2014 Costumer's Picnic in pictures / Pique-Nique des costumiers 2014 en photos

(La version Française se trouve plus bas.)

Last Saturday was held the annual Quebec Society of Amateur Costumers costumer's picnic. It was a beautiful warm day and sunny day, and there were many new faces this year. Costumes were varied, just the way we like it: Steampunk, Superheroes, Medieval-Fantasy, Teen era, 1940's, India, Pirate, etc.

Samedi dernier s'est tenu le Pique-Nique Annuel des Costumiers de la Société des Costumiers Amateurs du Québec. C'était une magnifique journée chaude et ensoleillée, et plusieurs nouveaux visages se sont joints à nous cette année. Les costumes étaient variés, comme nous les aimons: Steampunk, Superhéros, Médiéval-Fantastique, Années 10, Années 40, Inde, Pirate, etc.

 

Group picture (minus Nancy-Raven & Son who left early) / 

Photo de groupe (avec Nancy-Raven et son fils absent car ils ont dû quitter plus tôt)

Nancy-Raven & Son (photo by Laurie) / Nancy-Raven et son fils (photo de Laurie)

Please note that Nancy-Raven is wearing a Shocking Pink Sari. This needs mentioning as she never used to wear any other colour than black (remember our 10 year High School Reunion, when she dressed as the Wicked Witch of the North Shore?). You have to admit, the colour looks great on her.

Veuillez noter que Nancy-Raven porte un Sari Rose Fushia, Je le mentionne parce que pendant longtemps, elle ne portait que du noir (vous vous souvenez de notre réunions de Secondaire 10e anniversaire, quand elle avait décider de s'habiller en Vilaine Sorcière de la Rive-Nord?). Il faut admettre que cette couleur lui va à merveille.

Food time!  / À la bouffe!

Mommy, who is that pretty Lady? / Maman, qui est cette jolie demoiselle?

Food fit for a Pirate (photo by Laurie) / Un Repas digne d'un Pirate (photo de Laurie)

Laurie in her Wearing History 1940's sailor dress /

Laurie dans sa robe nautique des années 40 de Wearing History

 My little Indian Princess / Ma petite princesse Indienne

I found that dress at Value Village for 5.99$. And what a find it was! If you look closely, the front of the bodice and skirt are decorated with pearls and lots of them.

J'ai trouvé cette robe au Village des Valeurs pour 5.99$. Quelle trouvaille ce fut! Si vous regardez bien, le devant du corsage et de la jupe sont décorés de perles en grande quantité.

 My little gentleman / Mon petit monsieur

I was going to dress my son with pants, a shirt and his 11th Doctor Jacket, but it was just too hot and humid, so instead, I choose a polo onesie and shorts that match his pageboy cap.

J'avais planifié d'habiller mon garçon avec un pantalon, une chemise et son veston de 11e Docteur, mais il faisait beaucoup trop chaud et humide, je l'ai donc plutôt habillé d'une combinaison polo et d'un short assortis à sa casquette de petit monsieur.

In true Me fashion, I decided to make myself a new dress, and I made it last minute, finishing at 1 AM on the day of the event. But I am happy with the result.

Étant fidèle à moi-même, j'ai décidé de me faire une nouvelle robe, et je l'ai confectionnée à la dernière minute, la complétant à 1h du matin le jour de l'évènement.
 

Teen Era Garden Party Dress / Robe de Garden-party années 10

It was inspired by Lady Mary's garden party dress from the 1st season finale of Downton Abbey, but I'll tell you all about it in another post.

That was this year's picnic. We were quite lucky to have such a lovely day (though the ground was still a bit humid from the rainstorm a few days before), and we were thrilled to see the event grow again this year. Here is to a bigger, better picnic next year!

Ma robe est inspirée par celle portée par Lady Mary pour la garden-party dans la finale de la première saison de Downton Abbey, mais je vous en parlerai plus longuement dans un autre billet.

C,était le pique-nique de cette année. Nous étions vraiment chanceux d'avoir une si belle journée (quoique le sol était encore humide suite à l'orage survenu quelques jours auparavant), et nous étions vraiment touchés de voir l,évènement grandir encore cette année. Souhaitons-nous un pique-nique encore plus gros et plus réussis l'an prochain!

Montreal’s Great Victorian Picnic, 5th edition / 5e édition des Grands Pique-Niques Victorien de Montréal

(La version Française se trouve plus bas.) 

