SDCC Costume: Zelda Part 2 - The Dress

So I'm finally ready to start recapping the progress I've been making on the latest costume (the one with the armor I started last summer). As I mentioned I had to put it aside while I finished up school, but now I'm back at it and after a slow start while I adjusted to my non-academic schedule, progress has been happening!

I decided before continuing on the armor, I should probably make the base dress. Since that is the foundation for everything, it would be helpful to make sure that my proportions for everything else were on target.

 Here is a reference picture again of what the completed costume looks like.

Instead of reinventing the wheel I opted to start from a pattern. I usually drape everything on my dress form, but the shape of the dress is so straightforward I figured it wasn't worth the time. 

After shopping around for fabric I opted for a poly satin  in a wonderful purple tone, and a pearly-white crinkled satin for the underdress. I really liked the depth the slightly crinkled texture gave to it, especially when contrasted with the smooth purple on top.

I started with pattern M6027 from Maccall's. The pattern itself is for a knee-length dress, so all I changed was the length, I added an additional 2+ feet to the bottom of each pattern piece to create the underdress:

Sorry for the bad picture.

This part came out very easily, fit like a dream, and made me excited. It's lined with simple cotton muslin for structure (and to keep it from being see-through) with a zip-up back that will be hidden under the corset lacing of the purple overdress.

The next part was the purple overdress. I opted to use the same pattern as I used for the underdress, and this ended up being a mistake - a very annoying one, for 2 reasons.

1. The front is supposed to be in 2 pieces with darts instead of 4 full pieces.
2. There's a lot of flare in the skirt, which made it nearly impossible to get it to lay flat.

Of course, I didn't notice these things until I had it all sewn together and lined. I opted ignore the dart problem (you can't hardly tell anyway) and to cut the center-front out and then fiddle with the rippling problem the flare caused in the skirt... then I cut too much away out of the center. crap.

All pinned together with the pauldrons set on top. (I was having fun with my hair this day).

Usually I would have redone it, but that would have required more fabric (meaning more $$$) and I thought I could salvage the piece. I finally was able to tweak the seams enough to both bring in the center front, and fix the rippling in back enough to call it 'acceptable'.

I whip stitched the necklines of the under and overdresses together, then stitched binding tape around the hem by hand, and pinned it back to be stitched to the lining. The tape also offered additional structure to that edge:

 So that's where the dress stands. Still a ton to do including hemming, adding lacing holes and TONS of decorating, but the base is ready to go.

Up next: skirt embellishments! This update will be written very shortly as I had a few days of insane progress this week.

We built a deck

So I've been hinting at a big project for probably 6 months now and then I never actually talked about it. It's the biggest project we've done on the house to date and took place at the start of last summer - completing just before our trip to San Diego.

We built a deck on the house. This is a huge deal because previously the only way to get to our really nice yard was by going through the garage and climbing over my car. Now, we have a slider door off the dining room and a nice big deck space about 6 feet off the ground with stairs down to the original patio... nothing major :)

After lots of back and forth with the contractor - for several months - on what we wanted and then waiting for him to have an open slot in the schedule when it wasn't raining to come do it they got the bulk of it built in 4 days and then had to do another day of adjustments after the inspection. After that we had to paint and stain everything ourselves. And when I say we, I mean 95% me. I probably spent about 40 hours over the course of several days painting the railing and staining the deck and handrail. Brian helped stain the pillars and crossbeams underneath, and just as temperatures were hitting the triple digits we finished!

That was just a few weeks before the big Comic Con trip, we were hoping to enjoy the deck, but we had a ton to do to get ready and it was also turning into the hottest summer on record. At 10pm it was still nearly too hot to be outside.

Two nights before we left we had our first big party, it was mostly indoors but at night we enjoyed the new space to the fullest. Even after one of our idiot friends jumped off it and broke his foot... After that the space only got sporadic use for the rest of the year. The temperatures stayed pretty high and then before we knew it we were both back in school just trying to keep afloat. Hopefully this summer will be different - both not as hot, and without homework!

And now - pictures! We love how it turned out, and it's incredibly comfortable. Our yard is really starting to come together.

In progress - this used to be a window!

Day 2 - getting exciting!

The painting/staining was the worst part, this was my  view for days...

 We added a string of lights on a timer around the railing - it makes for great ambiance!

