Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

We went to Pearl Harbor last December while my parents were visiting Hawaii. We took my 5year old nephew, so I didn't get a lot of pictures as I was the one watching him. We had a really good time. I don't remember the day we went, but it was almost Christmas. We were a little sad that we didn't go on Dec. 7th.  

 

Bubbs really liked the hands on stuff.

He is really interested in how things work and had a lot of fun with the telescope.

My nephew and my younger brother posing with the large artillery gun.

He could have played a gunner all day long if we would have let him.

Two cool dudes, and two of my favorites. :)

It is amazing how big this gun is.

That is only a fraction of what is at Pearl Harbor, maybe I will get my mom's pictures and post some of them.

Busy Semester

This semester has been full of a lot of fun projects. I wanted to take classes that were fun and would help me with costuming and sewing. So I managed to take Costume Crafts, Theater Make up, Tai chi and yoga, and to top it of with something more academic- Psychology of Love. 

I will post my makeup class work separate, here I am going to focus on the costume craft projects.

First- a Chainmail belt

This project was a lot of fun. I missed the first week of school, so I had to jump right into it.

This took a lot of work, but surprisingly, I really enjoyed making this.

Here is the belt in action :). I made it for my brother for his birthday.

Next project of the semester

Puppets!

Lucy the Slut from Avenue Q, I thought she had a cute design. The University is doing this production next fall semester and my professor is the designer for the show. She got a grant to have a puppet maker to come and teach us how to make puppets so we could get them ready for next season.

Close up of Lucy's face.

Look, we have a nose..... We were told to first make paper cut outs of the features to see if we like the size and design for the face.

The lips just after being cut out and placed on the face.

My brother thinks she looks like Gollum, I don't think he is too far off.

Her eyes are made out of kitchen spoons. I love projects where you can use found items to make the project perfect. :)

Lucy, I had a lot of fun working on her.

Here I am with my little girl. Oh she grew up so fast. We didn't get to finish the puppets, but all the pieces are done and will be assembled during the summer and next fall. The production will be the second of the season.

Sad to say I did not take any production pictures.  Buckram hats were the final project in this class. I love how my hat turned out. I fell in love with this fabric but I really didn't expect it to turn out so well. The embellishments on the hat are items I had lying around the house. The flower jewels are from a necklace an aunt bought me for my 18th birthday, the necklace broke and can't be fixed and look good.

Costume Commission

Last summer I had a costume commission I had worked on. I had meant to post it on here, but I moved the day after I finished it and got distracted..... moving to Hawaii will do that...

So here I am, finally posting the project

Here is the finished costume, I was commissioned to make a costume that had a Revolutionary period look. However, I believe it is for a Cosplay for Prussia from Hetalia.

   

Here are the pictures that were the inspiration for the costume.

There are a few differences between the inspiration and the finished piece.

I forgot to take a picture of the shirt in progress, but here is the vest before it was finished. I liked the idea of using a brocade fabric for the vest, I wanted it to have the look of nobility and wealth.

The pants look a little funny since the dress form is not designed for pants. The vest here is only roughed out and not lined. The pattern I had was not small enough for the measurements I had, so I made some adjustment before I finished it off. (It was quite the headache, but worth it in the end) 

 

I really like the look of the jacket with out the sleeves. I think I will have to make another one with out the sleeves. By the by, the gold edging is all hand stitched, it took some time but I wanted it to look more authentic and not glued on.

I used hooks to close the sleeves and the collar. I didn't want to have ties, I thought it would distract from the overall affect and it would have been too bulky.

Here is it finished without the jacket. The ruffle of lace is detachable and can be adjusted to any neck size. 

Finished piece. I really like how it turned out. The only thing I think I would change would be rounding the corners of the jacket. I don't know, but I think it would look better rounded off.

This project had a few hitches that made it a little frustrating to get going and finished, but all and all I am happy with how it turned out. I am still waiting for pictures of it being warn by the person who commissioned it, but these work well enough.

I hope I will get some other commissions to do some more things like this. However, I think I will need to do something simpler or charge more for something as involved as this.

Long time no see ;)

Ok, I really can't believe how long it has been since I last posted anything here. I have been more like a ghost here in the net. I check all my messages, but I haven't really done anything on any of the sites I frequent.

One day I sat and thought of how little I had done online. I was sad that I had a boring life and didn't have anything to share. My thoughts and opinions are hard to articulate in a pleasing manner, so that wouldn't do. I hadn't done anything spectacular in a while and I hadn't gone anywhere amazing. I was just boring. Then it hit me. I was totally wrong. The last half of 2012 I had lived in Hawaii and had amazing experiences with amazing people. I moved home and went back to school the beginning of this year. This last semester has been full of amazing things. I have made a hat, chain mail belt, a puppet for a stage production, and took a theater makeup class. I even have a few projects I am starting now that it is summer. I am going to try and play a little catch up. I have so much to share. I tend to be a little lazy, so we'll see how fast I get going on all of these posts. (If I would just stop wasting so much time on Facebook and use that time productively I will be set)

Etsy

Ok, so I have decided to launch an etsy business. I am going to be doing custom made costumes and clothing. So far I don't really have much up there, it is in the "construction" stage while I get everything set up.

