Nightgown

When I made the Merida Halloween costume for my friend's daughter, I used a gorgeous fabric for the underskirt.  It's stretchy, but just feels amazing.  I thought it would make a great nightgown.

I started working on it last night, so I don't have any photos yet (it's not finished), but I think this nightgown will be my embroidery practice.  I am leaning towards the blue Eowyn victory dress, which is heavily embroidered.  I'm already familiar with embroidery, as I've done quite a few bedspreads and a table cloth, and I've also counted cross-stitched dozens of birth announcements.  But I've never done my own pattern on a dress.  This will be very interesting ...

I should point out that even though I'm not doing the Eowyn armor, my husband is still making Eomer.  I'll probably update about his costume every now and then, as it should prove to be a learning experience.

Eowyn: Blargh

So, after a long time thinking about this, I've decided not to make the Eowyn Dernhelm costume.  At least, not this year.  I would like to concentrate on remaking my Susan corset with leather, and I'd like to wear it before I'm too old.  Therefore, Eowyn's armor will have to wait.  I know it is going to be extremely complicated, so Susan's corset will at least be practice.

However, I still want to make an Eowyn dress, so I'm thinking I may make the blue victory dress, since I've already made the robe.  And while I wouldn't wear the robe to a convention, I love the color.

Although, I'm also throwing around the idea of making the brown shieldmaiden dress, which she wears as she gets Merry suited up for battle.  I just don't know.  It will probably come down to how many people have made each dress.  I don't like to make costumes that a lot of people have made, or that have been made exceptionally well.  I think that those of you who have followed the blog for a while know that I like a challenge, and I like being unique.

As of now, my 2013 projects are as follows:

1)  Remake Susan.
2)  Remake Liesl.
3)  Make Eowyn Victory dress/Shieldmaiden dress.


Happy New Year!

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.

Eowyn - Where Do I Even Start?

The next bits of fun that we'll be working on is Eomer and Eowyn.  Matt has already made the new chain maile for the top of my Susan dress, so I have to figure out if that will work just as well for Eowyn as well.

This is the outfit that I'm planning to make.  This must be what going mad feels like ...

How will I have this done in time for Dragon*Con?  Beats me.  I may have to put Shadow Weaver on hold for another year.

And here's Eomer ...

We're both still trying to figure out what we'll make everything out of.  I'm not sure if I'll do straight leather for Eowyn or not.  All I know is that I'm going to take a short break from all this cosplay stuff so I don't go completely insane.  Maybe after Christmas ...

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.

Constable Geneva and the 11th Inspector

Here we are at Chicago TARDIS - Constable Geneva and the 11th Inspector!

Here's a reference shot of the original costume.  I hope I did it justice!

Constable Geneva - Final Chapter

I apologize for not updating earlier this week.  My stiff neck really set me back, and I've been spending every second of my free time finishing my dress.  While I finished on Wednesday, then it was Thanksgiving, and then it was the first day of Chicago TARDIS (and the 49th anniversary of Doctor Who, AND my birthday!)

The dress is finished now, but before I post a final picture, I'm going to go back and finish describing the construction of Constable Geneva.

I'm not sure if I made it clear earlier, but the majority of this costume is hand-stitched.  The seams on the dress, the hem, and the seams of the lower sleeves are machine-stitched, but that's it.  Everything else was stitched by hand.

As I said last time, I pleated four yards of organza for the sleeves, and they were in four parts, two that were just slightly more than a yard long, and two slightly less than a yard long.  (I'd pleat until I couldn't keep the fabric tacked down anymore.)  I stitched them together so I had two yards for each sleeve.

At this point, I decided to try the dress on so that I would know where to attach the lower sleeves to the chiffon.  My husband was at work, but I gave it a shot anyway.  And I got stuck.  The straps in the back wouldn't let me get the dress off, and since I can't move my arms up too much, I couldn't pull the sleeves off of my arms.  I absolutely panicked.  I begged my husband to come home. (You should see the IMs that I sent him.  In retrospect, it was pretty hilarious.)  I wasn't even sure he'd be able to get it off of me.  Luckily, he was getting off early due to the holiday, so an hour and a half later, he was home.  I took the opportunity to ask him to help me figure out where to place the sleeves, and then with his help, I managed to wriggle out of it.  I did rip the stitch out of one armpit, but it wasn't very good anyway, so I restitched it.

I then took off the straps and made new ones, then attached Velcro to the bottom ends and underneath the sequined trim.  Of course, the second I move my arms, it pops off, so now I have to also use safety pins, but then again, it's not a costume if it doesn't involve safety pins ...

I then gathered the top of the sleeves so that they'd be the same diameter as the chiffon about midway up the arm, and hand-stitched the organza over the chiffon.  In addition, I tacked the gold organza down onto the under dress.

I then attached the top of the sequined trim to the chiffon using a whip stitch.  I had to be careful, though, not to let the stitches show.  I left the bottom of the sequined trim unattached so that I could then sew the triangle trim to it.  After stitching the triangle trim on (again, being careful because I could only stitch through the very top of the trim or it would show), I then stitched the bottom of that to the organza.  I had to be very careful, because the ribbon wanted to scrunch up.

I then cut off the remaining chiffon and put Fray Check on the edges, since I couldn't serge it or otherwise stop it from unraveling.  My friend told me about this a few months ago, and I flipping love it!  It's just a clear glue that keeps the fabric from fraying, and it's not something you want to use on a visible part of the fabric, so it shouldn't replace sewing or serging unless you can't get to it.  And, that often happens with my costumes, so it's come in handy quite a few times.

The last thing to do was to attach the rhinestones.  If you look at the packages, I used the fourth row from the right.  I actually used up all of the rhinestones of that size that I purchased.  These had adhesive backs, so I first put them all on to make sure I had enough, and that they were spaced correctly.  After being satisfied with placement, I started gluing them on one by one using Gem Tac.  It dries clear, so even if you put too much on, you can't tell once it dries.

It. Was. A. Nightmare.

The stupid things just kept popping off.  I'd barely touch them, and they'd all stick to my fingers.  Then, the glue would start to dry on my hands, and the gems wouldn't transfer from my fingers to the chiffon.  I ended up having to glue it in a few sessions, just because the gems I'd put on with the glue would sometimes pop off if I touched them.  Finally, I got all of the rhinestones on.  I have no doubt that I will be finding them for months in the carpet of my sewing room.

New straps

My mother pinned up the hem for me after Thanksgiving, and then this morning, I serged the hem.  I hadn't planned on it, but it's just easier.  My final addition to the costume was a cute little bag that took me about twenty minutes to make out of the lining and gold organza.  And here's the final product!