Halloween Costume: Björk Swan Dress

I wanted to my costume this year to be a little more funky and creative. I like Björk's confident and unique style, her song "It's Oh So Quiet", and Jonny Pierce's (from the band The Drums) inspiration from her album "Homogenic" (which he calls his favorite album of all time). Inspired by Björk's performance on Kerid Crater, which I visited earlier this year in Iceland, I decided this Halloween was the perfect opportunity to channel her spirit. For my costume, I made the swan dress she wore to the Oscars in 2001. I think her dress may have been inspired by the picture of Leonardo DiCaprio holding a (live) swan in 1997.

I had a white silk dress with ruffles on the skirt that I had never worn, which I thought could work as the dress body, but the ruffles weren't dramatic enough, and the dress was too nice to alter by attaching tulle. So, I made my own ruffly tutu out of elastic and tulle. Starting out with a strip of white elastic a little wider than my waist, I sewed the ends together to make a loop. I bought 10 yards of white matte tulle, which I cut into strips to loop around the elastic. It took awhile to piece together, but I could see my progress as the skirt bulked up. Since my tutu is white and has lots of long, loose pieces, I felt more comfortable wearing a white lace slip underneath for some modest protection. The same white lace skirt I wore under the shift dress for my Mrs. White costume worked perfectly under the tutu, keeping it from looking too sheer without taking away from the look of the skirt.

To make the swan, I used scraps of black fleece, some orange felt, and remnants of a soft white fabric. I lined up some black scraps of fleece to make a swan eye shape to match Björk's dress. I cut two identical orange beak shapes and sewed the edges together, except for the end that connects to the head, and attached the black eyes to the beak. After measuring the white fabric by draping it around my neck, I cut a wide long strip with one rounded end (for the head), and folded it in half and sewed its sides together. I sewed the eyes and beak in place, making small adjustments to fit properly, and stuffed the beak with white polyfil stuffing. I also filled the head and neck of the swan, filling the head more densely to keep it round, and the neck more loosely so it would fit comfortably around my neck without being too bulky. I added a few layers of tulle, ruffled down the neck, to blend into the skirt. A safety pin connects the neck to the rest of the skirt and to the lace slip.

Björk is wearing a nude mesh bodysuit and tights underneath her dress, and I had several ideas for what I could do:
-wear an old rhythmic leotard, which has nude mesh sleeves (but is too delicate to wear outside, and might fit too small)
-buy a nude long sleeve shirt (but then never wear it again, and doesn't give me a chance to be creative and make something!)
-wear a light brown long-sleeve shirt (what I wore)
-make my own leotard! (for a look more similar to Bjork, but decided I didn't have time to make a leotard. to be continued in a future post!):

I happened to already have white sandal heels (wedges) that look really similar to the ones Björk is wearing. The last time I wore them was for my high school graduation! I'm glad I had the opportunity to wear them again and make better use of them, and that they worked so well for the costume.

Have a spooky and fun Halloween!
<3 Mandy

DIY Chair Socks

 

My dad always complains about the kitchen chairs scraping on the floor and scratching it, and I am annoyed with the screechy nails-against-a-chalkboard sound, so I decided to come up with a creative solution: crocheting socks for the chair legs! I made a sock for each foot of the 6 chairs, or 24 socks total, using some leftover dark brown yarn I had that matched the chair legs.

<3 Mandy

Knit Baby Sweater

I was planning a visit to see my cousin's new baby and wanted to make something for her. I picked up 3 skeins of gorgeous blue-purple gradient Australian wool and followed along with a booklet to make this little baby sweater. It's a little big for her still, but she is growing quickly, so it will be perfect for layering in the winter!

collar

using several needles to hold different portions (body, sleeves)

starting on a sleeve

left sleeve complete

both sleeves complete; starting on the body

knitting complete, and seams bound!

completed sweater after adding three black buttons

back view

button close-up

This was the very first sweater I have ever knitted (or crocheted). I'm proud of how it turned out and am excited to see the baby wearing it! It took about a week to make, working long hours and late into the night, because I wanted to complete the project before the trip! The pattern is supposed to have a leaf design along the collar, but I realized too late that I have been knitting for purl stitches and purling for knit stitches (I guess I've always done them backwards...), so it's nice that the color gradient gives the sweater a texture, despite the pattern being wrong! I think it still turned out looking lovely, even with the mistakes. Too much of a pattern in the already-textured yarn might have also taken away from the beauty of the piece by making it too busy, so I actually like how it is!

<3 Mandy

Fruit Watercolor Paintings

Lemons and figs are two of my favorite fruits - they look beautiful and taste good with many of my favorite dishes. I decided to sit and paint one day, and made a watercolor painting of each of these fruits.

Enjoy some delicious fruits this summer.
<3 Mandy

Embroidered Denim Tank Top

I bought a denim tank top at a thrift store, and though I liked the shirt, I was inspired to embroider the back of it with little flowers.

 

begin with bright pink/orange flowers; add mini flowers in more neutral colors

add little lavender flowers with leaves

add lavender flowers on another corner

burst star flower, reminds me of Staryu from Pokemon

lavender grains

added stems to the lavender bursts, adding another flower with French dots center

roses like Whitney's "Light Upon the Lake" album cover

my favorite part - little flowers

sunflower petals to fill in the empty spot with yellow

sunflowers for my sister

I'm so happy to have finally finished embroidering this top after sewing over the course of several months... it took almost a year to make, with a few hours for each flower section. I'm very pleased with how it turned out and want to wear it all the time! I plan to only hand-wash the shirt (though my dad accidentally threw it in the laundry when I was in the middle of sewing a flower since I had left the project on my pillow), so that will keep me from wearing it ALL THE TIME!

<3 Mandy