Joyeux Noel

Now that I'm on Christmas Break, I'm finally getting a chance to do some crafting. My list of things to finish includes:
1. Clothes for my poor stuffed snowmen who have really taken a beating over the past 15 years. Their threadbare-ness is starting to scare me, so I'm making them some clothes for protection.
2. A baby blanket that I bought the fabric for last spring. Fail.
3. Elena Fisher's Beretta M9 for my multiple in-progress Elena cosplays. For info on that in a second.
4. A new purse.
5. Poor, neglected Daenerys.

Quite a lot. I'm really enjoying it, though. I've also been playing Dragon Age II, which is fabulous so far.

Anyway, about Elena. I attempted to make a gun awhile back, but the proportions were off and it ended up being too large. Therefore, it never got past the papier-mache stage:

I used this tutorial, which was actually very helpful in getting my bearings. Because I need to make a replica of an actual pistol, though, rather than an anime gun, the measurements didn't work for me. I decided to scrap measurements (for the most part) and just play around with the cardboard until I got something that looked and felt right. I constructed a cardboard base, coated it with papier-mache, and then put on a layer of Paperclay, as per Jia Jem's amazing tutorial. The Paperclay is still drying, so I'm not ready to sand yet. I think it's going to take a second layer because of cracks and such. In the meantime, I'm working on the baby blanket and snowman clothes.

Khaleesi Pictures

Upon returning home for Thanksgiving, I found the lost camera cord! So here are some progress shots of Khaleesi:

The top is going to end up being a halter, which all you ladies with larger chests will recognize as the bane of your existence. Thus, I needed to put some more support in it. First I made a lining out of brown fabric - that brown is about the color that the whole thing will be, once dyed - and then I cut up an old bra and sewed it in.

I've not been able to find a photo of the back of the top, so I'm improvising. I'm still not sure how I want the fabric to lay yet, so it's just pinned for now.

Hair: A Story of Love and Hate

Well, school got in the way of me finishing Daenerys in time for Halloween. I was quite disappointed, but it worked out in the end. I got to spend the day leading up to the Halloween party (Saturday) crafting, all the while riding on my Friday night high from the Cardinals winning the World Series. When it came time for the party, however, I was terribly sick to my stomach and ended up going home to bed. So I suppose it was a good thing I didn't kill myself to finish Dany.

My replacement costume was going to be a Companion Cube (Portal) dress, which I made on Saturday. It's super cute, so I'm going to wear it to a party tomorrow. Ask me if I care whether Halloween is over.

In the meantime, putting off Dany is also giving me more time to grow out my hair. All of the Daenerys costumes that I've seen thus far use wigs - which can look really nice, of course - but I want to add a unique touch with my own hair. It's about the right length - that's what not getting a haircut for a year will do - so I'll just need a bit of silvery spray color on the top and some light curling. And here's the best part: after the photo shoot, I'll be chopping it all off! I'm sure I'll get it cut and immediately miss my long hair, because short cuts have never really worked on me before. This time, I'm going to the salon with a load of pictures and very specific instructions. I think there will even be bangs involved, and I haven't had those since I was 10.

I am really, really excited for this haircut. Once it gets to a certain length, it's completely unmanageable. Even in the winter, I'm stuck wearing it in a bun on the top of my head because having a huge main on my neck is terribly hot.

As always, I promise to have pictures of all of my costume progress by Thanksgiving. The camera cord is still missing, and if I don't find it by then, I'm going to fork out the $20 for a new one.

The Affair of the Lost Camera Cord

I still haven't found the cord that hooks my camera to the computer. Yes, my computer has a card-reader, and it claims to be able to read those tiny SD cards...empty promises! I tried to stick it in there, just to see what would happen, and I had to pry it out with two pencils. So, not having been back to St. Louis to look for the camera cord (it's probably floating around the house somewhere), I haven't located it yet. It looks like I'm going to have to cave and go to Best Buy anyway. Or maybe Wal-Mart will have a cheap card-reader that would actually work. I'll be investigating that this afternoon.

In other news, I've made some good progress on Daenerys. Not enough, mind you, as Halloween is a mere 16 days away, but some. I took apart an old bra and sewed it into the lining material. The next step will be sewing the lining material into the top. Now the trick will be figuring out how to make the bra supportive enough. Since the top is a halter (the bane of all big-chested women), I might just try to attach it tightly in the back. It will be a trial-and-error process, but I'll make it work somehow.

I haven't begun on the skirt, but it's going to be easy enough. My biggest challenges are going to be:
1) dying the top and then reworking the burlap to make it look more natural, and
2) making all of those belt paillettes out of Paper Clay.

Having never used Paper Clay before, I think the jewelry-making will prove to be interesting. I'm going to be working off of this tutorial by the amazing JiaJem (my eternal cosplay inspiration).

