Rising New Moon Studios

So, in my previous post I mentioned that my fabric swatches got lost in the mail. I had originally ordered two colors of the same fabric.  White taffeta with White velvet flocking and Silver taffeta with White flocking... well, I never got those swatches... and when I contacted the company, they said they were out of the silver/white... I asked if there were going to get anymore of the silver/white, but they didn't answer... I also told them to go ahead and send me the white/white so I could at least see if that's what I wanted. By the way, the company is Big Z Fabrics or bigzfabric.com.    Well, today, I got the white/white... and here's some pictures. The first two are with flash... the last two without... and I photoed from different angles so you could see how it plays with the light. The fabric is nice, but kind of thin, so that's why there's a piece of paper behind it... otherwise it takes on a blue-gray tint from Gemmima.  I'll definitely have...

So I've been hacking... I mean cutting on my wig for Prince Diamond... and it needs a little more work but it's starting to get there. This is really only my second wig that I've done... My first was my original wig for Uranus... but I didn't really like how that turned out and have since replaced that one. The key to wig cutting, I've learned, is cut little by little and try the wig on A WHOLE LOT.  Because even though I pin my wig to a male wig head, it still looks COMPLETELY different on me than it does on the mannequin.   But I worked on it just a little more since I took those pics and now I'm really liking it.   For those of you who are afraid to take on wigs... first off, read World of Wigcraft by Katie Bair .   It is AMAZING.  And once you get your mind to accept that there are very few mistakes that can't be fixed in wigcraft, you'll feel a lot more confident.   Say, for instance, that you cut the wig to short... is the w...

So, I've had the past couple of days off and I've been pretty productive.   First off, I cleaned, organized and rearranged my sewing corner... Here's the old layout.  I used to have the end of the den... I separated the area with some sheer curtains hung from the ceiling -- which kind of made a wall.  In front of the curtain wall was a dresser with my machines.  Next to that was a portable clothing rack... on the wall opposite the dresser was my work table... and then opposite the clothes rack and next to my table was a shelf of supplies... But I've been downsized and had to give up half of my end of the den... So here's the new layout. Not much changed now that I look at it...  I just shifted the dresser to the opposite side and moved my table... I also took the rolling rack apart and put it away... Also my dress form is in another room. Did I mention my sewing area was really messy and that moving all this first required thorough cle...

So you know how I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a pattern for Diamond... Look what I had in my pattern library.  I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Butterick 6844.  It's a clergy robe, but with a little tailoring and a few modifications, I can make it look more like this... Here's what I have in mind so far... Probably gonna go with view A and possibly keep the button down front.   Extend the collar so it closes at center front. Omit the cuffs on the sleeves. On the back there are 3 pleats, which I'd draft out.  Remove the side pockets Shorten just below the low hip Add in side seam slits like in the second picture I also might add just a tiny bit of a sleeve cap, like in the pic above Add in a full lining since the pattern only has a partial lining. That sounds like a lot, but actually all of those things are pretty simple modifications. I also took advantage of EpicCosplay.com 's Black Friday Sa...

Alright, so now that I’ve successfully finished 2 of these lovelies, I can share the step by step process with you.  I made sure to take lots of pictures and write down everything I did as I made the first brooch, so that when I started making the second, it would look exactly the same.  So here we go. First the supplies... In no particular order... (by the way, this is the stuff I used, feel free to modify it as needed) A. Acrylic crystal teardrop beads (you can use real crystal also, I just couldn’t find them) B. Round glass seed beads in Gold C. Scissors or Wire Cutters. D. 2 3/4” Diamond -- This is a glass paperweight, but there are also acrylic versions used for wedding tablescapes. E. 28 Gauge jewelry wire in gold -- This isn’t real gold wire because that’d kind of be a waste of money as the wire isn’t seen. F. Pliers -- I just used needle nose pliers because I don’t have the kind for making jewelry. First measure out a length of wire just a little sm...

Well, I've never made any kind of jewelry before... unless you count the friendship bracelets I made back in the 80's when I was a kid.  But, this is my first attempt at Prince Diamonds' brooches.  He wears four of them and 3 appear to hold his cape in place.   You can see the brooch detail in the upper right corner.  I'll probably find a better way to attach the cape and the brooches will be purely decorative.  But I'm super stoked how this first one came out.  Now I just need to make 3 more, but I wrote down everything I did so I can make the rest exactly the same (Hmm.... I smell a tutorial.) Just a quick run down of what I used.  The diamonds are glass paperweights I found at Hobby Lobby.  They were on sale for 50% off so they were only $2.00 each.  The acrylic jewels that Hobby Lobby had looked cheap... however I know that there are other brands of acrylics that look really nice.   I used gold glass...