I will be taking orders for custom made items as well as making duplicates of items I have already made. I will be designing and making costumes in the coming months and will be selling them. If there is anything you would like to see me make send me a message and I will try and get it going. As I make these items I will be posting my progress here, so keep checking here to see what is new.

Go Check out my Etsy shop: tegwenianthe.etsy.com

Latest Piece

I have been working on a costume for a friend for her trip to Kami Con. It is a Traditional Hungarian costume.
So here are the designs and the progress up to the finished product.

Ok, so the design is hard to see, I will try and upload a new one so you can see it better.

Here I have the body of the blouse done.

Now for the skirt. I wanted to wait to do the sleeves, I just couldn't wait to start on the skirt.

Now to add the vest. I was so excited for the vest. :D

Finally I have the sleeves! at this point we went and had a fitting before I added the embroidery, so nothing is quite finished yet.

Here it is, the fished product! I managed to finish this at 5:45am after an all nighter, so I don't have any wonderful pictures of it to share with you.

I got this to her the night before she flew off for the con. So as soon as she gets back I will get more pictures with better detail. You can't see the embroidery on the sleeves and the embroidery on the vest is a little hard to see in great detail.

Little Squishy Red Sponge

There once was a little squishy red sponge who was so eager to love everyone and be loved in return. She set off in search for friends to fill her heart and life. The Little Squishy Red Sponge seemed to have an endless capacity for all she met. She happily embraced all that would let her and she shared her heart and life with them. She was so happy with all she had in her little squishy heart. She was content with her little world.

Before long, though, some people she had let in carelessly left taking bits and pieces with them. While some others thoughtlessly picked at her destroying little bits and pieces of her. Frightened and hurt she desperately tried to pick up the little bits and pieces she could find and left, clinging to who she had left, and went to find a place where she could be safe. She built up walls and fences to protect her and went on living and loving those she still had. She was confused but kept on loving.

It did not take long before the few people she had left in her little heart also started picking at her. This time there were not little bits and pieces lost, but large pieces were taken and cruelly crumbled and scattered all around, discarded as not. Again the little squishy red sponge tried to pick up the pieces, but she couldn’t find many of them. The wind had blown some pieces of her far and away, while others were taken by birds, and yet others were lost to time and the elements. She was devastated and surprisingly hollow.

The Little Squishy Red Sponge, hurt and lost, left the walls and fences she had built to protect herself and made the long journey home. She was alone, broken and shriveled, to tired and scared to let any one in. She carefully avoided everything as she made her way back to her home.

To her surprise, her family embraced her and loved her when she arrived home from her long journey. They took her in and started to mend the holes so carelessly made in her and in her heart. Piece by piece was mended and replaced, though some could never really heal. Before long she started to feel like her old self. But she knew she could not stay where she was forever. She was happy, but needed more.

With what little courage she could muster, the Little Squishy Red Sponge set off for a far away place to find more of herself. Her travels led her to a magical place, a place she scarce dare dream existed. The people in this magical place embraced her. They took her in and opened their hearts to her. For the first time she was the one who was embraced and loved. She was needed, and she needed them. They loved and nurtured her and in time the Little Squishy Red Sponge was able to let people in again. She was happy and contented with her life.

But life does not stand still and the time soon came for the Little Squishy Red Sponge to go back to the place she came from. The people who had so warmly embraced her were sad at her departure, but were happy at how far she had come while she was with them. To keep her near and always in their hearts they took a piece of her and as a gift they gave a piece of them to keep near to her heart. Armed with their love and a piece of them she left and made the long journey home.

Once back home the Little Squishy Red Sponge set off to find a place for herself in the world. She was scared, but ready to live her life again. She started to build a life, she started to let people in again, but things did not change. She soon found people picking away at her again. Determine to never be broken and shriveled again she started to build a fortress to protect herself. She soon shut out everyone from her life and only clutched to the piece of her friends that had given to her. She was lonely but safe.

Not long after shutting herself up in her fortress she realized a life of loneliness was not a life she wanted to live. She was heartbroken at the thought of being alone and also at the thought of being hurt. But the thought of forever being alone was too much for the Little Squishy Red Sponge to take. So she decided to take short ventures out of her fortress to try to find someone to let into her life. She was scared but determined.

Before long the Little Squishy Red Sponge found some friends. She was not ready to let them in, but she was glad to have someone to go to when she was feeling too lonely. Little by little she started to let them in, but never far enough to hurt her. Her new friends would invite her to do things with them, but she was unsure.

One day she felt the urge to accept an invitation of her new friends to go out with them. She was excited and scared. But something wonderful happened while she was out. She unexpectedly met someone. He sat by her and opened up to her. They talked and talked. She found someone she could easily talk to and felt comfortable around. He was always so kind and thoughtful. She did not know what to think about this new turn of events. She was scared to let him in for fear of being hurt and broken, but she desperately longed to have him in her life and heart. She started to have hope.

This is a work in progress. I am not sure how this is going to end. I suppose I don't know how it is going to end because it hasn't happened yet.