So many shows, so many fans

I somehow screwed up the formatting of this entry after it was all typed out, so sorry if it's hard to read :(

At some point on some day One-Eyed Doll played a show at Aftershock in Merrium, KS.  This is where Kim was actually shocked last tour and had to cut her set short.  Luckily nothing like that happened this time.

When we got there people were talking about how one of the opening acts was a rap group. They were saying they fit the style of the show over all, and I was really interested in hearing them.  They had a bit of an Eminem sound to them, but they were really good rappers and their backing music was cool.  I don’t know if they really fit the rock/metal style of the show, but they were still entertaining.  For one of the songs Vaughn got up on stage and did some improv on the drum set along with them.  It was really cool.  After the show one of the guys was talking to me about it.  He really liked how awesome is was to have live music, and he’s been wanting to do something like that for a while now.  I really wish I could remember the group’s name!  I’ll have to look it up when I have more time.

The other opening bands were awesome as well, and many of them were OED fans.  There were band members wearing OED shirts, and someone said one of them was playing with a OED guitar strap.  Stuff like that is awesome.  Some of the local openers just get on the show to play, but so far a lot of openers have been fans wanting to play at a OED show.  I think it was Determyned from the other night that found out the week before that OED was playing and last minute got on the show. 

I can’t remember if I actually got around to writing it or not, but this was also the same venue were I think a girl was scamming us.  Well, she was there again this time and seemed completely different.  She was super nice and didn’t try to get anything for free.  So maybe I was wrong about her :)

At this show Kim did one of her songs were she needed a volunteer from the audience up on stage.  After that song, she told whoever wanted to come on stage to come on up, then she played Battle On.  It was crazy!  There were some cool videos of it posted on their Facebook page.  If I can find them again, I’ll try posting links.  After Battle On, Kim kept everyone on stage for another song, and they got a few more people, including me, up on stage.  I think by this time there were more people on stage then in the audience, but everyone was having so much fun. I was worried getting up on stage with everyone because I hadn’t had a shower that morning, but everyone on stage smelled worse than I did from moshing in the pit and being on stage the song before :)  Over all is was another super fun show.

Everyone partying on stage for "Battle On"

Terrible lighting, but me and super cute fan Amber

VIPs Michael, Bill, Tony, Billy from the club and Amber - we'll see Tony again in Iowa!

The next day we were in St. Louis, MO/Sauget, IL.  Best part of this show, there were so many people there!  I was all set up, doors had opened, but it was going to be a bit before the show started, so I decided to organize my shirt tubs because they had become a mess of shirt thrown in over the past few days.  Wrong night to do that because everyone kept coming up to talk to me.  And I’m by no means complaining.  It’s the best part of coming on tour.  I’d rather have no down time and everything be a mess then be organized, bored, and have no fans at the show.  There were so many familiar faces I’m not even going to try to name you all.  And I also really enjoyed meeting some new people.

Notice the Unicorn on Jr's drum

What are you doing Snork?  Stop taking pictures and get back to the merch table

After the show I was talking to fans as they were waiting to see Kim.  I found out one of them was an Opera singer.  I put him on the spot and told him to sing me something, not actually expecting him to do so.  But he totally stepped up and serenaded me while waiting in line :D  Thank you again.

That night we had 14 (!!!!!) VIPs.  We could barely fit everyone in the RV.  Most were pre-orders, which meant they all got to hear a lot of acoustic songs.

