To sit on the Iron Throne

My relationship with Greg is built on a shared love of scifi/fantasy. Greg is very good at planning and surprises, so when we celebrated our 4th anniversary I took up the mantel this year and planned our day.

Seattle is home to the EMP museum (formerly EMP/Sci-fi museum). For a limited time the Myth and Magic exhibit featured the Iron Throne…and you could SIT IN IT! Obvisouly this is where our anniversary started.

Of course, the proper attire was required. Initially I was determined to create a medieval gown. I really wanted to create a dress that emulates one of the Game of Thrones costumes from the HBO series. They are clearly inspired by historic fashions, but they also take many creative liberties to help set the world of Westeros apart from our historic pasts.

As many of you know, I am also participating in a Stashbusting challenge, so buying 10 yards of silks was not in my cards. Fortunately, I had red velveteen left over from a-yet-unblogged costume commission. Because velveteen has a nap, I had to buy enough yardage to ensure the voluminous cloak matched. I had more leftover fabric than I anticipated because I am much better at laying out pattern pieces than the Simplicity Pattern designers assume. [Have you looked at their pattern layouts, there is so much wasted space!].

Because the fabric was red, I went to search for red game of throne gowns from the series. For better or for worse, the best looking were those belonging to Cersei Lannister. I sketched out the design, but realized that I just did not have enough time to complete the dress. I opted for generic fantasy ranger or rogue garb. Less glamorous, but perhaps more sane.