New wings? Yes please!

Things have been slow in the Wing Shop because of other projects going on.  My mother and I run an online fabric shop and sales exploded when we started up a group on facebook.  Since I'm the Social Media Director, I've had my hands full!  I've been blogging and promoting and leading sew-a-longs and starting contests!  It's been fun!  But today, I had an idea for some new wings.  I just finished up a Tinkerbell set for an auction this week and really want to get back to working on new wings.  Here's the Tink Set!

It came out really cute!!!  I may even make one of those fairy dresses for myself!  I have the pattern.  :)

One thing I'm really excited about right now is going to the DFW Costumers Guild event, Costumers Lost Weekend.  It's a really awesome looking convention here in the Dallas area and I will be taking a Wing Making Workshop with Angelia Doyle from On Gossamer Wings!!!

I've tried many times to make other types of fairy wings and have never been able to make any as pretty as the embroidered wings.  I've tried with nylons and cellophane and organza.  None of it liked me.

But the embroidery?  That has come to life for me and I love it!  I love making such a unique style of fairy wings!  But I still want to know the secrets to a successful pair of nylon wings.  I bought my ticket today for the Costumers Lost Weekend and I'm looking forward to two days of meeting other costumers and attending costuming panels and workshops!  

Today, I'm working on some Disney Fairy-inspired wings.  I've been wanting to do something with the shape of them and I think I've finally got it!  Plus, I'm working on turning the Butterfly Wings into a wire harness style.  I have my Butterfly Wings stitched out and halfway together.  The first pair will be purple.

Can you guess my favorite color?  I certainly seem to gravitate towards purple with a lot of my sample wings.  I just stitched out a pair of XL Fantasy Fae Wings in purple.

I'm looking forward to getting those finished up, too!

Well, I'm off to start dinner for these crazy kiddos!  If all goes according to plan, I will be posting pics very soon of some new wings!  Great, now I have that song from Corpse Bride running through my head.

:)

~*~The Freckled Fairy~*~

Summer!!!

Ok, so I know as a homeschooling family, summer is not quite the same as when the kids were in public school and suddenly had 3 months of nothing to do once school let out.  But we do loosen up on lessons during the summer.  We love going to the local water park and participating in summer reading programs/groups.  But overall, there's not a huge change to our days, since during the 180 days of the year that their friends are in school, my kids are at home with me.

I saw something this morning that disturbed me a little bit.  A blogger that I follow on fb posted a blog all about how much she dreads summer and the time when her kids are not at school.  So many other mothers were commenting on her post, agreeing with everything she said.  How they are already counting down the days until school is back in session and they feel like summer vacation shouldn't include the word vacation because it's certainly not enjoyable.

What bothers me the most is that we are living in a society where everyone is so focused on making sure no child has their feelings hurt, every child gets a trophy just for showing up to the games, bullying is being advocated against at every turn (even though I've noticed a lot of the same mothers who are so against bullying are the first to turn into a bully online, but that's another post) but it's ok for mothers to talk about how horrible it is to spend time with their children during the summer.  How does that help a child's self esteem?  I only hope that these mothers aren't voicing their feelings in front of their children, but what happens when those children grow up and get online, only to see the constant complaining that their parents are putting out there for the world to see?

Just to clear things up, I'm not a perfect mother, I do get frustrated with my children, I enjoy the few times a year that my children go spend a week with Nana and Grandpa.  I think that adult time is very important for parents to keep their sanity.  We try to make sure that we have a date night every so often, because our relationship with each other is just as important as our relationship with our children.  I usually feel relieved when I check on them at night and they're both asleep, especially if it's a Sunday night and that means that Hubs and I can watch Game of Thrones.

Is this what being a mother has become?  Taking care of children for their first 5 years and then happily letting someone else take over?  Dreading extended periods of time that you have to spend with your children?  Why don't we get back to enjoying our children?

Let's start a movement among us to bring back family time.  Turn off the computer, TV and cell phone.  Load up the kids and head to the park (don't forget the sunscreen) and make memories!  Did you know that kids who spend quality time with their families are less likely to get in trouble with the law or become underage parents?  Isn't that what we want for our children?  A future where they are less likely to end up in jail or a parent before they are even old enough to legally buy a lottery ticket?

New Project Idea

So, this morning I had oral surgery and instead of being a good little patient and staying in bed all day, my mind has been swimming with new project ideas.  This time, I've been inspired by corsets that lace on the sides and back.  Only I'm thinking the side lacing can be more decorative instead of functional.  I love the corsets from MayFaire Moon, but the lacing is functional and I'm wanting a different shape to my corset.  However, the colors on this one are just to die for!!!  I love and admire all of their work!

