Tag Archives: sewing

Mountain Lion, Horse and Dog

Posted on by kathousekelli70

What on earth could these three things have in common?

I'm glad you asked, oh you didn't? Haa Haa, well I do have a little story about them and it all started with a request from Lil Magill for her next interesting B-Western costume.

This time Lil had found a vintage 1940's brown gaberdine shirt and skirt featuring, you guessed it, a black mountain lion, dog and horse with a chenille palm tree like detail.

After discussions about changes of colour etc we decided to keep it to the original as close as possible.

 

I set to finding fabric similar to the original and during this quest for fabric, trim and snaps, Lil's brother John contacted me wanting to have this for her Christmas present. I'm sure she was presently surprised!

Now, around the time of initiating the project Jack and I were actually visitin with Texas Mac and Texas Flower. Flower and I were deep in conversation of the outfit and we both wondered as to the unusual grouping of the dog, horse and mountain lion.

As enquiring minds tend to do, I threw it into a Google search and to our surprise (and now this presents a whole new surprise to Lil. SURPRISE!! 🙂 ) I found a 1957 Golden Book – Roy Rogers and the Mountain Lion.

I could not believe my luck! I bought it straight away as a gift for Lil to go with her costume. The book itself other than some minor foiling missing on the spine does not appear to have ever been read. There are no creases in the pages, no writing in the 'This book belongs to' section and is in excellent condition.

 

Now I could get into the costume and get cracking. Eventually I found suitable mountain lion, horse and dog embroidery designs that I could then spend time changing colours and getting it to look close to the original.

 

The embroidery floss chain stitch detail was to follow and I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself at how it's coming together.

 

Finding the right fringe proved again to be an interesting feat so I purchased a longer version and spent time cutting it back to the required length. I eventually found the black snaps required. (actually should have been brown but as Mum says 'a blind man on a galloping horse wouldn't see it')

 

I altered the usual cuff pattern to make up similar to the original and was very pleased with how this turned out. It's all coming together nicely!

Next to last was the fringing and it looked terribly long, checking my measurements and a quick message to Lil meant 4 inches needed to come off! Unpick the fringe, cut, stitch and reapply.

Finally the hand stitching was completed and the snaps are on and the 'Roy Rogers' inspired outfit is ready for sending!

So looking forward to seeing you wear this one Lil!

 

Cheers and stitches!

Kat xo

 

When In Texas….

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It's go bold, go big or go home! Lol!

So here I present the 'I Love Texas' outfit that I made for Pistol Packin' Pami.

You would have seen it boldly worn at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix at Winter Range 2018! (Tuesday over there)

Others desiring this similar theme were a little disappointed when I said I couldn't do a corset for them because 'somebody else' was already getting it.

Pami wanted a Texas flag corset incorporated with blue bonnets and the main part to be like the flag. We put our heads together and came up with the star embroidered on the blue, the red and white on the left as per the flag – perfect – and at the back the two middle sections would be white and feature the Texas state flower, the Bluebonnet. (The 'lupinus texensis' the bluebonnet was adopted as the official state flower by the Texas legislature in 1901)

 

Pami, being a colourful character who I treasure, loves colour and so we went with a red top with a small blue and a white frill in a style she is familiar with.

 

Her flamenco styled skirt in red features a blue frill with white embroidered stars, the white frill has a smaller version of the blue bonnets and a plain red frill – see where I went with that? Keeping it in similar order to the flag itself.

 

With, of course, a quick little headpiece to boot!

 

The final product and one very happy cowgirl! You look amazing my friend, can't wait to see more photos of you in this outfit on range.

 

Somebody please post more pic's on Facebook so I can see it in all her glory!

Kat xo

 

Days Have Flown

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It doesn't take long for days to pass and from last I wrote we have been to Newcastle to the girl grandbabies and caught up with them and all girly things.

A dip at the beach, a catch up with Jack's daughter as well, lunch with them all, a BBQ on Sunday and in between its dolls, puzzles, scooters and playing.

 

We dropped off Jackrabbit Johnny's sombrero and vaquero coat and had a great catch up with him and Ruth on the Sunday night.

Yes his jacket does fit him and he was over the moon. I look forward to seeing it with his whole outfit together.

 

Monday it's on to Sydney to catch a quick flight to Adelaide to see the boy grandbabies. Cars, planes, swimming, beach, bubbles in the backyard. You can fit a lot in in a couple of nights and a full day but still wasn't long enough. They have grown so much but I did get to see Archer go to Kindy this morning and Jack went with Charlie to day care before our flight back to Sydney.

