Oops, been meaning to post this...
Okay! So now that the wedding post is done (though I forgot the honeymoon post, which I WILL do), it's Texas Renaissance Festival day! Yay!
This was the first time I ever went to that particular faire. I'd been to Scarborough Faire twice, but neither time in costume. I'd also been wanting to make a fairy costume for yeeeaaaars (always loved Lillyxandra's work.) So I wanted to do it this year! And I was going to make Matt a ranger because he looks like one anyway.
Well, TRF has themed weekends, and I was trying to choose between the fantasy weekend and the Christmas weekend. I'd decided at only a month away, it was too late to make us costumes for the fantasy weekend, but then I found out that Matt's parents' neighbors, who are awesome, were going fantasy weekend for their son's birthday, so I was like... "WE'RE GOING!" (So I ended up choosing both weekends. XD;)
I didn't take any pictures, so these are all ones I found online... But I uploaded them to my own website, so that makes it not so bad I took them, right? ^^; (They're mostly from here- http://www.xulphlux.com/)
Anyways... our power was out for almost two weeks after Ike. Then, about 28 hours after getting it back, our transformer blew, and we had to wait ANOTHER THREE DAYS to have power. It was terrible, and easily the most stressful time I've had in Houston (though living here in general is usually stressful.)
So anyways, the power came on for good I believe by October 1st, so I ended up with aboouut 2 1/2 weeks to make my costume. WAH. I'm notoriously slow at making things (not out of laziness, out of PARTICULARNESS), so that was pretty scary. I settled on Matt just wearing the best man's outfit (which he ended up not wearing because some of the pieces were missing o_O), and I decided to use the underskirt from my wedding dress to save time. (Mind you, it needed some fixing on its own account, as it was my most rushed piece of my dress.)
I mostly used what I already had, excepting a few bags of rhinestones, some fabric paint, two colors of organza, and a few miscellaneous items. When I think of fairy costumes, I think "LOTS OF DIFFERENT FABRICS!" so I went with it. I used, I believe, 13 different fabrics and 9 different kinds of ribbon/trim. I also made it a lolita, because I make EVERYTHING lolita. The pattern was simply an altered version of my bridesmaid's dress, removing the gathered inset at the bodice and shaving down the skirt panels to allow for the sheer insets that show off my ruffled skirt underneath. I also made a... kind of corset. It doesn't lace or take my waist down 4 inches or whatever, but it was STRONG! I interlined the whole thing with the same buckram I use to make hats, in addition to the usual boning. It needed to be strong to support the giant bow on the back, for which I used needlepoint canvas. I don't have any photos of the back, but you can see it peeking out.
For some reason. I just really hate being able to see a seamline, so I covered every one with ribbon or trim. I also sewed ribbons to the sleeve fabric to make it striped... I got the idea from slashed sleeves.
And of course, everything is fully lined, as always.
It was my first time making wings, and I only gave myself two days before the faire to make them. X_X I had no idea it would be SO IMPOSSIBLE to find 12 gauge wire. Nowhere anywhere remotely close to us sold it. But those same awesome neighbors saved the day! as the dad just so happened to have a roll of it in his garage! *so grateful!*
I followed the instructions at The Firefly Path, which were very good, and got me through the job with minimal trouble. After covering them, I realized I hadn't put any thought in how to decorate them, so I just.... tackied it up, basically. XD Perhaps future wings will have more delicacy in design, but I just slapped this one down. "Glitter" was definitely the word of the day.
My wig was also a total chop job because I had no wig head. I also had no white wig caps, so we used "queen size" stockings, which was a BAD IDEA (more on that later.)
The gloves were another problem. I had originally designed the dress as having these big, organza, kimono-like sleeves that were attached together, but I decided at the last minute that was too much and settled on gloves. "Great, I can buy gloves!" I said. WRONG. The only place in Houston that seemed to have them was half an hour away, and even rushing there straight after work (I'm not allowed to go far by myself here) Matt didn't get there in time before they closed. >_<
So 2:00AM the night before the faire, after a quick trip to Joann's earlier in the evening, I'm making fingerless gloves, which of course took no time. I was just glad that since I used so many different fabrics, it was okay for them to be a different shade. *phew*
We had also discovered the aforementioned incomplete state of Matt costume at 1:00AM that night. "No problem, he can just wear the groom outfit!" I thought. But oops, no white shoes- he'd rented those. SO I had to fit black into the outfit, as well as the dark blue in the crown I'd made for the other outfit. A quick trip into my jewelry/accessories collection fixed that up, though. Belts, chains, and a cross saved the day!
