Steampunk Vest

So I don't have a horribly clean picture of it finished, but you can definitely see that there's been some changes. The inspiration for this? Jeff needed a costume for the steampunk convention! I didn't have any time (or money) to get materials, so it's made out of two suede-esque shirts I never wear and jean material. 

I spent a day dying it all because I wanted more dark colors for this vest. Liza was wonderful enough to help me on color order. I was pretty limited in my options. XP

I think that the most challenging part of this was twofold: one, I was on a tight, tight deadline. It would have been great to have the time to mess around with it, take breaks, and generally not hate it's every thread and stitch by the end! XD The second, I wasn't using a pattern! And, without my boy around, I was pretty much making it up as I went along....I did the front and back, THEN THE SHOULDERS LAST. I feel this may have been more difficult then it needed to be if I had known the shapes of the pieces to begin with. then again, that's assuming I wasn't piecemealing my fabric together anyways. There was little room for oopsies. >.<

....Oh, that's hilarious. I just realized that I fitted the breastplate piece upside-down from the plan.....HA! I was wondering why the gold stripes up the sides didn't fit over the shoulders and then went in on the bottom....XD Oh dear, I WAS concentrating too hard! XD

But it turned out great! And some of the people at the convention who were selling clothes they made complimented him on it. ^^ Go me!

.....however, I am SO done sewing for a while. Not having a backstich lever sucks. XP 

The "pattern" I worked off of

The Beginning

So. The purpose of this blog? I figure I'll use it to keep track of the different kinds of art I try. Maybe document my experiences as I learn. Sounds simple enough. Perhaps it'll even be interesting. :)

As it was just Easter, I'll start with the eggs I did this year! I had a lot of fun playing with multiple colors. Part of that was concentrating on layering light to dark dyes, and part of it was using a white crayon to preserve sections. This is an interesting way to think about layering ink in Printmaking as well....

(Funnily enough, I made that potholder as well, a long time ago out of twine and newspaper and LOTS of glue. It was an experience. XP)