 

Had a good morning with Dad and Mum checking out their new house, breakfast and coffee with Aunty Lynn as well before heading back to Grafton to house/dog sit for a few days.

Side note: this now includes a tyre change before we can go anywhere North.

It's humid here in Taree and warming up fast for the day, once the tyre is fixed we can get on the road to Grafton.

Make each day count, hope yours is a good one.

Kat xo

 

Weddings, Parties, Anything!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

With the recent wedding of Ace McKenzie to Scarlet Assasin, I can now reveal her gorgeous gown, Ace's vest and Dallas Roarke's corset gown that I created for the wedding party.

Measurements were obtained 12months ago, sourcing of fabric and lace from various parts of the globe took place and then it was time for getting it together.

I tried a new corset construction, or boned corset bodice I prefer to term it, much more suitable for a wedding gown. Mock up corsets were sent over for fittings, with progress moving on from there.

Scarlet was to have a recreation of a gown she had seen with a couple slight alterations from the original picture. Suffice to say I was happy with how everything turned out but was still waiting for it to arrive safely in Australia to her and know that everything fitted perfectly.

A couple conversations with Aspen Filly confirmed what I was to do with the skirt and a tip on the horsehair use with the satin frill to get just the right amount of bounce and wave was greatly appreciated. New technique learnt! 😉

Satin taffeta underskirt and overskirt with satin and crystal organza frills on one yoke to create less bulk beneath the bodice.

 

Corset bodice of satin taffeta and full pearl bead, sequinned lace, piped edge finish, rigilene and steel boning.

 

The finished product in full – spectacular!

 

Ace's requirements were for a vest. Simple enough, just needed the Ace cards embroidered on the front and in a red shot black taffeta. Some playing around with embroidery designs and figuring out placement, I nailed it first go with the hoop change in the middle. Happy day's!

 

Dallas wanted the Ace cards down the front of the corset on the same red taffeta coordinated with gorgeous lace skirt overlay. I did however, have to do her front section twice over to get the cards lined up. Slightly frustrating but I got there.

The red and black is always a sensational pairing.

 

Then came the 'how are we going to get this back there?' To which came a number of expensive options finally arriving at a more reasonable one. I found and used Luggage Free, sending my luggage ahead with the said wedding items inside. What a fantastic service and was there in plenty of time to steam and let set as needed.

I've been waiting until the 10th February for this reveal and so glad their wedding turned out to be a sensational day with family and friends and that I was there in spirit and thread! 🙂

Ace sent through some photos taken by The Boneyard Wrangler so now can share the beauty of the final production.

 

Congratulations once again Ace and Scarlet!

Kat xo

 

How Many?

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Apparently 6 stages, lunch and a 20minute car ride re-watching the days shooting videos, only to see a steel bone sticking up out of the back of your corset!! Haa haa haa and yes there were others there – 19 in total!

 

The weather was a little windy and overcast but a hell of a lot warmer than in previous weeks.

 

Sunday we headed to Cushing for the club match. Stages were fast with plenty of movement and a good variation of single tap and multi tap sequences.

 

Jack shot a really good match ending up with just less than a second between us with my stuff ups for the day. Keeping me on my toes he is!

 

Hope you had a great weekend and are into another fabulous week!

Kat xo

 

Vaquero

Posted on by kathousekelli70

I've been procrastinating a little on this one but finally worked out what I was going to do and got it done.

The order was for a vaquero jacket but 'I don't want it shiny! I want it to look worn in' was the request. Okay……so I had to start thinking dyeing and distressing, shouldn't be a problem.

Eventually I found the right colour fabric we were after in a sturdy medium.

I sourced a braid that goes really well with it and different to other soutache braids I had been working with previously. This worked extremely well with the curves I needed. It's a little coarser than the usual soutache but worked well for this project.

I wanted to include some sort of studs or riveting this time but thinking of the 'non shiny' scenario, it was back to the Internet to look at techniques for distressing nickel.

One hundred, shiny nickel rivets spent a good 2 hours soaking in some vinegar, then tipped that off, didn't seem to do anything.

 

Next step, hydrogen peroxide and salt! Holy cow, don't want to leave it in that too long unless you want stuff completely rusted! I think I did that for a bout 15mins maximum getting the desired result.

 

In the meantime, it was time to put the pieces together. Chalk pouncing (well baby powder in this case) and drawing up the designs with chalk. I could now get on with pinning and stitching the braid in place.

