Making a wedding dress...

I have been really busy the last few weeks, working on a vow renewal dress for a very good friend of mine.  She has been married for 10 years (Excellent!) and will be renewing her vows next month in fabulous Las Vegas (I wish  I could attend, I will get more into that later).

This is not going to be a traditional white wedding dress, she sent me a few photos for inspiration and this is the sketch of the final design.

We went to the fabric store and picked up some wonderful red stretch lace and red satin.  The lace is going to be an overlay on the bodice and skirt and the sleeves are going to be sheer lace.  

Progress thus far:  Bodice is stitched and ready for a fitting, skirt is stitched, working on lining with underskirt made of tulle to make it fancy schmancy.  

Bodice ready for a fitting.

Adding red and black layers of tulle to the underskirt lining. 

The last few days in the sewing room, I have been listening to The Burns and Allen Show on my Vintage Radio App.  What a wonderful radio programme, George and Gracie make quite the comedic team! And that Artie Shaw!  I love Artie Shaw, he is one of the famous Arties my Artie Cat is named for. And I find the humour on the programme to be still quite relevant, even though the show aired in 1940.  The only thing is, the show's sponsor was Spam.  And let me tell you, I have had all sorts of Spam jingles stuck in my head the last few days. "Slice it, Dice it, Fry it, Bake it.  Cold or Hot, Spam hits the spot!" I could not get the video to post, but this was the best Burns and Allen Spam jingle I could find on the YouTube. (Now you too can have that wonderful Spam tune stuck in your head!)

I have also been really busy house shopping the last few weeks! (Hence no Las Vegas trip this year) After seeing a lot of duds, Sassy Boyfriend and I found our dream home.  A renovated 1956 bungalow, a stone's throw away from the river valley, lots of windows for Artie to peer out of and with plenty of room for a sewing room of my very own!  We are just waiting on the inspection, and if all goes well we get keys at the end of the month.  Wish us luck, because I love this house! I can't wait to get to Ikea to get some new shelving for my fabric stash and a new sewing table.  

Hopefully the next time I post, the deal will be all stitched up and we will be packing to move into our new digs!  Happy Tuesday readers! 

~Miss World

A Happy Little Bob

I am fortunate to know many artistic people, who often provide wonderful inspiration.  We had a recent visit from an old roommate and friend Dali and his cousin Jordan.  Dali is an excellent, extraordinary artist and had moved to Vancouver a few years ago.  Jordan lives in Edmonton and is an excellent, extraordinary artist as well.  While they were over, I showed off my mini monster dolls and other creative endeavors.  I also discussed a trade with Jordan, who makes beautiful handmade frames.  Trades are my favourite, nothing better than receiving something beautiful in return for something beautiful you made yourself.  If I could live off the barter system in North America, I certainly would.

Jordan let me know about an art show that Dali is working on in Vancouver, "Happy Little Clouds: A Bob Ross Art Show".  Excitement, I watched Bob Ross on television many a time as a young girl, and I have always had a love of painting and drawing trees.  I remember when I was in kindergarten, I drew a tree and all the other children at my art table made fun of me.  They had all drawn their trees as rectangles with a poof on top (you know how kids draw trees).  I had drawn individual branches and leaves and was very proud of myself until I was made fun of by those jerks at school.  I took my drawing home to show my Pop, who looked at it and praised my efforts.  He spoke so highly of my drawing ability and how wonderful it is that I see the world in my own way.  He taught me to not care what those jerks thought. That conversation with my Pop meant soo much to me, and he still praises my every creative effort to this day.

The fabulous Mr Bob Ross

What was I to make that was inspired by the happy tree painter Bob Ross?.... after much thought, I decided on a Happy Little Bob mini monster.  I started cutting my felt and it turned into an excellent likeness of Bob Ross, if he were a tree!

A Happy Little Bob in progress

Completed Happy Little Bob

Now if you are in Vancouver,  the art show opens next Saturday Feb 22/14 at 7pm.  I won't be there myself (work and all that), but mini monster Bob has already made his way there safely by post and is ready to be displayed along with many other wonderful Bob Ross inspired pieces.  The show goes until March 23 at THE FALL Tattooing and Artists Gallery, 644 Seymour St, Vancouver BC.

I have a lot of making going on right now, a lot of half finished projects to work on and a few deadlines to meet....

Thanks for reading and look for an update soon!

~Miss World


                                          

This distinguished looking fellow is my Pop, this post is dedicated to him 

and his on going support of my creative side.  He is a creator himself, and 

has painted many happy trees in water colour over the years. 

Excuses, excuses....

I have about a million and one silly excuses why I have not posted since October.  I am not going to bore you with them all, but I must say I have been very busy with daylight slave job.  Soo busy in fact that I won a special Best of the Best award, which I received at a gala event in Lake Louise a few weeks ago.  It was a beautiful event and I made myself a fancy new outfit for the occasion. 

