a dangle

I make what I call "dangles", they can be worn in the hair or secured to a belt or handbag or whatever else. I've made several in the past and this one I made yesterday. It's pretty simple, but I wanted to start using some of the copious supplies of jewellery findings I'd purchased in the US. Mostly for my own amusement, but when I have enough of them for myself and friends, I'll be putting the surplus onto Folksy, Britain's version of 'Etsy'.

Old Costume bits

I found some of my old costume items, yay!

Laced black leather pouch - gifted to me by Otter. Black leather pouch and the carved leather belt - crafted for me by Daedalus Fortune (Leatherhead Regalia).



Detail on the laced pouch.



I did alter the laced leather pouch by adding these to it. Beads: comedy/tragedy; yin-yang, ankh, the rest are random beads, probably purchased at Friends in Louisville, Kentucky.



Soviet cloak pin, brass, purchased in the USA probably twenty years ago. Up until a few days ago, this was in two separate parts and one part was decorating a bag. I've found the second part and re-established the parts as one piece. I think it would do well on a hat.



I have misplaced the partner to this cloak pin along with the chain that once kept them together. Glass (plastic?) gems, copper metal. I probably picked this up in a thrift store.

Book Covers project - location search - Chafford

The other day I went out with the new camera to some local woodland. Several things inclined me to the task: 1) I hadn't been to the woodland and I like visiting nature; 2) I was hoping to find a suitably remote location yet accessable for the book covers project; 3) it was a sunny day and almost warm; 4) get used to using the new camera.

I think I succeeded.

Go go invasive species... the American grey squirrel is an aggressive nuissance, it has nearly driven the native red squirrel into extinction. In the fifteen years I've been here, I have yet to see a native red squirrel in the wild, they are that rare.







Yes, I know there's fence and a house visible in the background, however, careful choice of angle of view can solve that issue and if the model is willing to sit in the crux of the tree, even better.



Another spot where selective angle of view can make this work.







There's a lot of ivy at the moment, but not much nettle, nettle seems to prefer areas with a little more sunlight than one gets under the canopy of trees.

Antiques - the sewing box

I did not forget the sewing box, well, I did, and then I figure it's worth its own post.

Behold the sewing box, slightly damaged, but you can see the flower paper and where the hasp once was.



I'm not sure why she needed five pairs of scissors, but as you can see, they're of various sizes and blade shapes. The thread colours are still quite bright, go go chemical dyes.



The pieces of lace, what I thought was an elasticated edging turns out to not have any stretch at all, so it is just a simply decorated near-white edging.



Another look at the tray outside the sewing box.

Antiques - the photos

As promised.

First off, the WWII buttons...



The albert chain, yes, the clip functions, the spring still springs inside it.



As you can see, the bear has suffered some damage. I suspect the eyes once had little glass jewels in them. Poor bear.



I got too excited and failed to set it to manual focus so it would use the depth of field correctly.



The back of the football medallion.



The inkwell... bit too much camera shake and I failed to set up the lights and utilise them for this. Perhaps it would have made it easier. Oh well, you get the idea. The brass body is wrapped in soft, thin black leather with gold stamp.



The bottom of the inkwell with attached paper label.



Gently press the button on the front of the body and it pops open to reveal this:



Gently press aside the righthand clip and you can see inside.



With the little glass bottle removed so you can see it as well as the inkwell. The inner lid has a spring to help keep the ink inside the bottle and yes, the spring still works. It's a clever little object and the leafy scroll engraving in the brass is very nice.

Antiques

Today's adventure found me a few delightful objects, I'll have to take some photos tomorrow and add them here.

I found an early 1900s inkwell, brass with a leather cover, produced by 'Hawthorne - stationer, printer & co' on 36 Clumber Street in Nottingham.

Several military brass buttons and 'stay bright' metal buttons for various WWII uniforms. I figure they might go nicely on a hat or bag.

