Week in Review 22/2013

What did I see?
Barcelona! I'm here for a two weeks work trip, but I did manage to spend half a day in the city already.

What did I listen to?
VNV Nation - Control, but live!

What did I ask myself?
Can I finish in time? What about all the other projects?


What did I read?
I'm now reading "A Game of Thrones: A song of fire and ice" by George R.R. Martin. Yes, I caved and now hustle to approximately 5 new names per page which i can hardly remember...

What did I work on?
Nothing creative, but I do last corrections on my PhD Thesis so i can print it and hand it in once I'm back in Germany!

I was happy about...
The not so bad corrections my supervisor gave me. And going to Barcelona!


I was annoyed about...
Not receiving my new contract in time.



I bought...
Three shirts and one pair of trousers.

Shoes exhibition in Leipzig

During WGT, I visited an exhibition at the Grassi Museum für angewandte Kunst which was centered around shoes. The exhibition is called "Starker Auftritt" (= strong entrance, but in the German version there is a strong connotation of shoes). Right in the beginning of the exhibition, this was made very clear by this crazy gold statue:

The shoes were all kinds of crazy, ranging from plain cuts of leather which were wrapped around the feet with bands to shoes pinched with millions of pins or shoes to play games on.

If you happen to be in Leipzig while the exhibition is still open, I can recommend going there. It is not a large exhibition, but if you check each shoe individually, you can stay there for 1-2 hours!

I also found the perfect shoes for my 7 sins outfit, unfortunately a day late:

WGT 2013 - Monday Outfit

On Monday, we were all a little tired, so we decided to go to the medieval market at the Moritzbastei and meet with some friends. Nachtkatze, Sorrowsplea,Thomas and Max were there already. We spent quite some time drinking, chatting and eating... Everyone was so nice, I'm more than happy to meet such incredible persons! I wore the crazy circus director outfit:

Jacket, jabot and bloomers: Yours truly!

Corset: Nachtkatze

Tights: Primark

Crazy alien hair flower: Bougtht at the Agra

My boyfriend also made a closeup of my make up with his Iguana handbag Hugo (sold out, but originally from Re-Agenz) and the alien flower:

After a short visit of our favourite restaurant in Leipzig (Rizzi, if you ever come to Leipzig, go there!), we changed our drinking location to the other medieval market. And continued to spend time with friends! The boyfriend and I left a little earlier to see KMFDM and VNV Nation. Both concerts were great! A good finish for WGT 2013... 

Zombie Saturday - Fashionably zombie

Shoes

Hoodie

Hat

Week in Review 21/2013

What did I see?
Another Bond Movie - This time "Die another day"!

What did I listen to?
VNV Nation - Control, but live!

What did I ask myself?
If I do it wrong anyway, why should I do what you want?


What did I read?
I read "Fallen Grace" and "Velvet" by Mary Hooper. I liked both of them, they are centered around young women in the Victorian ages! I read about them first on the blog of Gaiety Girl Charlotte and now trust her guidance in the reading world fully. Both books were really interesting reads!

What did I work on?
Nothing. Still recovering from WGT... ;)

I was happy about...
Having met my wonderful (old and new) friends on WGT. It was wonderful!


I was annoyed about...
I wonder how much longer I want to do this...



I bought...
A shirt and an alien flower and a jacket for my boyfriend.

WGT 2013 - Sunday Outfit

On Sunday, *wollmaus*, my boyfriend and I visited a shoes exhibition at the Grassi Museum. One of the major advantages of the WGT in comparison to other festivals is that it offers a lot of cultural experiences besides concerts. You can visit Museums, movies at the cinema, classical concerts and operas (this year they played a lot of Wagner as it was his 200 anniversery), listen to readings, see photo or picture exhibitions... There are even two medieval markets which you can visit for free. You can see that WGT is not your ordinary festival!

This of course leads to even tighter schedules. I wore the Dieselpunk pirate outfit (I'm no expert, but was explained that Dieselpunk is the black and silver version of Steampunk) because of the warm weather. The outfit was completely recycled from Amphi two years ago. I only added the octopus necklace I made recently!

Lateron, we went to the Agra for sitting, drinking cherry wine and chatting. We met Meeresperle and Nephilia again and ha a lovely evening discussing outfits, sewing and all the world and his brother. The last thing we did on Sunday was to visit the Göttertanz (= dance of the gods) which is a dark ambient dance in an amazing location. It was pretty much stuffed, so we didn't stay long, but I danced a little bit.

