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Brown Viking Tunic
This tunic is one of several that I was commissioned to make for Hanger 18 Studios. They will be used in an upcoming short Fantasy film with Viking-like characters. Since the characters will be wearing armor over their costumes, most of the tunics that I made were very plain, and not worth posting in this gallery. This particular tunic, however, will be worn by the main character, and therefore has a little bit of extra decoration. It is made of wool, and has hand-sewn decorative crosshatch details to separate the different colored fabrics.
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Purple and Cream Viking Tunic
This tunic is one of several that I was commissioned to make for Hanger 18 Studios. They will be used in an upcoming short Fantasy film with Viking-like characters. Since the characters will be wearing armor over their costumes, most of the tunics that I made were very plain, and not worth posting in this gallery. This costume is for a female Mercenary Character, so the client asked me to make it a little bit different from the others. It features plum-colored textured cotton for the body, and cream-colored raw silk for the yolk and sleeve details. The curved appliqués on the sleeves and yoke match the shape of the scalloped bottom hemline.
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Knight Costume
This knight costume was for my boyfriend to wear at our Midsummer Night’s Dream party last summer. (He didn’t want to dress as a faerie…) It consists of a tunic, pants, and a tabard with a Maltese cross appliqué. The pants and tunic are made of linen. The pants feature a wide cuff that laces around the calf. The tabard is suede cloth with a contrasting cotton liner and bias tape edgework. The leather belt was hand-dyed and finished with a brass ring for closure.
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Pirate LARP Coat
This pirate coat was made for one of my customers who plays in a Live Action Role Playing Game (LARP). Her game runs year-round, and she requested a coat that would keep her warm during cold weather months. It has a moleskin outer layer and a thick fleece liner. The functional front pockets and sleeve cuffs are trimmed in silver.
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High Elf (male)
I made this costume as a gift for my best friend who plays an elf in a Live Action Role Playing game (LARP). The doublet is made of iridescent taffeta with extensive appliqué and beading work on the back. It buttons down the front with tabs that extend across the center front. The tree and crescent moon appliqués were cut and applied by hand, and trimmed with silver. The silver beads that form the leaves of the tree are Swarovski leaded glass crystal pearls, and the blue rhinestones that make up the stars in the sky behind the tree are also Swarovski crystal. All of the pieces that form the sleeves and lower panels of the doublet are faced with the taffeta from the outside of the garment for a finished look. The body of the doublet is lined with cotton for comfort. The undershirt of the costume is made from cotton that has vertical lines running the length of the fabric. I gathered the lower half of the sleeves into a diamond pattern by hand by stitching every other line together. Each knot on the sleeves is finished with a Swarovski Crystal glass bicone bead to match the rhinestones on the back of the doublet. The pants for the costume are made of a cotton and wool blend, and gather above the knee with a frog closure.
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High Elf (female)
This Elven dress was my Halloween costume two years ago, but I have since worn it at my local renaissance faire as well. I made it in several layers, which can be worn separately or together, depending on the temperature that it will be worn in. The red underdress is made of silk, and laces up the back. I also have a red skirt of the same silk that can be worn in place of the underdress in hot weather. The embroidery on the satin of the outerdress, as well as the organza sleeves, is the same design. This was a lucky coincidence, since I bought the two fabrics at different stores! The outer sleeves are finished with strips of the satin from the body of the outerdress and gold studs. The short bodice is made of wool felt, and closes with laces on the sides. The collar is decorated with an overlay of the transparent sleeve fabric, and can be worn either up or down.
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King of the Faeries
This costume was created for a Midsummer Night’s Dream party that my best friend and I held last summer. He and I played the King and Queen of the Faeries, and this was his costume. The wrap pants are made from iridescent dupioni silk with copper trim details. They first tie in the back, and then the front wraps around and is secured with snaps on the front waistband panel. The shirt is cotton with metallic copper, gold, and green threads. The vest is made from satin that has a dark to light colored gradient. I lined the vest in dark purple cotton with silver pinstripes to give it an extra punch of color and offset the purple shade in the copper/purple fabric of the pants.