Nice picture

Silly picture

Tough picture

Josh's sweet tattoo

Our crew! <3

Next, we were back in Newport, KY/Cincinnati, OH.  This was our first show with Psychostick and Wild Throne!  :D  The locals, Wild Throne, and I were setting up merch before PS got there, but we left them a big spot in the middle.  Then PS got there and Moose, who runs their merch, wanted the space at the end so they had a bit more space.  I scooted all of my stuff down which was no big deal.  At one point Moose made the comment “I’m kind of a merch nazi” to which I was immediately like:

I’ve very particular about my set up.  I’m used to big headliners trying to screw us over.  In the end, because I’m nice (and apparently adorable), I will a lot of the time end up with an even better spot because I refuse to be shoved in a little corner some where.  Don’t get me wrong, I try to make due with whatever space I’m given, but if there’s a chance I can be somewhere other than a 2ft square next to the bathroom in some dark hallway way far away from the show, I will hold out until they let me set up somewhere else.  I don’t think that’s going to be the case with this tour.  Moose seems pretty cool and they have their usual set up which doesn’t take up a ton of room.  We’ve done a few more shows with them, and there has been no fighting for merch space between any of the bands. :)

While setting up the guy came around to give use wrist bands.  They were just plain neon orange and he was writing “band” on them.  The guy was asking if he should write band on mine, or merch, etc.  I told him mine could just say awesome.

Thank you Thompson House worker for making my night just a little more amazing.

There was also a seafood festival going on right down the road, which I missed because I was at my table all night, but Jason and Vaughn brought me this insanely delicious “puff” The picture does not do it justice.

One of the openers was Escape the Silence who opened for us on both the Otep tour and Mushroomhead tour. It’s always nice coming to the area and getting to see them.  They may be metal, and incredibly badass on stage, but they’re super nice people off stage. Always a pleasure to see you guys!

There was also a band from Australia that’s currently touring around the US.  I didn’t get to talk to them that much, but they seemed like sweet guys as well.  They got to talk to the band and rest of the crew more, and it sounds like Kim is trying to get them to play at the Austin show! So hopefully we’ll see them again.

This show also had so many familiar faces.  I’m not even going to try to list you all because I know I’m going to forget someone.  There were also these adorable fans who wanted their picture taken with me *blushes*

Notice the awesome Dr. Who fez on the left

There were also a couple of really young girls there to see Kimberly.  I’m pretty sure I have diabetes now from all the sweet, cuteness I saw that night.  I’m sure I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million more times before tour is over, but One-Eyed Doll really does have the greatest fans!

Sweet lighting courtesy of Damian

Special helpers

Another party on stage, I have video somewhere

Vaughn is a dragon!

This night we had so many VIPs I lost count, and there was no way they were all going to fit in the RV.  Luckily the club let us hang out in the balcony area for the acoustic show.  Unfortunately the law states that everyone has to be out by 2:30, and we had so many VIPs we weren’t done in time, so we moved out to the yard.  We had a little cellphone campfire we set up, and they played under the stars.  It was amazing!

Random other-ness from the night:

As you can sort of see from a picture above, I was wearing fairy wings, bright blue fishnets, and a glittery skirt at this show.  Someone asked me if they force me to dress like this.  That’s a big NOPE!  Most of the stuff I wear on tour I had from before I started touring with OED.  I have quite the collection of fun leggings, wings, skirts, boots, etc.  It just so happens that my wardrobe works out perfectly for touring with this band :)

While I was packing up, a guy from the venue was sweeping the floor.  He said we had the cleanest merch area and thanked us.  Go us! :)

One of the bartenders told me I have a cute nose.  This is not the first time on tour someone has told me they like me nose. It’s an unusual compliment, but I’ll take it :)

Cory's sweet tattoo!

The day after that we were in the middle of nowhere, Beckley, WV at a fun little bar called Muncheez.  Unfortunately, the venue sold tickets in advance advertising it as all ages, then the day before changed it to 18+ so they could keep their license to sell alcohol.  Now, I understand that they are a business and they probably make more money off of alcohol sales then underage ticket sales, but if you want to sell alcohol, don’t pre-sell tickets to underaged kids.  And if you change last minute, you’d better work out something for those kids that already spent money and arranged their lives to be at that show.  Luckily Kim and Jr found out the day before and put out a notice that if you had already bought tickets and couldn’t get in, they would do a private meet and greet and small acoustic set for them before the show.  They also suggested trying to get their money back from the club, but I’m not sure if anyone was able too.

