Catwoman, take two

Yes, again. Sure I could give it a rest. Sure, it doesn't seem very creative at this point. But I don't care- there is something very appealing about being in a Catwoman costume.
It's fun. People love it. And there's nothing even remotely like it in stores, (except for baggy-crotched, ill-fitting catsuits and that godawful Halle Berry thing) so I can be the best best-looking kitty in the joint.

Anyway- this costume is most closely based on the modern Catwoman comics of the 21st century, like Ed Brubaker's interpretation (above).

Lots of people on the interwebs have costumed the comic book versions- much better than mine, that's for sure. (where the f*** are they all getting their custom goggles?!)

(...surprisingly, very few people have even come come close to interpreting the Batman Forever Catwoman successfully)

However, I think this costume only set me back $50-ish and took maybe 8 hours from start to finish- a mere pittance (gee, I'm so glad I had a pattern for a catsuit in my size lying around). It is also absolute comfort to wear, as catsuits go (the flat boots help, and damn, spandex is so much comfier than vinyl- who'd have thought??) For all these pros, if I can walk into a Halloween party and the character can be instantly recognizable from a distance, I consider it a success.

Anyway- here's the gallery for this year's costume.
Are you ready for poorly taken, blurry photos?!?

it's really difficult to take pictures of oneself.

another month another... oh, you know

okay. here is the post about stuff with the thing.

Having a week off work gave me tons of free time so as not to stress out about the big move, but at the same time I went completely stir crazy. I crafted like mad, although along with the strict organized side of me, I finished all endevours perfectly on schedule. In no matter what condition.

First off, I cast on and completed this super steampunk aviator hat in three days.
It buckles underneath the chin, wowee.
I used fuzzy cream yarn to line the earflaps to mimic sheepswool.

I accidently clipped an enormous hole in the dead center front of the hat- can't you tell? It was bad. Real bad. As the alternative was chucking the whole thing and starting over (the only reason I didn't: wouldn't have enough brown yarn for another), I patched it up hastily with little regards to the appearance.

The inside is a mess of retarded intarsia.

I would like to remake it a size bigger, with less mistakes and lined completely with that fuzzy yarn, because it's awesome and was such a quick knit nonetheless, considering.

This month's Masq was "cult movie" themed.

me and my Masq posse.

Is it bad that I already owned most of the components of Amber Sweet's "Zydrate Anatomy" outfit? (as well as a Lydia outfit from Tim Burton's 1989 "BeetleJuice" for Meaghan?)
....don't answer that.
(here I am intimidating Kitt, as Shilo. If only they had played the actual song-- as we were perfectly prepared to reenact the scene)

Seriously, besides the lace for the bolero and the beaded trim and sequined elastic I dismantled to adorn the corset and the bra, I only needed buy the wig.
I was dying to share my costume-making technique with other party-goers (who I assumed would know about Repo?!) Mostly, I got hit on by girls because I am asian.

So yeah, the "skirt" took about 3 hours to make (a long time, for a bunch of straps) while the bolero took 30 minutes. The bra was hand-beaded, one sequin at a time.
Makeup took a long time too (courtesy of wonderful Meaghan).

I was absolutely freezing all night, due to complete lack of pants. I was wearing TWO corsets (one ultratight elastic, one boned) and was squeezed outta my life. The underbust miracle bodysuit was designed to push tits together so that plus a push-up bra ensured my boobs consistently pointed UP and OUT and painfully so (that is NOT my normal posture, realize).
The false eyelashes were murder, (i'm a lightweight when it comes to contacts to boot) the wig kept sliding around, and I stumbled around on numb, aching feet, my organs packed tightly inside my squashed ribcage, simultaneously sweating and shivering and feeling tripped out of my skull.

At least I was in character.

Another month, another costume party

This month I got creative with a "Mobsters and Dames" themed Masq as a 30's cabaret dancer. I am accompanied by Meaghan, who used awesome makeup skills to perfectly emulate a silent movie actor, a la Clara Bow.

The craft aspect was the sequined bustier (custom-drafted pattern, fully lined, fully boned). It is a MESS but it looks great because the fabric was so forgiving and hid all the mistakes. It was my first time working with stretch sequins.

I have learned:
- stretch fabric is stretchy and needs to be made smaller than normal clothes. (so often i neglect this fact)
- industrial fishnet tights are incredible- they conform to your legs perfectly, retain their shape, and are immune to picks and runs. They are also extremely uncomfortably itchy and feel like fishing net.
- I would like to start designing panties.

P.S: I am spending all my knitting time at Ravelry which is taking significant attention away from this blog- oh my.

P.P.S: I fly to Yellowknife in exactly a month and must now face the dilemma of bringing a sewing machine and tons of fabric and supplies up there, oh lordy.

** photo credit goes to Paul Smith

Repo! Costume Awesome and then some...

Wow, monthly update.
Okay- I was going to keep this a secret but supposedly I was to finish a project a week and feature it immediately thus update around once a week. That's um.....you know. not gonna happen.
I got some things accomplished.... including (yes, they are in bullet form)

• house cleaning
• remaking Mattie the mannequin (updated pattern and the padding is sewn more-or-less into place so she can now be stripped off the mannequin with padding relatively intact)
• a strange felting attempt (not featured)
• designing a new tattoo
  
• party hosting
• knitting

-- this was actually completed before Christmas- it was a present for my sister.

she loved it, by the way! It looked so good I wanted to jump on the tam-o-shanter bandwagon myself.

*jump*

... oh yeah. and

• REPO! the genetic opera costumes!!!!!!

These were completed in my free time over a few days- I was seriously bootin' it.
There was a seriously bastardized version of costume construction going on with every corner cut possible- barely any tracing of pattern (cut the fabric directly around it instead) modifying the pattern during cutting, draping after initial construction and by the very end... some double-sided tape.
from left: Nathan Wallace, Not-quite-Blind Mag, Amber Sweet and a Genetic Opera-goer.

I made the jacket ("Legal Assassin") for Nathan from a modified bathrobe pattern. Got the exact buttons from the button jar at work. After some searching, the glasses were bought at Ardene (stop laughing)- they were super-cheap and had fake lenses (better than screwing up Mr. 20/20's vision with real glasses) but had a really terrible tortoiseshell pattern. Solved with a coat of acrylic paint. Dress pants and authentic Anthony Stewart Head hairline already owned.

The hooded dress was merely inspired by Mag's "Chase the Morning" outfit-- how could I afford/what would I do with a holographic snakeskin coat? Instead, the total materials cost $30. The lace was on sale for buy-one-meter-get-three-free and the stretch velvet underlay was sent to me by accident by a fabric company and well... free.

I gotta give props to Meag's Amber Sweet ("Extra scene during the credits") costume as well. That shit was goddamn authentic, down to the knotted necklace and the white contacts (so creepy!).

Yeah, the party was pretty awesome. Blue curacao (sp?) Zydrate shooters (I can't feel nothing at all!) incessant sing-alongs to the soundtrack and BIG SCREEN PROJECTION (see the window behind me? not a window covering. movie screen.) with surround sound. For someone who never got to see it in theatres, it was the closest I was ever going to get.

Wasn't sure what to do with myself once it was all over (kinda been hyped up for weeks). Now that I've seen it 3 times in a row, I can pace myself now.

Luckily there is the 1st Haliblogaknittas gathering to be psyched about- will most likely report on that next. If not- you know- in another month or two.