It's windy outside, I'm drinking chai, eating sardines, life is good.

Jackets & Coats, Jackets & Coats

First post of a new year, and with that, first things first: Happy New Year!


I did a bit of sewing over the holidays; mostly alterations/re-purposing on 'big-people clothes' as I tend to to call them, in comparison to the usual miniature size. Happily, I worked on some of the latter as well and learned some valuable things along the way. Namely - the fabric used (a sort of corduroy) is actually a little too thick to be working with on this scale. It's deceptive because on first touch it's not an overly stiff or heavy fabric (or so I thought), but it really bulks up at seams and pairing it with a thinner silky material for the collar caused some trouble. Additionally, attaching the collar first before the side-seams (coupled with an under-stitched lining at the bottom of the jacket) really limited the ability to do any adjusting afterwards. Corduroy - this version, at any rate - also attracts alot of dust. Not so good when you're animating.

But you finish what you started and ponder all these things up for next time.


A little coat-tail.


I've also started on his over-coat, with the intention of it having the look of some sort of thick-textured, winter-defying heavy ..thing. I'm exploring different looks and am undecided between adapting a literal representation of the conceptual sketches I've done (the needle-thread one on the right), or something a little softer and more experimental, a la needle-felted (on the left). Thoughts?

Geetar-playing reference and then-some.

John Calvin at the AGO.

A morning sketch of the moon.

On Lobsters

Posting's been a little non-existent lately, leading to a bit of a costuming cliff-hanger here for which I apologize. I've been involved in some interesting endeavours the last month or so learning about textiles, fabric printing processes, muscles I never knew I possessed ("Oh, hello! I don't think we've met!"), how to fix Christmas lights, and other life-saving skills. It's been a highly enjoyable month and I'm deeply grateful for the opportunities served on my plate.

So I bring you a childhood memory:

Lobsters.


A month or two ago at a friend’s wedding my twin and I both discovered an extremely obscure memory of our first introduction to lobsters. There was an open lobster tank standing in the middle of a brown-tiled grocery store. It was filled with lobsters sporting unsecured pincers that could pinch off your fingers -(SO DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE TANK).

p.s. More Uncle Antlers costuming to come soon!

Uncle Antlers - Costuming, Part II!

Pants, shirt, vest, polka-dot bow-tie.. (he's been expecting a jacket, currently in production).

I like the progression his wardrobe's been making. He may be technically dead but he's not unpleasant - his clothes are of a proper sort, and the bow-tie (polka-dots and warm pastels) makes him a little more endearing.




I opted for painting a layer of brown acrylic over the tissue-paper-covered antlers, and used ink and a toothpick to add lines and grooves.

The Bowtie:

French knots on silk (remnants of a childhood hair-scrunchie).


I added interfacing to add more durability - the fabric by itself isn't terribly strong, and this prevents it from excessive splitting between the fabric fibres when I'm poking the needle through.


Trimmed to size and ironed.


Top and sides sewn; from there I tucked under and hand-stitched the bottom closed, then scrunched the square down into a bow-tie volume and sewed the middle to maintain that shape. I was originally going to use some of the silk to form the middle band, but it would have been too bulky and I've since warmed up to the thread alternative - it adds a bit of a folksy, hand-made feel.