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ChristianaOpus

@christianaopus

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Theatre Academic by day. Fiber artist and sewist on nights and weekends.

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Goodbye to Come From Away @station.theatre ! I've been posting in my stories about how wonderful this process has been. It has been a gift. I've loved playing Beulah and making the world of the play come to life. Each and every member of this cast, crew, and band has been brilliant. Jacki (our director) put the best group of people together. Audiences have been so amazing. We have one more encore show at a local hs that has already sold out. I'm so glad that I've spent the last few months in Gander, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, you'll find your heart but leave a part of you behind. So grateful. by @christianaopus

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20 days ago

We all put on ‘this plaid thing’.. for our very own costume party!!
#comefromaway #costumeparty taken in The Station Theatre by @christianaopus

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a month ago

I put this in my stories the other day, but wanted someplace for it to live. SO many people ask me about my sewing practice and I'm a firm believer in sharing knowledge whenever possible. SO, I'm hosting Sewing Office Hours at the Urbana Free Library on Oct 18th (and not at my house because friends, I do not have the desk space for everyone). So, let me know if you're coming! You can work on a project, or get some advice on a skill or whatever. I learned to sew in community back in Pittsburgh, and I really want to make that possible for others. So come hang at the Library with me! This is NOT a class. I believe there are machines at the library you can rent if you want to! We'll see how it goes and maybe this can be a monthly thing. by @christianaopus

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a month ago

Finished summer fit! This is so comfortable.

I've made a matching set from @cashmerette 's #thorndiketop which was really easy and I'll likely make another soon. This is the crop style. And I paired it with the ever popular #winslowculottes from Helen's Closet which, per normal with the blocka for Helens i needed to scoop out the back crotch line for a better fit (I do this with the Yantas too). I love the volume of these pants!

The fabric is from Joanns (RIP) and has been in my stash for an age. This might be my first day back to class fit, but we will see! by @christianaopus

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2 months ago

New dress alert! The Duxbury Dress from last month's @cashmerette club. Perfect summer sun dress. This was made entirely from stash. The knit bodice is leftover fabric from the lining on a dress I made late last year and the skirt is lovely Indian cotton print that @scarlettdeath23 brought me from her visit. I have more. I am plotting.

This came together so easy and is so comfortable, I made a straight size 18 with the largest cup size bodice. Cashmerette takes all the guess work out and makes the sewing easy for fit! Love the pockets as well.

I'm also using a new curl product (curl wow shook spray) and it is doing amazing things for my hair. Happy summer y'all.

#handmadewardrobe #cashmeretteclub by @christianaopus

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3 months ago

"Oh, Jane!"

The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged closed yesterday. It has been a joy. It also means I did my first foray into some historical sewing making two sets of Regency stays and a spencer. Now that the show is over I can turn the final costume prop into my dress (which you can see in our team photo). I wanted to make sure I took some photos on our beautiful set (thank you @n8bo2013!) With our beautiful tree. Also throwing in a this adorable selfie with the wonderful @caroxcous)

This has been a joy. And now I'm ready to go to any regency balls (bridgerton, austen, or otherwise!). by @christianaopus

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4 months ago

Regency stays! I made these because I had plans to wear a regency handmade ensemble to opening of Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged, but then I got a sinus infection so now these are just the undergarments for the dress I'll make from the pieces that are currently in the show for the final scene.

This pattern is the daphne regency short stays from @delaferecouture . The pattern is so simple and fits so many different sizes and helped me understand how to fit this style. It is allll about the gussets. I did end up taking in the body by about an inch. The video tutorial was super helpful.

Perhaps I will make more corsets! This was not that difficult and pretty interesting

#daphneregencystays ##handmadewardrobe by @christianaopus

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4 months ago

The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged opened last weekend and I'm so so so proud of this silly love letter to Jane Austen. It has been a joy to work on. Both casts are wonderful. This upcoming weekend of shows is almost alll sold out. Directing always brings me such joy.

Thinking about and with Jane Austen for the last year has been such a wonderful treat. Always grateful to make art and tell stories, especially @station.theatre

Photo credits to Jesse Folks (except the last photo that one is by me) by @christianaopus

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4 months ago

Last day of #MeMadeMayButmakeitweird day 31: Dress like you’ve been waiting all year to get ice cream and paddle board on the river, and it’s finally time.

I might get ice cream today, I won't paddle board (alas being in the cornfields), but I will spend some time in the hammock. I took a nap there yesterday and it was glorious.

I have really enjoyed all the prompts this year, even if I sometimes didnt manage to post. I've posted more to the grid this month than I have in a year.

Todays outfit: yanta overalls from @helens__closet, a fitness tank from old navy and a flowy Aims blouse in a pastel rainbow (pride starts tomorrow!) from @seamwork

Thanks at @sewaliche for organizing! This has been so fun and a highlight of my may! by @christianaopus

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5 months ago

Day 29 of #memademaybutmakeitweird ! Dress like you watched The Craft once in school and it changed you.

This is fun. The Craft did change me! Why not be a little witchy.

Dress is @gertie18 Night and Day dress in a very appropriate quilting cotton. It gets a lot of wear in October and on Friday The 13ths. The jacket is a 1920s vintage duster I made for my 40th, and the hat is a vintage find.

I don't normally wear black so this is fun!
Thanks as always to @sewaliche for the challenge. Only a few days left! by @christianaopus

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5 months ago

#MeMadeMayButmakeitweird ! I missed a few days because I was travelling. But today's prompt is: Dress like you’re secretly cosplaying as an animal at a work convention.

I think this is a cheetah print, but lets pretend I'm the pink panther. I love this dress's material (its a double gauze and is so light) designed by @katiekortmanart. So colorful! The pattern is the scout dress from @gertie18.

Accessorized with my Fluevog pink shoes.

@sewaliche by @christianaopus

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5 months ago

The reveal of a project that took me so so many months to sew and even more time to plan, source materials and put it all together. These are my handmade PhD robes! I finished them just in time to wear them to graduation this year (the one day a year we get to wear our Regalia).

I finished my PhD in 2017, and the robes were like $600, but I wanted them I just didn't want to pay for them. So I went to the Pitt bookstore and took photos of the details. What the colors were. The velvet, the piping. Allll of it. And then I had to find materials. I bought the choir robe pattern from simplicity as my starting point.

The base fabric came from Jo-mar in Philadelphia in 2018. Its the oldest acquired aspect. Its as close to a perfect match to the pitt colors as I could get. I also bought some velvet there but it ended up being the wrong color. The velvet I used was a remnant from @voguefabrics in Chicago. I got it in like 2022. Then in December 2023 in Los Angeles I finally found the right color gold piping (why was this the hardest to find). I ordered the long seperating zipper from somewhere on the internet this past fall. Finally. Alll the parts.

Sewing took a long time, because I was figuring out the details myself. The chevron shapes and spacing. The order of operations for the attached stole (as well as the pattern for the velvet stole!). The sleeves are lined! I left finished seam wholes in the sides so I can access my own pockets. I took apart the hood from my cheap robe set and remade it with the right material (cheap robes were black). I bought a new blue hat.

I am so so so pleased with these. And they perfectly fit today's #MeMadeMayButmakeitweird
Prompt: Dress like you didn’t like the price tag, so you sewed it and paid in emotional damage instead.
I started sewing these in like september. I have completed like no other projects because these robes were staring me down. So I saved 1k (that's today's price!!) But I definitely put that much work and labor into these! And I learned new techniques!!

@sewaliche by @christianaopus

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5 months ago