Mother of Dragons

I should hope you weren't expecting any stirring prose from this blog. And if you were, you certainly aren't now. So, since we've gotten that out of the way, let's get down to business (to defeat the Huns, etc., etc.)...I wanted a place to log my crafting progress. I needed a way to make myself somewhat accountable, even if only to the computer, for progress I'm making on projects. Besides that serious business, it'll be nice to look back and see in-progress photos and frustrations after I'm finished with things. Thus, this blog was born.

I love costumes. I love to wear them, I love to make them, I love to look at them, and I love to talk about them. I'll be doing all of those things here. I make costumes for theatre (particularly my own little college company), for friends, for cosplay, and for general frivolity. I began sewing when I was young, but I'm still learning a great deal. That's something that I love about this craft: as stressful as it is to have to redo something 4 times because you simply don't know how to make it work, once you've finished it, you can say that you've learned something new. And I can tell you that I'm always learning something new.

Where to begin, then? I suppose we'll just start with what I'm working on right now: Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons.

She has my hair. Or, rather, she has the hair that I had when I was a little girl. Mine is darker now, but with a bit of spray dye...I'll save that for later. Anyway, I began watching Game of Thrones this spring and was immediately drawn to her because she wasn't a terrible person. After reading the first three A Song of Ice and Fire books, I'm still with her for reasons that I can't quite explain.

First of all, though, look at this costume. Yes, the one above- the Dothraki riding outfit- pulled out of the costume designer's arse because nothing bearing such a description exists in the books. It's wonderful. The more I work on it, the more I marvel at how they got the jute to work the way they wanted. I assume it was woven from scratch, because premade burlap, as you will see from my WIP (work-in-progress) shots is far cleaner and less fun.

The detail is just astounding. The ropes, the braiding, the weaving, the insignia- incredible stuff. I had to have it. And so here I am, pulling apart jute fiber and braiding it back together for hours on end until it looks like I want it to. It's such a pain, but I get excited every time I think about the finished product.

WIP shots posted as soon as I find the cord that hooks my camera to the computer.