Fancy new made by moi chapeau for the occasion

Progress shot of gala dress, still had not decided if there would be sleeves

Horrible hotel bathroom selfie, sadly one of the few photos of me all dolled up

 (decided sleeves were a must!)

Myself and my pal, who also won an award

 

 

You may have also noticed that I did a little blog renovation, I thought I would get fancy with a new banner (surprisingly edited entirely on my very user friendly iPhone) and a new colour scheme!

 

 

What else has Miss World been up to the last 5 months???  Well, I have been a very busy girl keeping myself sane by crafting up a storm!  I have quite a few projects to post, so this post I am going to give you a peek at the mini monsters I have been working on and a shot of a few new resin pieces. 

Mini Monster Mermaid, hand beaded tail

(took me 2 hockey games to get that done!)

Mini Monster Link for Sassy Boyfriend

Batty BAT!

Some resin pieces, all set to make into earrings and hairclips and hat décor and magnets.....

 

 I also have a new love, hat making! Ever since I decided to make the gala mini hat.  I am making fascinators at the moment on buckram hat frames.  I hand stitch each piece, and I just love putting the little flourishes on top!

Taffeta fascinator adorned with ribbon and made by me resin brass knuckles

Dracula monster heart shape fascinator (love this one!)

 

Sassy Boyfriend and I also took a trip to Los Angeles and Disneyland in December.  Even though they had record low temperatures while we were there, I was able to come home feeling very inspired and rejuvenated. 

 

Disneyland! :)

 

I have quite a few more projects to update for you wonderful readers, but I will be saving those for another post.  I did not want to go overboard this evening.  Stay tuned for sewing updates and perhaps a tutorial within the next week.











 

Thanks for reading! 

 

~Miss World

 

 

P.S. Did you really think I would forget to include an Artie update?? 

Here he is hanging out in the basket of clean towels!

 

 



Wiggle Dress and Mini Monster Madness

This was a busy stitching week for me,  a good change of pace from the previous week.  I have been feeling a little blah lately and have not been sewing as much as I like to, but it has been busy busy busy for Miss World in the sewing room!

I decided to make a new dress to wear to daylight slave job.  I used the Wiggle Dress pattern from "Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing" by Gretchen Hirsch.  It s a simple princess seam dress with  a twist!  A gusset underarm!  The beauty of a gusset underarm, is that you get a nice snug fit on a kimono style sleeve.  I was a little nervous about the whole thing at first, but then I looked up Gertie's tutorial for the underarm gusset and it was smooth sailing.  The dress needed a few minor alterations, I am a little top heavier and went up a size, so I had to take in the skirt from the waist down just a few centimeters.  I have to finish the hem tonight and it will be ready to wear to daylight slave job. 

The Wiggle Dress "Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing"

Wiggle Dress Front

Wiggle Dress Back

Underarm Gusset!

Hockey season is upon us, and SassyBoyfriend is a Penguins fan.  That means I get to make many monsters in front of the tv, while helping him to cheer on (or sometimes cuss out) his team!  Last night I managed to start and finish a new Mini Monster while watching the Penguins trounce Buffalo.  I came across the idea of making a black widow Mini Monster after watching an episode of the Beetlejuice cartoon Saturday morning.  Her head is very similar to a Bride of the Monster I made a few years ago.  I also embroidered a spiderweb fascinator for her and beaded her red hourglass.  I also gave her eight eyes and tiny red shoes. 

Black Widow

Black Widow hour glass

Artie getting in on the photo action

SassyBoyfriend is a little Zelda crazy right now and I must really fancy him because I have essentially let him set up an arcade in my bedroom to feed his Legend of Zelda addiction when he is at my place.  He has requested that I make him a special Link Mini Monster.  I am not going to post the final product until I give it to him, but here are a few photos of the progress thus far. 

Mini Link in progress

I am going to get back to my dress making and my Absolutely Fabulous marathon, thanks for reading sweetie darlings.


~Miss World

Matador Mini Monster

I have always thought I would move to Spain and have a torrid affair with a matador.  Maybe it's because I have read Ava Gardner's biography tooo many times, but it has always just felt like something like this girl needs to do. If you don't know much about Ava Gardner, I suggest you Google her, she was a fabulously interesting woman. Let's just say if I had a time machine I would go back to Spain in the 50's and hang out with her and Hemmingway at the bullfights.  Now I don't believe that SassyBoyfriend would like the whole torrid affair with the matador idea,  so it's not something I will pursue. I would also like to note that I do not particularly agree with the whole bullfighting scene.  It's a nasty thing for the bulls, but I have to say there is something very intriguing about those spangled of outfits. 

My dog ear copy of "Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing" by Lee Server

From the above book, a photo of Hemmingway, Gardner

and her matador lover Luis Miguel Dominguin.  Neat!

 Anyhoo, I decided it was time to make a new Mini Monster while on my mini vacation, a Matador. 

