Gallery of Finished Projects

[Lady Leo]

  Lady L-I love that velvet! the trim is perfect for it. 
  Where did you find the fabric for the sleeves?  I've been looking for something like that for eons....

I found it at a local shop here in Cleveland named Schindler's they have a facebook page.  They have some really great fabric finds. She sales closeout and fabric shorts. That particular fabric was like $13 for 2 1/4 yards that was left. Not sure if she can get more if your interested you could always send her a message.

[Rowan MacD]

I was drooling over that; thinking how I would love to have sleeves and a forepart from it for my sage gown!  Thanks.

[Rani Zemirah]

I guess I might as well post my latest hat, since it's the only thing I have worked on lately, while everything else is being moved out the the studio.  This is my latest Steampunk whimsy... titled Impeccably Dressed. 

Burgundy and gold jacquard crown covering a hexagonal wire interior frame, wrapped in a chocolate brown Italian leather "corset", with front and back lacing.  Gold and red braid trim with textured dark chocolate felt brim and crown top:


Hand gathered and beaded "bustle" in burgundy organza:


Burgundy dyed rooster feather cockade perched over a gold organza ribbon and chocolate satin curling ribbon cascade.



The pretty swirling texture pattern of the felt didn't show in the photos, unfortunately.  I guess I need to get a close-up of that. 

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Darn tootin' hat! Huzzah!

[Trillium]

OMG!  That is adorable Rani!  Wonderful job!

[Rowan MacD]

  The word 'confection' fits that hat wonderfully ^_^.

Rani, you are an artiste!

[Rani Zemirah]

Thank you, ladies!  They are soooo much fun to make, and sometimes I wonder if I could just keep adding things to them forever!  lol  I occasionally have to force myself to say "it's finished, NO MORE!"... 

Confession time...

As some of you may know, I am an avid recycler/repurposer/upcycler, and I LOVE to find things at thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, etc. to use in my creations.  Well, the find for this hat was the cutest little burgundy and gold jacquard... lamp shade!  I stumbled across the prettiest little bell curved lamp shade all sad and lonely at a local thrift store, for only .25 cents, with a super sturdy 6-sided interior wire frame, and as soon as I saw it, it said to me "I am supposed to be a hat!"!!!  I brought it home with me, and started working on it right away, but then I got  a commission from Lishy for two mini-toppers, and put it aside.  In the following months it was pushed aside several times for other projects, with nothing more than a brim and a top... unable to decide what it wanted to wear for trim.  But one day I was working on my corseted flasks, and it occurred to me that a nice little leather corset might look quite nice around the crown... and then, of course, she had to have a bustle to complete her ensemble... and what Impeccably Dressed Victorian Lady would ever dream of going out in public without her feathers and bows? 

It definitely takes that whole "wearing a lamp shade" cliche to a whole new level, I think!    heheh 

Oh, and shortly after I picked up that shade I found four matching deep red satin ones, slightly smaller, at yet another local thrift store, for $2 each, and brought them all home with me, so there will eventually be at least four more with this same basic shape.  I think I'm going to try experimenting with some lovely scrapbooking papers I have next, though, for the brim and crown tops, and even the crowns, at some point.  The idea has been teasing me for some time, now... and I will soon have plenty of space to get to work on it! 

[Rowan MacD]

 I thought the print on that hat looked familiar..LOL...This is my bedside lamp shade!

Hobby lobby sells the shades pretty cheaply, so if you have something specific in mind or need one in pristine shape, that's where to get them. The odder patterns go on clearance all the time.   You might even ask to see if they have damaged ones in the back that you could take off their hands...

[Rani Zemirah]

THat's a good idea, Rowan!  If I were to get a commission for something very specific I might go looking there.  I do like finding things in their clearance aisle, usually at 80-90% off, usually with only some very small thing wrong with it, or sometimes nothing at all, if they are overstocked.  I tend to find so many fun and useful things at yard sales and thrift stores that I always seem to have something on hand, though.  I think that next I want to take the fabric off of one of the frames and cover the whole thing with paper.  I have soooo many ideas for different hats... 

[Irma]

Three hasty photos of the finished Mary of Hungary project.  Sorry for the poor photo quality on the full-length photo.  Thanks to all who commented and shared and encouraged me.

[LadyFae]

Oh Irma, you look lovely!  Great job!  =)

[gem]

Oh, Irma: MAGNIFICENT!!! It's perfect.

MORE PHOTOS, PLEASE! (Just, go put it back on and get some more! LOL)

I am especially intrigued by the dark red underlayer beneath the overgown (love the clasps, btw!).

[DonaCatalina]

Lovely Irma- yes we need more Photos

[Irma]

Thank you, thank you for the praise.     I am hoping for more photos soon.  GEM: the layer under the bodice is a placket made from the same fabric as the gown, with a band of trim made from the same red fabric as my hat.  It's laced into the bodice with lacing rings on both of the vertical edges, but I think I will make one side fasten permanently.  The ornaments on the upper edge are from a bracelet I found on clearance, which I took apart.  The clasps in the front are alpine clasps - from renaissancefabrics.net, I think.

[Rowan MacD]

That turned out just as wonderful as I thought it would!  Fabulous job.