Chicago TARDIS 2015 Wrap-Up

Thankgiving weekend is always the highlight of a Chicago Whovian's year: Chicago TARDIS!  Every year is better than the last, and this year was no different.  We had the most amazing time, saw a bunch of old friends, and made lots of new ones.  We also did a really bad job of taking photos this time around ...

We'd been planning since January to make Clara and Robin Hood from Robot of Sherwood, but when Jenna Coleman was announced as a guest, we upgraded to Priority memberships and purchased a photo session with her.  However, only a few weeks before the con, she had to cancel due to her filming schedule.  While I was relieved (for some reason, I was ridiculously anxious at the thought of meeting her in our costumes), that meant that we had spent a whole lot of money on nothing.  Even though we'll get a refund for the photo session, we hadn't gotten the upgrade for any other reason.  So, we skipped going to my in-laws' Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night and attended the con together on Friday for the first time.

Dalek Jo

Dalek Ten

One of the other guests was Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant during the Third Doctor's era.  When we watched The Curse of Peladon, I fell in love with her Oh-So-Seventies dress.  Because Katy was going to be a guest, I decided to make the dress.  I also decided to wear it and take part in the Chronological Cavalcade, a costume "parade" of sorts.

Jo and the TARDIS together again ...

After the Cavalcade was over, we stayed for Lobby Con, which is essentially just a big party out in the lobby, with everything from drinking to games going on.  Matt and I played a round of Cards Against Gallifrey, hung out with a bunch of friends from past cons, and met a whole new group as well.

On Saturday, we arrived at 10am dressed as the Clockwork Droid and the Eleventh Doctor.  I lurked for a while in the lobby, and several guests went past and checked me out, and a few complimented the costume.  At one point, an older British gentleman kept trying to talk to me, telling me how great I looked, but I stayed in character and didn't reply.  He then wandered over and struck up a conversation with Matt, who was holding an extra Clockwork mask (I wanted the people at my panel to be able to pick it up and look at it, and not have to touch the mask that had just been on my face.  Yuck.)  It turns out that he was Richard Franklin, also known as Captain Yates from UNIT.  Honestly, I hadn't even realized he was there!  He told Matt how amazing the Clockwork mask was and tried to buy it off of him.  When Matt told me this later, I told him he should have just given it to him!

We then went to the panel that I was hosting with my friends Brandon and Amanda.  It was really well-attended, but I think that next year we need to move past the "beginning" cosplay, as we had few true beginners in the audience, and so the things that we were talking about were a bit more complex than they were ready for.  Apparently, not everyone dives right into sewing!  A lot of the information from that panel can be found here.

After the panel, I met up with my friend Valerie, who cosplays a female Clockwork Droid.  She's an actress, and her movement and portrayal is absolutely brilliant, and I felt a bit intimidated by her.  While I think I do a great job, she's leagues beyond me, and I found myself sometimes just standing and watching her, but not wanting to try it out for myself because I thought I'd look pretty silly.  We wandered around for an hour scaring people.  It was one of the best experiences I've had at any con so far.  There was a large party staying at the hotel that had nothing to do with the con, and they were going around on Friday night and Saturday morning taking photos with people.  There was one family with three or four boys, and the boys were getting their photos taken with me.  A little girl was hiding behind her mother during that time, and when they suggested she also get in the photo, she started WAILING.  I have to admit that it made me laugh.

Matt had entered us Friday morning for Saturday night's Masquerade, and turned in all of our reference and construction photos.  We went to the Masquerade meeting at 3:00, and then went home to have lunch and change.  We were supposed to be back for judging no later than 7:30, and we almost didn't make it.  Apparently, even with giving ourselves more than three hours to get ready, it wasn't enough.  When we got to the green room, the judges were nowhere to be found.  We kept getting updates: they'll be here in 30 minutes!  20 minutes!  And then the updates stopped, so finally I went over and asked where the judges were.  One woman stood up and said she was a judge, and she'd already seen our documentation.  But if there was anything else we wanted to add ... I was a bit confused.  The other two times we've entered, the judges were very thorough, taking photos of our costumes and examining them.  However, she didn't look at anyone else's costumes any more thoroughly than she did ours.  Okay ...

One of the other contestants was a young Robot of Sherwood Clara.  She made her entire costume herself.  I was utterly impressed, and I'm glad that she won an award in the Young Fan category.  I still can't get over what a great job she did.

Two Claras

My friend Stacey was also in the Masquerade in her gorgeous Missy costume.  In fact, one of the best parts of the weekend was that I spent a lot of time with her, and we were even next to each other in the lineup.  Though we live only about 20 minutes from each other, we can't seem to get our acts together to meet up between cons.

