First wearing – 10/26/11

It’s Television Characters Day at work, so I wore this.  It was slightly disappointing, because even though I *know* there are a bunch of library patrons who are huge Doctor Who fans, they all chose this day not to come.  So not one single person recognized me as the Doctor!  *Sighs*  But it was still fun to wear, and my wig completely fooled everyone.  Co-workers, patrons, my mother – they all thought it was my real hair!  🙂

I soniced the computer…..

 

Is this Dalek technology?

The coat turned out quite well, I think.  I’ll get more detailed pictures of it later.  But here’s the back:

I’m going to wear this coat as a real article of clothing, as well as costume.  Let’s see how many people on the street notice I’m the Doctor….!

Ten Suit Finished 9/24/11

The Ten suit is done, and here are pictures to prove it!  🙂

A sneak peak inside the hip pocket (yes the stripes do go the opposite way, just like in Tennant’s suit!)

The right inside breast has one pocket:

The inside left has two…and one is divided into just the right size for my sonic screwdriver.

The waistband of the skirt has cute buttons, and the skirt has pockets.

The next big job is the coat!

Insanity – 9/5/11

Although I do not *need* this costume done until Gallifrey One (in Feb) I decided I really want it done for Halloween.  So, taking into account all the stuff I still have to finish for Steamcon (in Oct), I figure I have a few weeks to make a suit and coat.  From scratch.

I pretty much had the suit pattern figured out, but I spent a day making tweaks.  Then I tackled the fabric dying.  I bought this fabric:

It looks more perfect than it actually is. The red stripe is surrounded on each side by a border of white.  However, it is the closest I have seen (other than the Magnoli fabric, which costs too much.)  It is also too light a blue, but after numerous tests, and some help from the internet, I figured out a RIT dye formula that darkened it, minimized the white stripes, and didn’t make it too purple.

I filled a large storage bin with just enough hot water to cover the fabric, than added 8 TBs Royal Blue, 4 TBs Pearl Grey, 4 TBs Teal, and 2 TBs Black.  Here are my results:

The one on the bottom is the undyed fabric. The top one is the dye mixture minus the black.  I decided the black was really needed to tone down the white.  The middle is my finished fabric – at least as well as my camera can capture it!   It is NOT that bright a blue!  It’s not the color of the partly finished suit either….but somewhere inbetween.  My camera is hopeless as rendering colors accurately!  😦

Then I started cutting.  I quickly discovered the interfacing I’d bought was too heavy.  I was in no mood for another trip to the store, so I decided to stay-stitch a heaver weight of fabric to each piece.  This took a bit longer, but it worked perfectly.

The next thing I did was work on the outside pockets.  There are three of them, one on each front hip, and one one the left breast.

The hip ones in particular took some figuring out.  I’m not familiar with tailoring, and these pockets are tricky little devils.  I’ve done a few welted pockets before, but these have the added difficulty of a flap…that doesn’t function.  Yes, the flap is purely for show, the pocket opening is behind the flap.  In comparison, the breast pocket was much simpler.   Here’s a picture (and the buttons are not the ones I’ll use, they are just for checking the placement.

When I stopped working today, all the front pockets were done, the collar is done except for attaching the lining, and I have one of the inside breast welted pockets done.  I’m feeling pretty good, because I think all the most difficult bits are done now.  Hopefully new weekend I’ll be ready to tackle the skirt!

Wig

Please excuse the REALLY BAD bathroom mirror picture, but here’s the wig I bought.

This is fresh out of the packaging, with no styling.  It’s the “Tova” wig by “It’s a Wig”.  It’s quite nice quality, and I think I’m going to be pleased with it!

Suit muslin progress 6/12/11

Started to work on a muslin of the suit.  It’s starting to look a *bit* like it should.

This is not the actual fabric, btw.  I’m making the blue suit.  This is my fabric.  It will need to be dyed, which will be an adventure in itself!

Coat Fabric

Fabric has been purchased, thanks to Memorial Day coupons at JoAnn Fabrics.  60% off, yay!

It’s a lovely soft microsuede, in a color that approximates Ten’s coat.

I cut out a partial muslin of Ten’s coat in this hideous plaid fabric I got for $1 a yard.  Plaid is perfect for muslins, because it’s like fabric graph paper.  It’s so easy to measure and adjust!

Ten Coat & Shoes

Vogue patterns were on sale today, so I picked up Vogue 1266.  View B seems to be the closest in tailoring to Tennant’s coat.  I should be able to remodel it, though all the heavy-duty tailoring of this coat scare me!

I think I’ve located the perfect fabric, and it’s at my local Jo-Ann’s.  Kind of pricey, though, so I’m waiting until they run a good sale, and I can get at least 60% off.  This may happen as soon as Memorial Day, even though I have no plans to start this until after Steamcom.  I’ve been plotting more plots, though, and I’m now thinking “Why stop with just Ten’s coat? Why not make a suit as well?”  I think I’ll make a complete Ten costume – only Ten as a girl.  The suit will be styled after his, only with a skirt.  Bonus – I’ll be able to wear this in real life, too!  And I’ve already found the perfect pair of shoes.

I was stressing over the shoes – to be ‘correct’ I should wear shoes like these:

But I just couldn’t see wearing them with a skirt.  Gack.  I thought, well, maybe red pumps?  But I couldn’t find a style that captured Ten’s quirkiness.

And then I found these:

Oh yeah. Quirky AND girly…and I love them.  I’ll be wearing these ALL the time in real life!

So now I just need some blue pinstripe fabric…preferably with a red stripe like in the photograph above….