Past Projects - Minnesota Renaissance Festival 2010

My sister Gretchen and I had a blast at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival over Labor Day weekend 2010. I made both of our costumes, adding a new underskirt and sleeves to my Blue Gown from the Michigan Renaissance Faire the previous year.  

Past Projects - Green Renaissance Gown

I made this costume in 2010 for my sister Gretchen.  She wore to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival with me that September.

Past Projects - Audrey Hepburn

I received a lovely compliment today.  The mother of one of the brides I worked with told me my dress made me look like Audrey Hepburn!  ♥  This reminded me that I haven't posted pics of my Halloween costume from 2009 yet.  I went as Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I wear my sunglasses at night.

Black Corset Redo

So I decided at the very last minute to enter the costume contest at Celebration VI.  By "last minute," I mean last night, and entries needed to be postmarked by today.  :p  I'm entering with my Padmé Corset Gown, and in order to be comfortable in it I need to remake the corset.

The good news is, I still have black satin left over from the first time around, so it will still match the gloves.

It's very heavy and has a nice sheen to it, and I've actually had people mistake it for leather.  This makes me happy, as I believe the original corset was leather, and I want to at least look screen-accurate.  With that in mind, this time around I am not going to make it lace up in the back, as the original costume does not.  My plan is to have a front closure with either a busk or an invisible zipper, which will be hidden by the necklace strands.

Past Projects - Padmé Light Blue Tatooine Gown

This is my take on Padmé's light blue Tatooine gown from Star Wars:  Attack of the Clones.  It was the third costume I wore to Celebration III - a Star Wars convention in May 2005.  I plan on remaking this one in the future, as the fabric I used the first time is too heavy, and doesn't drape or flow nicely.  

Past Projects - My Kaylee Parasol

I realized after I posted all my Kaylee costume pics the other day that I never took a picture of the top of the parasol!  After all the work I put into it...  Anyway, that is all.  :)

Past Projects - Kaylee from Firefly/Serenity!

"Ever sail in a Firefly?"

Kaylee was my first non-Star Wars costume.  I made it for Halloween in 2006, and had a blast wearing it around campus at Coe College.  I had a theatre tech lab that semester in the scene shop, so this costume proved as practical as it was comfortable.  When I got hydraulic oil on my hands I just wiped them on the jumpsuit, which only made the outfit more authentic since Kaylee is a mechanic!  :p  

Past Projects - Stage Makeup Class

In the spring semester of 2008 I took an awesome class at Coe College - Stage Makeup!  I learned the proper way to create highlights and shadows for an ideal stage face, as well as how to manipulate those elements to create a variety of facial shapes - from stoutness to thinness.  We also did old age makeup, period makeup, scars & wounds, animal stylization, and fantasy.  I took pictures of my favorites - see more after the break!

Past Projects - Michigan Renaissance Faire 2009

Every girl's a sucker for a knight in shining armor...  or even just armor.  

The 2009 Michigan Renaissance Faire was such a blast!  Although I lived in Iowa at the time, I made the seven-hour trip out to Grand Rapids over Labor Day weekend to visit my cousin Melissa.  Saturday morning we made the much shorter trip (only two hours) to Holly, Michigan for the Faire.  It was well worth the effort, and I had a grand time walking around in my beautiful costume.

Past Projects - Blue Renaissance Gown

A rough mock-up of the finished gown

Although not my first attempt at making a Renaissance era costume, this is the first one I actually completed.  I wore it to the Michigan Renaissance Faire in September of 2009.  According to my construction notes, I started working on it a month before...