Though my summer months aren't significantly less stressful or busy than those during the academic year (internship, job, etc.), I still find more time to sew. I'm just wrapping up the
Smocked Berry Dress UFO after ripping it apart and pretty much starting from scratch.
I also have several costumes I've been commissioned to make!
Daenerys Astapor/Dragonscale Dress
I'm particularly excited to make Daenerys' Astapor/Dragonscale Dress from Game of Thrones because it pushes me a bit out of my comfort zone. I will also be making the matching cape seen in some scenes. With this costume, I will learn new skills, such as the
dragonscale smocking, and sharpen old ones, such as pattern drafting and alterations.
Several versions of this dress were made, each with increasingly intricate dragonscale embroidery and texture. However, every screenshot shows a different shade of blue, which made selecting fabric particularly trying. To help my client and I select the best fabric, I created a
Pinterest board with screenshots and a seemingly endless array of potential fabrics. We wanted something with a "natural" texture--a fabric with an obvious weave, similar to linen, but inexpensive like cotton. Eventually I bought 15 yards of Kona Cotton in Pacific, with enough left over to make at least another Dragonscale dress should anyone else want one!
To make the dress I will be tweaking
McCall's 6941, converting the tabard skirt to an overlapping "tulip" shaped skirt.
Female Hobbit Costume
As if this wasn't enough! I'm also quite excited to make a Female Hobbit Costume, for which I have also created a
Pinterest board which will develop as I find inspiration and materials. After making all those
Italian Tarantella costumes, another variation of the "wench" style will be a piece of cake...I hope!
Since there are endless variants of this costume, the hardest part so far has been determining skirt length, bodice shape, trim, colors, etc. This costume will include a rust-colored ankle-length skirt, an ivory short-sleeved blouse, a smocked beige apron, and a green front-lacing bodice with darker, contrast bias binding. Whew!
For this costume, I will be altering
Butterick 6196 to a short-sleeved blouse. I plan on using
Butterick 4669 for the bodice and drafting the apron and skirt.
Ironically, I have not seen
The Hobbit, nor do I watch Game of Thrones...maybe these costumes will be my gateway drug to them?
Ready? Set? BREAK!
What projects--for yourself or others--are on your sewing table this summer?
