Happy Christmas!

In the spirit of actually having a holiday and not wearing myself out by trying to do everything this will be my last post until the new year.

Have some totally random photos of a griffin (honest) plushie that I made for a friend.  I can't even remember when/why I gave it to her, but it is kind of cute...

 

Made with brown fleece, gold velvet and some buttons from the button box.  No pattern but I took inspiration from a google image search I think.

Have a lovely Christmas/New Year and I will be back in January with the handmade presents I haven't been able to show you yet and (hopefully) what ever I've been making over the next week!

Party Frock

Late blog post today sorry!  I've been busy working on my last Christmas present all day, then this evening I went out to dinner with my 'craft night' friends.  Which was lovely!  And I wore the dress I'm about to show you!

I made this dress because I needed something to wear to my husband's work Christmas do.  And I figured rather than go give Monsoon a large portion of my money I'd show off my sewing skills a little.  And I love this dress!  So much!  I know, I say that about everything I make (I must come across as a very immodest blogger, I'm sorry, I don't mean too...) but this dress turned out perfectly.  It fits brilliantly, I love the fabric, the pattern was gloriously clear and easy to follow...  Everything was just right!  And I've worn it twice in three days and I'm debating wearing it on Christmas day.  I can't think of anything else I've made for myself that I have such an intense love for.  Anyway, enough prattling on, to the photos!

The pattern is Simplicity 2398, version C but modified to have version A/B straps permanently attached (I'm never going to wear it without straps so why button them?).  The material is embroidered brown taffeta.  I must confess to largely choosing this fabric because it was on sale.  I love brown though and the flowers give the dress just enough detail to be interesting I think, so I don't think it was a bad choice!

Not entirely sure what I'll show you on Thursday, but I'm sure something will inspire me before then!

Fleece Scraps

Morning all!  An early post today as I have unexpected free time this morning!  So, yes fleece scraps.  Remember the Rainbow Coat?  Well due to it's construction and the fact I always over estimate fabric I had quite a lot of fleece leftover.  So I've been making tasselled hats and arm warmers!

This little lot were given as Christmas presents (already opened and admired so I can show them off here) on Saturday.  I made hats for several people and they caused much hilarity as they were put on and funny faces were made.  I'm told the arm warmers will find uses as kit so hooray!

And as you can see here I decided that 'Uvvie'  needed a hat to keep his pointy ears warm!  I have made a few others as well, but sadly failed to take photographs so you'll just have to imagine many hats all like this in a myriad of colours...

Larp Cloak

As promised last week - we're back onto kit!  Here's a cloak I made last week.  Navy fleece (I love fleece) and a gold button and chain clasp make up most of the information about this cloak.  Well that and it was made about a foot shorter than my normal cloaks as the player was worried about falling over the hem.

   Billowing cloak - always a good look!

For extra security it's got fabric ties at waist height so it doesn't billow too much when action is required!

I'm still madly busy with present making, but slowly but surely coming to the end.  On Thursday I plan to show you what I've been making with my fleece left overs!

Patchwork Again...

I don't think I've shown you this blanket yet, despite the fact it's been gracing my sofa for a fair few months now (except when I take it camping anyway).  Anyway, it came to my attention as I photographed the presents on the sofa (can't show you those yet, sorry...) so here it is.

Sorry for the brevity of posts at the moment, but whilst I am really enjoying making things for all my nearest and dearest the time it takes is a lot and it leaves me with nothing to say to you all!  I'd tell you all about the pretty little things I've made except that most of those I make for read this so I can't and keep the surprise!



I'll have a new cloak to show you on Monday and hopefully by next Thursday I'll have some of my steampunk gear photographed but no promises I'm afraid.

Have a great weekend!

Christmas Presents

Again, not much to show on the larp kit front, I've been too busy making Christmas presents!  And as I don't think my husbands side of the family read this blog I thought I'd show you some of the things I've made them!

First up, for my wonderful nieces I wanted something fun, that wasn't clothing (they both enjoy clothes so I buy them stuff fairly regularly and I wanted gifts that are a little different).

As you can see, I opted to make them personalised bunting!  Megan loves blue and her room is pink, she also loves a more ordered look so I went for a simple theme for her.  Charlotte is a little bit more free spirited so I used more colours and went for a more patched effect.  I like both strings but I think Charlotte's would be my favourite if I had to chose!

For my husband's grandmother we've framed a picture I painted a while ago.  I'm not overly gifted in the painting department, but it turns out I can run up an ink and water colour still life reasonably well!

It's the frame that makes a picture though, and I think my wonderful husband did a great job picking this one out!

LARP Guard Kit Makeover

Hey all, super quick post today as I am beyond busy and then some! 

Have a couple of pics of my new guard tabbard and shield cover, both sporting the kingdom defender symbol.  It's amazing what you can do with a spare hour or two, polycotton and an overlocker!

