PoiPriestess » GlitterGirl

Another Serged Fire Costume

PoiPriestess — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:42:01 +0000

This costume consists of an up cycled pair of pants combined with a simple wrap skirt and wrap top to match in bright pink and purple — two of my favorite colors.

The pants were simple — cut the seam, serge the purple up the side and then attach the ties. The ties are made from serged purple “leaves” tied in a knot and sewn with a few hand stitches to the top of the purple stripe just below the waist band. I intended this so I could wear the pants without wearing the skirt as well as with the skirt and also to wear with street clothes to make them just a little more funky. I have this long standing fantasy of every outfit I wear (except gym clothes and lingerie) is some sort of funky cool costume. So gradually I’ve been upcycling the pants.

I like the tie on the pants a lot with all the “leaves” hanging in a cluster — it’s short enough to work with fire. I’m particularly happy with the vintage broach I attached onto the top to give it a little extra pizazz. The costume worked well — I used it for a few gigs and the photo shoot featured in The City Exposed piece as well. it was well worth it, as a simple costume that took under 5 hours to throw together.

Upcycling a Dress into So Much More

PoiPriestess — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:16:29 +0000

Unfortunately, I have been forgetting to take photos of what I’ve been starting with so it really doesn’t help much in terms of comparison. Fortunately, Old Navy had this shot of the dress on line. Of course, the model doesn’t have my proportions — so figure shorter and more voluptuous!

One of the things I liked about this dress which was only $25, was that it had a lot of fabric that was fire safe as well as the gradient in the colors.

I combined it with a dupioni silk that matched almost perfectly and then I added appliques of a brocade silk in white on top of the dress part as well as the leg cuffs and arms cuffs. Though I don’t have a photo of just the dress without the skirt, I actually had originally intended that to be the look. However, as art will be, I decided that the dress was a little too short and then ended up adding the patch work top and skirt. I’m glad I did because, ultimately, I think they look better. The top is made of more silk than the dress itself, with just those three patches in the front under the breast. The skirt is half and half.

The other thing that had the costume work better without the dress is that I sewed on some vintage bracelets on top of the white applique on the dress, leg cuffs and arm cuffs. Sadly, on the dress, the bracelets broke the first time I wore it, which, in and of itself would not be a problem if I had sewed down every link on the bracelets, which I did not. You can see the bracelets here in some close ups of the leg cuffs and arm bands.

Fairy Costume in Green

PoiPriestess — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:05:32 +0000

This is the first (of hopefully many) serged costume I made and I didn’t use a regular sewing machine at all, though I did hand sew the rosette in the middle of the shirt onto the rest of it.

The costume is designed to be worn in layers over a black shirt and pair of yoga pants for easy costume changes in public as well as less wear and tear on the outfit, as it doesn’t need to be washed as frequently and can simply be used for performance and taken off since all the sweat is on the bottom layer. In addition, having had many challenges over the years with costume malfunctions (especially breasts that just seem to have a mind of their own and want to be exposed to the cool night air), I have taken to wearing a bottom layer that I’m confident won’t spill out any of the good and will hold my body in the ways I want it to be held for fire. Bras simply have never worked that well for me, so shelf tanks are my thing.

The idea was to create something that had contrast and would show up better in the fire than black alone might — the cactus color (lighter green) is going to be especially effective at that.

For my body type, working with something tighter under the bust is often best with flowing fabric that is not fitted over the hips, stomach and butt. In this photo shoot, I’m not wearing the arm fringe. These are pieces that look like the knee fringe only they go above the elbow. (I hadn’t put the elastic in yet for this photo shoot.) Photos are taken at Samovar in the Castro by Addrianna.

The rosette in the bust area was inspired by my days at the Renaissance Fairs over a decade ago when I did bodice and costume fittings. Part of the process was to make rosette’s out of these long pieces of gauze cotton, so I learned that back then and was happy to apply it to this costume. I did not use a pattern and this was really the first thing I did with this serger, though I had some experience with Devin’s serger for the gauntlets I made while I was in Chicago. I’m certain that having a dress form would make this whole costume creation process much easier — doing the back of a shirt is really challenging when you can’t see what’s going on.

A quick summary of the last 6 weeks. . .

PoiPriestess — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:34:35 +0000

Let’s see – - the quick summary of my past 6 weeks. . .

April 14-17, 2009 I moved everything out of my old place. About a third of it went to my new office/art studio/sewing lab. Through a bizarre twist of fate, my bed ended up there as well which is convenient if I need a place to sleep and because of my hectic travel schedule, I have actually slept there a few times.

Shortly after, I did some couch surfing and then during the weekend of the Expo I got a hotel room which was great and what I needed. The show was amazing and was, absolutely, my greatest contribution to planet earth so far in terms of making change and creating opportunity on a community level. I got lots of press and feel great about the whole thing.

Then the first weekend in May I went to FireDrums in Santa Cruz where I taught and performed and got rained on and got a tent full of water and had some amazing breakthroughs dancing in the rain and mud after completely surrendering to the crappy weather and wet tent. I also was reminded how grateful I am for a roof over my head and a place to put my stuff.

I was back in SF for a few days and then I went on what has turned out to be a major journey on the road. The initial plan had me going to Dallas May 7-11 where I taught a workshop and stayed with my friends Phillip and Disney. I had a great time and the workshop was a phenomenal success (despite a few bumps in the process).

Then I went to Chicago on the 11th and went with my friend Liz to her chemo treatment the next day. What an amazing spirit she is and I am continually inspired by her. I stayed with her and her equally inspiring husband Devin at their loft in Chicago (the Ninja Loft — yes, you might have noticed my new GlitterNinjaGirl NickName) to do some private sessions and then, on the weekend after the Dallas workshop, to do 2 workshops which were both sold out (34 students in all over the two weekend days). They were also phenomenal and I was very inspired by them both!

