Chernabog t-shirt

And now for something completely different, here's my hand painted chernabog t-shirt, based on the devil from the Night on Bald Mountain segment in Fantasia.

And the image I based it on:

I sketched it out in chalk on the tshirt, then went over with Tulip fabric paints.  I LOVE it, Night on Bald Mountain is one of my all time favourite pieces of animation ever.

Finished! Photos.

Voila:

It also flows really nicely in the breeze!

I made a little belt to go with it because I was worrying it would turn out too sack-like, but I actually prefer it without.

Sarina's pleased with it, she hasn't seen it finished yet, unfortunately she won't be able to until tomorrow (hand in), but she was very positive about the photos I sent while it was only partially finished.  She thought I'd followed her concept, and the lines of the period well.  She also warned about puckering, and I know there is a bit of that along the waistline.  It's a little frustrating, as I was very careful with it, and used tissue paper underneath.  Overall though, I think my stitching's pretty reasonable for such a tricky fabric.

Back to work!

Righto, work placement done and dusted, now back to work!  We've been given a deadline extension, so I'm feeling less stressed about getting this all done in time now.  I'm also feeling pretty good about myself at the mo, I just got some glowing feedback from the people at Prangsta Costume!  Apparently I've proved to be one of their 'most competent and reliable' work experience students, and, coming from a company that takes on about 400 students a year, that's quite a compliment!

I've been having issues with some of my emails not getting through to Sarina (outlook apparently doesn't like big pictures), but we seem to be on the same page at last.  Here's the flyer for the exhibition my dress is going to used in.  I'm not entirely sure how the design relates to Brighton, but the pressure's on now to get it to that museum quality standard!

Sarina's planning on making a shawl to go with the dress too.  I'll be taking it into uni on monday for her to see, so the plan is to have it completely sewn up by then.  We can then discuss whether it needs beading detailing or not, and I can find out more about this shawl.  Now that the deadline's not til wednesday, I might just have time to put in the beading before Hand In.  We'll see.

I've been working on putting my Supervisor's Bible for the Circus Project together whilst I've been in London, but that still needs a few finishing touches before wednesday too.

Off to London..

I’m a bit annoyed at myself for not being further along with the dress than I am now.  I’ve come to London to do my second work placement, so I’ve only got a weekend left on the dress, and it’s still in two pieces.  I know PoP managed to eat into much more of my time last week than I’d originally anticipated, but it’s still frustrating to know that I’ve got all that work sitting at home waiting for me when I get back.

The second half of this unit has really been about organising my own time perfectly, so I could be at a comfortable stage before my placement, and I’ve only managed that so-so.  I can still be finished for hand in, but there’s not a lot of space there for mistakes, I need to be really regimented with my time in that final weekend to get this dress up to the standard I want it.

Dress Design

Here's the design I've decided to go with for my dress, as well as a few other ideas I had a play with along the way.  Typical me, I've gone for the most complicated one there, but I've fallen in love with the criss-crossing panels and the way it perfectly works with the zigzag waist.  It also reminds me a little of the sunbursts that Sarina was referencing at the start of the project, so that's always a plus!

Of course it does mean that my ingenious plan to cheat bias cutting by keeping all my sewing lines on the straight grain has been scuppered somewhat.  Never mind though, I always like a challenge!  Making sure these seams are immaculate is going to be one heck of a job..
I haven't yet decided whether to use the same design on the back of the bodice or to possibly get rid of the silk diamond shapes on the back, so theres just the crepe, and the draping silk sides - as in the drawing.  We'll see how I feel after I've gotten the front sewn up.

Other designs:

Fabric!

I found some gorgeous fabric to go with the silk today.  I went up to Birmingham with my mum and my aunt and a lot of fabric-buying ensued!  The stuff I found is a really lovely drapey fabric that really compliments Sarinas silk.  It has a slightly more 'camel' tone to it, and a crepe-like texture that's fabulous next to the smooth sheen of the silk.  I'm not positive as to the fabric type, but I'll refer to it as crepe from now on for simplicity's sake.  It was only £7.99 a metre too, which was fab, considering I would have been wlling to pay upwards of £15 for a good quality fabric.  I ended up getting about 6 metres worth, so plenty to play with!

I'm now working on adapting the dress design so that the two different fabrics mesh well together.  It's proving quite a challenge to work things out so that I don't need more silk than the 2 metres I actually have.

Toile

Here's how my toile's looking right now:

It's not completely sewn up, but you get the jist.  Generally I'm happy with the shape.  The squares need to be larger though, as it's too short, and the drapey armholes need some work too.  I've also come to the conclusion that there's too much fabric in the side skirt panels, so I'm going to cut a quarter out of the square when I do my final piece.
The neckline also needs a different finishing, as the slipstitching from the bias binding shows through on the right side of the fabric.  Will have to mull things over.