The club also double booked our tour package and Alien Ant Farm’s tour package for that same night.  One of the bands from the other package didn’t play this show, but the other one, Kaleido, was from Detroit!  They were really awesome and I bought a sweet shirt from them.  I’ll have to get a picture of it sometime.  It has this cool drawing of a girl on it, and she has hair that’s yellow at the top fading down to red (just like mine is now).

We’re also still getting fed, even though we’re not headlining anymore, which is great!  Unfortunately, backwoods West Virginia isn’t the most vegetarian friendly place.  They had a whole bunch of chicken salads and stuff, a chef salad, tuna salad, etc then at the very bottom a “garden salad.” I figured that would be a safe option.  Nope.  Garden in WV means covered in bacon :(  I ate the big pieces of peppers off the top (yummy!) and picked through the lettuce.  Then, after the show Jason ordered me a quesadilla that I shared with everyone.  That luckily just had cheese and black beans inside.

Robert (who you may know as the famous “Wheelchair Man” from the “Airplane Man”  remix), Ellen and Milo were at this show.  I don’t think I’ve seen Robert or Ellen since the Otep tour, which is sad because they’re such sweet people. Milo is one of the few people that has one of the OED dinosaur hats I sew.  Hopefully some day they’ll be available at the merch table or in the OED store online.

Jr with hair!

Milo in a pretty cool OED Dinosaur hat

This bar was so small that our fog machine set off the smoke alarms and they had to turn them off.  Oops…  And that was with one of them not working.  The one that was kept making these sweet mushroom clouds of fog.  I wish I could have gotten a picture.

The bar also had weird bathrooms.  It was a 2 stall but had shower curtains instead of doors. Just a random observation for those of you not at the show. Another random observation, between bands that sound guy had a rock station from Pandora playing, but while Alien Ant Farm was setting up, their sound guy was playing Weird Al, which was awesome :)

We ended up packing up during AAF so we could get the VIP party underway.  This VIP party was going to be at Robert’s hotel. They had talked to the night manager on the phone ahead of time, and he said it was ok if we had the acoustic show in the breakfast area.  Unfortunately they checked in, and discovered that there was a guest’s room right next to that area :(  We started the show outside in a far corner of the parking lot, thinking we’d be ok over there.  It was sprinkling a bit, there were bats flying around overhead, but as always, it was a lot of fun. At the end of the first song the night manager came over saying someone on the 3rd floor had called saying they could hear us.  He was super nice about it though.  He said he couldn’t even hear us when he came outside, and he wanted us to be able to have fun, but obviously someone could hear us since they called. The song that they had played had drum in it, so we promised to not use it and be quieter.  He seemed ok with that. Kim sang an a cappella song and they played one with an acoustic guitar and vocals only.  As far as we know there were no more complaints.  We had to cut it a bit short and run inside though because it started raining a bit harder.

The VIP party moved to Robert, Ellen and Milo’s hotel room, where we did introductions and hung out.  It was fun.  They even had an array of food and drinks for us!  They are SOOOOOO nice :)  After that party, they sent us with all of the leftover food.  Did I mention how nice and amazing they are?

VIP party in the hotel room!!!!

Sunday we were in South Bend, IN.  We got there a little bit early, so Jr, Vaughn, Damian and I got some sushi while Kim got some extra sleep.  We went to a fancy little place called Whoochi.  Usually all the fancy rolls have seafood in them, so I’ll just stick with a cucumber roll or vegetable roll, but this place had one called Jade Dragon.  It had a couple of types of mushrooms, seaweed salad, and was topped with avocado.

Damian got something that came with sauce they lit on fire!

For this show we were at this same little bar, Cheers, as on the Otep tour. Joel Doll was there again.  If you remember my blog from that tour, we made a OED tile for their ceiling.  It was just a little thing in the corner because Nosaj was going to do something cool for Otep on the rest.  Well, they never did and the tile was still there, so we doodled on the rest.

