A Narnia Party

A couple of Fridays ago, I held a Caspian viewing party, partly so that I could have a chance to wear the costume that I worked on for four months, and partly because it’s always more fun to watch a movie with friends.

Sorry, it's blurry.


So, the pizza was in the oven, numerous trips to the grocery store made, lists of plans constructed and subsequently forgotten (I am notorious for wasting time on lists, looking at them and stuffing them in my “drawer of surprises” where things go whose charm I want renewed…namely by losing and rediscovering them—months later).

And at last! We eat!


Don't even ask what went into this delicious chocolate paradise.


And yes, we did watch the movie, but in order to keep the peace, my mom refrained from taking pictures. :)

Drumroll, Please...DRUMROLL! Thank you.

I have officially finished my Susan Pevensie costume!!! At last!

It all started when I saw Prince Caspian. I had been a huge fan of Narnia when the first one came out, so when I saw Prince Caspian, I fell back in love with it.

Anyway, I suddenly became very interested in making one of Susan's costumes. My original plan was to make her green LLW dress...but then I saw this picture:


Don't ask why, I couldn't tell you, but I really loved it. So I started looking around on The Wardrobe Door ( a great site if you want to make a Narnia costume). I checked out the page on Susan's purple dress, where I read about a lot of things that probably went into the real costume--on Isis Mussenden's budget, with her weavers, crew and experience--not mine. So...I started looking for a pattern that would work well and make the costume just perfectly, but I couldn't find one. So, being a perfectionist (strike that: a selective perfectionist) I decided to make my own. That equaled: "oops! I am tired! I just want to be done! I have this big mess to clean up now! Those pieces are uneven!"

Anyway, I made my own pattern. I started with just some newspaper, a tape measure and two and two makes four. If you do try this, however, try to make yourself a dress form, it would have really helped with measuring and fitting...trying to measure your own shoulders accurately is such a pain!

I gave in after a rather poor attempt of making a pattern for the skirt. I decided to use this pattern:


(sorry, it's a little big) I used petticoat D, which is the one without the ruffle.

Creating the split was really rather easy...after I had given it some calm, cool and collected thought. What I did was this: measure the front of the skirt and find the middle. Then, I sewed a seam with a very small seam allowance (to try to keep the skirt at the size I wanted it). One tip about that, though: don't be over-zealous about "small seam allowances"...make it large enough to serge, otherwise you'll get fraying. After ironing down the finished seam, I just cut very carefully through the little "loop" that was made by the seam and then seam ripped it. It worked very nicely.

For the bodice and bodice lining, I sewed the princess seams of the bodice up, but left it in two pieces (front and back). Then, I laid out the lining, cut it and sewed the boning too it. I sewed the lining to bodice right sides together and then turned them out like a bag, joining the front and back together.

For the sleeves, I made a pattern ( again, look at the write- up on this costume on the wardrobe door), sewed them together, and then sewed them to the armholes.

That was pretty much it, and the rest is very self explanatory. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comment form.

And here are some photos of the finished product:







I'm afraid that I need to stop smiling...my "beam" isn't very Narnian queen-ish :). It's not as perfect as the picture I had in my mind was, but I am pleased with how well it turned out, considering that it was my first real try.

Similar

What's alike about these two images?.....Peter's always getting whacked over the head by Susan's bow!




Both images from the NarniaWeb marketplace

It's here!!!!

So now, I'm going to go sit down and WATCH IT!!!!


(No, my costume isn't done, but it will be soon!)

Prince Caspian Blooper Reel

Here's the blooper reel that is going to be on the DVD... It is just the funniest thing EVER!!! Prepare for hysterics!!!

Music is powerful

Listening to "The Battle" on my playlist, I noticed something. I was listening to "The Battle" on my playlist. It just brought back that almost magical feeling of sitting in the theater, watching The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time. I used to be totally enamored with those movies. Now I realize why: it was the music. I think that it is the strains of the brass, the soaring of the strings and the vocal music in that particular song that so deeply entranced me. It literally did and still does give me goose bumps!

Maybe...*If I Ever Get Past My Short Attention Span* Susan's Cuirass

Well, I am moving very s...l...o...w...l...y on my costume, but I have been thinking about how to make it multi-purpose. I noticed that Susan wore her skirt and under dress for the Night Raid, so I have been thinking about how to make her cuirass, or leather corset. We'll see, so don't hold me to it...


P.S. I hope to write a post about the purple skirt (above) mock-up soon!

Soon!

I just wanted to write a little blurb for all the Narnia fans out there... Prince Caspian comes out on DVD December 2nd!!! Here's a link to the NarniaWeb article

Prince Caspian: The Call--Regina Spektor