Update and Qarth Pattern Pieces

It's winter time! Yay!

Just a quick update...I'm currently working on my corset for my steampunk Jedi costume (still!) and also just started a Victorian era coat that I'm making out of some amazing forest green velvet <3. It'll be pretty formal and floor length. I'm also about to start a blush pink silk renaissance/medieval era dress to wear to my first SCA event this Christmas-time! Wewt!

Also, I had someone request that I post the patterns that I used for my Qarth dress...so voila!

Above is the shoulder piece that I used. If anything it's a little wide on me. The dimensions are 5"x7.5" for reference.

 Above is the belt which is 6.25" in the front-middle part and I guess the scan is 11" long as standard. Below is more of the pattern but it wouldn't scan the whole 16.5" pattern I made. As I mentioned in my other post, I edited my design so that there was a front half and a back half that connect at the sides as opposed to how I drew the pattern here (which would have an unsightly joining in the front!). My waist was under 16.5"x2 (aka 32") but I drew extra because it's easy to cut off extra but much harder to add it on.

I hope this is useful! Let me know if you have questions/comments/etc and I'll try and help!

May the Force be with you! LLAP

-Lee Ann

General Tutorial for Danaerys Targaryen Quarth Dress

The Lady Rogues -- Dragon*Con 2013

Salutations!

So about a month before DragonCon 2013 I decided I wanted to do one of Dany's dresses from Game of Thrones. I initially was planning to do Stahma Tarr from Defiance, but decided that body paint in the heat and high humidity of Atlanta was a bad idea...SO, since I already had the white wig and it looked a lot like Khaleesi BAM!

This dress happened to be my favorite color and seemed pretty simple to make...so I took a shot. I'll start off with how I made the shoulder pieces and the belt. These were the most time consuming parts and you need the shoulder pieces in order to start the dress. When I was researching the costume, I came across a lot of different ways that these pieces had been done, such as Warbla, laser-cut acrylic, craft foam, hot glue, leather, etc. Since I didn't want to wait for Warbla to get mailed to me and I've never really worked with craft foam or leather I got a little creative and dropped a whopping $2.99 on some plastic placemats at my local base exchange (aka the Air Force Walmart...). The placemats worked great, they are sturdy and hold their shape, and they took the spray paint really well.

First, I made patterns for the shoulder pieces on regular paper (I can scan them and post them if anyone cares...) and then traced them onto the placemat with Sharpie. Next, I used a Dremel tool and a steel all-purpose engraving bit (it's triangle shaped) to cut all of it out. ((Human Factors disclaimer: don't Dremel for more than 30 minutes at a time - take a break - because of repetitive stress injury from the vibrations and awkward sitting and hand positions etcetc.)) I also tried the 561 all-purpose drill-bit but it didn't work as well. Also, it's not shown here but I dremeled really tiny holes at the top and bottom for when I hand-stitched the pleated dress fabric onto the shoulder pieces. I used a ruler and evenly marked the distance with a Sharpie. The holes were about twice the size of my sewing needle.

Placemat material

Top: Plastic Placemat, Bottom: Foam

 
Also, just out of curiosity I had some light weight sticky-backed foam left over from something-or-another so I tried exacto knifing out the pattern and spray painting it. The bottom one on the left is foam and the top is the plastic placemat for comparison. Foam looked a bit too crafty for my liking so I continued on to the belt with placemats. I think needed 3 placemats for the whole project.

 Next, I started the "fun" process of drawing out a pattern to use for the belt. This took a few hours...cutting it out took a few more and was the biggest pain in my arse for the whole project. Again, if anyone cares or wishes, I'll scan and post the pattern to save some time.

I measured my waist and then sketched out ~17inches which was half. In hindsight I would've added some extra length to make closing the belt easier but whateves. I figured I would do half completely and then just mirror it for the other half...which appears to be how her belt is anyway since it is symmetric in the middle.

However, when I went to cut pieces out of the placemat I realized that I would have to do a front piece and a back piece due to the length (18in) of the placemat. So I changed the plan a bit...but it worked out great.