A sterling silver albert chain with a slightly crushed bear charm. It seems the bear is hollow and so its belly and muzzle were caved in. Still a delightful little charm about 2cm tall. Now to find a suitable pocketwatch to go with said albert chain.

Now, I'm not into football (either the US variety or the rest of the world's variety), but I did spot a medallion whose shape appealed to me. Sterling silver and engraved on the back...

I.S.F.A.
1936-7
N.E MANS

(hmm, "any man's"?)

I figure it would do for a charm on a bracelet or hat or some such.

The last and largest item was a sewing box. Three cloth-wrapped weights, a packet of Great Yarmouth sewing needles, four brass and nickle thimbles, several wooden spools of vintage cotton and Sylko, JP & Coats and another brand of threads, several plastic or metal crochet hooks and a needle (missing its partner), five pairs of scissors (all slightly different), 3 small squares of lace and two identical larger pieces of lace, some lacy and elasticated decorative ribbon. The box is wood with brass hinges, it's covered in faded decorative flower paper. Tempted as I am to try to spot-clean the paper, I can also see it has metallic effects in the paper and I'd rather not destroy it by trying to wipe it with a damp cloth. Admittedly, it's not in the best of shape, the hasp is completely missing and the corners and edges are a bit dinged. Still, it's a lovely box about 30cm long and about 15cm high. There's a divided wood tray inside. It's still quite servicable in its own way.

I probably paid too much, however, I'm delighted by the objects, they have an interesting feel. And now I just realised I genderqueered... a sewing box, but then an inkwell, albert chain, football medallion and WWII buttons... I guess I tilted towards the masculine...

Anyway, part of my reason for these is yes, I'm a creature for antiques with character, but also antiques I can use and... I think they'll be handy props for the book covers photography project ^_^ Go-go multiple use items!

New camera and some photography

Jessops was having a package deal on Canon cameras and I decided to gift myself a new dSLR. So I now have a Canon EOS 450D and two nice lenses.

Late last year, I poked and prodded around the back yard, replanting or redoing some of the surviving bulbs in the pots that haven't bloomed in previous years. I'm discovering that if you plant bulbs of anything EXCEPT daffodils, you need to disturb the ground they're in or they don't come up again... or perhaps I just need to pull more weeds so they don't deprive the bulbs of sunlight >.>

Anyway, because I messed about with the pots last year, I now have tulips this year! I love the colour swirl in this one. I also wanted to get used to using the new camera, two enjoyable things in one go.



Today, the sun was out so I decided to go out with the camera and get cracking with images of local sights and sites that interest me that don't often show up in the tour books. This part of Essex got well hammered by the Germans during WWII so there's not a lot left that's 'old and ancient' in the area.

Behold: Hadleigh Castle (pronounce 'had-lee'), built in the 1230s on unstable clay and chalk the castle pretty much had a short life of under 100yrs use and within 40 years of its initial building had to have major refurbishment. The kings and lords that came afterward basically gave up on it and in the 1500s large parts of it that hadn't already tumbled down into ruin were dismantled for building materials, the stone and lead got recycled.

This is some of what remains. You can see the Thames River Estuary in the background.



Part of my reason for returning here is I'm also scouting for potential locations for 'onsite' portrait photography. I'm building a photographic project of 'book covers for stories that never were' and places that I can use as backgrounds for costumed models is desirable. The more I can do in camera, the less I have to deal with on the pc!



On my drive around for photographic locations, I decided to find a near-to-the-road bunker as several of these remain in and around the countryside near the Thames River Estuary. I also was seeking some antique shops and got two for one. This one is within 100 metres of the roadside of a Rettendon furniture antiques shop.



From what I can conclude, many of the bunkers are on private land, so finding one near the road is useful.

What were the bunkers for? The handful I've seen are similar but different and could have been used as observation posts ('to spot the German invasion') or as gun placements to shoot at said German invaders.

