shiny leopardly people

My life isn't all glitter and glitz.

Just today, really.

I will admit, my life is better in every way since my dress form came to live with me.  

I haven't fully bolted her into position (a few wing nuts are missing - story of my life, really) and I have no time to make her cover, but she's been pressed into immediate service anyway.  

She makes everything easier.

Girl child has nicknamed the dress form 'Other Mother'.  Coraline by Neil Gaiman fans will recognize that one.  Sometimes she hugs her Other Mother and tells on me to her.  

Don't tell girl child, but I sometimes tell on her to Other Mother too.  

Reconstructed bustle = skirt + shirt front

Both the bustle and the jacket below are costume pieces for the evil but fashionably trendy enchantress in girl child's children's theatre group.

This jacket has been changed so very many times.  It started its second life at the thrift store as a jacket with faux shirt and pencil skirt underneath.  The faux skirt and shirt came off.  Part of the shirt front became the front for the bustle.  The skirt front became the mount for the ruffles.  To give it some flash, I changed the sleeves out to gold, in addition to adding the ruffles, of course, and the collar piece.

I didn't do a super awesome job on the top of the ruffles because I was A, very tired and B, planning on covering the whole shebang with a bow.  Next time it'll be better.  Girl child will make sure there is a next time also - discovering that her mother can, indeed, make gold ruffles was somewhat life changing to her and her sense of style.

After fitting the dress on the actress I realized the gold sleeves weren't working for anybody and decided to instead repurpose a pair of leopard print tights I found on the sidewalk down the street, still in the packaging.  The cap sleeve is lined with some medium weight iron in interfacing and will be accented by a pair of arm warmers also made from the tights.  Because nothing says evil witch like arm warmers in gold and leopard print, right?

I am almost (hopefully) done my sewing for the enchantress character, which now includes the jacket, the bustle, a faux velvet knit dress, two under skirts with lace trim, a mega-sequined bolero and a cape.  There is a little matter of a fur lined caplet left to handle, but I'm going to give myself a couple more days to let that marinate while I figure out what exactly to do.  And then there will be the generous application of sequins to, well, everything.  Blinging is a theatre skill I am still acquiring but I am trying to do so good natured-ly by attempting to suspend of my disbelief.

All of this sewing is greatly facilitated by Other Mother.  I can't believe I've been sewing this long without her.  Ridiculous!

I have this vague notion that I should be doing some sort of sewing tutorial at some point in the near future.  If there is something here that catches your eye, let me know, and I'll see if I can supply some more details.