Sunshine in November?  Argh!

I quite like this as a uniform...

And for those who read this and also larp at BLADES, yes Katrin is going for most assorted random uniform ever!

See you all next week!

IC Meal Kit

Firstly, I apologise for the poor quality of this weeks photos.  My camera was given to somebody else for safe keeping during larp and they left early and forgot to hand the camera back, so I'm now cameraless until next weekend.  All of today's photos and Thursdays photos will be taken using my phone.

This also means my mannequin has been drafted in to model!

So today I want to show you all my most impractical frock to date.  It's an over dress of organza, with long droopy sleeves and much fabric in the skirt.

No prizes for guessing which character I wore this as.  I've been wanting to make it for her a long time.  The wispy impracticality of it suits Rainbow down to the ground!  I over locked every seam and raw edge I could, though sadly due to the nature of organza this merely delayed the inevitable fraying, rather than dismiss it totally.






The under dress is a pale lilac poly cotton, trimmed with some ribbon I picked up in a craft shop months ago!

 Due to the nature of the over dress I kept the under dress very plain and simple.  I'm planning a few more over dresses for the future, mostly so I can mix and match and layer up at will!









On Thursday I hope to be able to show you a couple of additions I made to my guards kit.  See you then!

Crochet!

About a year or so ago, I got taught to make crochet granny squares.  I seem to recall blogging about it at the time.  Anyway I decided the idea of having to join lots of little squares sounded scary and tricky (I find crochet and knitting a lot less intuitive than sewing...) so I thought I'd make a large granny square.

It's my lap blanket and is just right to keep the chills off my lap on those rare moments I get to sit on the sofa!  The wool is cheap stuff (I refuse to spend large sums on a hobby until I've gained some level of skill).  I love the green colour and I also love the fact that it matches my cushions so well!

Right - I need to head back to the sewing machine (too many deadlines looming!).  I'll see you on Monday when I'll have a ridiculous organza frock to show off!

I'm Ignorant About Anime

No, really - ask the lodger and she'll back me up on this.  Which is why I can tell you the thing I made on Sunday afternoon is a drill.  And that's all I know about it.  The birthday girl who I gave it to seemed pleased though so it's all good right?

A drill...

 I made it out of leftover scraps of gold stretch velvet (an evil fabric if ever there was one), black fleece and a hefty dollop of invention.

The other thing I have to show you today is much more in my line of sewing!  It's a long tunic that I made up from a design picture I was emailed.  It was an interesting sew, quite fun, but with enough thinking needed to keep it interesting!

 

The material is beige poly-cotton and the buttons are plain wooden shank buttons (so pretty!)  the only trim is dark brown bias binding on the collar.

This week I'm working on Christmas presents and meal kit for Saturday, so I have no idea what I'll be showing you on Thursday!  Something will turn up I'm sure...

New Frock

More non larp stuff to show!  Don't worry, larp clothing will resume next week, but in the meantime look!  I made a dress for me :)

I'm honestly not sure exactly what this fabric is, but it was in my boxes of leftovers and needed using up!  The pattern is Butterick 5030 and I have plans to make at least one more new frock from this pattern.  The only thing I don't like is the belt as really I look better with a wider belt.  That said I love the colour, it was a fairly easy sew and it used up fabric which is always good!

Monday I will hopefully have a tunic to show you.  Have a nice weekend!

So many things to choose from!

I seem to have managed an unusual level of productivity last week, so I have a fair few new bits to show you today.  

 First up - cape and tabbard to look like an improvised uniform.  The cape is corduroy with a fake satin lining (nasty to touch, but colour was deemed more important than fabric!).  The tabbard is poly cotton.  The badge on the tabbard is one of the systems military units.

 

Next - a waistcoat.  Never let it be said that I don't know how to recycle, the waistcoat has been lovingly crafted from an old tablecloth!  I love the buttons on this waistcoat, such pretty wooden ones.

And another cape - this year's characters really do like a good flounce (or at least the ones I'm making for do!).  This is also a corduroy cape, but the cords are much thinner and from a distance it has the appearance of velvet.  The lining is white lining fabric.

 And the final new make to show you - remember a few weeks back I promised Ultra-Violet?  Well I managed to get photos!

I made the under robe for this one.  I drafted the pattern so it's all my own design!  Which is the sort of sewing I like showing on here best, though I dislike the pattern drafting process immensely.  I also made the belt pouches.  The jacket was already owned by Ultra-Violets player and the robe was specifically designed to work underneath it.  It's made of satin dupion and I'm mostly pleased with it.  I think I'd have preferred a deeper pleat at the back though, which is something to remember for next time.

Don't we make a smart group? 

Thursday's post will be a wraparound dress I made last week in between kit sewing.