The center doodle of Kimberly was done by this awesome artist Dennis (check him out here).  You may have seen some of his presents to Kim on the OED facebook page.  He also makes these cool “Zombie toes” that he gave me one of.  It’s currently on my backpack.  Thank you again Dennis!

In addition to Joel, Karl, Brad, Indiana Mike and David were all at this show too.  Doors opened really early that night, so I was loading in and setting up and I feel like I didn’t get to talk to anyone much :(  Then we were busy loading out (in the rain) so I missed most of the VIP party :(

Merch at this show was off to the side, but near-ish the stage.  I thought I was going to have a really great view of the show.  But as soon as OED went on everyone crowded forward and I couldn’t see much.  I did run up a few times and got some pictures.

At one point the drums suddenly sounded weird, then next thing I new Kim was handing Jr a drumstick.  Apparently Jr had dropped it, it bounced off a cymbal or something, ricocheted off and hit Kim in the butt.  Jr got a new stick, then Kim picked up the other so Jr threw one out into the crowd.  It was all chaotic, but they kept going.  That’s how you know the show’s real and not just pre-recorded.  Stuff happens, and they’re real musicians working with what’s going on.  Does that make sense?

At this show during “Be My Friend” for the “choose your religion” part, instead of the usual “Amen” or “Hail Satan,” Kim had the audience choose between Unicorns and Dragons.

I think some people still yelled "hail satan"

Kim also got half the crowd up on stage again, this time for “I love my little bus”

Blurry montage of people on stage

As always, the show was a ton of fun.  It was WAAAAY too hot in there though.  I personally drank about 5 bottles of water, one mixed with Emergen-C, then chugged another one of 2 after load out.  I also had to stand out on the back smoking patio a few times so I didn’t pass out.  It was raining a few times when I went out, but it felt sooooo nice :)

Vaughn’s mom and uncle stopped by this show too!  She’s originally from South Bend, but lives in Grand Rapids now.  She seemed to enjoy the show, especially Wild Throne.  Vaughn was saying the last music project he had sounded similar to WT and he thought she’d like them.  There’s a chance she might drive out to the Chicago show Tuesday to see us :)

The crew again

Monday was an awesome, much needed, day off.  Jr drove straight to this auto place where they checked out the RV and gave it a tune up :)  Hopefully that means we’ll have no problems the rest of the tour.  We slept in and hung out while they were working on that.  Before I got up Damian had a friend that lives in Chicago come pick him up.  He spent the day hanging out with her.

It was so nice to have a laid back day to just chill.  I even got a not rushed shower!  It’s been a few days since I’ve had a chance to shower in general *eww!*  It was also the first time since I was picked up that I was able to wash my hair.

After everyone was up and the RV was done we headed to Sam Ash’s down the road.  Jr and Vaughn played in there forever while I worked on this blog and some other stuff.  Then we walked down the street and stuffed ourselves full of Pho and various other delicious Asian foods. And tea. And smoothes. :)  We were all so stuffed we had to go back to the RV for a nap. Later that night we headed to the club where were ended up parking for the night.  It was right down the road from China Town.  We wandered over there but most places were closed :(  We did get some epic Chinese food at a place that's open until 4am.  Then it was back to the bus for the night.  Despite having a train running over head, I think we all slept super well since we weren't moving.

And that brings us more or less to today :)  Gotta get back to work now!  See ya!

Colorado!

I completely forgot to write about something in the last blog.  Our crew!  It’s a bit different this tour, but there are still some familiar faces.  I’m obviously here again.  If you make it to a show you’ll have the pleasure of seeing our drum tech extraordinaire, and amazing violinist, Vaughn!  Unfortunately long time roadie, Mike, wasn’t able to make it :(  He’s back in Austin with his band Nick’s House Band, so I understand, but it’s still sad to not have him here.  Originally Paulo was going to be our driver again, but something came up, so I don’t get to hang out with him either :(  But, we have Jason’s awesome friend Damian along this tour! He’s super cool, and if you happen to figure out who his is, you should say hi.  Sometimes the guys behind the scenes get forgotten about.