While I was there, the idea of me going with them and the rest of their troupe, Pyrotechniq, on a gig to the Bahamas came up and after a week of discussion, in stead of going back home to SF — after all, I hadn’t gotten a new place to live so I could travel through most of May — I decided to stay in Chicago till the Bahamas trip which is upon me now — June 1-4. So I’m still in Chicago right now staying with them and we’re preparing for the trip to the Bahamas and having a blast.

I did another class while I was here which was small and fun. It’s been great working with a troupe that’s been together for a while and so much fun to be appreciated for the gifts I bring while working with professionals who love their work and allowed me to just pop in and play with them. I’m elated by the experience. And, on top of that, although I had to defer some money in SF until mid June, I am getting well paid which has it be almost worth while fiscally. If you consider the working vacation to the Bahamas though — where I’ll be staying at the Atlantis Hotel (which I went to back in 98 I think for a Tivoli/IBM sales reward trip) — it is completely worth it for me. Plus the adventure is fun!

I get back to SF on the 4th after a full day of travel and then I am back in the swing of classes there. I had thought to go to Seattle in June to teach a workshop but I don’t think that is going to happen. I will be going to Bend Oregon for a wedding though at the end of the month (at least I think so) and then I’ll be up north for two campouts where I teach and perform in early July. So it’s a summer of fun travels and adventure.

For now, I’m about to take a shower and will be getting in a cab in 45 minutes to head to O’Hare for the FIFA gig. Hope everything is thriving in your world.

Poi-la-Hoop and Poi Practice Sets

PoiPriestess — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:33:19 +0000

First written week of March 23, 2009:

I’ve been on vacation this week — quite an interesting experience in and of itself. That, alas, for another post. This post is dedicated to the fun poi-la-hoop practice I had on the 25th (shortly after my 40th birthday) to “Tom Sawyer” remixed by Z-Trip. Fun, fun, fun! You can download it through the Temple of Poi podcast or see it below through YouTube if you prefer. In addition, I had a really fun set with my flag poi which you can also see through the Temple of Poi podcast or through the YouTube link below. The Temple of Poi Blog has a listing of the moves being practice, in case you want more details.

Poi Video: GlitterGirl Practice Session

PoiPriestess — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:02:58 +0000

Recently my friend Julian suggested I post some poi practice videos on line, so I was inspired to do that. Rather than repost the entire thing here, I’ll direct you to the Temple of Poi blog where you can see the video or download it on the Temple of Poi Podcast

30 Day Notice

PoiPriestess — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:27:59 +0000

I just gave my 30 day notice for my home and one of the Temple of Poi studios. I’m more or less letting go of my home studio (and my home) and going homeless for some period of time as of April 15 though I have places to sleep, sort of, so that’s only sort of true.

The good news is I’m moving the upstairs studio — the one with less usable space, lower ceilings, a leaky ceiling and higher rent — to a new location at 10th and Mission into my friend Decker’s place where he uses the space for the Authentic programs. It is bigger and nicer, so teaching wise, this is a huge step up. In fact, this studio will be larger than the main studio I’ve used for 7 years and I’m still keeping at the 953 Mission location. And, it is currently housing my piano, so I get to be reunited with it.

I’m also renting an office there so and I’ll have a home base and some flexibility with chilling there in the evenings during the week.

I don’t really have my housing sorted fully so if you have something to offer, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I’m going to get a hotel room for the weekend of the expo (April 23-27) simply so I can maintain my sanity, then fire drums is the next weekend (April 30 to May 3) so I’m out of town, then I am trying to arrange a trip to Dallas for workshops the following weekend (May 8-11). I go to Chicago to be with a friend who is doing chemo on the 12th of May and stay there for a workshop over that weekend until the 18th. So a lot of fun travel.

I will then have a housesit (I hope, still securing this) for end of May through mid August, so it’s only a month of really crazy I guess. At that point it is my hope that James/Hunter and I move in together into a space. We’ll see what unfolds though.

With respect to the Temple, classes will begin in the new space the week of May 13 and this is really exciting because now I have an awesome space to throw Flow Jams in, so you can expect more of them to come.

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl: Vol 1

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:44:08 +0000

Because I want all these cool photos to rotate in the cool iris widget on the right, I am creating a series of entries that are index to the original article which contain the photos from the Chronicles of GlitterGirl from 2006. It’s inspiring enough to want to make me do another series of the comic book.

Below are photos of the first comic book. Click on the link and you can go to the original article, or press the Archive link to see all the articles I’ve written on my blog in the last few years, including small photos. There’s several hundred articles, so enjoy browsing.

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl, Vol. II

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:37:51 +0000

Here’s the photos and link backs to the second volume of the comic book from 2006. Again, the archives are a wonderful quick way to see these hundreds of posts.

June 1, 2006

June 2, 2006

June 3, 2006

June 3, 2006, Part II

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl Vol. III

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:51:13 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for the 2nd half of June 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl Vol. IV

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:28:42 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for July 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

Photos: Chronicles of GlitterGirl Vol. V

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:03:53 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for August 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

September 2006

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:26:27 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for September 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

Fall 2006

PoiPriestess — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:42:45 +0000

Photos and links to the original blog entries for Fall 2006. Direct access to the articles is available using the archives link on the top of this page as well.

Simone’s Coat

PoiPriestess — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:46:31 +0000

These fabulous photos were taken in a photo shoot from March of 2008 done with Waldemar Horwat. The ever so amazing coat is done by Simone Shulz and the fabulous costume is done by Kelly Williams.