I was so busy preparing for Montreal ComicCon, and then recovering from it, that I forgot to tell you about an event I went to a while back. On Sunday September 1st, I attended the 5th edition of Montreal’s Great Victorian Picnic at Maison Beaudry in Pointe-aux-Trembles. I first heard of this event last year, but as I was pregnant with my son and only a couple of weeks away from my due date, I had not gone. This year however, I was determined to go.

J’étais tellement occupée à préparer mes trucs pour le ComicCon de Montréal, puis à me remettre de la convention, que j’ai oublié de vous parler d’un événement auquel j’ai participé il y a quelques semaines. Le dimanche 1er septembre, je me suis rendue à  la 5e édition des Grands Pique-Niques Victorien de Montréal à  la Maison Beaudry de Pointe-aux-Trembles. J’avais d’abord entendu parler de cet événement l’an passé, mais comme j’étais enceinte de mon fils et à quelques semaines d’accoucher, je n’y étais pas allé. Cette année par contre, j’étais déterminée à y participer.

One of the nice things about this picnic is the dress code: Rococo, Victorian, Edwardian, Steampunk and Lolita are all welcome, so really, anything goes. I had plans to make myself a new Steampunk / Victorian outfit, I had even cut the skirt, but in the end, I decided to focus my time and energy on the ComicCon costumes, and instead, I looked through my closet for something to wear.

Une des choses bien  de ce pique-nique c’est son code vestimentaire : Rococo, Victorien, Belle Époque, Steampunk et Lolita sont les bienvenus, alors franchement, tout passe. J’avais l’intention de me faire un nouvel ensemble Steampunk / Victorien, j’avais même découpé la jupe, mais au final, j’ai préféré concentrer mon temps et mon énergie sur les costumes pour ComicCon, et à la place, j’ai fouillé dans mon garde-robe pour trouver quelque chose à porter.

I ended up matching my red taffeta Victorian bustle skirt with a white tunic shirt from Zellers that I’ve been wearing for years and a black vest from Wal-mart. I also wore black combat boots that belonged to my Sweetheart, and my old irish dancing pony fall wig so I could do my hair in 5 minutes.

J’ai fini par agencer ma jupe à tournure de taffeta rouge avec une blouse-tunique blanche de chez Zellers que je porte depuis des années et une veste noire de chez Wal-Mart. Je portais aussi de vieilles bottes de combat de mon Chéri et mon ancienne perruque de danse Irlandaise en queue de cheval à boudins afin de pouvoir me coiffer en cinq minutes.

A Victorian / Steampunk look is never complete without a hat or fascinator. Inspired by a Whitney Sews tutorial for an easy fascinator hat, I grabbed a my hot glue gun, yogurt jar lid, scrap black satin and black felt, a piece of black cord elastic (that once tied a pair of shoes together in the store before I bought them – I reuse!), black tulle, some feathers and a big black flower brooch with a crocodile clip.

I didn’t want to glue my brooch on the fascinator (I still want to be able to use it), so what I did is glue each end a strip of felt to the top of my fascinator, so I can now clip my brooch to that strip of felt and change brooch to change styles.

I think it is the best fascinator I have ever made.

Un ensemble Victorien / Steampunk n’est jamais complet sans un chapeau ou un bibi. Inspirée par un tutoriel de Whitney Sews pour un chapeau-bibi tout simple, j’ai rassemblé mon fusil à colle chaude, un couvercle de pot de yogourt, des restes de satin et de feutrine noirs, un morceau de corde élastique noire (qui dans une vie précédente servait à attacher deux souliers ensemble au magasin avant que je ne les achète – je réutilise!), du tulle noir, quelques plumes noires et une grosse fleur noire avec broche et pince crocodile.

Je ne voulais pas coller ma broche sur mon bibi (je veux pouvoir continuer de l’utiliser), alors j’ai collé chaque bout d’une bande de feutrine sur le dessus de mon bibi en laissant un espace ouvert. Ainsi je peux pincer ma broche sur cette bande de feutrine, et même changer de broche pour changer d’allure.

Je crois que c’est le plus joli bibi que j’ai fais à ce jour.

As for the kids (I take them to pretty much every event I go to), my daughter wore her pink princess dress (the same one she wore to last year’s Costumer’s Picnic, but with a different hat), and my son wore his 11th Doctor jacket (which I finished early so he could wear it twice) over a white Onesie, navy denim pants and his pageboy cap.

