Ambush Bug Mask - Costuming & Sewing - Finished!

Ambush Bug Mask: Finished!

Here the mask is modeled on the glass head that I have. To see more pictures of the process, click on the image!

I think it turned out pretty good considering I'd never:
- sewn spandex
- sewn thick trim
- made a mask

The mouth still needs to be cut open, but I wasn't sure how far to cut it, so I'll wait till Stuart tries it out.

I used this online tutorial about making a spandex mask with a collar. It's a little confusing, but it totally works out! Also, FREE!

Other key elements (from Jared Axelrod):
- 1" seam allowance
- zig-zag plus straight stitch

Hooray! Now back to work on my Omega Pin, as well as drawing some lumberjacks (for a soon-to-be-announced project).

More Costuming: Omega Pin

Omega Pin Beginnings

This month is definitely heavy on costuming - with DragonCon coming up for some people, and the North American Discworld Convention coming up for me, costume construction is on the rise!

While working on the Ambush Bug mask, I am also working on a project for me! I'm going to re-visit my Susan Sto Helit costume -

Me as Susan Sto Helit

I probably won't be able to bring the scythe on the plane (boo) but I will update the pin for my cape by making Death's omega pin out of cardboard. The technique is based on Katie's windup key tutorial which I'm finding very handy!

Anyway, cool info coming Wednesday, and hopefully some progress between now and then!

Wonderland Week: Skirt Done!

Hooray! Skirt Finished!
The skirt is done! Of course, the apron is still in pieces, and the accessories are in the "if I have enough time" category now. But! The skirt! It's done!

I've learned that when you're working with patterned material, especially stripes, you have to be super detail-oriented when you're cutting out the pieces and sewing them together. And by that, I mean that I wasn't, so the lines don't necessarily match up all over the skirt (oops).

The other thing I learned was how to put in a zipper using this tutorial! This is the best zipper tutorial I've found, so thanks to Kim for putting it on the internet. I did use the glue stick, but I skipped some of the other steps and just pinned instead. The zipper looks really great, if I do say so myself.

I did attempt my first "freehand buttonhole" sewing using the sewing machine, which is a bit messy.

I'll get Will to take nice pretty pictures of the skirt soon, I just wanted to have something to show. Now back to the studio to put together an apron! And maybe an armband and ribbon and headdress. Heck, if I had another week, I'd finish my parasol.

Wonderland Week: Components for Steampunk Alice

Skirt Pieces for Another Paneled Lolita Skirt (or, as I like to call it "Here I Go Again on My Own! Going Down the Only Road I've Ever Known!")

I don't have anything finished to show yet, but I do have a lot of things sitting around just waiting to become awesome stuff. There's potential in these things, so hopefully I won't screw it up!


Card Suit Conchos!

These I'm particularly fond of - I ordered them last week. They are conchos. Before last week, I didn't know what a concho was. (Those decorative metal things on leather cowboy stuff)

I was looking on etsy for things with spades on them, since that's the motif I'm going for here, when I found some leather money clips with these on them. Since I wasn't looking for a money clip, but I loved the design of the "metal thingy", I checked out the listed materials (yay for that on etsy!)

So, I ended up combing through leather supply websites looking for these, and about half an hour later, I found them. Turns out they don't refer to them as "Alice in Wonderland" related, but more poker related. I got them here in case you're curious.


Newly Drawn & Photocopied Spade Designs

The spades represent the least practiced part of the costume - I'm going to attempt to transfer these photocopies onto fabric using some printmaking techniques. Then I have to find out if the transfer will hold up to a washing. If all goes well, I'll have a really cool tutorial for you guys soon!


Ok, I need to get into the studio so I'll have something to show!

Cute Month, Wonderland Week!

Steampunk Alice Design, Front

All this week I'll be making a Steampunk Alice costume - which means all the posts are going to be Alice in Wonderland related. Of course, it could have been a normal Alice costume, but what fun is it if I can't mix some of my favorite genres, like steampunk, Alice in Wonderland, and lolita, all into one convenient costume?

