This year I bit off more than I could chew. After reviewing all my old costumes I convinced myself I could tackle anything. I have more sewing skills and gave myself a whole month to sew. I thought if I could sew pleather into a Xena costume without knowing anything I could do chiffon. This is true but it takes more than a month to do it right.
My partner and I decided that we would go as Little Finger and Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones (Pinterest here), as the relationship is creepy and the costumes interesting. When I told my sister, she immediately decided that she would be Sansa's sister Arya Stark. Note that she makes a great Arya with a simple trip to Value Village, a borrowed sword and some attitude. Her friend is also an adorable version of Jon Snow next to her. There is a lesson in this. Time spent does not equal impact. It was a learning experience though. One that ended at 7:30pm before the party with both my serger broken and the footpedal on my sewing machine no longer working.

When searching the internet for a good pattern to start with, I stumbled upon Curvy Cosplay's Etsy shop. Do not google Curvy Cosplay at work as you will not get this pattern shop as your first hit. The shop was completely unknown to me and I really debated between purchasing this pattern from Simplicity, going with an unknown independent designer or just drafting from scratch. I decided that I would give Curvy Cosplay a shot and ordered the Sansa Stark pattern in a standard size. This shop is new and I believe the owner is still working out some changes so these things may be different in the future. 

Things that happened:

• I found the waistband of the underskirt was shorter than the waist measurement so I just drew an A line skirt onto the chiffon and cut out two pieces and then inserted an elastic waistband for ease and comfort.
• I used my serger to do a rolled hem. I found that it was only possible when using tissue paper to stabilize the hem and then tearing it away afterwards.
• I made a long scarf out of the leftover chiffon. This was two strips that I attached with a french seam and then did the longest rolled hem ever. I went through a lot of tissue paper.

I ordered a men's robe pattern from McCall's as a basis for the Little Finger costume. It took 3 weeks to arrive so I didn't start it until 3 days before Hallowe'en. This left me no time for a muslin and I just had to jump in and hope for the best.
Things that happened.

• I removed the two side pleats from the back and only left the middle pleat from the pattern before cutting based on this youtube video. 
• I extended the collar to be wider with a random guess as I didn't have a muslin to actually measure.
• I extended the lining so that it was full length to avoid finishing the seams inside. I also thought this would mean you could see it swooshing at the bottom but the robe overlaps and that does not happen.
• I ordered a littlefinger pin on Etsy which was probably insane but less insane than the wig.
• I made a last minute pouch that has no seams finished so will likely fray and fall apart tomorrow.
• I skipped putting snaps in and relied on the pin and the belt to hold things together which they did.
• The sleeves were short and the cuffs were weirdly long so they were folded so they are now half the size and extend the length of the sleeve.
• I sewed the sleeves in 5 minutes without looking at lining up notches or easing things in (at this point my foot pedal was broken) and so one of them is in sideways.

Surprisingly, this did not turn me off sewing. Though I am eager to sew something easy and practical. I'll have to wait until my sewing machine is repaired.
Just need to look back on this post next Hallowe'en when I get some big ideas and remember how crazy I felt.

This was actually a month and a half ago but it feels way farther away now. It's raining non-stop in Vancouver now and will not stop until May. This is me wearing my go to summer wedding guest dress on my way to a wedding in September. It was a bit tight at the time so you can see that it's too snug around the waist but it typically fits well. 
This is the Sewaholic Cambie dress. I love this dress. I love that it's a bit '50s in it's silhouette and embraced it by choosing a big floral pattern for the fabric. I have probably worn this dress to about 5 weddings now and my sister has even worn it to one. It's great for feeling fancy outdoors in the middle of the day. I think the only alteration I made to this pattern was to take in the waist about an inch total, which I would not do now as I have since added an inch to my waist, also it's just more comfortable for big meals which is pretty much guaranteed at every wedding. I think the tightness in the waist is also causing the straps to sit too high as everything is being held up a bit too high. I made this dress about 2 years ago and since it's been such a standby I think I'll have to make another for next summer.
Also, after going through these photos I realized that I was standing in front of some people lying in the sun on the beach. Every other photo showed a woman's bum in a swimsuit so they were scrapped. You can see I am just blocking this view in this photo.

Sometimes it's nice to just throw a quick costume together out of random items and just have fun with the process. I wore this to a Work Less Party Party. The Work Less Party I believe is a political party that has only one platform of working less and they throw 2 big parties a year where anything goes. I've gone a few times and it is a great time. Quite the scene to take in. This was a couple weeks before Hallowe'en so I wanted to just find something weird and quick to wear. I found this sequinned short set at a local vintage store and added sparkly tights, Oxfords, a tiny hat and some old-school clown make up. I actually think the effect is quite fun and it took hardly any effort. When I looked at the tags on this sequinned set it said 100% silk, I imagine this was quite expensive originally. Where do you think this outfit was meant to be worn? I'm thinking some sort of '80s mother of the bride situation?