Deck of Cards Hatties

As promised, photos of the other three hats in the Deck of Cards line.

These beauties are going up for sale any day now at Topsy Turvy Millinery!

Enjoy!

Hatties!!

I'm so excited to post photos of these hats!

Today I finished the first of four hats of my design that are due to premier through Topsy Turvy Millinery in time for Halloween.

The spade pillbox is handmade with love out of buckrum and wire, covered with leather, adorned with rhinestones, and lined with satin. Rhinestone dotted veiling ices the cake. I love it, and can't wait to see them all together!!

Next is my Burning Man hat, whose feathers are now adorned with rhinestones. This is my last effort to chronicle it before taking it to the playa, where it will be subjected to some intense elements.



It's been hot here in Oakland - I hope everyone is staying comfortable!

Renaissance Bodice

In honor of it's Etsy sale, here are a few photos of a Renaissance bodice I made last year.


It's made with a woven floral thick cotton brocade on one side, while the other side and bias tape are both made of a dark navy blue wool. Each piece is stabilized with with Rigaline boning and top-stitched with Navy cotton thread.

It is completely reversible, composed of four mirrored pieces which lace up the sides through brushed gold grommets. Can be worn as a solid color/design, or you can choose to reverse only one panel.

I'm so happy that it has found a loving home!

Teatro Zinzanni

I've spent the last ten months interning two days per week and Teatro Zinzanni, San Francisco's premier Circus Dinner Theatre! From a very young age, I've been in love with clowns and the circus, and I think my family was less than surprised when I took up learning circus arts and costuming.

My internship involved getting my hands in many aspects of the costume shop: from sewing with gorgeous beaded fabrics, to buying coffee for THE Joan Baez, to rigging in "manties" (man panties) out of powernet that I attatched to dress shirts for actor's quick changes. But, the little girl in me becomes ecstatic when handed a rhinestone project, such as the one I received on my last day of work.

The madness of the costume shop hours before opening.

The current show which opened last night is all about Egypt, or, the fantastical Egypt that the fabulous costume designer Beaver Bauer conjured. Our lady Cleopatra is a bit of a clothes horse, changing six times into six equally breathtaking embodiments during the 3 hour show. Yesterday I was charged with adorning her micro-mini act costume (what she wears to perform her tissue act in) with thousands of rhinestones.

Each lotus petal was specifically designed, with each having a pattern of gems that needed to be copied symmetrically on the other cup. That alone took about four hours!

Having completed my internship, I feel only what I can equate to a kid on the last day of school. A sort of, "Whoa, what a whirlwind" paired with, "Now what?".

After returning from Burning Man, I'm going to start at Apparel Arts, a sewing trade school in San Francisco that has a industry certification program for Pattern Making. Classes start Sept. 11th, so wish me luck!

Captain Planet! (He's a hero.)

I'm very bummed that my camera somehow deleted most of my photos from this night, so these few will have to suffice until Halloween and we get a chance to wear these costumes again.

A friend from Zinzanni was having a birthday party, namely, a Superhero/Supervillian Pub crawl. After much brainstorming (Pinky and the Brain? The Gulf oil spill? Quail Man?) we decided on Captain Planet and his arch nemesis Captain Pollution.

We went to Discount Fabrics in Berkeley to buy 2 yards each of yellow, purple, sky blue, and red stretchy knit fabrics. Ironically enough, Captain Pollution's vest and shorts were made of Organic Bamboo cloth.

Using some proper fitting pieces as guides, I built leggings, a long sleeved shirt, pull on vest, shorts, long fingerless gloves, and shin guards for each of us, in our respective colors.


Looking this good, you know calamity had to ensue. Imagine this riding the BART from downtown Oakland into San Francisco, and proceeding to party in the Tenderloin. Imagine if you can.

I'm alive!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I swear! Lack of a computer battery, camping, and much needed family visits have turned me into an inconsistent blogger! Though, don't worry, I've been cooking up some tasty treats - a collection of four pillbox hats that will be sold through Topsy Turvy Design just in time for Halloween! I'll post photos as soon as I can muster them up.

I've also been working on a skirt for Jody of Abney Park. She and I were in a few choirs together in High School, and I've asked her if she needed a costumer to create some beautiful custom pieces for her. To my happiness, she said yes, and I am building a skirt, a hat, and maybe a corset or two of her own design. I'll post photos once I'm back from my day sewing at Teatro Zinzanni!!

Satin Poi

So, I'm learning that if one wants to sew, or be crafty in general, for a living, one needs to find an under-served market and carve their niche. I've been spinning Poi for about two years. Just out of curiosity, I searched for poi on etsy and was delighted to find that few sellers focus their efforts on poi, and those that are available seem to vary in degrees of quality and presentation.

After procuring all of the essential hardware, I developed my own pattern and started a mini production line.
I think they've turned out really well - and they spin smoothly with little effort. They're great for practice indoors!! Later today I'll be posting them for sale on my etsy page, La Petite Menagerie.

Ch-ch-ch-check it out. They're fully customizable in fabric and length of handles and tail.