Hello...

I've been looking for inspiration and am wasting way too much time, but having fun checking out images that make me ooh and ahh.  So in the spirit of sharing...

Beautiful paste tiaras from an old shop in London, Jewels by Alexander.  Count Alexander, of Hungarian/Austrian descent used to make copies of famous jewels worn by various royal families, as well as delicacies like the fairy tale coronet in the first photo.  Sadly, he passed away in early 2010 and the remainder of his stock was auctioned off last year.

The real deal.  These jewels used to belong to the Russian Imperial family.  The first crown was the nuptial crown worn by all Imperial brides, last worn by the Czarina Alexandra.  The second is an amazing piece of the jewelsmith's art that appears to be from the late 18th/early 19th century when antiquity was the rage in fashion.  All the jewels were auctioned off by the Bolsheviks in 1927.

Tiara purchased from Garrad's for the wedding of Sarah Ferguson to HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

Tiara originally commissioned by Napoleon I for the Empress Josephine.  The colored stones were originally emeralds, which were sold and replaced by turquoise.

Eagle crown commissioned by the Emperor Napoleon III for Empress Eugenie of France.  Mid 19th century.

Princess Mary of Denmark in a spectacular parure (set of matching jewels) in rubies and diamonds.

And just for fun, Leslie Caron as Gigi, in her Cecil Beaton designed evening gown (worn at Maxim's), featuring a little crescent moon diamante hair ornament.

The Swarovski crystal reproduction of the George III fringe tiara made for the film "The Young Victoria."  This was at the FIDM exhibition of Academy Award nominated film costumes in early 2010.

The old crown worn by Rose Queens until Mikomodo got a licensing deal.  That crown has been replaced as well.  It's a bit gaudy, but at least the floral shape was in there...

A variation on the Star Princess headpiece worn by "Christine Daee" in The Phantom of the Opera.  Seems each theater comes up with their own interpretation of Maria Bjornson's design.

ETA:    Because more is never enough when it comes to jewels, I'm adding these rings...

I am a bit of a royalist, even if I am American.  Don't think much of the Duchess of York and her continual talent for finding trouble.  However, I love her engagement ring.  I suppose the props should go to Prince Andrew, Duke of York.  He designed it.  Back in 1986 it was said that the ring cost $35,000.  I am partial to rubies, as they're my birthstone.  Love this look of the Burmese ruby surrounded by diamonds.

Antique diamond and ruby engagement ring purchased in London by Charles, Earl Spencer for his first wife Victoria Lockwood.  Fittingly, it was a Victorian style, when crowns over stones were the trend.

Enjoy...

Busy, busy

Safe to say that I have been sewing non-stop since January 2nd. I will eventually get photos posted of costumes from the Jane Austen Ball, as well as the coat I'm working on now for a play that's about to open. I'm getting paid $10 per hour for the thing, and I'm up to $400 in invoicing - it's been that much of a devil. Having said that, now that the lining is tacked in and the front facings are on, it's looking pretty good. This is the first time I've made an overcoat, let alone worked with fur. I found someone's review of the project (Eva Dress 6611 - 1929 Coat) on PatternReview.com, and she had the same sort of challenges I've been experiencing. Fortunately for me, she posted more complete information about how she made and attached the collar, which rather reminds me of a Flintstones version of Elvis (standing fur). The other problem I had was my cutters. They were first year theater students, and I happened to be in the costume shop, working with the designer on another dress, while the kids were cutting, and they were more interested in their conversation than mindful of what they were doing. This coat has a lot of long seams, curved pintucks, matching curves for an intricate effect - it's really precision sewing, and because they weren't cautious, some of the seam allowances were off, and so I had to take portions of the seams apart and abut them by hand in order to have proper spacing between the curved seam, and the echo in the pintuck. The girl also cut the lining wrong, but in this case, it's an error that worked out in my favor, because in the pattern review, the other seamstress mentioned that when cutting the lining as shown on the pattern piece, it's about 1" too narrow to fit with the front facing, so I may actually be able to turn this inside out and close that part up by machine later this morning. This project has been a real challenge, but it's pushed me hard, and I've learned so much. I know the designer wouldn't have given it to me if she didn't think I could handle it, and I've been slllllloooooooowwwww (which is working just fine for my budget), but I'm seeing what I'm capable of doing, and despite my grumbles, the fur really makes the coat look beautiful. Hope to finish by 3:00 in the afternoon, or before it starts raining - whichever comes first. I've just done a last press of the interior seams before I close up the innards, and I don't want to go to all the trouble of pressing it and making it look just so, then have to go and wad it up in a plastic bag to prevent it from being ruined so I can go the three blocks to the company costume shop.