 

Next came the lining and something didn't look right. Well actually it wasn't looking right before that and I had kept going back to the pattern trying to work out where I'd gone wrong. Finally the light bulb goes off! Thankfully nothing major and nothing that a quick unpick/seam ripper, a pair of scissors, a different pattern piece couldn't fix! AND it didn't involve redoing the braid. Phew!

 

Everything is now together and it's onto the riveting. Yee haw looking fantastic! Hand sewing to the hem done. Frogs made, stitched on and my special silver buttons that I gave up to this project.

 

I love it but it's still too 'shiny' so taking a scrap piece I start playing with bleach to trying get some areas to take on a sun damaged effect. Different strengths appear to not have made a scrap of difference to the overall colour. So this morning I mixed a sprayable mix of white and cream acrylic paint to simulate some sweat marks.

 

I'm going to have to play more with this procedure. Stay tuned!

Kat xo

 

All In The Quite

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It might be appropriate to open with this little gem I found on the internet today.

 

Whilst it has been quite since the beginning of the year, it certainly hasn't been a 'still' 12 days into the New Year that's for sure.

With the ongoing secret squirrel projects and knocking out a couple of great looking corsets, I'm working out the next list of projects, doing my workouts and contemplating this year's goals. I shouldn't say contemplating, I know what they are and the actions that are needed to fulfill them.

It's only a few weeks now until Jack and I head back to Australia for a stint recouping in the warmth before returning for another year of adventures, learnings, meeting more people and experiencing more great places.

We've still been shooting in the cold, going to practice and set to hit our first club match for the year tomorrow, followed by Wild Bunch on Sunday.

Besides that I've just thrown down a small batch of moonshine which should cure nicely over the next couple of months.

 

Cheers, big ears! It's Friday fun day!

Kat xo

 

 

Tennessee Travellin’

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Jack and I headed south to Texas over the weekend to visit with the Texas Ten Horns. It was a great weekend and a good opportunity to get a decent practice in for the upcoming SE Regional.

After having both barrels of my shotgun going off at once on the odd occasion (and I was starting to get good at ignoring it and keep going) it decided to totally give up the ghost with a piece inside that connects the butt stock to the rest of the mechanism, cracking and breaking. Oops!

 

Thankfully Roy's Creek Dan was able to work his magic and fix it for me and we should be back in business.

We got the gear packed up, Jack organised some Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale to be delivered to the match, car projects are in and we are ready to head out for Memphis/Lakeland, Tennessee.

It is an overcast day but a good day for travelling. Across Oklahoma, into Arkansas and eventually into Tennessee.

 

Car project achievement today – hand stitch two edges to corset. Put lacing in – check! Make hat base of buckram and wire – check! Raffia needs to be damp so it can be shaped before I can proceed with that.

 

We've checked in to the hotel and are ready to head to O'Charley's and meet up with some other cowboy's and cowgirl's.

Tomorrow is match check in, clinics, side matches, warm up etc. It should be good! We are ready for the SE Regional hosted by the Memphis Gunslingers!

Have a great time, wherever you may be shooting or relaxing this weekend!

Kat xo

P.s. It's a day or so late!!

 

Above and Beyond

Posted on by kathousekelli70

I hope that when I recreate a costume that I have done the original justice and the 'Eva' gown is one of these that I truly hope I have.

Finishing the last on the panels today for the skirt. It has been full on chain stitch embroidery, appliqués, sequins and a little bit of bling to get it looking a little like the Hell On Wheels version.

It's actually a shame now to have to gather these panels to the skirt, but it has to be done.

 

Want to know how much embroidery has gone into this skirt?

This even stunned me yesterday – 296m/321.9yds of embroidery floss!

 

You heard me right and I haven't even started on the bodice yet which thankfully won't be as much work BUT is going to be stunning and I can't wait to see it finished, proper accoutrements gathered and worn by the lovely Belle Vaquera at a costume contest!

Love, love, love it!

Kat xo

 

Chain Stitch

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Nothing like a challenge to keep your mind working overtime.

Chain stitch = time consuming

Time consuming = it worked!

It worked = total satisfaction!

Well not quite yet but super excited about achieving an emulation of the detail on Eva's gown!

Vine work is done on the other 2 panels – that's the easy part!

 

Leaves and petals need to be done on those to get to this stage

 

*squeals! Claps hands!* so excited to get past the chain stitch part but it's looking as good as what I was hoping for and then some.

Kat xo