Category: Costume Events

Starry Night of Steampunk at Chabot Space and Science Center

The Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild arranged for our steampunk event to happen at Chabot, so we could view the stars through several different telescopes, see the planetarium show and eat cupcakes that were frosted like Van Gogh’s Starry Night.  We heard a talk on the history of the Science Center. One of the telescopes was donated to the city and built in the 1880s. We had a great turnout for this event. Met lots of familiar folks there and made some new friends, too.

Of course, this event has made me re-think several projects, as did my sewing/construction session with Claudine and Helena before the event yesterday. We had a “bustle parade” which was hilarious and fun. Sometimes it takes a village to complete a costume project.

Starry Night cupcake cake, with a few nibbles.

starry night participantsMia, our celebrityimg_04621

costume collaboration & materials exchange

Here’s some of the friendly costuming pals who joined us at A’s place for a day of sharing fabric,  patterns & books; doing some bodice fitting & alterations; and general mahem. This was the highlight of my week. Oh, and Mia and I brought cookies, fruit and sandwich fixings and Helena brought homemade banana bread. E. brought delicious appetizers. A good time was definitely had by all:

Deborah, Sahrye & Mia
Deborah, Sahrye & Mia
Our hostess (A), E. and Pig's roommate, Heather
Our hostess (A), E. and Pig's roommate, Heather

I did not get any photos of Claudine or Helena. And thanks to A’s family, we were able to descend upon her house and take over every available work surface, even the floor, with a lot of laughter.  We plan to get together again in the next month for another day of resource sharing, collaboration, enthusiasm and humor.

Tudor Event with the Costumer’s Guild

Tudor Family Reunion Feast
Tudor Family Reunion Feast

Mia and I got our outfits prepared for the “Tudor Family Reunion Feast” held by the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild. We’d been working on these garments for months. I helped Mia (center of photo above) sew the black trim on her red, linen English gown – on the sleeves and hem of the gown. Our friends Sahrye (left) and Gloria (right) are on either side of Mia. Sahrye made the gable hood she’s wearing and Claudine made Mia’s French hood.

The Guild organizers had a lovely and authentic multi-course meal that we ate by candlelight. We also had a woman performing songs on her harp and singing songs from the Tudor era. We brought our own cutlery and candles.

Here’s a photo of  Claudine, as we were setting up:

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And here’s yours truly next to Helena and Deborah.  Helena and Deborah, below, are both wearing outfits that Claudine made. Mia inspired me to join her group at this event.

Suzette, Helena and Deborah
Suzette, Helena and Deborah