Wonder Woman! DC Cinematic Redeption

NEW WONDER WOMAN TRAILER IS HERE

The new trailer is amazing! Now, I am really excited about this movie. It brings an iconic female character to the table, whom others have tried to reboot but has failed. 

That CG. Those costumes!

I am very hopeful, but I was also hopeful about Suicide Squad, which I am still holding a grudge over. That is why I wanted to post prerelease impressions before I see the film. As with Suicide Squad, I was very excited, trailers looked great, but the end result was garbage. Here is hoping we don't go down that road again.

Now Gal Gadot is the amazing Diana Prince, who when announced she would be Wonder Woman was met with a lot of skepticism,  from me as well. However, after BvS, which is universally regarded as a not as good film as it was hyped up to be, it seems unanimous that the best part of that film was Wonder Woman, so she is already set up for success.

It also looks like the first movie where the female character is "written" or "treated" the same as the men in the movie. 

Now, I touched on that in a prior blog, when I talked about why many studios don't want to do female-driven movies, and I mentioned that there is an irritating need to write women differently from how you would write the men, often with forced cheesy or "sexy" one liners, to much hip swaying, and crappy costumes. (Looking at you Catwoman, the film not the character). However, when the characters are treated the same, Selene from Underworld, Alive from Resident Evil, Black Widow in the Avengers, Rey, and Leia in Star Wars we see huge success and support for them. 

It's not that people don't want to see female-driven action movies, it's that they are not often written as action heroes.This movie and character have really set themselves up though, and I am very optimistic.

I am hopeful that this movie is a huge success, that it is done well, and it is what they are advertising to us in the trailers. Being a huge Marvel fan, who at first was pretty progressive with its female characters, it seems they are falling behind. Between the two, I expected the first sole female action movie to come from them. On you left Marvel. (pains me to say that.)

Hope you enjoy the trailer, 

please leave your thoughts, 

Jessi Harm

Evil Regal

Here are the other blogs I mention in this entry:

http://jessiharm.blogspot.com/2013/12/women-superhero-movies-are-not-as.html

http://jessiharm.blogspot.com/2016/08/suicide-squad-commits-suicide-post.html 

Back to Basics: Sewing tips

So I have my first serger on the way and I am so excited to start working with it. I am no longer afraid to work with Rayon and linens because now I can properly overlock the edge and reduce fraying. In the meantime, I wanted to talk about some things I have learned over the last year of sewing. I want to preface by saying I have been sewing a year and I am self-taught so it's been a lot of trials and error. Any corrections or suggestions please leave below.

As a general overview for someone who says they want to home sew, I would suggest the following (I may break up into blogs for length);

The first thing I would tell a beginner is to relax. When you decide to sew you can get very excited as well as overwhelmed. Slow down and don't' take on more than you can handle. Find the beginner tutorials on YouTube and get a good book.

I reference "The Sewtionary" by Tasia St. Germaine from Sewaholic. The link will take you to Sewaholics page. It's an a-z guild of sewing terminology and how-tos with color photos and easy to understand explanations.

Another good book is "Dressmaking, a complete guide to making your own clothes" by Alison Smith. The link will take you to an amazon retailer. This covers everything from equipment to materials, techniques for fitting and some follow along patterns. Again, it has color photos and easy to understand explanations. These are great references for any newbie, but even after a year I still use them.

The next thing I would tell a beginner is to make sure the projects they want to do are appropriate for their skill level. I didn't know for the longest time that patterns usually have a difficulty rating on them. Some are more obvious than others. If you look through a Vogue pattern catalog they even have a whole section dedicated to "Vogue Easy" without sacrificing style, and there are also Vogue Very Easy patterns. Love it! So make sure you are sticking to something within your skill range.

The third thing I would mention is to get those coupons!!! I live near a JoAnns, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby who take each other's coupons, so get those apps, get on that mailing list. They have 50% off items, 60% off items, 20% off total orders and so on. You can use those for craft supplies, notions, fabric, and equipment. Coupons can't be used on Patterns, but those babies go on sale all the time. When simplicity has their $0.99 each pattern I stock up! Butterrick and McCalls also have something like $1.99 each, or 3 for $5 and Vogue will go on sale for $4.99 each. May vary by area. Also use the internet to hunt down cute patterns.

There is so much more I want to tell you but I am going to break this up. Next, I'll talk about the must have equipment, understanding patterns, choosing sizing and making mock-ups.

Hope you enjoy,

Jessi Harm aka Evil Regal

Vintage Vogue Dress: V8789

     So, this is the lovely Vintage Vogue circa 1957 that I recently made and it was surprisingly easy. I bought this beautiful cotton sateen by Gretchen Hirsch a while back with the intention of making a princess seamed peplum blouse, but when I decided on this for a wedding I knew the fabric was perfect. I did the boat neck version on it, however, other than the bodice necklines everything else is the same. 

     This is the skirt, which was 4 yards alone. I did three lines of basting stitches for this beauty. I did not construct a cummerbund, I simply wore a belt in its place.

     This is the dress of the form as I am trying to gage a few thing in regards to construction and fit. No crinoline and no hem, yet.

     One more view from the side. It looks a little loose and baggy because my dress form isn't to my size, I just use it mostly to assist with even hems and a few other things, but never sizing. I promise it's not as pointy when it's worn.

     I even went to the antique store and got me a little clutch bag and gloves to match.

Here is the beauty with the hem, which I did a deep 1 inch, followed by a 3-inch hem. There are a few more pictures on my Instagram page. One change I did was in place of an armhole and neck facing, I just lined the whole bodice in white cotton.

I rushed to meet the wedding date, so I need to make a few fixes and then I will post pictures of the cute button details on the shoulders, and maybe I'll model a few too.