Picture from MayFaire Moon Corsets and Costumes

What do I need to start this project?  First I need to find the perfect fabric.  I'm actually thinking about using quilting cotton for this one.  At DragonCon 2012, one of the costumers was wearing a beautiful corset that she made from quilting cotton.  It helps me out that I help run a fabric shop with my mom.  And I'm heading to her place next week to help out with a big fabric shipment that is coming in.  I'm looking forward to finding the perfect fabric while I'm down there.  Maybe I'll use some of the new Art Gallery Fabrics we have coming in.

Second, I need to get my supplies together.  I have a pattern in mind, one I've done before for a customer from Laughing Moon.  I don't know yet if I want a solid front or if I want a busk.  I may go solid front and decorate with some pretty embroidery.  I know I will need some sort of twill tape trim that has loops on it for my faux lacing.

I'll be posting updates to my project as I go!

~*~The Freckled Fairy~*~

Fun at Scarby

We finally made it to Scarborough Renaissance Festival yesterday, for their final day of faire!

We had so much fun, especially when we got to meet the mermaids!

You know, mermaids and fairies get along very well!

Twink loved meeting all of the mermaids and can't wait to see them again next year!

We were also lucky enough to meet King Henry.

He was away from the court, so there were no big crowds following him, only one of his guards.

Gamer took this picture of Twink and I with King Henry.

We also stopped into Karneval Masque and I fell in love with this beautiful mask!

Maybe in the fall, I will be able to add a new mask to my costume!  I really hope so!

Other fun things we did throughout the day, I got my first pair of Medieval Moccasins. 

They are so comfy!!!  I have a new fave pair of shoes!

We also ran into some friends while we were there.

Friends always make the faire more enjoyable, don't you agree?

We can't wait until fall for the Texas Renaissance Festival!  We are already planning our weekends,

the first one being 1001 Dreams, where we plan to meet up with lots of our fairy friends!

Hopefully we will see you there!

~The Freckled Fairy~

The Wedding Dress Transformation

So I found this wedding dress at a garage sale for only $30 and it looks like it would be a good dress to turn into a fairy costume! And bonus: IT FITS ME PERFECTLY!!!

I'm working out where to start right now, I'm thinking the netting has to go first!

I'll also be experimenting with some fabric dye, I would love to make this a deep purple.

The bow on little Vader's neck?  That came off the back of the dress.

I didn't need a big bow on my backside, but it looked cute on the dog!

I'll be keeping you all updated on my progress.

~*~The Freckled Fairy~*~

Elven Court Fairy

I've been obsessed with one of my wing styles from my shop, the Elven Court.  They're also the style that is most popular with my customers.  I love this picture of Mickey Wondrland in a pair of Elven Court Wings (photo by Hammer Fitness Photography)

Isn't she pretty?  And those wings just look so perfect with her cotton candy tutu!

So, I decided I was going to push the envelope and start a new Elven Court costume for myself.

But I couldn't use the Elven Court Wings in the size that I've been selling, they had to be bigger!

This is where my mom's embroidery machine comes into play.  She has an commercial machine that leaves my little Brother PR1000 in the dust!  So, on one of my visits to her house, I played on her machine!

These wings measure approximately THREE FEET WIDE!!!

The original Elven Court Wings are two feet wide.

My next step is to put together a costume worthy of these wings.  I already have a gold and cream tutu and they match this corset beautifully.  I have a sage green peasant top to wear under the corset, I just need something for over the tutu, since I'm not as talented in the area of tutu making as Mickey is.  But I have some really pretty gold fabric with jewel tone leaves that  might work beautifully.

I can't wait to share the final costume!

~*~The Freckled Fairy~*~

Reflections from the past

I came into my blogger account yesterday to start a new blog for the online fabric shop that my mom and I have started and found the ghost of this old blog still lurking around.  I've been getting into more costume construction lately, granted it's more on the fairy and fantasy side, but that doesn't mean I can't pick this blog back up and highlight the historical references in my fantasy costuming!  I'm also working on some more costuming for my children and would love a place to share some of the techniques I use in children's costuming.  But for now, let's take a look at a few projects from the last few years.

I got to test a Renaissance Maiden pattern for Muse of the Morning and love the result!  The corset is designed to grow with a girl as she ages, which is very similar to how clothing was made during the time periods that we love to re-create at the Renaissance Festivals!

I started a line of full fairy costumes that had wings that attached to the dress with Velcro.  These were a big hit, moms loved them, but they weren't very practical, since the wings could only be worn with the dress.

That led to wings that could be worn with anything!  I started with wings that have elastic bands, which are great for children, and then moved on to wings that can be worn with corsets or tight-fitting bodices and no straps or elastic bands.  My little Pixie is wearing one of the strapless wings here, the Mendhika Butterfly.  I made matching wings for Molly (her American Girl Doll).

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my daughter and I at the Texas Renaissance Festival.  I'm wearing strapless wings (Mendhika Dragonfly) and she is wearing elastic harness wings (Elven Court).

That's just a taste of what I've been up to over the last three years.  I also started a blog on my website, but maybe I'll move those posts over here.