Engagement Pictures

My other half proposed to me last month, so we are officially engaged. The next step, aside from starting the wedding arrangements, was to get some nice pictures to celebrate the event. We thought to get some more formal pictures and then more gothic ones, because that's who we are :) Tiina of Rogue lent me a gorgeous corset and a skirt, and the more gothy outfit was from my own closet. My other half had a nice suit and a darker version in his stash.

Photos are by Eliza Rask, I highly recommend her if you need some professional photos done!

Which one is your favourite?

Brocade Nails

Here's my latest stamped nail look! The base is a thermo polish that goes from lavender to dark purple called Nostalgia by KPT. With this heat it stayed light, but that just made the pattern show better :) The stamp is done in plain black and I'm so proud of how well I got the patterns to match!

Outfit of the Day

This is what I wore yesterday to go out to shop and to a lovely picnic at Viikinsaari! The weather was lovely, but very hot, so a short skirt was in order. I was super excited that my Killstar package came on Friday, so I could wear this baby during the weekend. I have a thing for ancient Egypt, this dress was a must!

Dress - Killstar Vulture Hood Dress

Bag - Varusteleka

Sandals - Depeche

Yes there's a gazillion pictures, because I liked them all ;P The rest of the pics are from the Viikinsaari gothic picnic, it was windy which helped a lot with the heat!

Fro the evenings Lumous event I wore a different outfit, but I'm super proud that the eyeshadow stayed pristine from noon until two o'clock in the night. Urban Decay's Primer Potion must be made of pure magic!

Copper Orange Outfit

This was me yesterday at Lumous! I wore my copper orange taffeta outfit, complete with a little hat. I'm so proud of this outfit, it's been some time since I took on any big sewing projects, so I'm surprised it turned out this nice! I did have to do some fixes, because I had measured the length of the skirt to work on me when I wasn't wearing shoes, so it was too short with any heels. I hate doing things again, but I think it really made the whole outfit a lot better when I got the extra 10 cm from wearing heels!

It was quite hot, especially with the wig, but I think it looked better with this outfit than my own hair. Today I'll wear something easier that easier to move around in, but possibly just as hot ;P

The pattern for the top is by Truly Victorian, and I have to say it's just brilliant! The instructions were easy to follow and the pattern was exactly what I wanted. It has little sleeves too, but I felt they were a bit too much and just left them out. I really like the look of the off-the-shoulder straps, they give the whole outfit such a nice silhouette. My favourite part of the bodice is the little pleated tail that falls perfectly over the bustle and definitely completes the look.

Do you have any big sewing projects under way? I'm already dreaming of a rococo gown, if only I can find my old patterns, because I should have the perfect pattern for stays that the gown needs as underwear.

Outfit of the Day

Yesterday I wore my Sorcery Hood Dress by Killstar to go out and listen to some music. Lumous Gothic Festival started and the event was part of it. It was a hot day and I didn't feel like dressing up much, so the dress was the perfect choice. Short, made of soft, stretchy fabric and didn't need any accessories.

Dress - Sorcery Hood Dress by Killstar

Sandals - Depeche

Earrings - Rogue x Bones & Lilies

Just look at those lovely flowing sleeves!

And the dress has a hood! I'd need to attach it with bobby pins if I wanted it to stay on,
but it's a really cute addition.

Today I'll wear my Victorian outfit, wish me luck ;D It's super hot outside!

Abigail Hat Pattern Review

I made a lovely Victorian skirt and bodice, but because I'm a bit crazy, I still wanted a hat to complete the look.

The bodice still needed some work on the hooks and eyes in this picture.

So off I went to see what sort of hat patterns are available! I've done many fascinators without any patterns, but I was looking for a pattern with a crown to make it fit better with the rest of the outfit. I probably could have come up with a pattern by trial and error, but ready-made patterns are so nice and easy to work with that I decided to go that road. After some pondering, I settled on the Abigail hat pattern by Harlots and Angels.

Sadly I have to say that while the pattern is very nice and works just as it should, the instructions are a bit unclear. There was a mention of a tutorial with photos on the site, but it was broken and only showed the first three or so steps, which was not very helpful. When I contacted the store, the owner responded quickly and eventually sent me the instructions with pictures. The tutorial on the site is still broken, so if you want to buy the pattern, you should also ask for the tutorial to make things easier.

My main problems with the hat were that there was no thin, stiff buckram available, so I went with iron-on felt. The glue on it was very weak and resulted in my hat having small wrinkles when I bent the brim to shape and the fabric occasionally got loose from the buckram. On taffeta it shows, but if I had some patterned, less shimmery fabric, it would not show much.

I used copper orange taffeta, the same stuff I made the skirt and bodice from, satin binding (I picked it without seeing the fabric, so it doesn't match exactly, but it's close enough for me) and cream coloured satin lining fabric. The decorations are from Kangadzungel and Karnalux in Tallinn. The black ribbon was found in my stash.

My stitches on the crown are not the neatest ;P I had to re-do it twice and was annoyed!

One of the reasons I chose to put on big decorations was to hide some of the wrinkles. There
are two fabric flowers, three pheasant feathers and a black ribbon with bow.

One the underside I glued two ribbons that I can attach hair clips to. If I had been clever, I would have placed the ribbons between the crown lining and the outer crown to hide most of them. Maybe next time!

I am happy with how the hat looks, but I could have done better with proper instructions. Attaching the brim lining to the crown lining was the trickiest part, as the instructions that came with the pattern were a bit hazy on it and I didn't yet have the tutorial pictures when I worked on it. In the end I just winged it and used lots of glue ;P 

If I ever make another one of these, I'm sure it will look better and be less nerve racking to make! I was ready to throw in the towel at a few points, because I couldn't understand the instructions, but I'm happy I made it to the end. Adding decorations has been a real saviour more than enough times, from this wrinkly hat to the blood stains on my snow queen corset! My general advice to anyone doing crafts: if something doesn't look right, add something on top to hide it ;D

Dramatic Poses

A few more pictures done with Kari Vuorio! I love his style, this time we were going for dark fashion type of pictures.