Pour ce qui est des enfants (je les emmène avec moi à presque tous les événements où je vais), ma fille a revêtu sa robe de princesse rose (celle-là même qu’elle portait au Pique-Nique des Costumiers de l’an passé, mais avec un chapeau différent), et mon fils était habillé de son veston de 11e Docteur (que j’ai terminé d’avance pour qu’il puisse le porter plus souvent), une combinaison de bébé blanche, un pantalon de denim marine et sa casquette de camelot.

 

It was a nice, relaxed event. We just showed up, spread our blanket and ate our sandwiches surrounded by many Steampunk clad people.  I got to chat with a few people, make a couple new acquaintances, and was offered a sip of cider. My daughter played with a group of little girls and was able to run around in the grass. There was also a Steampunk exhibition inside Maison Beaudry, which was nice. I even snapped a few pictures (but not of the exhibit).

C’était un bel événement tranquille. On s’est simplement présenté, on a étendu notre couverture sur le sol et on s’est installé pour manger nos sandwich, entouré de gens habillés en Steampunk. J’ai pu discuter avec quelques personnes, j’ai rencontré de nouvelles connaissances, on m’a même offert un peu de cidre. Ma fille s’est amusée avec un groupe de fillettes et à pu courir dans l’herbe à son aise. Il y avait aussi une exposition Steampunk à l’intérieur de la Maison Beaudry qui était bien. J’ai même pu prendre quelques photos (mais pas de l’exposition).

There was a conference given later in the afternoon by the renowned costume historian Evelyne Bouchard, but I missed it because by the time it started, my daughter was in full toddler meltdown mode and I had to leave. Oh well. Maybe next year!

Il y avait même une conférence donnée par l’historienne du costume de renom, Evelyne Bouchard, mais je l’ai manqué puisque par le temps qu’elle ne débute, ma fille était en mode méga-crise et j’ai dû quitter. Tant pis. Ce sera pour l’an prochain!

Starting with Headdresses

Someone once told me all costumers, crafters and seamstresses are borderline hoarders at the very least. I am no exception to that rule. I have the hardest time throwing stuff away because somehow, I always feel I can eventually find a use for them in a future costume or craft. 

Here is an example: a month ago, I made poke bonnets for my daughter and me from cheap straw hats. The process involves cutting a little less than half the hat away and using the bigger piece. In theory, I should have thrown out the scrap piece right away, but something was holding me back; a little voice inside my head keeps on telling me they can be used for something.

 Hat leftovers

The other night, I was playing with these leftovers, trying to convince myself to just get rid of them once and for all, when I realized they could make great bases for headdresses.

Future small headdress

Future big headdress

Part of me just wants to grab my crafting supply and hot glue gun and start creating, but then, what would be the point of having a headdress that goes with nothing? Besides, I don’t currently have (ok, had) plans for a costume requiring a headdress, but I started googling images of various headdresses anyways, for inspiration. I won’t post all the ones I found interesting here, but you can see them my Pinterest Board on Headdresses.

Ultimately, I have come up with two ideas (for now). The first one would be to make a feathery headdress to go with an eventual Steampunk Burlesque dancer costume. I would like to make a headdress that looks somewhat like this one:

  "Versailles: Golden bird" by Astarohime

Of course I would match the colours to my future costume, which I have not designed yet (but it includes a corset and bustle).

My second idea is to make a Naboo Queen costume, inspired by both these:

 Queen Amidala's Coruscant Pre-Senate Costume

 Queen Apailana's Funeral costume

Since the shapes of both these dresses are similar, one could surmise that Naboo Queens all have a dress in that style. Maybe Queen Kylantha (who is a blond according to the artwork) has one too. This way I could get really creative and not worry about screen accuracy; I could just let a beautiful fabric inspire me, especially if it is on sale. This Star Wars original idea is really tickling my brain; now I am itching to make it even if I have nowhere to wear it.

I know, I have more ideas and projects than places to wear them too and money to make them (don’t we all). And I still have two more straw hats that I want to turn into poke bonnets, so two more headdress possibility!