Sunday night’s show was in Grand Junction, CO.  When I first walked in the place it looked like a cool venue.  There was an area in front of the stage for the crowd to stand, then different levels going back with tables and chairs for people who needed to sit and take a break.  But once the opening band went on, I realized how bad the set up was. I know certain things are legal in Colorado now, but you guys shouldn’t be so laid back at a rock show!  Everyone just sat in back at the tables.  At one point Jason went up by the stage to watch the show and a few people followed him up.  And when I say a few, it was only 2 or 3.  Then as soon as he left to take care of other things, those 2-3 people dispersed.

Luckily there was a small crowd when One-Eyed Doll went on, but there were still people sitting in the front few rows.  The fans up front were SO into the show though, it was great.  Since the crowd was so small, I hung out in it and watched the show.  At one point Kim even got off the stage and managed to reach the front row.  She laid down on the table and played for the fans sitting there.

Bob White, artist behind the “Plumes of Death” shirt was at this show too!  Some fans who were lucky enough to be there got his autograph too!

We had some awesome VIPs that night, one of them was a new fan.  It's always awesome meeting people who are seeing them for the first time.  Honestly, it's great meeting all fans in general.  I'm really loving this tour so far.

Bob White (in the bandana) and our amazing VIPs in Grand Junction

Next we headed to Colorado Springs, CO.  This is where Mike was poisoned with a Cherry Lassi last tour.  We opted for sushi for breakfast/lunch/brunch/whatever instead.  I had some awesome spicy Edamame there. I think the places was called “Sushi King” but I have no idea what town we were in.  On the way, we passed a sign for Lookout Mountain, and I really wanted to add some exclamation points to it.  “Look out!  Mountain!”

Monday night’s show was at the Black Sheep, the same venue we played at with Mushroomhead.  This time I wasn’t shoved all the way in the back, and the place wasn’t full of creepers.  I don’t want to necessarily say this crowd was better than Grand Junction, because the fans that were there were really into the show, but there were more fans here, and everyone was down in front.  (There wasn’t much of a back area to be standing in though)  This show was awesome all around.  The opening bands were such amazing people.  I really want to give a shout out to Determyned, Robot Peanut Butter and the Shooting Stars and Dying Blynd The lights at this show were also fantastic!  Damian and the light guy were just doing it on the fly, but everyone thought it was planned.  Kim did this whole police man bit, and the lights flashed red and blue.  It looked like the place was full of police cars.  There were a few points the fog was so thick that the only way I could tell Jr was there was because he left a drummer shaped dark spot in the light up back drop :)

During one of the songs, Kim did her playing in the crowd thing she does.  She came way to the back near the mercy table.  She pointed at me a few times while playing and blew me a kiss.  *blushes*  Kim needs to remember that even though I'm their merch girl, I'm still a fan and when she does things like that I get all fan girl.

Another great part of the show that night was seeing all of you Colorado regulars!  Brandon, Andrew Sean and Nash were all there again, and I'm hoping to see them all tonight!  One of our other VIPs (whose name I can't remember and I feel really bad about.  If you read this leave me a comment with your name) I'm pretty sure was a VIP before too.  I feel bad because I remember him because he reminds me of my friend Ian, so I can never remember his name.  Sorry :(  He's super cool and he's made a fan of his cousin, who he brought to the VIP Acoustic Show after party!  Which reminds me, our new roadie Damian is also a violinist, so between him, Vaughn, Kim and Jr, the VIP acoustic show is EPIC! If you didn't pre-order a VIP package, you should really pick one up at the table. Bring a group of friends and we'll try to work out a deal for you.

After the show and the VIP party we headed towards Denver.  On the way we stopped at an Ihop for some food because nothing else was open.  But it was a good stop because our waitress, named Kimberly!, was super awesome.  She put up with our half asleep ridiculousness and hooked us up.  I wish I had taken a picture of my epic hot chocolate covered in whipped cream!