Missy loves the Master Minion.

Back to the Masquerade!  We had a great time, and we ended up winning Best in Show - Workmanship.  That was pretty awesome.  After the Masquerade, I changed out of Clara so that I wouldn't ruin the dress, and we joined Lobby Con.  We couldn't stay too long, though, as we were both absolutely exhausted.

Lobby Con, where Clara, Davros, and Leela hang out together.

On Sunday, we suited up as Clara and Robin again in the morning.  After lunch, Matt changed into civvies and I put Jo back on.  We went to the UNIT and Torchwood panel, which consisted of Burn Gorman and the three guests from the Third Doctor era.  As John Levene (Sergeant Benton) got on stage, he asked if anyone had filmed his cabaret panel Friday night.  Well, our friend Alyssa from Space Gypsies had, and so she raised her hand.  He told her he'd like a copy, so after the panel she left her business card with the staff.  That was pretty neat!  I hope that he does contact her and get his copy.

Gotta love Alyssa's K-9 outfit!

Overall, I think the person who enjoyed the con the most was Samual Anderson, who plays Danny Pink.  Every time we saw him, he was having a blast.  By Sunday, he was wearing a poncho and a pink paper crown from a Christmas cracker.

L-R: Richard Franklin, John Levene, Dan Starkey, Sam Anderson

I'm sure I left some stuff out, but we're still recovering from the weekend!  We LOVED seeing everyone, and we can't wait until next year!

Why a spoon, Doctor?

First Doctor Era

Clockwork Droid Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago, we did a photo shoot with some of our costumes at the Mayslake Peabody Estate.  The mansion was built in 1921, and is simply breathtaking!  We've been there for many of the First Folio theatre productions, including The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe and Searching for Peabody's Tomb, both of which take place in various rooms throughout the house, and The Turn of the Screw, which was performed in the indoor chapel.  Due to the several performances we've attended, we've become pretty familiar with the interior of the house.  Last October, we were attending The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe for the second time.  The play begins in the library, and as we sat there waiting for it to start, I was staring at the enormous fireplace.  And I realized ... hang on, why did I never think of this before?  It's the perfect place to do a Clockwork Droid photo shoot!

The mansion is in the process of being restored, so there is almost no furniture in it.  There will literally be a chair in one room and a folding table in another.  There are a few pieces of period furniture on the landing of the main staircase, but that's about it.  They store all of the furniture for the theatre productions and special events somewhere else, so with a few exceptions, the entire mansion is completely empty.

We scheduled a shoot for late July, and we literally had the entire mansion to ourselves.  I stopped by one afternoon to drop off my paperwork and a quick tour of the house where they showed me which rooms I could use, and I decided to add a few more costumes to the shoot.  (I'll post those later.)  The entire shoot was an incredible experience.  The only other people around during the shoot were a few office workers, and they just left us alone.  The entire mansion was silent.  As I dressed in the bathroom and made my way through the house to the library, my footsteps echoed ominously on the wooden floors ... Seriously, it was a bit unnerving to be in there alone after going to so many creepy plays!  Not only is the mansion this grand, historic building with incredible architecture that makes you feel like you're in an English country house, it had also been a monastery (a reportedly haunted monastery), and now serves as a theatre (and everyone knows that theatres are haunted), and according to Searching for Peabody's Tomb, there have been multiple paranormal phenomena at the mansion.

Anyway, if you're in the Chicagoland area, go visit.  It's part of the DuPage Forest Preserve system, so they hold art classes there and do tours.  And if you want to do your own photo shoot, their package is very reasonable, and your rental is for a full two hours.  (I don't believe they list the photo package on their rentals page, so contact them directly.)  Considering that it's a one-of-a-kind location and the money goes towards supporting the forest preserve, it's definitely a worthwhile investment.  I'd absolutely book with them again if a future costume fits the location.

Here are some of the photos of the Clockwork Droid that were taken by our photographer, Peg Tierney of Brewster Street Studios.  Enjoy!

Dragon Con 2013: Doctor Who

This year, Noel Clarke, Gareth David-Lloyd, and Eve Myles were all at Dragon Con.  I added Noel and Eve to my autograph wall (I only need Naoko Mori, and then I will have collected them all, muwhahahaha!) Their panels were the filthiest panels I've ever seen, and John Barrowman wasn't even there!  Well, he was at Dragon Con, but he wasn't on any of the Torchwood panels for some reason.  Anyway, Torchwood/Doctor Who panels are always the most fun, and usually the dirtiest.  Seriously, I don't know how those people ever got any work done.

