JUSTINE'S FANCY DRESS PARTY

 

I've just returned from my annual autumn visit to England to see my family and fortunately for the first time it coincided with Justine and Kevin's firework party.  They hold this every year with a different theme and this year it was Game of Thrones.  I had never seen the programme so I researched the costumes on the internet and discovered a wealth of beautiful mediaeval dresses with pointy sleeves and wrap over fronts. 

 

 

I had a search through my fabric box and came across Bob's old Japanese kimono with a dragon on the back.  He hadn't worn it for over 30 years, preferring something with less encumbering sleeves.

I completely dismantled it, keeping the red lining with each piece as the outer black fabric was very thin and slippery, and recut a long wrap over jacket using a dress pattern I converted.

 

The dragon just fitted on the front as the main feature and I used the front corners of the dressing gown to make those fabulous pointy sleeves.

I edged the neck and sleeves with some gold lycra from the stash and had a lovely couple of days sewing and fitting my new design.

 

The collar of the gown was lined in the red and long enough to be used as the ties which wrap across the front and pass through a hole in the right side seam so they can be tied at the back.

 

To finish off my outfit I decided to make a necklace using a bit of snake printed leather and the rest of the lycra.  I used a piece of Bob's electrical wire to stiffen it and make the spiral, then added some extra glitter paste to make it sparkle.

 

Justine said "wow!" when she saw my costume as I emerged on Saturday evening ready to party and I said the same to her in her amazing warrior costume and blonde wig.  Kirsty had also made a beautiful dress and here we three are waiting for the guests to arrive.  Everyone had made a special effort to dress up and after watching a few episodes of Game of Thrones on Sunday afternoon I could recognise a lot of the characters who had been represented.  By the way that's a dragon on my shoulder that was lent to me in my role as the "Dragon mother-in-law"

We had a fabulous evening with a very professional display of fireworks by Kevin and I was able to catch up with all of Justine's friends I've got to know over the years.