I started with a few pieces of felt, my scissors, some gold ric rac (scraps from mom's sewing box), some beads that SassyBoyfriend's mom had given me and my needle and thread.  As I mentioned before, I don't use patterns, I just let the scissors start snipping and go from there.  This is what I came up with...

Mini Monster Matador front

Mini Monster Matador Back

I have never really done much beading.  When I was 7 years old, my dance recital was to "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.  We had to attach sequined sunshines on our bright yellow leotards and I remember that most of the mom's glued their daughter's sequins on.  My mom stitched one on with a glass bead in the center to show me and had me stitch the rest.  I was very proud of my special sunshine and that was the extent of stitching with beads until now.  I think I did a pretty good job, don't you?

Front bead detail

Back bead detail

Fancy spangled trousers!

 

 

 

 I have also been busy helping Dr. Sister with her guest book wedding scrapbook.  It is now finished and is full of wonderful memories from the guests at her wedding (and possibly some beverage induced ramblings as well).  But that is now checked off the list and I can get to some new projects, thinking some more Spanish influenced Mini Monsters.  

Dr. Sister hard at work pasting in her scrapbook



~Miss World

Dinosaurs, Trekcetera and a Blouse

I have been a horrible blog writer as of late.  It has been a hectic month at daylight slave job. I was soo exhausted by the time I came home from work everyday that I mostly crawled into bed with the Artie cat and watched movies.  It was time for me to take a week off work and have a nice relaxing time with SassyBoyfriend (and maybe get to making some neat stuff too)!

We left early Saturday morning and headed out to Drumheller, AB to visit the Tyrrell Museum.  A museum dedicated to dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric life.  The whole town of Drumheller has adopted the theme, and there are dinosaur sculptures on every corner.  The museum was wonderful and very informative.  The day before we left, SassyBoyfriend had read an article denouncing the Triceratops (which was proven wrong about 2 days later, oh geeze!), so we had an excellent time photographing triceratops fossils and other ceratopsians.  We also went to Reptile World, where they have all sorts of reptiles from itty bitty frogs to a 13 foot alligator named Fred. 

Tyrell Museum

Fancy Fossil Photography attempt

SassyBoyfriend finds a Triceratops

 

Miss World and the crazy eye Stegosaurus

Drumheller Museum Street Art

The next day we headed to Vulcan, AB.  A town who was named Vulcan, long before Star Trek used the name for their planet of logical humanoids, but they have used the name to bring in the Trekkies (or Trekkers or whatever is PC nowadays).  They have a large Enterprise sculpture, as well as a collection of Trek memorabilia and the newly opened Trekcetera Museum.  Both SassyBoyfriend and I enjoy the Star Trek immensely (though I am an Original Series kinda gal and he favours the Next Generation).  I was most excited to see the Trekcetera Museum, where I was told they have a wonderful collection of costumes and props from Star Trek, as well as a few other movie/television props (Christopher Reeves' Superman Cape, and some marionettes from the Thunderbirds).  I was really excited to study the Trek costumes, as I have always wanted to make one for myself.  Up close they are certainly different than they appear on screen.  You can see all the seams, details, elastics and little pockets and places to attach your phaser and tricorder.  The most interesting thing was the underpinnings worn by Jeri Ryan under her form fitting Seven of Nine costume.  Most of the items there were from the Voyager series, not my favourite, but still very neat! It has inspired me to purchase a pattern from www.roddenberry.com, so I can make my own TOS dress. 

Star Trek film costume

 

 Seven of Nine's Underpinnings

Uniforms worn by the Doctor (DS9 and Voyager)

Janeway

Isolinear Chips Prop

This is a costume from Voyager, I can't remember what exactly, but the textile used was beautiful

Miss World and the Enterprise

SassyBoyfriend reading some Klingon

I also was able to pay a visit to my favourite Calgary fabric store while we were in southern Alberta and purchase some interesting notions and beautiful wool for an autumn coat.  Which I will post about soon!  And we also went to the Calgary Zoo.  Many of their habitats are closed to the public as they are still  recovering from a terrible flood that occurred this summer.  We did get to see the penguins though!

Baby penguin

When we returned home I got to making a blouse that I have had sitting on my dress form half finished for over a month.  I purchased some beautiful silk cotton blend floral, perfect for a summer blouse (and summer is over, so it was time to get it done)! I decided to use double fold bias tape tucked in-between the facing and front of the garment as I was sewing to create a piping effect along the front and collar.  I also used it on the shirt hem as well as the sleeves to complete the look.  It turned out lovely and I can't wait to wear it! 

Collar detail

Look how nicely I matched up the pattern in the front

New Look pattern 6407, with a few Miss World tweaks!

I have also been working on a new mini-monster project.  It is almost complete and I will post photos of it this week.  It feels great to be back writing and making, I don't believe I will be taking this long a break from the blogging world again any time soon!

Thanks soo much for reading!

~Miss World