Brielle's Notions

2012 Costume Wishlist (for me)

Greetings,

So with 2012 underway I wanted to share a little list with you.

I have had a checklist going of costumes I would like to recreate for myself this year. Now, everything is completely subject to change of course. Nothing is set in stone.

I forced myself to only pick 10 costumes from my giant wish list.....however...knowing me, I shall probably change things around and make something else too. Or....three and completely leave out one on the list. No idea.  We shall see....

 

~ Brielle's 2012 Costume Sewing Wish List ~

"Movie Inspired Costumes"

 

1. Arwen Coronation Gown  (and shoes)

I actually just finished this costume! It has been in the process of being made for....years, but at least we can check it off the list.

 Would you like to see some sneak peaks of please click here...or the real thing here

If I had my way I would love to recreate every single one of Arwen's Costumes....but alas....time does not allow..and one can only afford so much silk velvet.

 

2. Sim's Gypsy Costume

This costume is from the new Sherlock Holmes Movie "Game of Shadows".

Sim wears it when she is going to be attacked by the Russian and first meeting Holmes. Love that whole chase scene...and the music. You can read my research for that costume here As a true sherlock purest, no...they didn't do everything right, but the costumes are great in this movie!

 

3. Costume Re-Make: Elena's Dancing Dress

ok. So, I made this costume....back in, 2006?...2007? I think it was. However, my skills have improved and now the costume is too big for me. So I am going to remake the bodice completely and keep the orginal skirt I made. That is easy to take in..etc.

So excited! This is one of my very favorite movies. LOVE it....

At least I have a corset,....and the puffy slip...oh and the leather boots!

4. Oliva Dunham's Jacket(s)

I suppose it isn't a "real" costume, but a garment.

However I have been wanting to make a really nice fitted black jacket like Oliva's for over a year now. So I need to get that done. Just a classic fitted jacket to accent the waist and be worn with just about everything. I figured I might as well copy hers.

Olivia is from the tv show Fringe. You can check out my post about that here

 

5. Victorian Gown (and corset, etc...)

My wardrobe is lacking a true Victorian Gown. I am so excited about this one! I found a sketch I drew in the college library 2 years back...(completely forgot about it) and have decided to make it.

So I am re-drawing it and working with that idea. It isn't really based upon anything other than my own mind, but... I have placed some Victorian Gown pictures that capture the mood of what I am thinking.... what say you?

6. Anna Valerious's Riding Costume

This Costume is from the 2004 version of Van Helsing.

Ok, I know...I know, it isn't like the real classic Dracula book..and the classic Van Helsing didn't look anything like Hugh Jackman. However...for all the hollywood glam and slightly cheesy lines..I like this movie anyway. And the costumes. Well. Those are awesome.

Sort of goes with my Victorian Gown up there.....and I have the sword!

 

7. Elena's Black Bodice and Brown Skirt...

 I could wear this in real life....right? LOVE all her costumes in Mask of Zorro.

You can't see the skirt in these images, but it is a very pretty brown silk with black velvet ribbon around the bottom. Worn with black leather boots...of course!

I actually got my hair cut like this. Not that it really looks like hers..but hey, a girl can dream.

 

8. Elizabeth Bennet's Brown Linen Dress.

This costume of mine is actually...um...mostly done. I have it pretty much finished, but the dress turned out too big. So I have been avoiding seam ripping it out so I can make it smaller, but I MUST make time for it. (one should not avoid her seam ripper...)

I actually like all of her costumes in this movie. I simply picked the brown one because I had some brown linen. :)

I figured I should have at least one "Jane Austen" dress in my collection.

 

 9. Blair Williams Jacket (Terminator Salvation)

I really love this jacket. The style is great. Styled with the v-neck blue tee and necklaces it gives sort of a cool look..I could wear it with one of my organic skirts too.

 

 10. Cora Munro Costume (Last of the Mohican's)

This has been on the "to make list" for a long while now. I think it would be so much fun to go do a photo shoot at a historic fort!...I just need a good pistol. Hmm...and tomahawk. Easy enough.

 Just have to find some striped skirt fabric...and make the corset too. 

 

I really want this one to though.....

