bellydance – Green Linen Shirt

My last short post announced the wardrobe challenge started by Ashb0 at belle la vie, and I lived through it!

The challenging part for me is that my typical work attire is jeans and a graphic tee; working in a call center fits my “style” rather comfortably. For October, I stayed away from the jeans as much as possible, wearing at least one homemade item per week. By the end, I only missed one post and that’s because I was too busy to take a good picture–more on that later. All of the outfits are on Instagram, but I’ll highlight a few of my favorites here.

Day 8: Literary was devoted to Shakespeare (shocker). I made the earrings, cardigan chain, and skirt. According to Pantone, the bright colors I chose work together this season.

Now, I’m going to take a break for a cute kid alert. The Little Princess wanted a new costume for the faire that would allow her to wear her new bracers, so she finally got the Link tunic and hat that I’d hoped to make her at some point. We didn’t decide until that morning, so I whipped it up in a half hour.

Day 15: Virtual Reality was a day for gaming gear, not necessarily a specific video game, which was Day 16. I knew that I’d end up wearing my Wii hoodie with jeans, so I made it a late night and came up with a Super Mario Bros. dress. I did a sleeveless version of the Colette Laurel dress with a keyhole neckline. The earrings were made by Ashb0 because she’s amazing.

Day 24: Characters – The Doctor was easy. Clearly, I was going to do a Doctor Who outfit, but I have more than a handful of DW tees, costume pieces, even a corset dress, so narrowing it down became making some new bits. Since I don’t have much Eleven love, I decided to go that route. I made a pair of faux suspenders out of red belting that I grabbed at Jomar. They have loops on each end and the belt is passed through them, crossing in the back. The bowtie necklace is made of clay, and I think I might paint it.

Day 26: Ghostly Fashion is the day I was too busy to take a good picture. I had a full day of bellydance–workshops during the day and a show in the evening. My fusion piece was Corpse Bride/Bride of Frankenstein themed so here’s a post-performance headshot (taken during our bedtime routine) and a link to the performance video.

Day 27: Psychosis was more like me than I care to admit. I love saddle shoes and cardigans. I also love “The Bad Seed”…so…there’s that. I made a circle skirt dress with a Peter Pan collar on the first try out of a woven fabric and I managed to make it in such a way that I can slip it on like a t-shirt. When I got to work that morning, a drill had been left on my desk. It was just meant to be.

While all of this madness was happening, I also had to come up with a Halloween costume. I won’t bore you with how it started, but I hope you enjoy the final piece. The corset is by MayFaire Moon and was originally purchased for my X-Wing Fairy. I made the wings out of buckram, play money, cellophane, and copious amounts of acrylic gems and glue. The rest of the outfit is two pieces: an orange underdress with white chiffon sleeves and a white chiffon overskirt with an orange forepart. The fake money is sewn into the skirt trim and origami money butterflies are sewn down the front and pinned into my fro. I used our company logo in obvious ways. Here is my Billing (as in Accounts Receivable) Fairy.

Last month was crazy, and it’s going to take another month to clean and close up shop for the holidays. Regardless, it was totally worth it. I added a lot of jewelry and skirts to my closet. I became so dependent upon the challenge list that I couldn’t remember how to pick out clothes for work this morning. I almost miss wearing a uniform. Anyhoo…

Thanks for hanging in for this two part post! Keep doin’ you!

To begin, there aren’t enough pictures for this post. This month, I was busy with preparations for a bellydance festival, so my crafting was dance heavy. Also, I don’t feel like uploading from my regular camera, so you get cellphone pictures for now. It’s not that I don’t love all six of you, but I wanted to get something out before April.

The Tudor Child arrived, and it’s just as beautiful as the others from The Tudor Tailor. The Tyrant picked out her favorite styles, and she might just get one. We’ll see.

I finished the lace hip scarf, belt, and vest on my performance costume. I’m waiting on the professional photos to come back, but here’s the link to my performance video, if you have a few minutes. I’m very pleased with how it turned out, and I only had one wardrobe malfunction. While I was waiting backstage, one of the jump rings on a belt chain opened, so I found myself at the mercy of a very fabulous vendor, A Case of Random. Earlier in the weekend, she offered to shorten a necklace I purchased, let my mom and me rustle through her plentiful and adorable selection of wrap pants, and entertained my daughter who tried very hard to get at the shinies on the table. I’ll do a short write up on the costume pieces when the pictures come back. In case you’re wondering, this year’s Art of the Belly was the best yet. I recommend the festival for dancers and dance-lovers alike.

This month, I also made a tutu for one of the Tyrant’s classmates and a wedding veil for a friend. I am not a fan of tulle. That is all.

Cleaning my makeup brushes has become a fun exercise thanks to this tutorial. I used to let my brushes go uncleaned for weeks…or longer, but now, I can get the cleaning done in a few minutes and with better results. If you have makeup brushes, you should make this tool.

That’s pretty much it for the month, aside from continued knitting fun with the 4th Doctor’s scarf and some spring cleaning in the work room. I finished separating fabric scraps and ended up with four bags. I alerted Facebook to come and get them, so I’m two bags closer to a less cluttered space.

This month will be focused on the Steampunk World’s Fair. I’ll be completing last year’s entry for the costume contest, and if I love it, I’ll enter it this year. I also need to piece together something to go with my Damsel corset. If I have a couple extra hours, I also want to make a new belt and top for the monthly hafla. We’ll see about that.

If April could pass a little slower than last quarter, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Tag: bellydance

Bringing It Home: Part Two

March Wrap-up