However, the highlight of my weekend was when I met Noel Clarke!  I only wanted to dress as the Clockwork Droid for that one time, and only because I have photos with other Doctor Who people as the Clockwork Droid, so I wanted to carry on that tradition.  I got all the way to the Walk of Fame before realizing that I'd left my new Clockwork weapon in my hotel room!  I walked all the way back - which would normally not be a big deal, but this year we were staying at the Westin, and it was a 15-minute trip one-way.  By the time I got back to the Walk of Fame, Noel was taking a break.  Argh!

When he returned, I'd been hoping to get a photo with my weapon in the frame (obviously, as I'd walked all the way back for it), but he insisted on a giant hug.  I didn't have time to refuse, and honestly, I'm not really sure why I would.  This was not only a highlight of my weekend, but of the entire life of the Clockwork Droid.  Unless Billie Piper, David Tennant, or Sophia Myles shows up in Atlanta, the Clockwork Droid is now retired from Dragon Con.  It really doesn't get any better than this!

I love how happy the Clockwork Droid looks ...

I also met Eve Myles.  I told her that our favorite quote from Torchwood was, "You're cleaning the oven!"  She threw her head back and laughed pretty hard.  Not only was she adorable, she was hilarious at her panels.

The same TARDIS that we had our photo in last year was up in the Sheraton at Dragon Con this year, so we hiked over with our Inspector Spacetime outfits and snapped some shots!

We also ran into another Constable and Inspector, and they had Blorgons!

Now that Dragon Con is over, I'll be focusing on more Doctor Who projects: namely, playing viola in the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra's 50th Anniversary piece, and (hopefully) making a Clara Oswald cosplay for Chicago TARDIS.

1,000 Incredible Costumes!

Back in May, my Clockwork Droid costume appeared in a book called 1,000 Incredible Costume and Cosplay Ideas.  It's pretty sweet, so check it out if you have a chance!  I recognized a lot of the cosplays and/or costumes from different cons.

Clockwork Droid Construction: Part 1

I've finally decided to go into some detail about my Clockwork Droid costume.  The reason I never did so before is because it was very complicated, it was almost all new for me (had to construct things I never had before), and because there is a LOT to it.  I'm not even really sure where to begin ...

I made this costume way back in 2009.  My husband wanted to be the Tenth Doctor for Halloween, and I couldn't figure out what character to be.  As you probably know by now, I like to do original costumes.  Also, my husband is terrified of clowns.  Of course, the answer was simple:  Clockwork Droid!  I wanted it to be a surprise, though, so I made the entire costume in secret.  My husband had no part of any of the original construction.

Today I think I'll just start with the start of the clothing construction.  For the vest and coat, I used a blue satin lining and a black stretch velvet for the outer layer.  The pants were only the velvet, no lining.  It should be wool or other heavy material, but I have a very high sensitivity to wool (we're talking a nasty rash), so I avoid wool at all costs.  The velvet actually has a nice weight to it, but if I were to make this again, I'd use something else.  It's too shiny!  Ah, well, live and learn!

The vest, coat, and pants were constructed using Butterick #3072.  I had to alter things quite a bit because it's a men's pattern, and also because the vest in the pattern was too long. 

Vest Lining

For the cuff of the coat, I used red velvet and two types of gold trim.  I believe that all of the gold trim came from JoAnn Fabrics.  Some of it came from the upholstery section.  The entire thing was then sewn together to make a cuff.

Both the vest and coat have buttons.  Gold buttons are insanely expensive, so I hiked over to my local craft store and purchased wooden half circles and some metallic Krylon spray paint.

 

The coat also has a TON of extra stuff.  There's trim all down the back, the back of the arms, and the pockets.  I did make pocket flaps, but no functioning pockets (there is a pocket sewn into the lining, but it makes the whole coat droop.  Boo.)

The sleeve has a funky patch on it, too.

For the shirt, I just bought a men's white shirt at the thrift store and added cuffs.  I made the cuffs out of white flowy material (I don't actually know what this material is, sorry - it's very light weight and kind of flutters in the breeze ... Ha.)  I believe what I did was serge the bottom and then gather the top.  I then sewed it to the underside of the shirt's cuff.

