Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

It is one of my life-long ambitions to build a snowman. Living in the tropical Northern Territory of Australia, that is not going to happen anytime soon! A trip to New Zealand may be on the cards for 2015 and if that happens you can bet that will be a top priority for me!

 

So recently I watched the newest Disney movie, Frozen. The costumer side of me loved all of the outfits, especially those worn by Elsa and Anna. Elsa's Snow Queen gown was by far my favourite, and once I feel post-baby that I am ready to tackle costuming again, that will be one of my top priorities!

 

In the meantime, I satisfied my urge to recreate some magic of the movie and my dream to build a snowman via balloons. My original plan was to do both Elsa and Anna, but then I was on a roll with the snow theme and thought it would be best complimented by Olaf, the lovable snowman.

 

 

In an effort to use mixed media to enhance the balloons, I used a shimmery blue fabric for Elsa's cape. I even used my sewing machine to stitch her up some sleeves! I was feeling that ambitious haha

  

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the character of Olaf. He is a larger-than life caricature, but his comedic presence is highly enjoyable.

 

I won't give away what happens in the movie... But I did cry twice (did I just admit that?!) in two of the emotional scenes. The musical score is amazing, but my husband didn't seem to think so. At. All. So I have to try not to burst out into song on a whim!

 

I wish I had some better pictures to share with you, but my aforementioned lovely (music critic) husband dropped my laptop which has my photo editing software :( But please feel free to enjoy what you can!

 

I'll leave you with an awesome cast photo!

 

Photo via http://enmnetwork.com/disneys-frozen/

 

Princess Serenity!

Forgive my long absence from the world of blogging, it's been far too long I know!

 

I have done a few blog-worthy creations in my absence, and I hope to get the chance to share them with you!

 

Here is a costume I made for Supanova Brisbane in November last year. It was one I promised myself that I would one day make, when a certain condition was met. Can you guess what that was?? I'm going to give you the chance to think about it, but I will tell you at the end of my post...

 

 

 

 

 

My favourite photos are by Lorenzo So Photography. 

  

I would love to put a shout-out to the lovely ladies of the following two blogs who gave me great inspiration when creating my dress Vanessa Brannan and My Cute Bow.

 

Some construction notes:

• I used the tutorial from My Cute Bow to make my bow
• The gold circles were an amazingly lucky find from Lincraft whilst in Brisbane. They had such a great collection of trims, and I managed to find these lovely glittery circles. The issues I had though was they only had just over a metre of it in stock and it was a combination of large and small circles, with an embroidered gold centre. I ummed and aahhhed over whether there would be enough gold circles to decorate the bodice, or if I should go for the silver that they had. Ultimately, I chose the gold (duh). I separated the gold circles with a few careful snips removed the interior embroidery, and then carefully hand-sewed them to the bodice. The beaded empire waist is also all individually hand-sewn beads.
• Fabric was from memory a shimmery purple organza for the bow, a white georgette romance polyester (I may have just attributed that wrongly!) and a white satin that was on special. I love the drape of the dress fabrics, but I wish I had chosen a less stiff fabric for the bow.
• The pattern used for the dress was Simplicity 2398. Modifications were to add about an inch to the bodice and about a foot to the bottom of the dress.
• I made the tiara out of wire, hot-glue, gold spray-paint, a heart charm I'd purchased in Bali and it attaches to the wig via four bobby-pins that are hot glued on. It was made in a bit of a rush, but at least it is somewhat recognisable haha (someone identified my cosplay based on it!)
• Earrings and necklaces were purchased from Lovisa.

 
Some in-progress photos:

Hmmm... I could have sworn I'd taken more but I think that is all the progress shots! I made a toile (muslin) for the bodice first to get the fit right. I just hoped that the rest would drape nicely over my blossoming shape... And it did haha!

 

Oh yes, that brings me to the reason for doing this cosplay! Have you guessed? It's because I'm pregnant! Yay!!! I was only 4 months pregnant at the time of these photos, so my bump isn't too prominent. But the dress still fit when I wore it to my Christmas work function at 5 months!

 

My little boy is due to arrive in the world on April 20 (Easter Sunday) and he will be my first little one. I am looking forward to the challenge of parent-hood, but full of feelings of uncertainty and trepidation at the same time. I do hope he shares his mummy's love of dressing up! hehe :D This is how I announced it to the world of Facebook:

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions about the dress, feel free to ask away and I will do my best to answer!