11. Blood Red Arwen Dress

So I might have to do another Arwen dress too...just because.

 

_______ Total Wish List item....er....Dream List? _______

1. Zam Wessel Costume

Star Wars Fans, I want to try and make this costume. Princess Leia is my favorite lady in Star Wars....however, she doesn't have any costumes that are extra special or that stand out to me.

So I decided to go with this costume because I have always liked it....

 

2. Quorra (Tron)

Wouldn't this be so much fun? I just don't currently have the money to make it yet.....

 but I do have some boots! However...I don't want to cut them up to put lights in them...so I better find a less pricey pair to create some light ups... I like that her costume has a leather skirt too. Or...should I say, digital leather? o.O

_________________________________________________ 

Anything you think I should make?

I am totally open to ideas....

__________________________________________________

See it isn't too massive of a list,...is it?

Everything could change.

I only work on my own stuff on the weekends, but I figured this was a start! 

Customers are always first. :)

 Thanks for reading!

Costume Updates...what am I sewing on this week?

Greetings!

So many of you have asked..."so what are you working on/sewing?" ....

Well the costumes I am working on are for customers,...

....but I have some real fun ones coming up!

I shall only give you one hint....well wait, maybe two. ...or three.

One costume is fit for an elf from rivendell...

one is for a swan princess....

and the other is for a well known jedi.

Some Alice gloves are also leaving the studio...so many tea parties!

 Sim's Gypsy Costume from Sherlock Holmes "Game of Shadows".

To reply to everyone that has sent notes about my "gypsy costume"....

...yes, I shall be getting it done soon. I simply haven't had time yet. :)

I had put it on hold until I could see the movie. I am.....ahem...rather picky about little things, so I wanted to see the fabric colors for real. Instead of just the poster.

Turns out the fabric I had selected for the skirt will suit it very nicely.

The movie one is rather rich and bright in tone. I thought my fabric was too bright, but not at all.

I am looking forward to dressing up in this costume! Love all the gypsy bling.

__________________________________________

If you missed my Transylvania Night gown, that is over here

My Arwen Coronation Dress is now up on the Costume Site...click here to view if you like.

A little Narnian costume has also been created. Inspired by Susan's from "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe." I shall be posting picture soon.

 

Well, that about sums up what is going on in the studio this week.

What does your schedule look like?

Thanks for reading!

Arwen Coronation Gown: Part 4....Finished!!!

Suilaid! Im gelir ceni ad lín.

This post is best read while listening to this music

Here I am with the 4th  installment of my Arwen dress making of.

You can read all my other posts about this dress here

I have recieved many comments and emails asking how my Arwen Dress was coming along......and if I haven't finished it yet, why was it taking me so long?

Well, the very simple reason is....

I only work on this dress when I am not doing customer orders.

So, maybe on Saturday evenings or Sunday afternoons. Maybe.

The beading was also taking me a rather long time to complete and then I ran out of beads! Thankfully, the store where I purchased them was able to custom order more for me. So I could complete the neckline...it would have been rather tragic to have only half of my neckline beaded! 

Well, with all that to say....... I have a little something to show you.

Yes, yes...I do. A small sneak peak....

This is a costume I have wanted for many years and it is hard to belive I finally finished it!

 

The poor un-finished dress has been sitting in a box for a long time, but no more!

Once I slipped those elven slippers on...It felt like I was trying on a wedding dress....so much fun! It totally makes me feel like an elf. :)...or a princess.

I still do not have a crown yet, but we shall see what comes of that.

I am just so happy this gown is done.

Maybe I have elvish blood or something...I could wear these all of my days.

 

 More pictures coming soon!!!

Have a magical day...

 P.S.

I have had many comments and e-mails from ladies asking "could you please post tons of pictures of this dress when you finish?"...and yes, I shall try.

Currently the weather is far to bad to step out of doors in such a gown, but I shall model it for you all when the weather gets better. In the mean time my kind dress form Jean Grey shall do the job for me, she is my body double. ;)

 

A Narnian, Red Riding Hood and a Gypsy...

Greetings!

Just wanted to do a quick update.

For those of you who asked about the Susan Gown it is now live on the website! Check it out here.

