Indispensable Ridicule

I found a gold jacquard chair cover at the Mega Thrift, and promptly set to cannibalizing it. I used the reticule (ridicule, indispensable) pattern from La Mode Bagatelle. The fringe was already part of the chair cover, so that was easy to remove and reposition. The gold beads look as cheap as they really are, but I didn't want to spend more on something that would look way more fabulous, and then end up sitting on a chair all evening while I dance. So, cheapness reigns.

I like the way the Jacobean flower design turned out. I pretty much like everything about it (note that I'm not quite done; I'm still adding pearl beads to the lower trim). And I especially like the contrast between the pearls at the top opening and the darker gold lining fabric. What I hadn't counted on, though, was the fact that the design on the front got smooshed when I pulled the drawstrings. Makes perfect sense, but not necessarily what one is thinking about when one is in raptures over finding the perfect embroidery pattern. *sigh* Lesson learned. And yes, I only did the flower on one side. I'm way too impatient to do both front and back.

Regency bonnet, nee flowerpot

Because I have the largest head in North America, it's difficult to find a hat that fits. And because I'm a crafty gal and would rather frankenstein some bits together than create something painstakingly complete and historically accurate, I recently decided to make a Regency bonnet from a flowerpot.

The inspiration was a Shipwreck Ball, three months from now. While at my local Mega Thrift, I found a flowerpot basket with shells glued to the side in a lovely floral pattern. "What ho!," thought I. It is, of course, too small to actually fit upon my head as is, but has tremendous potential to become a bonnet which will fit. Fortunately, Regency-era headgear needed to cover a large amount of hair in an updo, so they had some pretty large and funky shapes to their hats.

First step at home was to unpick the stitches which held the plastic liner in place. Then I brushed out the loose dirt and gave it a gentle scrubbing with soap, water, and a nail brush. I put a large can inside the pot while it dried to hold its shape. Once it dried, I cut it apart where the rim flared out.

Next I used the rim piece as a template to cut a pattern for the buckram which would extend the rim out far enough to cover my XXXXL head. I traced it onto a brown paper shopping bag, because I'm cheap and they're plentiful (and on hand). Originally I cut an arc, but then realized that I needed to push the sides of the rim up higher, in order to get the rim to stand up away from my face. I added corners to the front of the arc, and then cut it out of buckram. You'll notice in the photo below where I added the corners (they're in a different shade of brown).

Before sewing the buckram to the basket, I ran a bit of Fray-check around the cut edges of the basket. I don't expect it to fray, but I figured it wouldn't hurt and might prevent potential problems. I seamed the buckram up the back, then sewed the buckram to the inside of the flowerpot.


Coming soon: covering the buckram.

Halloween

While shopping at Fabric Hell I heard an announcement over the intercom that their clearance fabrics were 50% off, an unannounced one-day sale. I meandered over and instantly fell in love with a blue fabric which announced itself to me as my Halloween costume. It was SO Project Runway (in a cheap-ass, tasteless kind of way).

So I started out making an Uli dress, but it morphed into a PR homage. I did the Santino braiding around the neck. I melted the hem, a la Michael with the Pam Grier hotpants. I mixed prints, my nod to Uli. And I fake tanned for the Duchess. I also did the smokey eye with a nude lip. During the day I tried making a bow out of my hair, but it was too subtle (and doing it correctly would have been too much work), so I just wore it loose for the evening.

If only I had a digital camera; Michael's cell phone just doesn't do it justice, and my film won't be developed for a while. *sigh*