day two: 2-for-1

Technically, today is day three; but I'm writing about day two, and will probably continue to have a one-day time delay throughout the rest of the challenge. Taking photos of my completed project, uploading them from the camera, editing them, uploading them to the blogosphere, and penning a lucid account of the experience is really too much for me before bed. Morning is tea-and-internet time, so that is when you'll hear from me. Probably.

Without further ado, then: day two! It's a twofer! (Aside: blogger's dictionary has no issue with the word "twofer". But apparently does with "blogger's".") That's right, two, TWO!, projects for the low, low price of... ahem. As I mentioned yesterday, the Cabaret Carnivale show is coming up this weekend, so it's all about costumes and props for me right now. Both of today's pieces are for the candle dance I'm performing with Monique and Elinor. To enhance the effect of the candle flames, the idea is to be as shiny and mirror-like as possible; hence:

Silver bra! Elinor has a seriously wicked-cool metal bra with stainless-steel cups. I am not as awesome as she is, so mine is pleated foil lamé attached (vive le hot glue gun!) to a bargain-bin bra. I toyed with the idea of doing a silver-leaf effect with aluminum foil, but feared it wouldn't hold up to the sort of torment I put my costumes through, and I had leftover fabric hanging around that matches the silver panel skirt I'll be wearing with this costume, anyway. I put the bra on the judy and draped over it, gluing as I went, to ensure that I got the right contours over the cups and enough stretch through the back strap. This was a totally no-sew endeavour, which might mean that it won't be terribly durable, but it just needs to get me through the night.

My second project was a pair of flared jazz pants inspired by Monique's black glitter dot Melos, which I have coveted all summer long. Not a lot to say about these, except that they're fantastic and sparkly and fit even better than I'd hoped (especially considering the amount of eyeball guesstimation I did while cutting, and that my "pattern" was another pair of pants I'd made). In order to get the most out of my fabric, I had to make the back leg in two pieces, with a horizontal seam across the knee; with a different fabric, I might have been able to flip the legs in opposite directions to get a good layout, but with this I had both the nap of the velvet and the shine of the glitter dots to contend with. This way, though, I ended up with very little wasted material.

And now it's time to run to the fabric store! Back with more adventures tomorrow!