The Mad Seamstress: What I Will Do On My Summer Vacation

Part I: Cosplay

Princess Zelda, Twilight Princess style.  Heavy white satin for the skirt (to be divided, for purposes of aerial acrobatics) and underbodice, purple stretch satin (these days we can put elastic fibers in all the fabrics!) for the overbodice.  We're buying most of the jewelry from a talented Etsy artist, but note the shoulder pads o' doom, which I'm going to transform into jointed pauldrons that will (I hope) allow for the necessary shoulder mobility to use this costume in a trapeze routine.  The gold ribbon is for the skirt edging.  Still needed: fabric paint for the apron, some detailing to work out.

Link, Twilight Princess style.  High-necked renaissance-looking shirt in white stretch cotton, green kona cotton tunic, dust-colored cotton twill pants, gray patterned wool to fake a chain mail shirt under the tunic.  Belt and baldric from another talented Etsy crafter, semi-styled blond wig bought on Ebay that I'll need to finish.  Boots, vambraces, and sword I'm not going to try to incorporate into aerial work.  The light doesn't do this green justice: it's a beautifully classic hunter green. 

 As an aside, I am worried to see the selection of solid-color cotton weaves decreasing every time I go to the fabric store.  The closest Hancock Fabrics is down to one small half shelf of broadcloth and one shelf of kona cotton.   

Part II: Curtains

Left: bedroom.  Right, kitchen.  Yes, these really do change color depending on how the light strikes them, especially the red, which will change from purple through crimson all the way to flame orange.

Left: swag for the dance mirror in the living room.  (Yes, our living room is the dance room.  No boring sofas cluttering up our space!)  Right: living room curtains.  You may not need dragons on your living room curtains, but we do.

Part III: The Workshop

 I now have a sewing room,with my sewing machine set up permanently.  The iron and ironing board live in the same room, with space to set them up, and even leave them out, next to the sewing machine.  The dance room has plenty of space for cutting out. 

Thus my small projects no longer stall on the time-cost analysis of setting up and breaking down/putting away versus 2-3 inches of a raveled hem, and my summer projects do not make me give up in despair at mere logistical considerations. 

Let the snipping and pinning and stitching begin!