On a somewhat unrelated note, Nora and I are going to be starting an Etsy shop that sells geeky pillows. That's right, folks: all of your Mass Effect, Portal, Nintendo, XBox, Playstation, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and Star Trek needs in the pillow department will finally be met. I'll have more news as we figure things out. We'll definitely be up-and-running by the holiday season, so be thinking about ordering gifts for your friends and loved ones! Who wouldn't want a fluffy companion cube to sleep with every night?

Adieu, l'été!

I had a wonderful crafternoon yesterday with Nora and Liz. Nora's in the process of making a Commander Shepard costume out of foam - I don't even know what type of foam to call it - and it's coming along splendidly. Seriously, it's going to be amazing. She got a bit more of that done yesterday, and I worked on Dany, of course. She's looking marvelous. I'm going to declare the cord that hooks my camera to my computer officially lost at home (meaning, not here at school), so I'm still unable to post WIP shots for you. I think I'll head over to Best Buy later and get another one, because this is simply unacceptable. Anyway, I did most of the work on the braiding around the top part of the halter, which I was petrified to start for some reason. I was convinced it was going to come out looking awful no matter what I did, so I didn't want to touch it. Something about crafting with someone else around to reassure me, though, makes me far more confident and ready to dive into things. So, with the help of my dearest Nora, I did. And it worked out!

Since I've got no pictures for you today, I thought I would write out a list that I've been wanting to do for some time. It's my definitive to-cosplay list, in order of what I'm most anxious to do right now and what I think can wait because I'll always be excited about doing it:

Liara T'Soni (Mass Effect/2) - Nora and I are going to ACEN in the spring with our kicking ME costumes.
Elena Fisher (Uncharted) - I'm already at work on this one.
Lightning (Final Fantasy XII) - Yes, everyone is cosplaying Lightning, but I really don't care. I love her.
Lightning (Final Fantasy XII-2) - After the sequel comes out in the spring, this costume will be everywhere.
Rikku (Final Fantasy X) - She was going to be my very first cosplay, but it didn't happen. Happening now.
Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables) - Anne is brilliant. And I know nothing about clothing from this period.
Rapunzel (Tangled) - Again, everyone is doing it, but I'm just so in love with Punzie.
Snow White (historically accurate) - This series of artwork is so stunning. While Snow White is not my favorite Disney princess, I adore this artist's rendition. I can't wait to try my hand at it.
Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) - She's my favorite Disney princess. Of course I'll need to do every version.
Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) - Make it BLUE!
Rikku- White Mage (Final Fantasy X-2)
Ashe (FFXII) - My favorite Final Fantasy game; a beautiful costume.
Android 18 (DragonBall Z) - An easy costume from one of my favorite shows.
Rikku- Warrior (Final Fantasy X-2)

I would also like to do an original Daenerys cosplay based off book descriptions rather than off the television show. Anyway, there's the list.

I'm off to enjoy some more of this lovely fall weather before it decides to get hot again.

Mother of Dragons

I should hope you weren't expecting any stirring prose from this blog. And if you were, you certainly aren't now. So, since we've gotten that out of the way, let's get down to business (to defeat the Huns, etc., etc.)...I wanted a place to log my crafting progress. I needed a way to make myself somewhat accountable, even if only to the computer, for progress I'm making on projects. Besides that serious business, it'll be nice to look back and see in-progress photos and frustrations after I'm finished with things. Thus, this blog was born.

I love costumes. I love to wear them, I love to make them, I love to look at them, and I love to talk about them. I'll be doing all of those things here. I make costumes for theatre (particularly my own little college company), for friends, for cosplay, and for general frivolity. I began sewing when I was young, but I'm still learning a great deal. That's something that I love about this craft: as stressful as it is to have to redo something 4 times because you simply don't know how to make it work, once you've finished it, you can say that you've learned something new. And I can tell you that I'm always learning something new.

Where to begin, then? I suppose we'll just start with what I'm working on right now: Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons.

She has my hair. Or, rather, she has the hair that I had when I was a little girl. Mine is darker now, but with a bit of spray dye...I'll save that for later. Anyway, I began watching Game of Thrones this spring and was immediately drawn to her because she wasn't a terrible person. After reading the first three A Song of Ice and Fire books, I'm still with her for reasons that I can't quite explain.

First of all, though, look at this costume. Yes, the one above- the Dothraki riding outfit- pulled out of the costume designer's arse because nothing bearing such a description exists in the books. It's wonderful. The more I work on it, the more I marvel at how they got the jute to work the way they wanted. I assume it was woven from scratch, because premade burlap, as you will see from my WIP (work-in-progress) shots is far cleaner and less fun.

The detail is just astounding. The ropes, the braiding, the weaving, the insignia- incredible stuff. I had to have it. And so here I am, pulling apart jute fiber and braiding it back together for hours on end until it looks like I want it to. It's such a pain, but I get excited every time I think about the finished product.

WIP shots posted as soon as I find the cord that hooks my camera to the computer.