That dress. lol. It was a process in making it. However, it 'twas finished about...oh, a year ago. But I had yet to get it online because once the gown was done, something happened and the cuffs had been ruined. So I stuffed it on the back of the costume rack and forgot all about it.  However, my Mom was most kind and fixed the cuffs for me. So you can see it here online.

I have also had a number of people ask if this Narnia gown was for a customer.

Um, no. Actually this dress was one I made because I happend to have this blue and gold fabric lying around and had no idea what to create with it. But then I saw the Prince Caspian movie a while back and it seemed perfect for Susan's dress.

 

Red Riding Hoods!

Good news for you, another cloak is going out to a fellow red cape wearing lady.

Always good to have more capes in the world. Red ones especially are great for snowy days.

Just be careful of walking in the woods alone! It can be most dangerous I hear.

Aren't they fun all lined up? It reminds me of a movie set... with multiple copies of everything, only...if it was a movie we would have more copies....and a cooler storage area. But never mind.

More red cape love on my website here or on the blog here

 

On a final Note. Gypsy costume news.

I will be working like a crazy little Mad Hatter this week trying to make and complete a gypy costume inspired by the gypsy lady in the up coming Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows Movie.

You can read more about this costume on my re-search page here.

Yes. That comes out on the 16th. No, I haven't started on it yet.....shhhhh.

I am off to the sewing room. See you all in a week or so when I resurface. 

 

Have a magical day!

P.S. Anyone else going to see Game of Shadows in theaters? I hear a rumor that the Hobbit Trailer might be playing along with that. However, it might have been moved to the Tin-Tin movie. Have to check with Weta about that.

P.S.2

I also wanted to give a shout out to Fidelia's Sewing Blog over here she has an adorable little princess dress up right now.

Red Riding Hood Cape Construction: Part 1

Greetings,

I have always liked red capes. They are a classic timeless garment that have been worn by men and woman from ancient days and through out many times in history.

I don't think capes have every gone out of style. I wear capes all throughout autumn and winter...we need to bring this look back ladies!

My inbox has recently been flooded with e-mails inquiring about Red Riding Hood's Cape from the new movie that was released in March of this year.  I like the way that the costume designer Cindy Evans created a new fantasy look. The costumes were fantasy, part historical and a little dash of dramatic. Anyway, on with the cape.

The original movie cape appears to be made out of a raw silk fabric and probably lined with something similar. Maybe the lining is linen? Or a type of linen/silk? None the less, I could not find anything that looked just like that raw silk that was in my budget. 10 yards of raw silk does not come cheap. So I settled on a high quality woven red wool that was from a wool company in hollywood actually. I liked the deep red color.

 
 
I also noticed that the hem of the cape is very worn, ragged and frayed. The whole cape as homespun lived in look. LOVE that. I prefer the worn lived in costumes.

However, upon doing a bit more research I noticed that the lining in the movie cape is a bit darker. So I will need to go hunt some of that down. I'll find something....hopefully.

Now, on for the sketches. I am going to draft the pattern out, so I don't have any notes about that. I have to have some secrets right? ;)

 

This is more of my rough concepts really, but I just needed to get my research down on paper.

More updates coming soon. Thanks for reading!

Arwen Coronation Dress Making Of: Part 3

Suilaid        Suilaid! Im gelir ceni ad lín. *

 

(*Greetings in the language of the elves for those of you who don't speak elvish)

Here I am with the third installment of my Arwen dress making of.

The one part of my Coronation costume I do have completed are my shoes.

•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
        (¸.•´My Arwen Shoes
 

 

I hand beaded the shoes once I recovered them in the green velvet. Too many needles were broken to even mention. ;) But at least the beading is done.

Notes about the Real Shoes:

 The shoes that Liv Tyler wore are pictured below. Again, the color is more lime then mine, but I like the way my shoes turned out. Still have an elvish feel to them. :)

 
This is one of the orginal shoes from the LOTR movies, worn by Liv.

* please note I do not own this shoe! Pictures courtesy of CostumersGuide.

 

For my shoes I simply recovered a pair to suit my needs. These were purchased at a thrift store and were the perfect size, so I figured I could recover them somehow.

Before:

 

 After:

 

 Thanks for reading!

