Look, I'm 30, or as close to as makes no difference. The only times I can wear pretty froofy costumes are a) at a convention (see previous entry) and b) Halloween, so I live it up with I get the chance.
But before I had fun, there were others who needed costumes!
First, the Pie. She wanted to be Luke Skywalker for Halloween, which was frankly a relief after last year's Rapunzel adventures.
The completed costume. I used a simple McCall's karate outfit pattern to make the tunic and pants. The belt was a pretty simple affair - snap closures, a pouch, and a loop for the lightsaber.
Pieface posing like a champion. Also, part of the fun of having an actualfacts house with an actualfacts porch is getting to have jack-o-lanterns.
Second, the AG girls. For the second year, I participated in AG >18's Costume Swap. I was thrilled that my recipient shared my love of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, because that meant I could make her an Ankh-Morpork City Watch costume. For those who haven't read any Discworld, the series is broken up into several smaller sub-series, each revolving around a certain character/characters, and the adventures of the Commander Sam Vimes and the City Watch is one of those sub-series.
So I dug out my "Art of Discworld" book, opened it up to this painting (which is the cover of Night Watch, my very favorite Pratchett novel), and set to work.
The pieces: A maroon shirt (using Addy's School shirt pattern), breeches (McCall's 3900, an old standby), two belts, cape, breastplate (made with Sculpey), and boots (knockoff of Josefina's riding boots).
Merrill models the final product.
Showing off the sword - a letter opener found on Amazon.
Breastplate closeup. The cape attaches with snaps. The badge is modeled after Commander Vimes' own AMCW #177 badge in the books. I also roughed and scarred up the breastplate a bit, because Vimes approves of armor that looks as though it's been used. :)
I also recieved a costume from the swap - a pretty gown for Lucy from Carpatina!
Showing off the drapey sleeves.
And matching silver shoes!
Team Modern dressed for Halloween: Sunny as Jayne Cobb from the TV show "Firefly" (Robin graciously loaned her The Hat); Robin reprising her Astrid costume from How to Train Your Dragon; Lucy in her new gown, and Merrill as Cinderella (which she protested, saying it was only because she was blonde, and couldn't she be Carl Sagan instead?).
AND NOW IT WAS MY TURN.
I went into this thinking I could do a double-duty costume - something I could wear at Halloween and at next year's GenCon. The other ladies in our group of con-goers had suggested we all do a steampunk theme next year, so I set out to make my outfit.
This was my first piece, and my main souvenir from GenCon: a lovely corset in royal blue and black. Corsets are surprisingly comfortable, once you get used to the complete lack of mobility in your torso. For one thing, your back muscles get a break while the corset holds you up straight. When I tried it on at the con, I could feel all my back tension easing as it was laced up.
Also? It makes my figure look fantastic. :D
For a skirt, this Simplicity pattern caught my eye, and I used a 60% off coupon at JoAnn's to buy a frankly mindboggling amount of royal blue taffeta.
This? This is the RUFFLE. Just the ruffle.
It needed some pleating...A LOT of pleating. My fingers hurt from pushing in all those pins.
The skirt almost done - the ruffle is attached, but the pleats are basted shut, and the waistband needs to be attached.
The final product. Between Pie and the costume swap, I didn't have time to do anything other than the skirt, so it's worn with a completely anachronistic shirt and cloak. The ensemble still won me a $25 gift card in my office's costume contest!
So that's this year's costume roundup. After Christmas, it's time to start Project Rapunzel #3.0 - my very own version of the Rapunzel dress, for GenCon. Wish me luck!
1 comment:
Your dress looks fantastic! I can't wait to see your take on Rapunzel's dress. :)
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