Yesternight’s Workout:

 

Just Boyo and me:

x4

10 seated straddle leg-lifts
10 head-touch pushups (absurdly difficult!)
200m run
30 squats with 20# KB, passed back and forth
30 sec. L-hold from bar
30 sec. star hold L/R, plank, reverse plank

 

Poor Boyo.
He had the distinct disadvantage of coming to workout with me
after I was yelled at by a co-worker.
I kinda take those things out through exercise,
so this was a brutal workout.

He might hate me forever for those straddle-lifts.

 

ps (Straddle lifts: “Sit in a straddle position, then lean forward slightly and place your hands on the floor. Lift your legs up and back as far as possible. The farther forward your hands are placed, the more difficult the exercise will be.”)

Done.

 

Well,
with this bit, at least.

 

I have it on its hoop here--Friend Amanda will add grommets to the waistband for me, since she has the equipment to do so.

 

Pretty button! This serves to hold the skirts to the panel.

 

I don't have a dress form, so I use volunteers. Love you, Boyo!

 

Now I get to do the fun bits!
Chopines!
Headpiece!
Reticule!

YAY!!!

The Process. And Also a Corgi.

 

She kept planting her furry little butt on my skirt. We drew lines of compromise here.

 

She sure makes me more cheerful when I inevitably fuck up a simple seam, though. Lookatthatface!

 

The desert at 90mph.

 

This part of the lawn is VERY IMPORTANT.

 

Sometimes, I'm tempted to put fake eyelashes on my wighead.

 

The 300" skirt and the front tapestry panel.

 

There’s a story behind that tapestry–
Friend Amanda, who is making my bodice
(and regularly whips out costumes for dozens of folks
every year at Faire, ‘coz she’s a genius),
came over to my place last weekend for a shopping trip in the fabric district.

It was amazing to go down there with another veteran–
the districts in LA–fabric, fashion, jewelry, furniture, toys, floral–can be seriously intimidating if you don’t go there often.
It’s crowded, kinda dusty,
parking is a pain in the ass,
and there are so. many. things. whipping past your vision,
it’s easy to get headachey and grumpled.

We both had this moment, about ninety minutes into our trip,
where we were checking to see if the other person was okay,
because that’s uuuuusually the limit we have when we go with other folks,
and we both had to laugh, we were so fine with trucking on
for another three hours.

Plus, girl has a seriously good eye for fabrics.

This tapestry was a simultaneous spotting at Levine’s upholstery shop;
we gasped, I squeaked,
“Oh my God, can I use that?!?!”
Amanda looked at the price, and said,
“No. No, you can’t.”

…It was $24 per yard.

I normally never pay more than $5 per yard when I’m in the fabric district.

There was a great deal of hemming and hawing,
I got a swatch and carried it around for the rest of the afternoon,
and finally just had to come back and get it,
because it was SO PERFECT.

And I only needed one yard.

Shutup.

It’s totally justifiable.

 

And Amanda said I could!

 

Here’s a brief glimpse of my finished top skirt–
I also finished the bottom last night.

 

It's this amazing tweedy mustard color--It feels like I pulled it out of a Vermeer painting.

 

There will be more photos–
still have to attach my waistband,
hem the panel,
attach the panel to my hoop
(oh yes, I am wearing a hoop LIKE A BOSS),
and then the fun begins with chopine construction!

It’s going to be a busy month,
but my brain and heart feel so much better
for having something creative to hold.

 

So I Promised these Pictures in October:

And…um…here they are?

This was my crazy project of hot glue and leaves and the staying up all night:

Baba Yaga‘s Hut

I made a 2D model of Baba Yaga and placed it so you could see her silhouette through this window. Creepy.

Do you know how hard it is to find branches that bend the same way???

The roof lifts up so I can replace the battery-powered flickering lights inside.

See the Chicken Feet?

 

There’s a funny story behind those Chicken Feet.

First,
they’re real.

Cooked for six hours in the oven and coated in decoupage,
but very real.

I walked into an Asian Market and asked if they carried chicken feet.
(you know, like you do)
The gentlemen looked at me, and said, “Shikahn Fee? Wha ah Shikahn Fee?”

I kinda made motions with my hands to indicate scratching,
“Um. They’re. You know. Chicken? Feet?”
*scratch scratch*

“You draw for me.”

“OH! You mean Shikahn PAW!”

And apparently I did, because they sent me home with a dozen of them.

ps (for a sense of scale, Baba’s Hut is about two feet high by three feet wide.)

pps (In my head, it was only a couple of inches tall.)

ppps (I have no sense of proportion, people.)