That night I'm pretty sure we parked in the same Walmart parking lot we parked in last time we played in Denver.  We were parked at a different angle, and Damian has the couch bed this time, so the mountains weren't right out my window when I woke up like last time. But it was still cool waking up to them being right there.

The view last time I woke up in Denver.

This is originally where the blog was going to end, but I got distracted by pancakes and wasn't able to get it proof read and photos uploaded before we needed to leave Barnes & Noble, who we were using for their coffee and wifi.  But, it works out because I can round out this blog with the last Colorado show.

Kim and Jr's friends, Arcanium we're supposed to play this show.  As we were driving to the venue Kim got a message saying they broke down on the way.  We were originally going to go pick them up, but they found a friend closer who got them and towed their trailer to the show.  So they were a bit late, but they made it :)  Luckily they're from Denver, so now that they made it to Denver, they're fine.

The other opening bands at this show were great too.  Dr. Death and Mr. Vile (DD+MV) were super stoked to be played with One-Eyed Doll.  They made Kim some fan art and gave her all sorts of gifts.  They were so much fun to hang out with at the merch table, a fun band to listen to, and great audience members. I really should start using a thesaurus because I feel like I keep using the words "awesome" "amazing" and "great" a lot because everyone so far this tour has been so wonderful.  Well, that is, except the Denver police.  Nothing like our incident in Wisconsin, but we did end up getting 6 tickets despite moving the RV 3 times.  One of the tickets was because the current registration sticker suddenly disappeared.  Seems a bit shady that the guy gave us a few tickets with up to date registration, then it's magically not there anymore so they can give us a $200 ticket for that. But whatever...  Someone said now that certain things are legal in CO, the police need something to do with their time.  But back to the show.

Merch at this venue is back in the entry way so I can't see the stage from where I am.  The crowd was really loud and sounded really into the show, so I'm assuming it was good :)  This venue is also a pizza place too!  Something I haven't mentioned yet, since OED is currently headlining these shows before we meet up with Psychostick, we have been getting a catering budget/food at each show!  This night I was given a voucher for up to $15 worth of food, which at their prices was too much!  I ended up with a bunch of salad to eat later in the fridge.  The pizza I got was pretty delicious too!

Sean, Brandon, and Andrew were back at this show, and Andrew brought Alicia, who I met on the Otep tour.  There were also a handful of other fans from the night before.  Thank you guys for all coming out again to support the band!

Kimberly harassing one of the guys from DD + MV

I also got to talk with one of the venue workers, Josh, for a bit.  He's a really nice guy.  He said Kim and Jr are the only band that comes through that remembers him by name, and they're the only band who he can put a name with a face.  Kim and Jr go that extra mile to be nice to everyone and get to know people, and that really sticks.  That's why so many of their fans are their fans. They put that extra personal touch in everything they do and are genuinely nice people.  I think I've said it before, but I have the best employers ever.

And lastly, I leave you with this amazing review of the Denver show from The Examiner

What happens in Vegas, Goes in my blog

Friday morning the One-Eyed Doll RV came and picked me up to start tour.  The drive to Las Vegas wasn’t too bad.  Some interesting sites along the way:

Best RV decoration ever!

Solar Panel Field in the desert.  Hard to get a picture of.

Throughout the dessert there were falling apart, sun bleached signs and billboards along the roads.  A lot of them said “Gafe” and “Aware” on them.  I kept seeing those 2 works over and over again.  Sometimes the rest of the sign would be faded and broken, but “gafe” or “aware” would be clearly readable. Riding through the desert seeing it over and over again, I started to wonder if it was some sort of crazy illuminati conspiracy or something.  When I have more time with internet access I want to see if there’s anything online about what it may actually be.

Another crazy thing driving through the desert to Las Vegas, it would be just desert land for hours, then suddenly you’d come across places like Primm or Gold Strike (?) we passed.  You go over a hill, and suddenly there’s this whole little casino town in the middle of no where.  Primm had a roller coaster, Outlet Mall, Hotels.  Then once you passed, it was back to desert land for hours.

