Stacy's Portfolio
Victorian Gown #1
Jess's Victorian Gown for Dickens Fair 2003, based on the fashion plate shown. She said she got oodles of compliments on it! The white sleeves are just that - they button in at the armholes so she can take them out and wash them easily, and it eliminated a layer of clothing in this hot Southern California weather. I also made her a matching reticule with the velvet we had leftover.
Inverness Coat
Taliesin's Mad Hatter Inverness coat for ComiCon San Diego 2004. The poorly colored photos on left show the work in progress (I had a week and a half to do this and had much help from a friend during actual construction). Photos including Taliesin property of Gotham Public Works - click on the photos to go to their site where larger copies are displayed. I had several people tell me how great it is just in the first 2 weeks of its existence.
Black Every-day Corset
Korina's corset. This photo obviously is about as bad a representation as you can get. She may get me pictures with it on her in the future.
Psylocke
Two-Face is my husband Jay, and he made his own costume by cutting up and stitching together two suits (including belt and briefs!). He also did his own makeup. People passed him repeatedly not realizing the two very "different people" they saw were aspects of a single person.
As I made this purely for myself to attend friends' parties, I didn't go whole hog on it. The torso is a fully lined single piece that zips up the back, in 4-way stretch spandex material. The gauntlet gloves and leggings are single layer of the same material, with elastic in the ends and a touch of spirit gum to keep them where I want them. I recently bought nylon strapping and a black snap closure for a belt - one end is a slide so it will continue to be functional if I change shape between biannual wearings. If I were to take this costume to Con some year, I would definitely add a pair of nude tights to the costume and stitch both the leggings and the back of the leo to them to prevent things from sliding and bunching and in general being a pain.
Stacy's Renaissance Faire Garb
My faire garb is an exercise is stupidity or preparation, I haven't decided which. All three colors (green, brown and grey) are a denim, and thus the costume is God-awful heavy. But the full circle skirts are great for keeping one warm when it gets rainy or chilly out, by either flipping an outer skirt up and over the shoulders, or untying it and pulling it up around the shoulders like a poncho. Not period, perhaps, but cozy. I had intended to make peasants, but when I got it all together, everyone said "Middles!" so apparently I overshot on the workmanship thing. The trim is all strips of the same fabric merely turned under at the edges and stitched on. All of the grommets are a brass color, then hand couched in brown thread. This was the first "corset" I ever made, and it's lasted three or four years of visiting faire despite me throwing it in the washing machine every year. The boning was too short in front, and hence I wind up with a flippy tip at the waist, but it worked to my advantage with the belt and I even tumbled in it and my bloomers during the parade in 2001. It's just starting to look worn at the edges... The snood is hand-crocheted out of black cotton, though I did cheat and add a black elastic along the top edge to help keep it on under my straw hat. I have also helped make several other people's bodices and skirts, not to mention chemises and bloomers. Those are all in various states of use, disuse, and abuse depending on age and level of faire participation.
Stacy's Wedding Gown
More pictures can be found at the wedding page. I also made a training corset and bridal corset to go with it, petticoat, and the reticule. Jay made the bustle to my very finicky specs. The corset was a five inch reduction at the time we got married, and I had spent 3 months corset training to be able to wear this comfortably for over 8 hours (ah, to have had that practice with the SHOES!). The bodice is fully lined (including the sleeves) and boned. There are 51 buttons down the back and forearms with loop closures that must be buttoned - I used several relatives and a buttonhook to make this happen that morning. The skirt has a removable front overskirt and removable train. The train can be fully retracted to be skirt-length for dancing and other "Wow, this floor is gross" kinds of movement. The underskirt is suitable to wear by itself or with just a front overskirt for less formal functions.