My new Steampunk Bracelet

Nancy-Raven really spoiled me for my birthday, as she often does. Along with the two Truly Victorian Pattern previously mentioned, she gave a 20$ voucher for Fabricville (always a winner with me), and the pièce de résistance, this amazing Steampunk bracelet from La Table Ronde:

Steampunk Bracelet by Florica, on black velvet bag

Not that I ever speak of Steampunk, really. That I have been drooling over that collection for about a year now, especially the tiara might I add (but is friggin expensive), and that I wear bracelets a lot might also have influenced her choice. I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it! I want to wear it everyday.

Steampunk Bracelet by Florica, detailed view

I do have to make myself a Steampunk outfit. Soon!

New Victorian Patterns

Recently, it was my birthday. And amongst my many gifts, Nancy-Raven, who knows me so well, gave me my first Truly Victorian patterns. Let me tell you, I clapped my hands with excitement like a cartoon character as I unwrapped them.

First, a little something with a full round skirt.

1845 German Day Dresses - TV454

As Nancy-Raven put it, this looks like it would elongate the body, which is always good when you are round. I believe this would be a great dress to make and wear at Les fêtes victoriennes in Victoriaville, QC, if I ever get go that is.

Now I wonder what type of fabric and print I should look for to make this dress. Research ahead! Actually, I have begun looking around on the Net for ideas for a German Day Dress (and general 1840's Day Dresses) and found a lovely post about 1845 German Day Dresses with many pictures on Dressing the 1840s.

Second came a pattern I have wanted for years.

1873 Polonaise - TV410

You see, I have long been in love with Trystan's Sushi Victorian Dress, and although hers was made using a different pattern (Past Patterns' 1880s Polonaise With Walking Skirt), it is still a Victorian Polonaise. Besides, I like the sleeves on the Truly Victorian pattern better.

Somehow, even with the Red Sushi Dress as the origin for my desire for a Victorian Polonaise, my first idea upon receiving this pattern was to make a mourning version. I just think it would look great in a black tonal jacquard or brocade, don't you?

As I said, I was really pleased and happy with these gifts, but I think my Sweetheart's comment said it best; he said with these patterns, Steampunk for me is definitely here to stay!

Asian Steampunk Costume Concept

Have you ever had a simple project take unprecedented proportions?
Back before the Yule season, as I was planning what I would wear for each party, I had intended to make myself a corset using leftover Chinese Brocade from my Arwen Dying Gown. I loved the corset I made for Halloween using pattern Simplicity 2966 and want to make many more. I had bought a black skirt on sale at Sears the fall before and its shape made me think of Flamenco dances somehow, so I wanted something red to wear with it and the corset seemed a perfect idea. But then, I would need a shirt. “How about using Threadbanger’s Steampunk shirt tutorial?” I told myself. I could go to some second hand store and find an old man’s shirt to cut up, right? Do you see where this is going?

One thing let to another and I imagined an entire Steampunk outfit from that one corset project. Of course, I never did make any of it in time for New Year (and still have not started working on it), but I did have the entire look planed down to the hairstyle by the time I went back to work. And now five months later, I have finally kicked myself into sketching it. Here it is:

Asian Steampunk Concept - Front

Asian Steampunk Concept - Back

Let me explain what you are seeing here. This outfit consists on the red Chinese brocade corset, trimmed with black satin ribbon and laced down the back; a white linen shirt with mandarin collar, the whole edged with black sating stitching and closed on angle with black frog closures; a bolero length black velvet vest with high neck in the back and sweetheart neckline, antique brass frog closure below the bust and Furisode sleeves; a floor length black jacquard skirt with train and a slit up the left thigh kept shut by leather closures and antique brass buckles; a red taffeta bustle and a highly embroidered gold trimmed panel at front (inspired by the bustle pictured below). A chain on the right wearer’s side will hold a skeleton key, gear and a Chinese coin. Since my legs will me showing, I thought I would wear fishnet tights with my Victorian inspired boots.

The inspiration for the bustle and front panel - Steamflower Bustle by Laohats

My hair would be done in a Gibson Braid-Tuck, an Edwardian hairdo of three braids pinned and tucked. I have used this hairstyle often and love it. I might add a couple of hair sticks to it (not drawn).

Gibson Braid-Tuck by That Costume Girl

Finally, a traditional Chinese hat will cover my head. I have wanted one for awhile now, especially after my friend C.B. visited two years ago and lent me one for a photo.

Gwenyver and C.B., Summer 2009

My (current) goal is to have it done for Montréal ComicCon, but I have to work on Princess Peach first.

So who is up for a shopping trip in china town? I need to find myself a hat and some dangles for decoration.