Paper belt pattern

Front belt piece, partially dremeled

Finished Dress at Dragon*Con 2013

 To attach the front and back pieces I stitched one side of the front to one side of the back with gold thread. To close the belt I used large flat hook and eye attachments meant for clothing. I dremeled tiny holes in the edges and sewed  the hooks and eyes onto opposing sides of the belt using gold thread again. This was super sturdy and really easy to get on/off...however I (like Dany) was lucky enough to have the help of handmaidens getting into and out of this costume :)


Fabric was cheap polyester chiffon from JoAnn Fabric (cost was ~$40 for 6 yards with 40% off coupon!). Edges were rolled hem with a serger...some were classy rolled hem with a hemmer foot - but that thing is evil and wicked hard with chiffon and therefore I didn't have the patience to do the whole dress with it lol.

Rolled hem with serger

I hand-sponged the fabric with gold 'soft' fabric paint using a few different small sea-sponge. In hindsight I wish I had been a bit more heavy handed with the gold paint. If I redo this costume with better fabric (actual silk chiffon), I might try hand-laying gold leaf. Just make sure to use something beneath the fabric when you're sponging it on, because it bleeds through like crazy.

The wig was super cheap, from eBay. Again, wish I had gotten a better quality, but for $10 it's pretty decent. I braided the wig to get the crimped look and then wetted and hairsprayed the braids. I should have boiled it to really make it set...but luckily my friend Kat was able to brush it out and style it amazingly <3.

 For the dress itself, I followed the tutorial here: http://www.idothingsilove.com/2013/03/how-to-make-daenerys-qarth-gown.html

The tutorial is amazing...and I probably would've way over-thought this dress without it. Yay for doing research on costumes before you start them! She also has a lot of other neat tutorials so check it out!

I think that's all for now...let me know if I've derp'd and have typos or if you have questions <3

MTFBWYA,
Mother o' Dragons ^_^

And more pictars because it pleases me....

Fit test...with dragon!

MLIA

So I'm prepping my costumes and saving ze monies for my upcoming trip to Hotlanta for Dragon*Con 2013. It's not very adventurous or intersting (yet) hence the title "MLIA" (aka my life is average).

Do you ever feel like your life is boring? Or like even beyond boring to booo-ring? I used to be such a badass. I probably would've been voted 'most likely to die doing something extreme' or something like that in high school. Now I'm married, I don't work, don't have kiddos, I kind of study neuroscience (meh), and I don't feel awesome or extreme anymore. I suppose I do Kung Fu...which is pretty badass...and I have purple in my hair (because I don't want to wait until I'm 80 to do this!).

Anyway, I digress. MLIA.

Costumes I'm planning and trying to finish ASAP (any friends who costume know that they will never be finished! lol) I'm going to do my old Mara Jade imperial costume, going to attempt a Femme Darth Maul, going to attempt a non-slutty Stahma Tarr outfit. The MJ is done but could probably use some updates and new ranks. The Lady DM is within a day or two of solid work to be done (but I need to get material for the robes blargh! Add 1 day). Stahma isn't even started...it will be a pretty ballsy undertaking....and I haven't done anything on it yet since I'm trying to finish the Maul >_<.

I wish my life were a little less average... mais c'est la vie >_<

MTFBWY,
Lee Ann

Swearing Helps.

I'm always surprised by the people who love existential angst...aka drama.

Sure, I keep a "happy" journal and an "emo" journal but they always seem to be getting muddled together. A consequence of existential angst I guess. Or laziness of trying to match a journal entry to my mood...

Whenever I've found myself in interesting or challenging life situations recently, I've been trying to adopt the custom of asking myself "How can I learn from this? How can I grow as a person? How do I use this experience and keep moving forward?" Sometimes it's easy: be more patient, be kinder/gentler with your words. Well hot damn. I don't know sometimes...and then I generally find that swearing helps.

Particularly the eff word in my case. I don't know why but after I've written it out in a journal I usually feel better. Got this message below in my daily emails from "the universe"  -- they usually are cute and cheery...and sometimes eerily true. Don't know how it particularly relates right now...but meh, don't care so much.