Most appear as this one does, constructed of brick and concrete with a patina of lichen and greenery. Most of them are in farmer's fields.

Photography session with Scratch & Co.

Today, I had a photography session with Scratch & Co and I brought my wrap and hood with me for pictures.

I made this costume years ago, before I moved to Britain and I made it out of upholstery/curtain fabric that I'd found on 'special' in, I believe, Miami, Florida. I went through a kick where I was making a lot of hooded capes and wraps and this one, while hot and heavy in Florida is pleasant here in Britain.

The short sword is, of course, my Starfire blade.

score! pt 3

(really, almost finished...!)

I'm smitten with this waistcoat. I had to make a deal with the shop as it was missing one of the brass buttons at the waist. I received a discount but it is non-returnable; to which, I have no problem with as I finally have a waistcoat that has enough room in the armholes. The armholes being a frequent issue for me with store-bought garments. A size up was too big in the chest, a size down was too small in the waist for the waistcoat to button.

Somewhat masculine while cut for a female form, excellent. Cotton fabric with grosgrain ribbon and brass button trim and fastenings. The lining is a synthetic fabric. The pockets are just large enough for a pocketwatch. Superb.



Some of the details of the lower front:



Details of the upper half:



Waistcoat back:



Some of the nice little finds from the men's section of H&M:

Bracelets - in reclaimed leather and pewter hardware.



Stud-belt - in deep red-brown leather with brass hardware.



Black knitted armwarmers of mostly synthetic with about 20% wool.



Black viscose scarf that is about two metres long and close to a metre wide.

score! pt 2

Continuing on the finds and acquisitions from H&M...

Several cotton voile blouses, each one under £10, not bad considering that a) cotton clothing is usually hideously expensive here in Britain; b) finding cotton voile blouses in something other than white or cream or beige.

I did purchase two in white slightly different in cut to these shown below. The white blouses' necklines actually button at the collar rather than the plunging necklines of the coloured blouses. Otherwise, they're essentially the same. Also I acquired one in black that is in the same cut as the blue and olive blouses. All of the blouses allow the sleeves to be rolled up and secured with the button and tab at the bicep.







The black linen trousers:



Some waistband details:




The black linen trousers are quite long and did come with a belt, I forgot to show it with said belt and I also forgot to take a photo of the details in the back. The trousers do have side pockets and two rear pockets with button closures.

The blouses and trousers could be used for the steampunk/gaslight fantasy costume. However, they were purchased with the intention of me using them for Topping at Parties.

One might say these clothes are a little masculine, and yet, they're still feminine without the girlie-nonsense. As a genderqueer, I like the mixing of female and male elements; I especially favour clothes that have elements that do not heavily fall in either gender.

score!

About two weeks ago, I went to H&M, it's starting to become something of a favourite of mine. Partly because of some of the clothes they carry. I do look in both the men's and women's sections, as the men's section often has more interesting items for costuming than the women's section.

Fashion must be dictating a quasi-military style this spring because I found two jackets that will do quite nicely for steampunk/gaslight fantasy... or when I'm Topping at the Party.

The black jacket's 'brass' buttons are actually plastic. If I can find suitable brass buttons to replace these with, I will. The zip does appear to be brass. The jacket is mostly cotton (95%+) and some elastane, it does have a little bit of stretch. It has tiny front-side pockets and padded shoulders... one of which came a bit loose when I laundered it. Seems I'll be doing a lot of little sewings in the near future.



The back view:



The second is a gray jacket with actual metal buttons (already slightly corroded for the 'distressed' look that appears to have taken over fashion for the past few years) and instead of button holes, has fabric strip loops. 100% cotton, the fabric is not as thick as the jacket above and has a softer handle to it. I folded the sleeves up as they're just a tiny bit too long.



Closer detail of the frogs:





One of the positives about this particular jacket is that the epaulettes can be unbuttoned and perhaps little 'rank insignia' could be installed.


Some of the bottom front detail.



The back view: