A Trip To Demeter's Temple

"I went to my temple to see if anyone had left tribute.  Alas, it seems as if the people of Spokane have forgotten the graceful Demeter.  Now I have to decide if I will allow them to harvest their crops in peace or if I should sent a blight upon them."  Naaaaaaa....let 'em harvest away!!!  hahahahahaha!!!  This was the story I told anyone who asked why I was dressed up and who I was supposed to be.  That was totally fun.  Anyway, The gardens at Maniteau Park are so incredible.  And they have this super neat-o temple like structure that I thought would make a fabulous backdrop for this dress!!

Striking a pose that I have seen statues of Demeter striking.....

I had fun playing with Picasa for these pictures.  I really wanted the illusion of old postcards or ephemera.  

Ever since watching "Immortals" I have loved the idea of the gods and goddesses being golden hued while they are on Olympus.  So I made me golden!  

In several of the images I found of Demeter, she was holding a sheaf of wheat, so out of the wheat I gleaned from the harvested field, I made one for this shoot.  One of the statues I found of her portrays her holding an apple as well.

Gorgeous gardens!!

I like the way the train just sort of puddles at the back.

I love how this tweaked picture seems almost unreal.

Here you can see what I meant by not needing the wheat to go all the way around the headband.  My hair was pulled up over the headband, anchoring it to my head, then the hair piece was pinned on as well.

My sweet Mama pinned my pearls in place!!  And took the pictures!!  Thanks Mama!!!

Here are the rest of the pictures on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75182632@N04/sets/72157631183796966/

YOUCH!!! I Got Wheat Down My Bra!!!!

And let me tell you what...it is R-U-D-E RUDE!!!!  But let me tell you why I got wheat down my bra.  For my Demeter dress I wanted to make a wheat hair piece like below....

I ordered some wonderful antique linen faux wheat from ebay but they hadn't been delivered before the day before I was to leave for Spokane.  Why was that important?  Because I was going to be wearing my Demeter dress to Maniteau Park for a photo shoot and I needed to make the hair piece to complete the outfit.  So, I did what any crazed costumer in my situation would do!  I went and picked real wheat from a harvested field!  Where I live, after the farmers harvest the fields, what is left of the wheat can be gleaned, and that is just what I did!  I went to the wheat field around the corner from my house and picked a bunch of wheat.  Now, if you decide to do this crazy thing, take scissors!!!  Never having had any knowledge of wheat besides using it in baking or eating it in bread, I did not know that it is rude!!!  There I was merrily picking my wheat when I looked down and saw blood dripping from my middle finger!  The wheat had cut me!!!  Grrrrrrrrrrrr.....luckily I didn't get any blood on my wheat stalks....

Right then....here is what I assembled for the construction of my wheat wreath.  A headband, thin brass wire,  (I used my scrapbooking wire), my wheat, poppies because that was one of Demeter's symbols, and scissors.  Oh yah...and green florist's tape.

I made small circles of wire that I taped to the ends of the headband.  These would be used to thread bobby pins through to pin in my hair so the wreath would stay put.  

Now of course I didn't take any pictures of the adding of the wheat, but I basically started with three ears of wheat (are they ears?) well, three stalks of wheat.  Extending the middle ear a good 2" inches past the end of the head band, I began wiring the wheat to the headband, staggering the wheat as I wired.  After five ears of wheat I added one of the poppies.  I wired on 14 wheat heads to the headband.  In the middle, I left about a 4" space.  This didn't need any wheat as this was where my hair would be pulled over the headband to cover the tape and because that is the look I was going for.  Then over that I added my large curled hair piece.  (Images of this will be in my next post....)

Completed hair piece...

Side...here you can see the staggered affect of the wheat.  I like how spastic it looks!!  I only had four poppies so had to space them accordingly.

Here you can really see the placement of the wheat.  Left, right, and down the middle.  Also, I had straight and curved wheat ears.  Made for a very interesting look.

Here you can see the middle of the wreath where it is just florist's tape.

Oh yah!  I almost forgot.  How did that wheat got down my bra?  Well, when I was fooling around with the wreath, seeing what it would look like in my hair, I was wearing a spaghetti strap tank top.  Wheat is not a fake silk flower.  It is an organic one prone to breakage, and that breakage is victim to gravity.  From the head, things tend to fall downward, and downward from my head was my bosom which at the time was not fully protected from the evil that is wheat chaff!  So, ladies, if you plan on making one of these hair pieces, I STRONGLY suggest you wear a T-shirt or a button up shirt, or armor.  Seriously. 

Demeter...Almost Finished My Lady!

So...I have decided that my Grecian Lady's Masquerade gown needs a name.  I have always loved the mythology of the Greeks and Romans.   Mostly the Greeks though.  Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Hades, Poseidon,  and so on...but I really like the story of Demeter!  She is the goddess of the harvest who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth, presided over the sanctity of marriage, the sacred law and the cycle of life and death.  What a lady!!!

97.8% done!!  I tried it on and it fit really well!!  Yeah!!!

I am loving this dress!!!

Grecian Lady...More!!!

Ok, so after my late afternoon post, here is what I accomplished.  I am really getting excited about this dress!  I can't wait to wear it somewhere.  It will probably end up being my Halloween costume...

Ok, close-up of bodice.  I am really pleased with this....

Not so fond of the back as it is super asymmetrical.  I only had so much of the blue fabric as I got is at Savers and have to be super sparing.   

All of the blue and gold fabric has been draped.  Need to attach sleeves and find some gold ribbon for the strappy things.  Also, need to procure a fabulous oval buckle for the sash along with a tassel for the side drape.  In the original there were pointed drapes on both sides of the over skirt and the under skirt was really draped.  Again, I couldn't accomplish this look as there just wasn't enough fabric... :-(  But I do like how this is coming along.

Grecian Lady Gown Progressing Right Along!

My work so far.  The boys haven't needed me much this week as they have been at friends' houses or those friends have been here...so I have been sewing!  This project is so much fun as there is no time constraint and no where to wear it!  Just having lots of fun creating.

 Close up of bodice and pleats.  Thought I had pleats behind me, but that proved to be a wrong assumption!!

Under dress....

Sort of nailing down how I want the over dress to look....lots of draping will be happening....ACK!!!

A Grecian Lady for a Teen's Era Masquerade Dress

So...today I have had one of those moments of spontaneity that comes from feeling well, the house is clean, the boys are content to entertain themselves, the laundry is done, it is 105 outdoors, I don't have to sew for anyone else, and I feel the need to do something flippant and fun for myself!  Enter a Natural Form Era fashion plate that jumped out of my computer, slapped me across the face, took hold of the rational part of my brain, crushed it to death, and screamed "MAKE ME!!!!".  Ok!  I have wanted to make a Greek Empire dress for many, many years, but don't have anywhere to wear one except in my house while I am vacuuming.  What do you do when you want to make a dress form a totally different era than you are used to?  You make said dress into a masquerade dress from the nineteen-teens era of course!  Also, this will make my OCD happy as if I were to make a Greek Empire dress, my geeky part brain would insist that I hand stitch it out of natural materials....I don't have time for hand sewing AND I don't have money for Greek Empire reproduction fabric!  GREAT!!!!  I am so excited!!  Can you tell!!!

Said fashion plate that I will be attempting to emulate! 

Lovely fabrics.  I adore the colors of these fabrics.  They look so cool and refreshing to me!!!  I got the blue at Savers and the green at JoAnn's for something like $1.00 a  yard...I almost wrote pound!  I am so excited my brain isn't functioning properly!!!

A hasty draping on Emma....fun!

Shoes I found at Goodwill!!!

A still from "Sparticus: Blood and Sand"....Very um...gritty show, but the costumes were so incredible!  The dresses look very teens-esque and the hair was very much emulated in the teens as well!!!  wooh woot!!!

Ok, enough talking...on to sewing!

Oh yes,  I am going to be using the Laughing Moon Teens era pattern for the under dress and then just drape the over dress!!!  Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!