Being Twilight Sparkle for a day

I haven't posted for a while.  It's been a busy few weeks, but I managed to finish my costume!!!!!  I went to the Baltimore Comic Con as Princess Twilight Sparkle! 

An adorable Pinkie Pie and myself as Princess Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Twilight Sparkle with Doctor Who balloons!

Princess Twilight Sparkle (Laurel) with Steampunk Harley Quinn (Jenn)

I can't even begin to tell you how many little girls asked to have their picture with me.  It was so cute!!  I really wish I had gotten more pictures of myself though...  I plan on wearing the costume again for Halloween so I'll make sure to get pictures then.  I'm also planning on making a Spike costume for Lily (my chihuahua).

OK so now on to the costume.  The dress was modeled after the Twilight Sparkle from the MLP movie "Equestria Girls":

The dress was McCall 6283.  I didn't deviate from the pattern because I didn't have much time to complete it.  I originally was planning on a corset and steampunk inspired skirt until I saw the movie and realized I'd rather be that version Twilight Sparkle.  Unfortunately I already had lavender and purple costume satin in my stash because I would have gone out to get the exact color of the dress.  I still think it turned out well!

The wings definitely took the most time to complete.  I probably worked a good 20 hours on them.  I constructed the skeleton from 12 gauge wire, made the large feathers by from craft foam (they're also textured to look like real feathers), and hand dyed all of the other feathers.  It was a

The horn and ears were made from Model Magic and were incredibly lightweight (so lightweight that I didn't even notice them on).

I don't think I'll EVER want to make wings again - but I'm sure I will.  I loved having wings!!  I do know that I will probably never dye feathers again.  That was just awful.

So now begins the task of deciding what costume to do for next year.  I'm taking suggestions, so let me know in the comments!

Unfocused musings

The most amazing thing happened to me last night while I was doing the mock up for my dress:  IT WAS A WHOLE SIZE TOO BIG!!  [5 second dance party].  It was an exciting feeling.  Now I get to remake it in the next smaller size...or keep eating the cake in front of me until it fits.

Before I started my dress I tried my hand at simple home decor.  Draperies to be specific.  Draperies for the window that my sewing table faces.  I figure this is the best window to do first because it's the one that stares at me the most.

Nothing fancy (it's actually muslin).  Just enough to feel a little more put together.  I have been looking for the perfect fabric to do something for this window but I haven't quite found it.  The colors I want to use in this room are blue, green, and brown.  It's strange.  Now that I finished this micro-project, I keep walking around the house looking at all of the curtains that I can upgrade.  This is going to turn into an expensive hobby.

Back to my dress.  I'm putting together Butterick 5322 (the boat neck version).  The pattern looks simple enough, until I got to pinning the bodice.  Pinning around the bust area was tricky!!  I need to figure out the trick with that because it shouldn't have taken me so long.  I have a fabric already picked out for this but I want to get the technique down before I start cutting into it.   It wouldn't be difficult to replace if I do ruin it though.  Sage green broadcloth cotton:

I also need to figure out how to stay focused instead of jumping between projects!!  In my defense, it's quite challenging to do when I have all this pretty fabric laying around and adorable patterns waiting to be taken out of their envelopes.  I'm going to have an epic UFO (un-finished objects) box...

I'm thinking of entering my first patternreview.com contest: the mini-wardrobe contest.  Originally I thought it was to make a wardrobe of mini clothes (Lily the chihuahua has an extensive wardrobe just begging for additions).  The rules actually are to make 4 articles of clothing and use only those pieces to make 4 outfits.  Sounds like fun!  Maybe that will keep me remotely focused after (if) I finish my costume.