So the day of the TRF came! We woke up a little late, and it took me a little (okay, REALLY) long to get ready. I never wear eye makeup, and I had that AND false eyelashes to worry about, plus getting on the outfit is a huge pain, as the wings are permanently attached (lack of good planning on my part.)
The traffic was awful getting out to the faire, naturally. But we finally made it! YAY!
The first thing I wanted to see was the bellydancers, because I *love* bellydance, and would like to take real lessons someday instead of just using instructional videos (I'm just so shy!) It took an age to get to see them though, because we were stopped for pictures constantly! It was like cosplaying at a con as a character people recognize, which... never happened to me, because I was always obscure characters.
We were also stopped by a nice gentleman in character who told us to go to the costume contest. We said we'd be there, and off we went to the bellydancers, who were almost done! Noooo~! They were super, of course. More pictures, more pictures, and off to the arena for the costume contest. It was quite warm out in the sun, but I had my trusty umbrella! I got to talk to a lot of cute fairies and a lovely wizard lady while we were waiting, as we were all huddled together under our umbrellas/parasols.
Here are the fairy ladies and wizard lady after we all went down into the arena~
I almost wanted to leave as we were going down! It was so scary! There were so many people in
just... amazing costumes. There was this guy in all black armor with white hair and red eyes! And all the fancy fairies and the wizard lady, and and... it was crazy. They were all so detailed and elaborate!
Anyways, they did the whole "audience claps to judge" thing, which was scary, because well... Matt and I didn't have anyone we knew there, so I figured no one would clap for us at all. But they did! And loudly, at that! I was really amazed at the response. So we were brought forward as one of the finalists, and the judges started announcing the winners. You can imagine my surprise when Matt and I came in first! I couldn't believe it! =D
It was the first time I've ever won a contest where there was real competition. I was so honored! I know that sounds cheesy, but it was the first time I've experienced such approval for my designs. It was awesome!
Honestly, just being chosen as the winner alone would have been enough to make me feel great, but we also won season passes for next year! YAAAY! I'm going to have a costume every weekend! =D
I really wanted pictures of the other contestants, but we were invited to the "backstage" breakroom type thing, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some water. *parched* X_X Matt assured me that the black armor-white hair-red eyed guy had been there before though, so I hope to see him again. We didn't catch him that day at all though. *weep*
Anyways, after some "official" pictures, Matt and I were let loose until later that day when we were to be presented to the king and queen. XD;
While getting our picture taken by a couple of people, I noticed that one of the photographers and his companion were dressed in a very... video game kind of style. So cute! I wanted to ask for their picture, but before I got a chance, the second boy walked up to us and asked if we were Matt and Erin. I was thoroughly confused, but Matt suddenly recognized him as the aforementioned neighbors' son! Haha! So we hung out with them the rest of the day. We found them quite likeable, which was great, because... well, it wouldn't have been fun to spend time with them if they weren't, right? So thankfully, we loved both of them! <3 *adopts*
Anyways, the two young heroes stayed with us until we were presented, which was not only very nice of them, it was quite convenient, because they held our stuff for us. XD Being presented was as silly as you would expect it to be, but it was fun!
See me adjusting my painful wig? XD;
Mind you, by this time, my wig was causing me so much pain that I wanted nothing more than to rip it off. Also, my feet were killing me. Soooo... we didn't stay for the fireworks, but we will at the Christmas weekend. The young heroes were also tired, so we walked out together and split off in the parking lot.
We couldn't get the car fast enough. I pulled off my underskirt before we got in the car (had to so I could fit XD BUT I WAS WEARING BLOOMERS~!), ripped off my wig and eyelashes as soon as I got in, and in AN AMAZING DISPLAY OF SKILL (or desperation, if you prefer), I manage to shimmy my way out of the dress while cramped in the backseat of Matt's CRV. I still don't know how I did it, what with the wings being in the way and all. But I had to free myself!
It also turned out the wig cap was so tight and painful, that my forehead broke out all along the line where it sat. It was gross! It's just now almost healed. I also have a big sore on the top of my foot from my shoes which still hasn't gone away. Oh well! It was worth it.
