princess seaming and the sleeve lines. It is basically the same as Regina's red velvet dress from the same scene, but the drastic difference in colors obscure this similarity. We could think of this green dress as OUAT's version of Belle's green dress from the animated film, since we haven't seen this incarnation of the character in a green dress yet.

This isn't really a costume thing, just appreciation of Papa Charming.

Speaking of Regina's red dress, they should just dress Lana in red all the time. She looks so amazing in it. (I think her sleeves might be a tad smaller than Belle's but it could just be a scale thing, as Emilie is pretty tiny).

Here we see Henry with a pale blue velvet cape, more of Regina's sleeves, and a new costume for Robin (which I like much better than the 5.2 offering)

The picture is blurry, but it shows how serious OUAT is about lacing details.

I wish we could have seen more of Snow's rose gold dress! The fabrics and detailings are esquisite, and we rarely see Snow in this color scheme (it looks pretty nice on her!).

But, of course, we have to keep Snow in white as much as possible... which isn't so bad when it gives us this gorgeous gown. I adore the exquisite lace appliques on the sleeves!

View from behind.

They are loving detail in this season, taking the opportunity to use as many beads as possible...

Now Zelena wears a dress that is in as much opposition to Regina as possible. Pale blue, coarse fabric, no excess sleeves... but still some nice detailing with the neckline and sleeves. Thematically she is visually similar to Robin Hood, with lots of lacing, simpler materials and subdued hues. 

There is a hint of wealth with those buttons at the sleeves though, as well as the shiny aglets capping off all of the ties.

And a back view for those looking to recreate the dress. I am guessing there are some boning channels running along the seams to keep it laying that smooth.

Emma gets short shrift this time around. The dress is gorgeous (and the cloak, below, even more so), but high waists do not suit Jennifer Morrison at all. I'm pretty sure they were trying to tie her look into Snow's, but whereas it works great for both Ginnifer Goodwin's stature and recent maternity status, it looks all wrong on Morrison. I kept wondering if she was pregnant or suffering really bad indigestion... which is too bad because otherwise Morrison looked completely ethereal in these episodes.

Cloak detail, dashing pirate, Henry back details.

Ethereal! And that cloak is made with super cool fabric.

But the real star of the fashion show was Guienevere, starting off when she was a little village girl.

Her style didn't change much over the years.

But then she became queen and my oh my, did she get an upgrade! I think this yellow gown is my favorite entry in her wardrobe so far. LOVING the crushed velvet.

EDIT: Several of you wrote in to point out that this is the same gown as the one worn by Rapunzel. WHOOPS! I totally thought "hey that is the same shade of yellow as Rapunzel's gown!" but I didn't actually think it was the same gown because as a costumer I'd never give the same dress to two different prominent characters (although it is lovely to see this gown again, as it is truly beautiful.) I suppose it is not impossible that Gwen and Rapunzel knew each other and Gwen gave the dress to Rapunzel for some reason? LOL costume continuity geek... anyhow,  See Rapunzel wearing it here.

Okay, the bodice might be a tad over-embellished (the border could have been half the size and still pretty large) but the fabric is enough to keep me happy. So soft and fluffy I'm gonna die! Wait, wrong movie...

Gwen's adventuring costume is very similar to Belle's (and I like the colors on Belle's better). EDIT a couple readers pointed out that this costume is also a recycle - Jaq wore it several seasons ago (as in our Jac the giant killer). Poor Gwen get's everyone's cast-offs.

I love the eyelet sleeves.

I am not sure what I think of this dress. It is all about showing off the necklace, which doesn't quite work because the neckline is so busy that the necklace and trim compete and cancel each other out. Also, the fabric makes me think of a 40-year-old in tight animal print clothing.

I think "Once Upon a Time" should win prizes for BEST CLOAKS IN A SHOW EVER. This one holds it own against everything the show has done so far (except maybe Ruby's because her's is the best). We don't get a good look at the pink linen gown, but here you can see that it is a divided sleeve with an undersleeve showing at the elbow (like Zelena's dress). You can also see the faint hint of a belt (like Regina's and Belle's).

I know I give the guys short shrift in these analysis posts, but you've probably noticed that I'm a sucker for Henry in fantasy clothes. We've just been waiting so long to see the kid make this all happen, and seeing him looking like the prince he is just makes me so proud and happy of him.

Here we see Snow that gray outfit\ we noticed in the premiere (Charming's is different). Turns out, it is not quite as plain as it looked at first site.

Here we can see the sweet texture of the coat fabric, the velvet of the cloak, and the rich lace trim bordering her sleeves.

Like I said, we're spoiled for choice here!

By the way, if you're interested on my thoughts regarding the storylines, check out my episode reviews over on my personal blog.