Anime Weekend Atlanta; Absence//EDIT 9/3/11

For starters, I cannot believe how lazy I have been on this blog. I wanted to do a post a week, but I obviously failed on that part. I have a journal from the April tornadoes, but have not gotten around to typing them up. (They are all handwritten because the power was out for four days.) Funny how my next post was delayed by nature... It isn't meant for me to have a consistent blog, apparently. Regardless, I am alive and well.

In current news, we are preparing for Anime Weekend Atlanta once more. I have less than a month to compile two or (possibly/hopefully) three outfits and accessories. I plan on dressing almost entirely in steampunk attire, minus one outfit that I am trying to design in a steampunk lolita fashion.  Personally, I like to come up with names and back stories for these girls, so I am toying around with that as well.  I have a lot to do, and not much time to do it. I am by no means an expert seamstress, nor designer, so this is going to be a lot of stitching, seam-ripping, and restitching.

I want to create a steampunk lolita outfit.  For that I plan on doing a pleated style skirt similar to this one, with a waistband of this one.  Of course, the fabric I have picked out is quite different from the one in either video.  My fabric is a cream color with brown butterflies and swirls on it; I feel like it has just enough of a girlish touch to make it seem loli with a color scheme suited for steampunk.  On the waist, I may do something similar to the video with the large buttons, but I had also considered attaching the buttons with a small chain; also, I don't want to bother with a hidden zipper when the brassy zippers would add such a great touch to it.  I have yet to truly decide on a shirt to pair with it.  Probably something solid and puffy shouldered sleeves or barmaid with an off the shoulder neckline.  The most impressive part of this outfit will be Lord Bearington -- the steampunk teddy bear I am sewing.  Hopefully, it will work out where he can be a backpack with a zippered pocket in his back so that I don't have to carry a purse.  I am toying around with makeup trying to find the great combination between steampunk and lolita... I also have purple contacts purchased for this outfit and am considering making curly hair extensions to play with.  Unfortunately, this girl has yet to be named, but I am toying around with L names.  I have considered both Loraleigh and Lyra (spelling has yet to be determined) strongly. 

EDIT: So, I actually think I will do the skirt in the fashion of this dress. I want to have the same ruffled skirt as before, with the waistband of the Suckerpunch skirt, but on the inside hem of the skirt, put button holes for straps that are a kind of suspender/halter strap.  This way, the straps are detachable for if I want to wear it for everyday.  Also, I am considering a shirt similar to the one in the picture, just with some steampunk embellishments. I would love to make this dress and plan on doing it sometime, just not trying to rush myself for AWA.  I have even found some corset patterns, so maybe this will work out wonderfully! End Edit

My main character is Lady Juliette Alderton, the Captain of the HMS Pandora.  Photos from our last excursion can be found on my DeviantArt, though that is not all of them (Zach/Rook has more here).  While I still have that dress in my closet, I would like something a little more...flattering?  That one is poorly tailored simply because of the fact that I waited until the absolute last minute to even begin working on it, unfortunately.  My other outfits are hardly put together, though I know I would like to make a corset and spats.  Knowing how hard a corset is to make properly, I am not even going to attempt a real one this year, but I had seen several on ThreadBanger before that I had thought about attempting.

Along with these, I had thought about making a small feathered headdress for my lolita costume, but didn't quite know how it would work with my curly extensions...  I also wanted to make an owl pendant based off of the clockwork owl from the original (and only, in my opinion) Clash of the Titans.

If I have any readers and you would like to make suggestions for me, please feel free to do so. Until then, I am off to research how to accomplish many of these things! (And acquire an Emilie Autumn CD. I recently discovered her and would definitely recommend her.)