I'm still waiting on some "official" shots they took of us, but I dunno if I'll ever get 'em. *hopes* <3
This was the first time I ever went to that particular faire. I'd been to Scarborough Faire twice, but neither time in costume. I'd also been wanting to make a fairy costume for yeeeaaaars (always loved Lillyxandra's work.) So I wanted to do it this year! And I was going to make Matt a ranger because he looks like one anyway.
Well, TRF has themed weekends, and I was trying to choose between the fantasy weekend and the Christmas weekend. I'd decided at only a month away, it was too late to make us costumes for the fantasy weekend, but then I found out that Matt's parents' neighbors, who are awesome, were going fantasy weekend for their son's birthday, so I was like... "WE'RE GOING!" (So I ended up choosing both weekends. XD;)
I didn't take any pictures, so these are all ones I found online... But I uploaded them to my own website, so that makes it not so bad I took them, right? ^^; (They're mostly from here- http://www.xulphlux.com/)
Anyways... our power was out for almost two weeks after Ike. Then, about 28 hours after getting it back, our transformer blew, and we had to wait ANOTHER THREE DAYS to have power. It was terrible, and easily the most stressful time I've had in Houston (though living here in general is usually stressful.)
So anyways, the power came on for good I believe by October 1st, so I ended up with aboouut 2 1/2 weeks to make my costume. WAH. I'm notoriously slow at making things (not out of laziness, out of PARTICULARNESS), so that was pretty scary. I settled on Matt just wearing the best man's outfit (which he ended up not wearing because some of the pieces were missing o_O), and I decided to use the underskirt from my wedding dress to save time. (Mind you, it needed some fixing on its own account, as it was my most rushed piece of my dress.)
I mostly used what I already had, excepting a few bags of rhinestones, some fabric paint, two colors of organza, and a few miscellaneous items. When I think of fairy costumes, I think "LOTS OF DIFFERENT FABRICS!" so I went with it. I used, I believe, 13 different fabrics and 9 different kinds of ribbon/trim. I also made it a lolita, because I make EVERYTHING lolita. The pattern was simply an altered version of my bridesmaid's dress, removing the gathered inset at the bodice and shaving down the skirt panels to allow for the sheer insets that show off my ruffled skirt underneath. I also made a... kind of corset. It doesn't lace or take my waist down 4 inches or whatever, but it was STRONG! I interlined the whole thing with the same buckram I use to make hats, in addition to the usual boning. It needed to be strong to support the giant bow on the back, for which I used needlepoint canvas. I don't have any photos of the back, but you can see it peeking out.
For some reason. I just really hate being able to see a seamline, so I covered every one with ribbon or trim. I also sewed ribbons to the sleeve fabric to make it striped... I got the idea from slashed sleeves.
And of course, everything is fully lined, as always.
It was my first time making wings, and I only gave myself two days before the faire to make them. X_X I had no idea it would be SO IMPOSSIBLE to find 12 gauge wire. Nowhere anywhere remotely close to us sold it. But those same awesome neighbors saved the day! as the dad just so happened to have a roll of it in his garage! *so grateful!*
I followed the instructions at The Firefly Path, which were very good, and got me through the job with minimal trouble. After covering them, I realized I hadn't put any thought in how to decorate them, so I just.... tackied it up, basically. XD Perhaps future wings will have more delicacy in design, but I just slapped this one down. "Glitter" was definitely the word of the day.
My wig was also a total chop job because I had no wig head. I also had no white wig caps, so we used "queen size" stockings, which was a BAD IDEA (more on that later.)
The gloves were another problem. I had originally designed the dress as having these big, organza, kimono-like sleeves that were attached together, but I decided at the last minute that was too much and settled on gloves. "Great, I can buy gloves!" I said. WRONG. The only place in Houston that seemed to have them was half an hour away, and even rushing there straight after work (I'm not allowed to go far by myself here) Matt didn't get there in time before they closed. >_<
So 2:00AM the night before the faire, after a quick trip to Joann's earlier in the evening, I'm making fingerless gloves, which of course took no time. I was just glad that since I used so many different fabrics, it was okay for them to be a different shade. *phew*
We had also discovered the aforementioned incomplete state of Matt costume at 1:00AM that night. "No problem, he can just wear the groom outfit!" I thought. But oops, no white shoes- he'd rented those. SO I had to fit black into the outfit, as well as the dark blue in the crown I'd made for the other outfit. A quick trip into my jewelry/accessories collection fixed that up, though. Belts, chains, and a cross saved the day!
