National Clothes Swap Day – only 6 more sleeps!

Monday 25 October is National Clothes Swap day, and I will be heading to The Clothing Exchange’s Melbourne event at Federation Square. I am very excited about this, as I have shrunk out of some of my favourite clothes, and haven’t the cash to spend on new ones.

 

Friday night, while Hubby is on a boys’ night out, I will review and edit my wardrobe into the following categories:

 

1. keep;
2. swap;
3. sell;
4. refashion;
5. donate.

 My wish list for the “buying” part of the swap event off the top of my head is:

 

• Jeans (I have 2 pr, so one more would be good)
• Capri pants or dress shorts
• Dress (es)
• Skinny belt(s)
• A full skirt

 

After my wardrobe cull I will have a better idea of what’s missing in my wardrobe, and what colours, cuts and fabrics to look for. I am very excited. I hope I find some nice things to take home with me.

 

P.S. The Janeway Project was a huge success – watch this space for details, but here is a sneak peak. How handsome is my hubby!

 

 

The Janeway Project – that hair

Over the course of the 7 seasons of Voyager, Janeway sport 3 distincy “everyday” hairstyles (there are others for specific scenarios, but as I am doing her day to day look, I will gloss over those for now). They are:



Victory rolls

 


The chignon















The bob


Since I am not prepared at this stage to cut my hair into a Janeway bob, that leaves chignon or victory rolls. Knowing that I like to have my hair off my neck when it gets warm, and knowing it is likely to get warm in the convention centre, this year I am opting for the chignon.

Luckily, I have very 1940’s hair, with a great deal of body and wave. I have been experimenting and practicing, and I am quietly confident that I will be able to pull off a convincing Janeway chignon – watch this space.

The Janeway Project - muslin update

 I have made some great progress with the Janeway Jacket pattern. Here you can see the muslin, modelled by my lovely assistant, Delores. The right side is more or less the original Burda jacket pattern, with a slight alteration to the sleeve. Clearly the neckline was too high and the head of the sleeve too 'high' or 'puffy'.
On the left side you can see the modifications I have made. First I re-shaped the front opening and neckline to better reflect the Janeway Jacket.

 I also flattened the sleeve head to take out some of the bulk, which you can see here. It did also mean that the sleeve is a little snug around the bicep, so I have added a little more room at the back of the top sleeve piece which I hope will solve the problem. I have not yet muslined that sleeve, so I will probably do that before I cut the fashion fabric.

In these photos you can also see where Helpful Hubby has drawn on the seam lines for the colour division.
Next I unpicked the muslin and cut along those seam lines. Next I re-traced the now divided pattern pieces, remembering to add the 1.5 am seam allowance at each division.
So, this week I will buy the fashion fabric and over the weekend I hope to cut and pin the body pieces from the fashion fabric and then, if I have time, muslin the new sleeve before cutting it in the fashion fabric.

The Janeway Project: Phase 1

I plan to attend the Saturday of Armageddon Pop Culture Expo dressed as Capt Janeway from Star Trek Voyager. I have 5 weekends left to construct my costume (I ought to have started earlier, but there’s nothing like a deadline to motivate a seamstress).


Phase 1 is the distinctive jacket as seen here:

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Kathryn_Janeway

I will be using a Burda Style magazine pattern. The first step is to do a ‘first draft’ or mock up so I can work out Burda’s at times mystifying instructions, tweak the pattern for fit, and then tweak the pattern to achieve the signature Star Trek parti-coloured finish.

Then I’ll be buying fabric and beginning construction. If I get the jacket completed I will look at an under-shirt; if I have insufficient time, I will use a grey marl round neck t-shirt I already own. I have already bought the communicator badge and captain's pips from an online store, and the red hair, well, that part is easy.