A 2008 Retrospective, part 2: End-of-the-year projects!

Figured I’d better stick the last couple things I made last year up here before I get too far behind.
First up: the ill-fated Cleopatra costume. The dummy shot is the best I can do for now, until I have an opportunity to actually wear it. I made this using a lengthened version of the Minna from BurdaStyle, and the belt was completely winged. I’m glad I had the belt, because I think for this dress to be flattering on me without it, I’d have to eliminate the pleat closest to the hips. But for toga-esque costume purposes, it works well.

Besides adding the length, I also raised the neckline a couple inches, and replaced the trim with solid pieces of fabric. Which was a good thing, because this still would have been cut way too low for my comfort without it.

As I said, the belt was completely winged- basically, the waist part is one leg of those spandex pants, and the hanging down part is the other leg. The stripes are just scraps of fabric from previous projects– the blue from my silver and blue elf-style Renaissance costume, the red from a second Ren costume that I made for Cassie, and the white is just a random scrap of some free fabric. Yay for scraps! And then it’s held in the back with several hook-and-eyes.

Finally, the necklace. I finished this on Sunday. Mostly just cheap plastic beads from my and my mom’s stashes.

I also spent some time on Monday making a cover for my planner for this year. Mainly for protection. Things in my bag tend to get rather beat up.

I also added a pen loop and a ribbon with velcro to keep it closed.

Finally, I also made some more of those felt ornaments for tomorrow’s party. Technically I finished those today, since I had to add the paint details to the snowman/penguin/gingerbread man, but it was mostly a Monday deal as well.

I’ve spent a good bit of time today and Wednesday working with the knitting machine, and I do have pictures, but I’ll save that for a separate post since this one’s already loaded up. I’ll just leave it at I think it’ll be a positive thing. And I got the March 2007 issue of Burda World of Fashion in the mail today! Yay for eBay. I’d gotten it mainly for this jacket, but I also really like this blouse. And this knit shirt. And this top. And I’m rather in love with this skirt (which just also happens to be shown in a different fabric with the blouse, but you can see the silhouette better on this pic). Funny how I seem to be drawn to all the stuff shown made up in hippie style…

Anyway, I’m hoping I have some stuff in my stash that will work for some of these, because I’m rather excited about trying my first BWOF now! Whichever one that may be…