So the day of the TRF came! We woke up a little late, and it took me a little (okay, REALLY) long to get ready. I never wear eye makeup, and I had that AND false eyelashes to worry about, plus getting on the outfit is a huge pain, as the wings are permanently attached (lack of good planning on my part.)
The traffic was awful getting out to the faire, naturally. But we finally made it! YAY!
The first thing I wanted to see was the bellydancers, because I *love* bellydance, and would like to take real lessons someday instead of just using instructional videos (I'm just so shy!) It took an age to get to see them though, because we were stopped for pictures constantly! It was like cosplaying at a con as a character people recognize, which... never happened to me, because I was always obscure characters.
We were also stopped by a nice gentleman in character who told us to go to the costume contest. We said we'd be there, and off we went to the bellydancers, who were almost done! Noooo~! They were super, of course. More pictures, more pictures, and off to the arena for the costume contest. It was quite warm out in the sun, but I had my trusty umbrella! I got to talk to a lot of cute fairies and a lovely wizard lady while we were waiting, as we were all huddled together under our umbrellas/parasols.
Here are the fairy ladies and wizard lady after we all went down into the arena~
I almost wanted to leave as we were going down! It was so scary! There were so many people in
just... amazing costumes. There was this guy in all black armor with white hair and red eyes! And all the fancy fairies and the wizard lady, and and... it was crazy. They were all so detailed and elaborate!
Anyways, they did the whole "audience claps to judge" thing, which was scary, because well... Matt and I didn't have anyone we knew there, so I figured no one would clap for us at all. But they did! And loudly, at that! I was really amazed at the response. So we were brought forward as one of the finalists, and the judges started announcing the winners. You can imagine my surprise when Matt and I came in first! I couldn't believe it! =D
It was the first time I've ever won a contest where there was real competition. I was so honored! I know that sounds cheesy, but it was the first time I've experienced such approval for my designs. It was awesome!
Honestly, just being chosen as the winner alone would have been enough to make me feel great, but we also won season passes for next year! YAAAY! I'm going to have a costume every weekend! =D
I really wanted pictures of the other contestants, but we were invited to the "backstage" breakroom type thing, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some water. *parched* X_X Matt assured me that the black armor-white hair-red eyed guy had been there before though, so I hope to see him again. We didn't catch him that day at all though. *weep*
Anyways, after some "official" pictures, Matt and I were let loose until later that day when we were to be presented to the king and queen. XD;
While getting our picture taken by a couple of people, I noticed that one of the photographers and his companion were dressed in a very... video game kind of style. So cute! I wanted to ask for their picture, but before I got a chance, the second boy walked up to us and asked if we were Matt and Erin. I was thoroughly confused, but Matt suddenly recognized him as the aforementioned neighbors' son! Haha! So we hung out with them the rest of the day. We found them quite likeable, which was great, because... well, it wouldn't have been fun to spend time with them if they weren't, right? So thankfully, we loved both of them! <3 *adopts*
Anyways, the two young heroes stayed with us until we were presented, which was not only very nice of them, it was quite convenient, because they held our stuff for us. XD Being presented was as silly as you would expect it to be, but it was fun!
See me adjusting my painful wig? XD;
Mind you, by this time, my wig was causing me so much pain that I wanted nothing more than to rip it off. Also, my feet were killing me. Soooo... we didn't stay for the fireworks, but we will at the Christmas weekend. The young heroes were also tired, so we walked out together and split off in the parking lot.
We couldn't get the car fast enough. I pulled off my underskirt before we got in the car (had to so I could fit XD BUT I WAS WEARING BLOOMERS~!), ripped off my wig and eyelashes as soon as I got in, and in AN AMAZING DISPLAY OF SKILL (or desperation, if you prefer), I manage to shimmy my way out of the dress while cramped in the backseat of Matt's CRV. I still don't know how I did it, what with the wings being in the way and all. But I had to free myself!
It also turned out the wig cap was so tight and painful, that my forehead broke out all along the line where it sat. It was gross! It's just now almost healed. I also have a big sore on the top of my foot from my shoes which still hasn't gone away. Oh well! It was worth it.
I'm still waiting on some "official" shots they took of us, but I dunno if I'll ever get 'em. *hopes* <3