Halloween

Ok so I got them all done. Everyone was ready for Halloween.

First my friend's niece as Strawberry Shortcake. I learned how to make a hat.

For my son's Godzilla outfit I learned how to add special effects to a costume. All the spikes on his back have LED lights.

He really didn't need a flashlight he was bright enough in the dark.

Unfortunately the flash doesn't give it justice so I'll have to take a shot with out the flash to show it off.

With my daughter Cleopatra I learned to work with craft glue and gems.

Of course she was more excited about the makeup than the outfit.

And Our friend Dave went as Shaggy. A simple green shirt but it made the costume.

In the end everyone got the outfit they wanted and it was a great Halloween.
Now back to work on my steampunk.

I did take advantage of the skirt I had been working on for my costume.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Halloween projects

Ok so I was already working on my Steampunk but with Halloween coming I knew I would be sewing for the kids. What I din't expect was what I would be getting myself  into. My Daughter wanted to be Cleopatra, my Son Godzilla and then a friend at work was trying to find a Strawberry Shortcake outfit  for her niece. She was looking for the original outfit not the new design. So of course I offered to sew it. I mean how hard could a red dress and apron be compared to Elizabethan dresses. What I forgot was the accessories. Cleo's jewels and crown. Godzilla's pointy scales and big tail that had to glow.   And for Strawberry Shortcake let's not forget the Hat. Sudden panic attack.  I'm a seamstress not a Hatter.
I have now had to add Hatter( in very basic terms) , jeweler and special effects to my new crafting skills.

Insert long agonizing scream here.

I  have 3 days left to complete these projects.  Humm yep. Right now I have 3 PHD's ( projects half done).
I just finishes the Hat.  All I can say is thank goodness for my Singer Heavy duty machine that I bought.

I will Post images and let everyone know how it went by Halloween. I know by doing these projects my skills will get better but just like with anything new it's frustrating geting it done.

I so need a spa visit after Halloween.

Sewing and firearm number 2

So with Halloween only 10 days away and a Halloween party only 3 days away I have been trying to get my skirt done. It still is not. However I have finally reach the point were it is starting to look like it should.

The pattern's description is missing steps that anyone trying to sew this for the first time will have massive frustration. I have not taken any pictures yet but once I have I will post and give a full description of how this goes together.

I have also found a second firearm to paint. This one won't be done for Haloween but I found it at a thrift store and it just screamed Steampunk to me.

I can't wait to start work on it. I think I have a painting bug now.

Oh and I also have to finish my daughter's Cleopatra costume. And if I'm lucky my son's Godzilla costume. I can only hope the Sewing Goddesses will be with me.

Step one done

So I have completed my firearm. (for now). I designed it so I could add items to it later but first I will go in design order. I  found some decoratve pieces that I added to the firearm.

I finished my painting, sealed the paint and added my accent pieces with tacky glue.

and here we are:

True I kept it simple for now  but thats me. I will add charms to the chain as my character develops. Next post wil be on the outfit I'm making.

Temporary set back

Ok so I've hit a temporary setback. Roughly that means the 3 kidos have to come before fun. I did find the perfect jewelry pieces to add to the gun though at Joanns so I hope to get those pictures up loaded soon. I have decied to make the skirt out of this pattern.

The brown material behind the patten is the material I'm going to use for the skirt.
I'm still debating on the top. I did find a cool idea on another Steampunk site which led to the Threadbanger Channel on YouTube.http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=threadbanger&annotation_id=annotation_399428&feature=iv#p/c/15A108BB1B75EB97/41/lbxRdDjp67g

The link above is for their special Steampunk episode. very cool.

Well till I get more than  2 minutes.

More steps

I realize the other post was a bit short but I was so excited with the results.
I figure if I'm going to show how I get from point A to point B I better give some crafting history.
I do sew and as I mentioned before am part of the SCA so I have learned a variety of sewing techniques over the years I have at one point  been taught to crossstitch, knit, crochet, weave, needlepoint, bobbin lace and a lot of stuff that I don't recall. I have taken a class painting ceramics, in high school I was in a jewelry making class, and don't ask when I was in High School.
I do not concider myself a painter so making this gun has been a whole new experiance for me. I started with the nerf gun.

Then I used a primer. Army Painters gray (borrowed from my husbands miniture stock).

Then I used acrylic paints I bought at Joanns.

and

Next I'll go shopping for the metal pieces that I want to add to it. I'm also going to need to seal it and do some fine tuning but I think it's starting to look good.

Of  course now I am starting to contemplate the outfit I'll be making to wear with it. I'll work on that for my next post.

Steps into Steampunk

So I got the first layer of paint on today. Hope to do touch up tomorrow and get the black I need for the handle.

Figure once I get the painting done I'll go hunt for the metal accents.

Steps into Steampunk

So like most people I stumbled into Steampunk by accident one day. At a convention I saw an awsome outfit asked what it was and was told steampunk. Ok thats cool I thought.
Much later I saw a special on G4tv about it and thought. Victorian meets tech now I could really get into that. I love anything old. I've been a menber of the SCA for years and had been going to sci-/fantasy cons for longer.
So I've decided to make a Steampunk outfit. The one thing I know I want to go with the costume though is a firearm. But I also have a very limited budget. So I started to research on the web and found the answer. A repainted and decorated nerf gun. My husband does amazing (in my eyes) warhammer minitures and if he can make a little plastic miniture look like a gun welding soldier of death I figure he could do so with a nerf gun.
Then I had an idea. I would make the gun from star to finish and post it on the web for others to learn to. My husband would help show me techniques but I will do the work myself. So this is going to be my blog from begging to end of my learning to paint a steampunk nerf gun and as I sew my outfit I will post the steps here to.
My next post will be the begining steps of the gun.
Here though are the rough materials I stared with.