I've always preferred the idea of a gothic Alice, more with a spade theme than the hearts or diamonds, so I've also folded that into the idea. I used to call this gothic spade-sprinkled Alice "Black Alyss" (a sort of reference to Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars) but I thought that might be a bit confusing (or silly?)

This shouldn't be too hard, since I only need to work on the apron, skirt, and various accessories, as I plan to wear a blouse and vest I already have for the top. Here you can see how I break down costumes when I need to put them together - by color. This is especially helpful when I'm making pieces, as I can see at a glance how much material I'll need.

The steampunk lolita skirt I made a few weeks ago was the prototype for working on this, so I have at least one under my belt before I started here.

On the other hand, I've never made an apron from scratch, and I'm planning to use some unorthodox transfer methods to get the spade designs on the apron, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm crossing my fingers that I avoid a debacle.

My Favorite Things: Sticky-back Foam!

Sometimes, there's a material that just stands out for its sheer versatility. One of those things hanging out in your studio you'll definitely use in a variety of projects and be so darn grateful that you thought ahead to buy it. That thing, ladies and gentlemen, is sticky-back foam.

The beauty of sticky-back foam (or adhesive-backed foam, which you can buy at JoAnns) is that when it sticks to cloth, it's easily removable, but when it sticks to other surfaces, say wood, it is pretty much permanent. Here's a short list of some of the projects I've used it for (with pictures, L-R)


Emergency Art
I had a cool new frame, but nothing oval to put in it, with a party happening in a few hours. So, I just put a fat quarter of fabric in the frame, cut out a cool moustache design out of sticky-back foam, stuck it on, and voila! Instant easy-to-make art!

Costume Details
This isn't the *best* costume detail I've ever done, but this was from years ago, when I was a mere beginner. This is Princess Zelda's sash with the Triforce/Hyrule insignia on it. All it is is two pieces of dark blue felt, with red and gold sticky back foam cut out and arranged in the Triforce/Hyrule design. Easy!

Stamp Creation
As a printmaker, I've carved dozens of stamps and woodblocks (reductive technique). You can also create stamps using the built-up method, which is what is done with sticky-back foam in this picture. Come up with a design, transfer it to the foam and cut it out, then attach it (sort of permanently) to a piece of wood or plastic. Ink and stamp!

Here I've stamped some scrap black fabric using silver screenprinting ink (not recommended - use block printing ink). I learned this technique from Lena Corwin's Printing By Hand which is a great book for anyone interested in printing on fabric.

Other projects I've done with sticky-back foam include:
Cheap Self-Promotion: using it on banners and tablecloths at conventions (just cut out your letters and stick them to the tablecloth - instant promotion!)
Resist Stenciling: Cutting out sticky-foam designs, attaching them to fabric, and then using spray dye - the areas covered remain the original color.

Are there any cool ideas for using this stuff that I'm missing? I absolutely love it and always keep some on hand.
Or, is there something in your arsenal of craft/art supplies that is surprisingly versatile? Do tell!

Animazement 2009: Friday

Our Black Butler (Kuroshitsugi) Group from Animazement 2009: (L-R) Ciel Phantomhive (Michelle), Ciel Phantomhive (me, Leah), Sebastian (Will), Meirin/Mayleen (Katie), and Bard (Michael)

Since I have so many costumes... I mean details about the convention, I was thinking of doing a post for each day to keep it easier. Friday was a good day at Animazement.

Ladies Love Sebastian
It turns out that Black Butler is one of those animes / mangas that is still coming into the U.S. (not officially translated and distributed yet) which apparently means the fans are MORE rabid and excited.

This works out in a good way, because you can usually tell who's going to want your picture, as they start pogoing around the 25 yard radius (p.s. pogoing means jumping up and down).


Alison & Nick as Aido & Zero from Vampire Knight
The "Travel to Japan" panel was very informational and good, and we went to the AMV's (meh - I thought it would be a showing of just random good AMV's from everywhere on the internet, and instead it was just videos from contestant who had entered the Animazement AMV contest). We checked out the NOIZ concert (they were excitingly costumed, and their songs were good, but it was incredibly warm, and the acoustics were funky, so that it was easier to hear the songs outside of the ballroom).