Sometimes, Lee Ann, when circumstances or disappointments bump you off track, it's the beginning of an even bigger dream coming true, that could not have come true on the track you were on.

Yeah, always.

Always, always -
    The Universe

Calvin and Hobbes also had a little comic that said "Life's a lot harder to take when you don't know any good swear words." Which I also like. Urgh.

Insert swear words here.
That's all for tonight I think.

MTFBWY... 

Great success.

They say the first step is always the hardest. I'm not sure if I've taken my first step or not yet...but I had a pretty productive day today so I'll put a tally in my box vs. life's.

Things that I accomplished: kitchen cleaned, vacuumed, garden watered and tended, Rx picked up, groceries bought, wushu'd, and then gym'd. Since I went to wushu I did arms at the gym with the PT...they are kind of in dead-mode now but pain is weakness leaving the body.

I am: fierce, compassionate, intelligent, wise, graceful, honest, and loving. These are my qualities and essence words :).

So I was flipping through my La Vita Nueva journal to find my essence words that I wrote down a while back and came across some other random crapola that I really liked...so here it is (it was in gold in the journal...):

What do I want? 
Where do I want to go from here? 

EVERYTHING in your life has lead you here to this moment -- RIGHT NOW. 

Live for joy! Is there really anything else for us in life? Why do we do things? Answer: To become more joyous! Duh!

What makes me happy and joyous?

Also, on a side note...I've been seeing arrows everywhere lately. I wonder if this is a sign to follow my goal of learning to shoot with a bow and arrow. I'm pretty boss with guns...but I hella suck at arrows...Nate says that I need a lesson and that that will help...I just have this thing with patience and well, not having any. I like things that I'm instantly good at. We'll see. I'll go where the Force leads me and try not to be stubborn. (TRY)

I really think that I need to be more patient with myself as I'm getting back into shape. I know I've lost inches, but the pounds aren't coming off (yay muscle mass). I guess I really shouldn't complain.

I suppose that'll be all for this entry. Nothing mind-blowing, just trying to stay productive and sort "life" out.

Love and MTFBWY
LA

The Journey Begins.

Hello World.

That was my attempt at coding humour. I digress. Isn't it a bit creepy how Google has this blog and it knows everything about me? Or maybe I just forgot I made it a while ago. Either way, it's time for me to start blogging and getting my poodoo together on my daily Jedi experiences.

I start with the personal trainer tomorrow to get back into ass-kicking shape. I'll probably go to Wushu first and the run over to the gym...at least that's the plan. I've been reading Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi Into the Void and it's really interesting. Lots of interesting thoughts on how the Je'daii came to be 25K+ years in the past of where the movies are. Lanoree, the protagonist, is a Je'daii Journeyer...so I've borrowed the rank/status/title as I begin my own Journey :). She still uses a sword; katana or something, that was made by a Force wielding Jedi Master and has cool properties.  I really want to hurry up and learn weapons...especially swords for obvious reasons. Alas, patience is probably what I need to work on. I need to stay focused on doing the forms that I am learning and performing them to the best of my ability. I really need to work on my stamina. I definitely need to work on holding my horse stance...after vacations and life and that three month break from Wushu I've lost my 'chops'. Hopefully the cross training at the gym and the PT will help with this.

Have been thinking about doing an interview style video, showing my skills and acting. Need more confidence though. Wish husband-pants was a bit more supportive of this. I also wish he would have a healthy eating habit(s). I literally blame his mother....but that's a different blog. I'll keep trying to get stuff organized and plan out how this Jedi-Journey thing is going to work out. In the book I mentioned earlier, the Je'daii have different Kesh that are like temples (fighting, force, meditation etc) and they travel around the entire planet and attend all of them in due time. I would like to plan out some stuff like this...I have a friend who's son does Wushu in China perhaps could visit there, meditation in India?, learn a different martial art like Kendo?, meditate at a sangha, practice more yoga and so forth. It'll all come about...I have faith in the Force.

Perhaps I'll an intuitive entry tomorrow. I'll go where the Force sends me and try and be open to all new experiences and ideas. Much love. And, May the Force be with you...Always.

-LA