I apparently didn't take a ton of pictures during the midst of construction, so here are some more finished photos of the vest and coat.  If I could do it again (which I can't because I glued it down), I would use cording for the red trim on the coat instead of this red ribbon which I ended up using.  It's the one thing I hate about the coat, and if I could take the entire collar off and redo it, I would.  Unfortunately, I had to glue a lot of stuff to both the vest and the coat, otherwise, they wouldn't sit correctly.  Oy.  I did handstitch all of the trim on the back of the coat - it was a nightmare, and I've actually ripped it and restitched it a few times.  I've remade the vest twice now (it originally attached with hooks and eyes - it now zips up.  Also, it would kind of bubble out in the middle due to the long zipper, and I actually ended up stitching in two coffee stirrers while at Dragon*Con last year - it no longer bubbles.)  I've also made the pants three times, and even now they've got a safety pin in the back because they keep slipping down.

Vest

 

Vest Buttons/Trim

Coat Buttons/Trim

Coffee Stirrers to the Rescue!

Coat Back

Trim on Arms

Pants

Pants Trim - A plain satin ribbon

Keep checking back - I'll post more in a few days, including the many incarnations of the mask.

Unsupportive Cosplay Community?

In the past few months, I've been reading a ton of articles on negativity in the cosplay world.  Men attacking women.  Women attacking women.  Women telling other women not to attack women.  Women attacking men for attacking women.  I just don't know what to think.

I'm not a well-known cosplayer or anything, but I have a lot of costumes up at Cosplay.com.  I've been blogging for almost three years about my costumes.  I've made friends in the cosplay community, and I've sat on two cosplay panels.  I know that negativity is out there, because I've read first-hand accounts of girls getting ripped apart for their weight, their skills, or their looks.  To me, it does make sense that the famous cosplayers attract negative attention, just because they're so prevalent in the community.  Anyone who has such a big presence is always going to end up with at least a few trolls.

However, I've never experienced it.  Not once has someone make a negative comment to me about my costume, either in person or online.  The worst comment I've had is, "hey - V for Vendetta!"  Oh, and that time at Dragon*Con when the BritTrack Costume panel didn't know that I was a Doctor Who character.  I may have had a comment or two in passing someone at a con or something (there are always a few drunk assholes), but if that happened, I clearly don't remember it.  Everything that has been said to me has been overwhelmingly positive.  Sure, there have been some creepy encounters (like the guy who stuck his tongue all over my Clockwork mask) or rude encounters (like the people hitting the Fruity Oaty Bar Girls in the head), but nothing that was overtly sexual harassment, or aimed at me because of my gender.  In my experience, assholes are generally assholes to everyone.  Maybe it's because I'm not well known.  Maybe it's because I'm not drop-dead gorgeous.  Maybe it's because I don't put myself in a situation where I'd attract unwanted attention (I don't wear skin-tight costumes).  I do know it's not because my costumes are so amazing that they're above reproach - they're good, but the girls who seem to get these comments are essentially professionals.

So, my question to all of you is this:  Have you ever had someone criticize you or make negative comments about your costumes?

Doctor Who Fan Orchestra #6

I've wanted to be part of the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra since I first heard of them, but I've never managed to sign up before due to Facebook being stupid and not showing me all of their posts.  Well, I finally found out about the Christmas Carol (Suite) submissions on time.  Of course, they said it was one of the harder pieces they've played.  That's how it always goes for me.

Although I have kept up my piano playing since high school, I've barely picked up my viola since then.  I definitely wanted to play the viola part, since I never played piano in orchestra.  I was so worried because I don't read music very well, and I was always last chair in high school because I didn't care enough to practice (it's one of my regrets - how things that change when we grow up!)

All I can say is thank god for the click track.

I practiced for hours.  I practiced until I thought this would happen.  In fact, I can say with a fair bit of confidence that I put in more practice on this piece than I ever did with all the pieces I played in high school.  Combined.  In fact, I did what I do with most piano pieces: I memorized the entire thing (playing to the soundtrack in my headphones - I don't think I could do it without the click track).

I even took my viola, which actually was my mom's (or my aunt's - there is quite some debate about this) to be tuned up.  They did all kinds of gluing and fixing and replacing, and when I got it back, I couldn't believe how rich and full it sounded.  I was just about ready to film and record when I got a stiff neck.  And I don't just mean my neck was stiff, I mean that if I moved it a millimeter from the strange position it had gotten stuck in (just picture me as if I were giving you THE LOOK), I was in blinding pain.  I couldn't play for two weeks.  I finally was able to hold the viola comfortably about three days before the recording was due, and the first time I recorded myself, I burst into tears.  I sounded AWFUL.  Now remember, I never was good, but geez.  After two months of practice, you think I'd have been better!

So I recorded it dozens of times, and, being the talented editor that I am, I pieced together all the best parts until I got something that seemed passable.