Then, a small break and we returned for the dance later that night. Conga lines kept happening, which makes sense, I guess, with the teenage demographic. I feel that I was probably one of the older people in the room, and it was more like a rave than a dance (which is fine with me). It was endearing to watch all kinds of geeky kids dance, probably for the first time in public. I believe Nick and Will developed a game that involved trying to stop the conga line so that they all fell into each other like dominos. It was a late night, and I was exhausted by the time we got home. Saturday seemed so short in comparison!

Also, there are tons more pictures on my flickr and I started a flickr Animazement group too.

Doctor Who-ish: The Beauty of Side Character Costumes

Cat Nurses from Doctor Who, and me, smiling like a moron, DragonCon 2007

I have some costume advice for you. This isn't Doctor Who specific, but there are a lot of examples that I've seen that come from the Doctor Who universe. The advice is: never underestimate the appeal of recognizable side characters as a viable option!

For you, you don't have to compete for being the most realistic, best dressed or what-have-you of say, the Doctor Who's in attendance. For other fans, there is nothing like the warm thrill of vague snobbery when you recognize a character that "outsiders" (i.e. people unfamiliar with whatever canon you are) won't.


The Last Living Human Being, DragonCon 2007

That isn't to say that you should always dress as something obscure, or strange, but it can be really fun working on getting the details right. And it feels extra rewarding when people recognize you - it's like you share an understanding.

Dressing as side characters in a group is also a great way to make an impact - I have some friends who are dressing up as the Kyoshi warriors from Avatar: The Last Airbender for this year's Animazement. And I mean, c'mon, have you seen the literal army of stormtroopers that is the 501st Legion?


To end my rant about side characters and obscure costumes, I will post this piece of brilliance:
New Age Retro Hippie, DragonCon 2008

A costume of a random enemy called the New Age Retro Hippie from Earthbound (released in US 1995), a videogame for the SNES. Just awesome.

Just Call Me "The Doctor"

Will as "Ross" (Rose Tyler) and I am The Doctor

This was what I was working on last week, in that delightfully confusing picture. There was a Doctor Who party, and I thought "David Tennant's Doctor will be popular... but what if it was a LADY Doctor?!" I got my brown suit from the thrift store, but finding a Union Jack t-shirt is not easy in North Carolina on short notice, so I just used some scraps and one of Will's blank white t-shirts and voila!

For uninitiated, we're doing what is called "crossplay" wherein we dress as the person of the opposite gender. VOCABULARILY!

I believe that blonde wig is one of the funniest ones we own (yes, we own a lot of wigs). It's funnier on Will than it is on me, I'm not sure why that is.

I declare this week to be Doctor Who week on my corner of the internet! So you have that to look forward to!

Union Jack & Jill

We interrupt all crafting to work on costume sewing!

This weekend has a costume party that I've already committed myself to sewing for. The truly geeky may be able to recognize what kind of party it is just from the quarter-finished tshirt in the picture.

I'll be sure to post pictures, I'm sure. In the meantime, I've got some pants to hem and some Gallifrey text to inscribe!

Batwings and Dolls

Bookmark Design for Wunderkind Etsy shop (1 of 2)

I've been doing a lot of random work lately. This freelance job dropped in my lap, and I loved their work so much I couldn't pass it up.

Also, I've been working on finishing up any and all unfinished "gift" art that I'm supposed to do, so I can stop feeling guilty about it. I'm almost done, thank goodness.

Of course, costume-related, there's been a few outings. Check at the bottom for a pic from the latest Clockwork Ball (featuring some kid's costume Dark Knight wings I've customized).

It made me feel slightly better about missing the crazy costume-fest that is/was Comic Con. Oh well. Supposedly, I'll be there next year.

There, now you're all updated!

Clockwork Ball outfit with Batwings

Complete non-sequitir:
I really like the way Paul Simon uses the word "pocket" in his lyrics.
"He was a poor boy, empty as a pocket with nothing to lose"
"A pocketful of mumbles, such are promises"

All because I woke up with "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" stuck in my head