How my Evil Costume Bunnies torture me into the wee hours.

After spending most of November sewing, as I couldn’t dance or sit at the computer, you’d guess that my Evil Costume Bunnies would give me a break. Nope, they’re “evil”, and there’s a reason I call them so.

This time, it all started rather quietly, even reasonably. Christmas was coming, I couldn’t decide what to get my friend and dance partner L for Christmas, she’d said she wanted a mermaid skirt after seeing the wine and the teal ones I’d made. Why not making one for her? You can guess how it went from there… She also wanted a matching cold shoulder choli, and it so happened that, if cut carefully, I could make a choli out of the leftover fabric from the skirt. And since I was making one for her, and I *had* to make myself a black velvet cold shoulder choli for myself for an event, why not order enough fabric to make myself that skirt I wanted?

Result: beginning of January, and now my friend has an amazing mermaid skirt in chocolate velvet, I’ve got another one for myself in black velvet, we’ve both got cold-shoulder cholis to match, and since she will eventually need a black choli too, I used the leftover fabric that was originally going for my long sleeved one to cut one for her.

But that’s not the worst, oh no. I am attending the ATS Residential in the UK at the end of January, and since I am taking my sword for a workshop, I HAVE to have “suitable cover, to avoid alarming the public”, as explained to me by a very nice police-person. Which translates as “I need to make something for it that will allow me to transport it securely”. There goes another one… And because the taunting was not enough, now I’ve got a list. I decided that I would not buy any more fabric unless it would be to finish one of the costumes on the bunny-pen or for urgent troupe requirements, but as I was sorting out my stash the other day, the bunny pen has now expanded to also feature nearly every single fabric I’ve got stashed. Which isn’t BAD but it’s also not good. The list so far includes:

• Practice or related:
  • Sword carrier, because OF COURSE I can’t just try to find a rifle case like most reasonable people; and no, it’s a scimitar, the shape makes most sword bags unusable
  • At least one more practice choli, as it is cold and I rather like how they work with tank tops.
• Egyptian/Cabaret
  • Blue and silver Saidi dress; I’ve wanted one of these for ages, should be really simple. At least that’s what I’m aiming for, just some sequins/beads along the edge and using one of my beaded belts for it to cut down the work. Yeah, right, you can stop laughing now
  • Plum lace dress: still want this after seeing a few more dresses in a similar style; again, I’ve got a sash and a top, so beaded should be minimal. Ha! tell me another one
  • Purple holo raqs fustan: I got this fabric in a sale, it’s not that distinctive in the shade, but it’s good, has nice thickness, and looks amazing under the sun; this one should be more work, I’m thinking of making silver swirls on it, but realistically, I can’t see myself doing anything with it until the end of the year; might be a nice winter project
• Tribal
  • Black 25 yarder: got the fabric, and it’s about time I do something with it; besides, I’ve already done a 16 yarder, how much more difficult can it be? (famous last words)
  • Black and silver Ghawazee coat, using the superb Turkish trim I’ve got leftover, to have a nice cover-up that I can use with anything, unlike what I’ve got now which is just red and burgundy.
  • Black lace choli: another one I’ve got the fabric for, and because I could do with something a bit more in line to what my troupemates use for some of the pieces, and the crushed velvet one I made with the big flouncy sleeves looks too heavy compared with everybody’s lace
  • Burgundy lace choli/top: similar as above, got the fabric for a steal, would be nice to have, but not a priority
  • Cherry brocade Turkish vest: I’ve got the pattern, got the fabric, it would look amazing and it makes my bunnies salivate just to think about it. Evil bunnies
  • Teal Ghawazee coat: because I love teal, and THAT was the original project… still pending from 2012 even though I’ve got the fabric and trim; shame on me!
  • White 25 yarder: because it would be nice for layering, and because for some bizarre reason, I seem to want to put together a silver/black/white Tribal outfit entirely made by me. Yes, I need help.
• Fusion
  • Cherry brocade belt & bra: this is a WIP, I worked on the bra base while putting together the teal bra, and also have all the dangles for it ready too; I just had some more pressing items to work on, so it’s on the side, but should be finished this year.
  • Black and pink embroidered belt & bra: because I got the most amazing skirt made of mesh fabric with metal beads embroidered on it that I picked purely to use as a sort of assuit subtitute, and that pale pink used for antique lingerie sounds like the perfect fabric to use under it
  • Corset belt, hopefully, eventually, using the leftover cherry brocade fabric, if there is any. Because apparently all the cursing I did while putting on grommets on two belts was so not enough that I need to multiply the experience by 3
  • Silver and red mermaid skirts, because I can’t just leave things alone, the cut works, and they would work really nicely with stuff I already have, so different costumes with just one piece changed: SCORE! And they are quick to make and they look lovely.

So, there is is… My current list of projects in the pipeline or thereabouts… For reference, the list from last year included the plum lace dress (still in the list), mesh for modifying an existing costume (still to do but should be done before April), teal ghawazee (still on the list), teal choli top, belt and bra (all three done), mermaid skirt (done x3), pants still on the very back burner. So not *that* bad I’d say!
Let’s revisit this list in a year, and see how many of these I’ve tackled.