Tiger Lily's Threads

Back in October, the Ellicott City B&O Railroad Museum announced that they were going to renovate the historic red caboose (stripping and possibly gutting the entire 1930's train car from the inside out to bring it back to its former glory).  With permission from the museum,   my brother and I took this perfect opportunity to  experiment with his camera and take  some victorian themed shots b efore they closed the car off for the next several weeks .  Though I cannot speak on my brother's behalf as his opinions are very much different than mine, I can say that experimenting with lights & shadows, subject placement and perspective (worms-eye view vs. birds-eye view) was something of a challenge; the natural lighting from inside the museum made things very dark and shadowy on camera - considering Jared does not have any lighting equipment yet other than his camera. To counteract with that, we had to move around a lot to get the right lighting; the out...

Last week I was asked by my good friend Heather, to make her an outfit for her steampunk themed vending booth for an upcoming anime convention. She didn't want anything elaborate and complicated such as a floor length Victorian walking gown or anything flashy like a heavily cogged bodice.  SO MANY COGS! However, the request for something practical and comfortable seemed to come to mind. Also, everything would be due on Friday! I started this on Sunday.  So after our trip to JoAnn Fabrics, we grabbed patterns from the Simplicity line. A vest from Simplicity 8023 and an A-line skirt from 1369.  While making the skirt, I was immediately faced with a few tiny challenges: installing pockets into the front of the skirt, and installing the waistband with elastic (when the pattern does not call for it). I had to do a lot of trial and error in order to get the skirt to look right; otherwise it was pretty easy to knock out in two days.  The ves...

There's 2 weeks until Halloween and I have nothing to wear!                                 Well, that's not entirely true. Sure I have a lot of cosplays and a whole wardrobe full of 18th and early 19th century dresses at arm's length (get the pun?), however that's my dilemma: I have so many outfits, I just can't decide what to wear!  ...So... Ultimately, I've decided to just go with my new outfit I'm working on. This is mostly because I've already got 5 yards of fabric that was in the queue to be another victorian gown, and given that I live and work in an old Civil War/ Victorian town anyway, why not wear it for Halloween? CONSTRUCTION Choice of Fabric: Olive/Purple Tartan Plaid shirt fabric; purple quilting cotton fabric (lining for the jacket) Pattern: Simplicity 1558 and Truly Victorian Year: 1885 Notions: hooks & eyes; purple cotton thread, snaps...

Wow, what a weekend! Where do I begin? This year, Otakon 17 has been moved from Baltimore, to Washington DC. This means bigger space and more things to see and do. However when my husband and I arrived at the Washington Convention Center, we were awestruck with what we saw. The convention center was so large compared to the BCC in Baltimore, that it was like stepping inside the Tardis from Doctor Who (bigger on the inside); in addition to the WCC, Otakon also had events running in the Marriott next door! As a result, Otakon surprisingly not crowded at all this whole weekend!  The second thing about the convention that was new, were the bag inspections at the door. Given the recent incident at a convention in Phoenix ComiCon this past May, a lot of conventions have now taken security measures by conducting weapons and bag checks; as a result of how smooth the line moved from outside to the check in counters, things went by very fast. Speaking of lines going by very fa...

When I first started sewing in 2014, I was only making small projects that were such as pillow cases, and baby things, but as I took on the challenges to start making historical costumes, the projects were few and far in between, mostly due to finances and my work schedule. But with what I could muster up, I have to say that I was pretty proud of what I could do for the first time.  1770's Formal Robe L'anglaise Regency Reticule Regency Bonnet Chemisette 1871 Victorian Bustle skirt Magenta & Orange fingerless mitts (not posted) Steampunk jewelry (not posted) Outlander Cowl (not posted) Now that I'm looking forward to my 2015's projects, I have accrued a short list (so far) and will be working on them very soon. Elsa's ice dress from Disney's Frozen Historical Fortnightly January Challenge: Foundations  My Husband's 18th Century waistcoat (need to finish) Doctor Who Scarf (It's going to take 4 months)  Husband's 1812 n...

So.. It looks like I have worked myself to exhaustion. After spending more than 109 hours on the flounced petticoat, I am ready to toss it in the basket and work on something else. So, to grab some variety and sanity, I finally cut out the pattern for my husband's long awaited 18th century waistcoat, and did some knitting. Looking at my calendar, I still have plenty of time to finish the petticoat before the convention and the challenge #20 for the Historical Sewing Fortnightly, but as for now, I'm just going to take a long awaited break.