Arwen Coronation Dress Making Of: Part 2

 

~ My Rivendel Inspired Fabrics ~

Here are a few pics of my fabrics for this dress...

 
 •´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´I bought a LOTR trading card on ebay a few years back, for an awesome deal. It is one of the cards that was released with the orginal movie fabric scrap on the trading card.

So this way you can compare my fabric the movie version. The fabric isn't identical. However, I am pretty happy with it. My fabric has more of a "mint hue" to it, but it was as close as I could find.

       

I think the slightly more "mint hue" to my fabric will suit my skin hair color well though, at least the fabric still  has an elven green quality too it.

 
 
 ...and a sneak peak at my beading!

*this sleeve beading is only half way done, so it will look much better when I finish it, but there it is for now. I am just doing the outlines of the shapes at the moment, I will then go in and fill in all the lines with another set of seadbeads and decortive stiches.

 

That is it for the progress so far.

The dress is all cut out though. I drafted the pattern based upon how the movie one looked, so hopefully the results are pretty close to accurate when I sew it up.

This is a more..."for fun" sewing project,  I am not stressing about deadlines on it right now. So the beading might be slow in coming for a time.

•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´I just need to save up for the butterfly crown. I found a company in France that makes some pretty ones. Here . Really pretty stuff on that website, if you like anything elven I would highly suggest you click that link.

Thanks for reading!

Red Riding Hood's Cape

Capes and Cloaks. I love wearing them. Sadly, it is too warm in the Summer. sigh.

However Autumn and Winter are perfect for wearing these garments...and yes, you can still wear them with jeans and boots. Who doesn't want to add a touch of that romantic style to an everyday outfit?

I have a few capes that get me through the Autumn and Winter months. One is brown wool, the other is brown velvet and the last one, but certainly not least is my black and burgandy velvet.

However, my wardrobe is lacking a red wool cape.

Well, I happened to find this 90% wool woven fabric on sale the other day. I couldn't help it, the fabric needed to be bought to be turned into a cape.

  What else would this lovely red wool be suited for...

...besides a Red Riding Hood Cloak?

 The wool is much more red and rich in real life. It did not want to capture the correct color on my camera.

So that is another item to add to my summer sewing list.

Well, now that we are on the Red Riding Hood Topic I found this picture by Studiomme 

                                                       
I thought she did a great job on this picture. I love the hood on the cape too.  You can also find it on her Studiomme Etsy Store. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading... 

P.s. Also, I have not yet seen the new "Red Riding Hood Movie" (with amanda seyfried) however, if anyone is interested I would love to recreate her costumes. Very pretty indeed!  Contact me for details if you like.

 

 

Arwen Dress Making Of: Part 1

Greetings!

This summer one of my many goals to try and achieve is to completely finish my version of  Arwen's Coronation Gown.

This has been in the "making of" stages for..oh,......5 yrs? So I think it is due time that I finish creating this costume. What do ya think?

 
 
*If you don't know the gown I am talking about, Arwen (Liv Tyler) wears it at the end of the 3rd Lord or the Rings Movie, Return of the King. *

A few years ago I found the perfect velvet fabric. It is not silk velvet like the real version, but I liked the color and the price was right.

So I bought the whole bolt....all 10 yards of lovely elven green velvet.

After searching a bit longer, maybe a year or so I happened to find some fabric for the trim and sleeve base. The next fabric I was hunting for was a stretch satin for the lining that was the correct color of elven green. Thankfully my awesome fabric store had some in stock in the bridal department.

However, the catch was Arwen's sleeves and neckline trim are completely hand beaded...so I thought, hey why not tackle that and hand bead it? Sounded like a great idea...at the time. Here I am a few years later and only have 1 sleeve done. ahh! But I can do this, one bead at a time right?

It isn't that I didn't want to work on my Arwen dress, I simply don't have time. But I am going to carve out some time this year to do it.

Do you ever have projects like that? That you would most enjoy finishing, but just can't find the time?

 

Now finding that silver butterfly crown of hers is another story.

Farewell for now! or as the elves say.... Namárië

 

P.S.

Here is the link to my Arwen Shoes! my handmade Arwen Shoes