Once we got to the venue, Vaughn and I got to work on my least favorite part of touring - organizing and taking inventory of all of the merch. *insert super unhappy Melinda face here* Running around moving heavy boxes in the NV heat makes it even less fun.  But at least now we’re mostly organized for the rest of the tour.

The first show was at a little dive bar off the strip called, not so coincidentally, The Dive Bar.  While there I met the guitarist form Black Death, the first Black Metal band from back in the 70’s. One of the openers was the local band iRie. They were super sweet girls (and I’m assuming guys, but they didn’t come to the table) and I wouldn’t mind seeing them again the next time OED comes through Vegas. The whole show was hosted by Enigma. We got a photo together and I told him he had to look cute so I could look super tough.  This was the result:

Later in the night, organizing was done, table was set up, I had a chance to talk to fans and One-Eyed Doll took the stage.  When it hit me.  I've really missed doing this!

Over all this show was WAY better than the last Vegas show.  There were more people in the crowd, the crowd was more into the show, there were more OED fans there, and sales were WAY better!  Kim even managed a little crowd surfing. Way to go street team for promoting this show!  Jeremy and Handsome Rob were at this show.  I also got to meet Kim’s friend Chris and a bunch of other awesome VIPs.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to hang out with the VIPs much after the show because I was loading up, but I really enjoyed talking to all of them.

Saturday we had a day off in Vegas. We did some shopping for equipment and odds & ends we needed.  Kim wanted to do some costume shopping, and we ended up at this random little costume shop. They were so helpful and nice.  We even got to go see some of the actual old showgirl costumes and other things they had in the back.  That place was so cool, but also made me want to go home right then and make costumes.

That night we had dinner and spent time with Kim’s cousin and his family that recently moved to Vegas.  They were more than hospitable and their little girl is SUPER cute!  She played with Kim for hours.  It was adorable.

And now I'm sitting in the RV, in a parking lot, somewhere in Colorado.  Tonight's show is in Grand Junction, Monday Colorado Springs, and Tuesday Denver!  There are a few of you I expect to see at at least one of these shows!

One Shirt, 3 Ways

The first time I went on tour with One-Eyed Doll, they debuted the Girl's Chrome Happy Stabby Shirt.  On the drive to Sacramento, we stopped at a gas station in the middle of the night to fill up. We also had a photo shoot for the website.  Since then I've toured with them multiple times and accumulated several shirts.  Wanting to spice up my wardrobe for the upcoming tour, I put my costuming stills to use and jazzed up 3 of those shirts.

1. Chain weave and center braid.

There are so many tutorials out there on how to do a t-shirt weave or braid.  This shirt combines both; first the weave down the sides then a braid down the center.  Here are a couple of excellent how-to videos:

2. WINGS!!!!!!

Start with a piece of paper the size of the back of your shirt.  Fold it in half so your wings end up symmetrical. Draw out the basic shape you want for your wings in a few separate pieces.

Separate the wings into smaller pieces.  Keep in mind that, like carving a pumpkin, you need spaces to keep it held together.  Don't make the in-between pieces too thin or they might just rip through, and don't make the holes too big or you might end up with weird floppy parts. Also think about how gravity and the stretchiness of the shirt are going to affect the design.

Cut out the holes and decide where you want your wings positioned on your shirt.  I ended up spacing the wings out about an inch on each side. I also decided to get rid of the inner top and bottom long pieces because they made it look more like a butterfly than wings.

Trace your pattern onto your shirt. I turned my shirt inside out so any markings would be on the inside, just incase. Most markings will come off in the wash or with some light brushing.

Make sure you like how it looks, then carefully cut out the holes with a sharp pair of scissors.

Turn it right side out and wear it like the awesome fairy/angel/demon you are!  I've also seen a lot of skulls, but you can make so many other designs using the same idea.