WGT 2013 - Saturday Outfit

Let's get a little more into detail about why I liked this year's WGT so much: I had my first ever Photo shoot with a professional photographer (actually, two of them!) which was rather exciting. We went into a former train station and spent several hours with group or single pictures of the 7 sins. I don't have the pictures yet, so you'll have to bear with the ones that *wollmaus* took - thanks again, I like them a lot!

Dress, corset and pocket hoops: Madame Cherié

Hair pieces and fascinator: Also made by me

Shoes (which are not visible): Bordello I sprayed black

On Saturday, there was also the Natron und Soda Forum's meeting. I didn't change outfits, so I was instantly recognized by many of the forum's members (we also did a work in progress in the forum where we showed our outfits in the making). I met so many people I can hardly remember their names! Thanks Nephilia for taking this amazing picture of Meeresperle eating my cake fascinator!

We originally wanted to visit some concerts after the meeting, but when we arrived in the Kohlrabizirkus, the sound was a so horrible we left after 3 songs. Which is very unfortunate, since I was looking forward to seeing The Vision Bleak a lot... Later on Saturday, we went shopping at the Agra where I bought a creepy alien flower from a seller whose name I forgot and a t-shirt. My boyfriend fell in love with a jacket by Spoast, which we bought the next day. The jacket has an amazing quality, I can only recommend them!

WGT 2013 - Friday Outfit

I'm back from WGT and it was as amazing as ever! I had a blast meeting so many different interesting and inspiring people, although I broke a negative record by only seeing 3 bands (Abney Park, KMFDM, VNV Nation) in full. But all the amazing other happenings made up for that...

On Friday, I visited the Victorian Picnic together with my boyfriend, Neisella, Meara and *wollmaus* (who was at the WGT for the first time, yay!). It is getting more and more crowded, especially with photographers. If they are nice and ask before taking pictures (or even afterwards, if they want to take natural pictures) I'm okay with them. But just clicking around and shooting people while talking, eating or doing whatever they like is just not very polite... The pictures I use here on my blog were taken by my boyfriend, who obviously had permission to shoot me anytime! ^^

 

Taille, headpiece and over skirt: 1860's crinoline

Underskirt: Bat outfit WGT 2012

Crinoline: Bought in Nachtkatze's former shop

Hair piece: Curled by yours truly ^^

I really liked the outfit after all, although the 1860's crinoline and I had a bad start. The only thing that annoyed me was that I simply forgot to put on jewelry. I left it at the hotel... Maybe I should get dressed up again for another photo shoot with all the bells and whistles?!

After the Vic Pic, we dressed a little more casually before heading to  Abney Park. I liked the show, although the show was less exciting than I was told before. It was a nice concert, but I have seen better bands!

Zombie Saturday - Paper zombies

Make your own by clicking this link! Or this one!

Week in Review 20/2013

What did I see?
I re watched the BBC Sherlock Seasons one and two. While sewing and just because my friend didn't know them before!

What did I listen to?
A lot of goth music while driving to WGT, for example "Dare to live" by Rotersand.

What did I ask myself?
How comes WGT is only once a year?

What did I read?
Nothing besides the WGT programme.

What did I work on?
Madame Cherié the finishing touches...

I was happy about...
WGT, WGT, WGT! Did I mention WGT?! ^^


I was annoyed about...
Snoring Boris. Never knew anyone snoring so loud!



I bought...
Food. WGT tickets and the hotel charge.

WGT 2013 - Madame Cherié corset and preview pics

When you are reading this, I'm already in Leipzig and probably on the way to the best pizza place in town - so please excuse that I will reply to your comments a bit later than usual. Also: WGT, I'm soooooooo excited! Anyway, this is the outfit I will wear on Saturday, where I will have a professional photo shoot (my first) in a group outfit (another first) with awesome people (definitively not a first!). I will also wear it to the Natron und Soda Forum Picnic, if I can make it on time. So, I would be very happy to meet you there (Saturday, from 3pm at the Schillerpark under the biggest tree)!

Corset

Many thanks for Neisella, who not only let me use her tried and true corset pattern, but also cut the spiral steel for the whole thing. Without you, the outfit would probably not look as nice!

