Deck of Cards!

I'm so excited to announce that my Deck of Cards hats are now for sale at Topsy Turvy Design!!

Please go go www.topsyturvydesign.etsy.com to check them out and... ahem... BUY ONE!

More photos are available on Etsy.

Fascinating Fascinators

What can I say? I've been in a hat making mood. And because the buckram scraps I've salvaged from Topsy Turvy's cutting room floor are small-ish, I've made some small-ish hats! They're still awaiting their veiling, but they are mostly complete!

Each hat is constructed out of buckram, a stiffly starched hat making fabric, and millinery wire, which is a wire wrapped in thread. Add a sturdy zig zag stitch and some hot glue and those are the bare bones materials of millinery.

I hand beaded each hat, adorning with rhinestones, bugle beads, seed beads, feathers, bows, brooches and buttons.

This one is made of fabric from my Burning Man costume. It's waiting for the perfect veil.

I love peacock swords, and prefer them as a colorful alternative to the often used peacock eye. Their opulence and depth of color are amazing! Each dot on the hat base is hand beaded with miniature jet black seed beads.

This woven houndstooth pattern is accentuated by jet black hand beading. I made the feather wing, and nestled is amongst a soft satin bow. Chic!

Thanks for looking. I hope to post these designs for sale on Etsy soon.

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.