The Carmine Gown

 

Not exactly sure why these photographs came out so blurry...but let's just say it was an "antique" look I was, uh, going for on purpose. This is the quilting cotton bustle gown I made recently and I am very happy with how it came together. I'd love to wear it to hand out candy on Halloween, because let's face it, my end goal is to be the creepy lady that owns the big haunted house at the end of the road. Dress for the job you want.

Things are a bit rough behind the scenes at present, with my little kitty ill on top of my packed schedule before I leave on this long planned trip. Ever since I learned I would be vaccinated this year, I had been planning a grand adventure to look forward to, but that was all before I knew Cleo was going to get so sick and that I very well may be missing her last few weeks. Hotels are all booked, and one of my best friends is meeting me in Palm Springs which means her flights are all booked, and really it would be both expensive and heartbreaking to cancel my trip. And it's also equally heartbreaking to leave my tiny Cleo behind. It's a lose lose, and nothing I do will heal her (her bladder is mostly tumor, she's 16, this type of cat cancer is rare and doesn't usually respond to treatment). I have never lost a pet like this before, and it hurts. I should be super excited for my trip, and I was, until my littlest friend started to fade away fast. My life goes on, but I've had Cleo sitting on my lap every night for over a decade, and as someone who's already a little lonely, this is going to flat out suck.

So it's nearly fall, the best of seasons, and I've got costumes on the cutting table and an adventure on the horizon, but I'm gloomy in the worst of ways as I say an, ultimately far too short, long goodbye.

Call of the Wild

 

I'll soon be setting off on quite a big adventure. I haven't left town, or my house, much in the last couple of years (of course), and for a couple of years before that either. Once upon a time I had a goal to visit the grand canyon before I turned 30. Well I turned 30 this month, and in September...I am driving to see the grand canyon.

Is it a safe time to be traveling? No. There is this terrible balance between feeling like I should stay put, that it's safer to, that it's the "right" thing to do, and of course it is, but no one knows which day is their last, and I'd like to see the grand canyon before I go. So I am going to be driving west for several weeks this fall. I am fully vaccinated of course, and this will be a mostly solo trip in my car with a lot of social distancing and most of my non-driving time spent outside, but I still know it will seem irresponsible to many. I had already put my life on hold before the world stopped turning. I spent a lot of time in my twenties telling myself I didn't deserve to live fully, not just yet. That I hadn't proven myself worthy, of adventure, of companionship, of love, of life. I can't stay stuck forever, so I'm gambling a little, on a trip to see more of this planet before it's gone, or I am.

Like many I expect, I do fear I won't get to see and do (and write, create) all I'd like to in the small spark of time I will be allotted. There are so many things I cannot change.

But I can at least drive to see the grand canyon. May it be grand indeed.

Dress: Made by me

Shoes: Bait Footwear

Hat, Bracelet, Belt, & Clutch: Vintage

Earrings: Old Navy (and quite old)

Cicadoidea

The ball gown version of my ongoing Victorian project is finished!

Which means the entire project is finished as well! One underskirt, two overskirts, and 3 bodices. Many, many yards of silk, a dozen yards of black muslin, hours and hours (and hours) of hand sewing, and uh...no place to wear it all. One day I can hold a Halloween ball, but until then, the Cicada gown will sleep.

Halloween In March

You can keep your Christmas in July, as long as I can have some Halloween in March. And every other month of the year. I finished the day bodice for my green silk 1880's bustle gown!