Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hero in a Half Shell - L

There are events on the horizon...
In a day or two, Robin is going to GBACG Pirate Bonfire.  I am thinking about it.  OF COURSE it would be fun to don my Haradrim costume and 'grrrrr' and 'arrrrhhh' my way around a fire.  But I have plans for that costume and don't want to have to wash the campfire smell out of it.  And it will be cold.  It's at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.  And we know what Mark Twain said about summer in San Francisco....    I would need to wear my cloak, and that would be another pain to clean.  I have to decide today.

Costume College is in two weeks!  Robin and I are going for the first time.  I'm nearly ready, having added hooks and eyes where I had been using safety pins and added buttons that were missing.  I want to fix the weapon attachments on the Haradrim costume.  There were NOT satisfactory last time I wore them.  That's in the queue for today.

And then the Art Deco Society Gatsby picnic.  I've been working on the dress.  And, knock on wood, it's going together well.  I'll post some pictures shortly.  I've also been concentrating on accessories.  There is a very strict dress code.  There's also a 'dress code' for our picnic.  No plastic.  No modern electronics.  Coolers must be disguised or covered.  So I've been acquiring accessories.  I already had gloves and a deco bracelet.  I got some flat spectators (no heels for me on grass!), some round sunglasses, and a thrift store wooden purse.  The inside needed a lining, if only to keep everything from falling out every time I opened it.  So I used some taffeta scraps and made one.  First I made a paper model to make sure my plan actually worked.  And I added a pocket for my phone so it wouldn't clatter around inside.

I put interfacing in the top inch of the side sections and ironed it in the folded position so that it would 'want' to stay that way.  

I also added some stiff plastic to the top edges of the body to make it stay in place tucked under the edge of the purse.  Then I hot-glued the top edges and a little curved part of the body.  It's not a perfect fit.  It can't be.  Otherwise the purse wouldn't open and close.

Here's a quick picture of all my accessories except a hat.  They are sitting on the dress fabric which is a soft green.

Yes.  Green.  Late 20's, early 30's style.  My waist-less torso.
Middle-aged Mutant Ninja Turtle.  
Hero on a half shell - turtle power!
(a direct rendering of the original cartoon theme song for you infants that don't recognize it)