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Queen of the Faeries
This dress was my Queen of the Faeries costume for my Midsummer Night’s Dream Party over the summer. It matches the male faerie costume that is also displayed in this gallery. The dress and corset are made of iridescent dupioni silk. I custom dyed the fabric for the sleeves and underskirt to match the green silk in the corset, and applied Swarovski rhinestones in olive green and copper to match the rest of the dress. The cording on the corset is hand-made from the silk of the dress.
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Leather Shoulder Armor
I made this armor piece for an Elven fantasy costume. It is made up of a chest piece, with two shoulder tiers. The branches and large oak leaves are all hand-tooled. The chest piece is stamped in a scale pattern with a miniature oak leaf pattern. I lined the entire thing in gray wool felt to match the silver trim, and to prevent it from bleeding onto the costume below. After dying it purple, I added the black filled areas with an airbrush. The chest scales and the texture on the branches were antiqued with a leather antiquing stain. All of the silver trim was hand-painted with textile paint.
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Mini Dirndl Dress Aprons
I made three of these aprons were for a client in Switzerland, who gave them to a special lady in his life. They are meant to be worn with her mini dirndl dress. Each is made from cotton eyelet fabric, and has a pocket with her initials monogrammed onto it. The ties are very long, because they are meant to be crossed in back, and tied in a bow in the front. The pocket and ties are trimmed in lace. My client sent me the specific measurements that he wanted the finished aprons to be, and I followed his instructions to achieve the finished product.
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Peacock Dress
I made this dress to wear to a masquerade ball- themed wedding. I’ve always loved peacocks, so I thought it would be appropriate to dress as one. The under-dress is made of textured cotton in a pretty jewel-toned blue color. The matching partlet is made from a decorative sheer fabric in the same color. I overlaid the same sheer fabric on the sleeves of the under-dress, and decorated the ends of the sleeve bands with Swarovski crystal rings. The overskirt is made from iridescent dupioni silk in a dark blue/purple color. I chose an upholstery jacquard for the corset, in a pattern that resembles small feathers. The top of the corset is trimmed with decorative cording. The tail of the peacock was the biggest challenge for this costume. I didn’t want to use real feathers for the tailpiece, because they easily become disheveled. Instead, I felt it would be interesting to recreate the look of feathers with fabric appliqué work. Each feather “eye” was made of 4 pieces of fabric, which were appliquéd onto a wool felt background. The outer portions of the feathers were then hand-painted in metallic gold. The tail has 28 feathers in all, which I arranged onto a golden green dupioni silk base. Each feather was then accented with a small Swarovski crystal to give a hint of sparkle. I then added iridescent flat shell beads to the tail in-between the feathers to complete the look.
Click for More PhotosScalloped Doublet
I made this doublet to sell as a one-of-a-kind item at my clothing booth at a gaming convention. It is made of decorative jacquard, with a dupioni silk lining on the skirt and sleeves, and a cotton lining on the body. I hand-made the cording in-between the seams from dupioni silk. It laces up the front and sides to accommodate a variety of sizes. I added visual interest to the hems by sewing them along the scalloped design of the fabric. The sleeves are removable by way of laces hidden under the shoulder.
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Brown Pirate
This costume was created for a LARPer from France. He carefully chose all of the elements for each piece of the costume, and provided me with photos and drawings of his designs and ideas. The costume included a coat, shirt, vest, waist sash, and head scarf. The coat is made of chenille upholstery fabric with an iridescent brown dupioni silk lining. The inset side panels of the coat are also made of dupioni silk, but in a contrasting gold color. The vest is made of velvet, with a cotton twill liner. The vest has functioning side seam pockets, as well as an inside breast pocket. The decorative yoke pieces on the vest are made of satin brocade. The vest is trimmed with a bronze gimp trim, as well as bronze cording at the edges. The waist sash is made of cotton homespun. I unraveled the ends of the fabric and tied decorative knots in the threads to achieve the finished look on the sash. The shirt is made of silk noil, with button cuffs. The head scarf is made of the same homespun fabric as the sash, but in a different color.