Not knitting...

While running errands, I was able to find a couple of yummy fabrics to get the projects started for our Jane Austen evening outfits. I found a beautiful white shirting cotton with a tiny diamond pattern woven in for John's shirt that will be the bottom layer of his dragoon/formal evening ensemble. I found a beautiful pink fabric that has a striped lattice pattern woven in white for my Regency dress. I'm going to flatline it in white muslin. Will post photos when I have a spare moment to actually take them. More than ever, I feel the need to be doing something, and truth be told, I haven't lifted my needles for a couple of weeks, despite having the intent to do so. I want to find a white denim or other white twill for an 1820's corset. I'll be doing some modifications to make it Regency proper, but I just feel the need for the proper underpinnings for this dress. It's the long-sleeved Sense and Sensibility drawstring dress. I'd been planning on a turkey red or indigo; however, considering how r/l demands have been changing, I want a dress in a pale enough color that I could use it as a ball dress in a pinch.

eep...the finished watch cap, in case anyone was interested ;p

Stitch markers - yay!

I received my Hogwarts stitchmarkers from the Yarnola chat today. They are darling! I'm thrilled - too bad I'm not working on anything that needs stitchmarkers at the moment, I'm dying to try them out. I think someone should come up with a second set. There's already the rat, as well as Trevor and McGonagall. They need Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs as well. I dunno - if you're going for weird stuff (the Dark Mark?), there could always be a dementor or Buckbeak...

I'm staring at the same four squares for the RMBR project. I have been really bad the past two days, with the amount of time I've been spending online. Someone on the Lost and Found group had the watch cap pattern I was looking for, so there are my guy's Yule-time presents. It's a really simple 5 stitch rib watch cap in super bulky yarn that was published in Real Simple magazine. I made one and promptly lost the pattern. It only took 8 hours to knit the entire cap and stitch up the side - how fast is that? I love it. So I have some future projects planned, as well as a hoodie that I started for Mr. Soli, which is currently sitting in a tote bag in the studio. I wonder if I should bother with the effort, as he doesn't seem to wear the sewn clothes I've already made for him *grrr*

I've been looking at online photos from DragonCon (aside from the ones of HottSirius and HottLupin), and checking out the costumes, trying to get inspired. It's sort of cool that people do make line for line copies of the movie costumes, but I think if I were going to go as a Hogwarts teacher, I'd want to put my own spin on it, rather than being a slave to the film version. Having said that, I found some high resolution pics of Helena Bonham Carter's sexy Ministry outfit, and I'm thinking it might be possible to do a good copy. I thought that the dress/bodice was a knit, and it looks like it's some sort of woven, almost like a flatlined burlap. Some of the swirl elements are stenciled on, and the prominent ones seem to be couched with silver thread over a silver cord, so there's a lot of dimension. The corset belt looks like the biggest pain, as it's leather, and there doesn't appear to be a busk in the center front. I can't tell what the lacing is like on the back of the costume. The lacing for the sleeves appears to be leather cord, the same as in the belt lacing. It could get a wee bit expensive. I'm guessing she's wearing Peter Fox shoes, which run about $300 a pop, but they're pretty authentic for a Victorian look. I wonder if I could pull that one off. I'd have to lose another 20 pounds before I'd feel comfortable wearing it, but I also happen to own a Phantom-type wig like all the girls wore, with cascades of curls down to my butt. I bought it in Hollywood - where else?

Hmmm...inspiration may be striking after all.