When I finally filmed it, I decided that because I had memorized the whole piece, I could get away with playing as the Clockwork Droid.  And you know what?  It worked.  I can't see words through the mask, so reading music was definitely out of the question.  Because I couldn't see well, it was also difficult to bow on the proper part of the strings.  Aside from two measures that I messed up (but it was okay, because I blocked my fingers with the music stand), I did quite well.

Here is the final product.  If you haven't watched the other pieces that the DWFO has recorded, take a half an hour to watch them.  They're not the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, but I think they're quite good for being a mish mosh of people from all over the world, playing without a conductor, playing without anyone else, with nothing more than a click track.  I absolutely love it, and I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of this "performance".  I am looking forward to participating the next piece, though I won't wear any costumes for that one.

Chicago TARDIS 2012 Wrap-Up

This weekend was Chicago TARDIS, and this year was the best so far!  We went for the full weekend this year, and I am so glad that we did.  Friday was my birthday (also the anniversary of Doctor Who!) and I decided to leave work a half hour early so that I could get home, change, and get in the virtual queue for the Burn Gorman autograph session.  Burn was so nice to every single fan that he met.  He took the time to talk to everyone, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy himself.  He had a smile on his face the whole time, and when he talked, he put so much energy into everything he said.  There was a 10-year-old boy in front of me, and Burn didn't change his tone of voice, he just talked to the kid like he was an adult.  It was fantastic!  When I got up to him, I told him that Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books, and that he nailed the part of Hindley in the 2009 Masterpiece Theatre movie.  He smiled wide and said, "oh, you saw that!"  He seemed so pleased, and he laughed and said, "I play a lot of asses!"  He asked how I was enjoying my day, and I said, "Well, today is my birthday, so I'm having a GREAT birthday!"  He wished me a happy birthday, commented that between Thanksgiving, my birthday, and Chicago TARDIS, I must have a lot of celebrating to do this weekend, and he also signed "Happy Birthday" on the photo.  I'm excited that now my "Torchwood boys" autograph collection is complete.

After that I had to run home and go to my in-laws' pre-Christmas party, so that was all I did on Friday.

However, on Saturday, we went to Chicago TARDIS for the noon "Cosplay Support Group" panel.  I was one of the panelists, as was a Captain Jack cosplayer that the Space Gypsies and I had seen at C2E2 singing "The Doctor and I" with John Barrowman.  I had my doubts about the panel, since it was about what to do when your character leaves the show and 99% of the characters have left the show.  I guess it went okay, though; there were a lot of discussions about various characters.

We went to a few panels, and then we came home for dinner and a costume change.  It's so crazy to me - it takes us less time to drive to Chicago TARDIS, park, and go in the building than it takes us to go from our room in the Atlanta Hilton to the Marriott!  After dinner, we headed back to the con for the Masquerade.  There were some great costumes, and while the judges were conferring, Tony Lee organized a last-minute performance he used to do as a street performer called The Scarlet Blade.  He selected people from the audience to play all the different roles - Captain Jack was the hero, a kid dressed as Rory was the sidekick, etc.  It was unbelievably funny, because the hero was supposed to get killed at one point, but since Jack can't die, he kept popping back up.  And the sidekick died a bunch, too, just like Rory.  Everyone was fantastic, and I think it was the most fun I've ever had at a con!

After the Masquerade, we hung around for Toby Hadoke's (HAY-doke) new show My Stepson Stole My Sonic Screwdriver.  It was funny and sometimes poignant, and I didn't even get all the jokes (some were about the classic series, some were about Britain).

Afterwards, we hung out at LobbyCon for a while as the Clockwork Droid and Captain John Hart and chatted with other cosplayers, including this fabulous Silurian who won the Masquerade!  I should have taken my mask off to take a closer look at her mask.  She looked pretty epic.

I always suspected Mary Poppins was a Time Lord.

On Sunday we dressed up in our Inspector Spacetime garb again, parked, and went down to the lobby.  The elevator doors opened upon Sylvester McCoy checking his smart phone.  That was pretty cool, even though we haven't seen any of the Seventh Doctor episodes yet.  Radagast!  We hit a few panels, then went to get autographs from Tony Lee and Toby Hadoke.  Tony loved our Inspector Spacetime costumes and snapped a photo; Toby chatted with us about Running Through Corridors, and how Rob Shearman spelled Matt's name wrong last year.  He drew us a classic series Cyberman in response to the Dalek that Rob had drawn.

And that was about it!  We had a great weekend!  Here are a few more photos from Chicago TARDIS 2012.

The 11th Inspector and Femme Hart

Scarecrow from Family of Blood

The 11th Inspector meets his biggest fan!

Female Clockwork!  We were in IS costume when we saw her, though.