3. Laced Sides

I took a picture of the finished product of this, but you can't see much from the head on view, so I'll just skip to the tutorial.  This one was by far the hardest for various reasons and because of this, I don't have photos of some of the steps.

Start by figuring out how much extra space you have to work with on the sides.  I first tried pinning the sides while on my dress form, but the pins came out when I tried in on myself.  In the end, I ended up using safety pins so it wouldn't come undone, and just pinning it while it was on me.  I started by pinning at the ribs, narrowest part of the waist, then at the curve of my hips on both sides so it was evenly spaced.  I then pinned along the entire side on one side.  I sewed a few stitches along the armpit and bottom cuff so the shirt wouldn't start to fall apart when I cut it.  I cut off the side that was fully pinned, then used that piece as a pattern for the other side.  If you want more of a gap when it's laced up, cut further into the shirt.  Sorry I don't have pictures of this, it was kind of trial and error at this point.

For the next part, I used some grommet/eyelet tape I had leftover from a costume I made years ago.  I believe I bought mine on eBay, but you can find it on so many websites and in many fabric/craft stores.  Or, if you're feeling really adventurous and/or already have the tool, you can just make your own row of eyelets along the shirt.  Just make sure they're evenly spaced, and I'd recommend reenforcing the edge of the shirt with some sort of boning or interfacing.  If you're going the easy route like me, line the 4 cut sides of your shirt with your grommet tape.  Make sure the grommets are lined up front to back, and at the same places on each side.  Pin the tape in place with the right sides together.

Since t-shirt material is stretchy, you may have to pull the shirt as you pin.  It may look like the tape is bulging when in a resting position, but as long as you keep the shirt pulled while sewing, it'll all work out in the end.

Sew along the edge of the shirt.  Be careful your sewing machine foot doesn't get caught on the grommets.  If you only have a standard sewing machine, I recommend going over it a few times to make sure it's not going to separate.  If you have a serger, serge along the edge for extra reinforcement.

Fold the grommet tape out flat and tuck it back under the shirt at the armpits.  Sew along the armpits and bottom cuff so the tape stays in place.  Then, lace it up!  I found some black shoelaces on clearance for 99¢ so I used those.  You can also use fun colorful shoelaces, ribbon, etc.  You can even change out the color depending on your mood.  You can lace top to bottom or bottom to top.  Make knots, make big bows.  Since I had 2 shoelaces for each side, I laced from the top down to the middle,  then from the bottom up to the middle for a cool effect.

When I have more time, I'd also like to do something with the neckline of this to give it some more flare.

There are so many variations you can do with this.  You could just do the bottom half of the sides, the entire back, a random angled section along one collar bone, etc.  Instead of leaving the gap open, you could sew in a contrasting color of fabric.  Come up with your own ideas and let me see them!

BONUS!!!

Here are some other shirts I've altered.  Unfortunately since they were done in the back of the Sprinter on the first tour, I don't have step by step photos.

Logo tank-top: I cut the bottom and sleeves off a One-Eyed Doll logo shirt.  On the inside (again, because of marks) I found the center, then measured 3 even spaces on each side of it.  I drew lines of equal lengths at each interval, following the curve of the neckline.  I then simply cut along the lines.  The gaps are created by the stretchiness of the shirt.

Side ties: I believe this shirt was a left over, size large, and I wanted something a little more fun and form fitting.  First I cut off the neckline, being careful not to cut off the One-Eyed Doll logo.  This created a fun, boatneck that sometimes when moving becomes a fun off-the-shoulder 80's look.  I especially like wearing this shirt with a bra that has hot pink straps :)

I think I cut even spaced 1/2" strips along the sides of the shirt.  I started a few inches below the armpit and ended at about my hip.  I simply cut those strips in half, then tied the 2 halves together.  The pictures don't do this shirt justice.  It's super awesome.

So that's it!  There are so many ways to alter a simple t-shirt.  I'm looking forward to seeing you guys on tour and seeing what you've done with your shirts!