Hair (okay, it was only fake hair) was curled:

Detail on the back of the dress:

Private SWAP - Jewelry vs. DNA

You might remember how I showed a knit DNA model here on my blog. I could not believe when a fellow seamstress from the Natron und Soda forum offered to knit it for me. In exchange, I agreed to make some jewelry for her... Here is the wonderful DNA helix, which even has a minor and major groove (unlike a phone cord, the double helix is not one large twist, but has larger and smaller gaps) and the nucleotides that I asked for:

Pictures really don't do it justice, it is so cool! Here are the pieces I made for the SWAP:

Earrings:

A brooch:

And a necklace:

Zombie Saturday - Zombie mug cozy

The amazing Mels form Geekcrafts.com made a tutorial for these crocheted cute buggers:

Week in Review 19/2013

What did I see?
I saw the new Iron Man 3 - which was good if you liked the first two movies- and Hotel Transylvania. Honestly, I had no idea how funny this movie was! You should watch it, if only for the poor Werewolf and his family!

What did I listen to?
Nightwish Wishmaster (the misheard lyrics edition). Because Neisella and I are both Tarja after a few drinks! ^^

What did I ask myself?
Why doesn't the frock work out the easy way? I hate re-doing button holes!

What did I read?
I didn't read anything besides work stuff and magazines while waiting. But I ordered several books which are calling my name!

What did I work on?
Madame Cherié, two shirts

I was happy about...
Handing in my PhD Thesis for the second correction... :D


I was annoyed about...
My procrastination. Why can't I work on something even if it is simple and doesn't take much time?!



I bought...
Nothing. Wow!

WGT 2013 - Madame Cherié Accessoirs

To show you that I'm not sitting on my lazy bum and really work on Madame Cherié (by the way, only 8 days until I will wear it on the WGT! Panic!), here is a little update on the stuff I made:

The stomacher is done. I always thought that Nachtkatze and Neisella would be crazy to glue on all these stones onto corsets. Now I did it myself. Maybe I'm crazy as well? There are 910 stones glued on individually by hand. I watched "Total recall" while I glued and imagined the stones to be blood splatters...

I also worked on the fascinator. Since I represent Gluttony, I needed to integrate some food into the outfit. I made both cake and muffin from a foundation (muffin with aluminium foil, cake with foam) and decorated them with light weight structure paste, colour and fake cherries.

Party hard, party hard! - Accessoirs and hairdo

Since I finished the Taille yesterday, I also put some energy into making a headpiece for the outfit. Maybe I will wear this for WGT?! Anyway, the headpiece...

I had some feathers in the same colour as the satin for the outfit, so I wanted to use those. I gathered some inspiration from historical pictures:

You can see that the women around 1860 wore their hair with long locks in the back (for which I have fake hair which is already curled) and their decoration dangling with them. For my headpiece I used foam rubber, a leftover piece of satin, the feathers and my trusty hot glue gun. I used a round base:

In addition to the headpiece, I bought gloves. No women would leave the house without gloves, that was impossible if you weren't an "easy girl". I also bought some pseudo Victorian shoes. And this is the hairdo tutorial I will use when I wear the outfit I made.

Fabric market in Münster

As you can see in the title, I went to another fabric market. Actually, I was visiting my mum and she mentioned that she wanted to go there. As a good daughter, I simply had to oblige, right?! ;)

I had no intention on buying anything besides some buttons for the frock for my boyfriend. But you know what happens when you bring a fabric addict onto a fabric market...

These were the aforementioned buttons. He still needs to decide which ones we will use for his frock! The fabrics I bought were a paisley jersey and pleather with imprinted skulls in metallic grey:

And on Sunday, I also had some fabrics in my letterbox which I ordered nearly 8 weeks ago from Canada. They are both from the Nevermore/ Edgar Allan Poe series:

As I have no plans what to do with them (they are so pretty, but I don't want to cut apart the pretty prints...), I will share them with Neisella. Let's see who uses them up first?!

Sunday sweet - Pancakes

For quite some time now I had a craving for pancakes. Soft, creamy American pancakes with lots and lots of maple syrup. So I made some for myself!

They might not be the prettiest pancakes in the world, but they tasted delicious! The recipe I used was this one from the German webpage Chefkoch.

Zombie Saturday - Haitian Zombies