Now we have a great dining set up there (you can see it in the 'lights' picture above) with the grill, and the patio is reserved for the fire pit and lounge chairs. Looking at these pictures, I can't wait for spring!

It's a new year and I'm back!

So yeah, wow... it's been a while huh?

That last semester took a lot more out of me than I expected. I took 3 classes, and from August 30th - December 12 I don't think I even surfaced for air. All's well that ends well though, I have officially finished grad school! I knew it would be rough, but it's probably for the best that I didn't know quite how true that would be.

In the crazed rush to the finish line I missed out on a lot. I missed football season, reunions with friends, our 2nd anniversary was a blur, Christmas shopping with my mother in law and basically Christmas too - I'm just now starting to feel normal again. I get excited about things again. I want to go on walks and make my crafts again. Brian and I even took off to Chicago last weekend on a whim! It's been wonderful really...

Title: Proof it Actually Happened

All that said, it's safe to say that I didn't really get anywhere with the new costumes over the last few months. I'm just now getting back into it, so I'll post a progress update soon. I don't have much time to accomplish these!

Oh, one more thing has happened.... meet Odin.

Goji is less than pleased.

What's been going on and a new project: How to make costume armor

So I haven't really talked about much going on for us since our trip... that's because it's been a whirlwind! Right before our trip we had lots of company, and right after we had birthdays and family-stuff galore. I also finished laying out a legacy book about my Dad's parents. It supposedly turned out great in the print, but I haven't seen it yet.

Work has been crazy, and this summer has been so hot our yard is almost completely dead :( The weather finally broke late last week after 6 weeks in the 90-100+ range, so hopefully not ALL my plants are dead. Funny though, we finally get our deck built just in time to have a dangerous heat wave that makes us unable to use it!  I think I still have to 'reveal' that project. The heat started just as we finished painting and staining...

Other than that I'm trying to gird myself for the start of my final semester of grad school, and I gave up on using this reprieve for productive things like organizing closets, a new portfolio website or making photo books. Instead I'm being super selfish and doing projects I want to do... namely, new costumes for next year's con!

Since we managed to get tickets almost a year ahead of time (they have a special pre-registration where attendees of this year's con get first grab at some of next year's tickets) I'm pulling out all the stops and aiming to make some epic gear. I decided this year I want to document the work that goes into these. So here we go...

Zelda: Twilight Princess Costume Diary - How to Make Costume Armor

The first costume I'm doing is a tandem with Brian. We're going as Link and Zelda from Legends of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I've played nearly every Zelda game to come out and I love the design of this version. Here are some reference photos:

 

I am starting with my costume (Zelda on the right) because there is a lot more to that one! I've never made costume armor before, so the task is a bit scary, and that's where I decided to start!

I researched the craft foam method of armor, which has actually been quite successful. First I cut the pieces out of card stock to get the shapes right and design how it would fit together. Then I traced the shapes onto the foam and cut it out. I cut out two layers of each piece because there are raised patterns on this design and I figured along with looking the best, it would add structure.

 

After the pieces were all cut out and the pattern layers glued to the base layers, I drew on in pencil where additional detail would go (which would be accomplished using puffy fabric paint). I heat set the curves of the foam by holding it over the stove and setting the shape with my hands. Then I taped everything together to see how it fit:

The foam is very flimsy and kind of fragile at that point. So I gave the pieces support using white glue and thin cotton fabric adhered fully to the back. I had to wait overnight for it to dry.  Then, I took everything outside to seal it. I used a wonderful product called Plasti-Dip (the spray version). It's essentially rubber in a can. A couple of coats and we were all sealed up!

Note: the plasti-dip did have the unfortunate side effect of messing with the curves I'd made by heat setting everything earlier. So I made sure to drape the pieces on surfaces that helped maintain the desired shape and it turned out fine.

Then a quick coat of gold spray paint on both sides of each piece and it's starting to look like armor! I opted to glue sheets of felt (in places where it definitely won't be seen) to the back for even more structure, and added comfort. Glued and spray painted fabric really isn't that forgiving on skin.

The cat helped.

Everything was looking good, but it still didn't look like real armor. Real armor is at least a little dirty and tarnished. So lets get dirty! I used watered down green and black acrylic paint to do this. I brushed it on, and quickly wiped off most of it, leaving paint in cracks and corners and smudging up large surfaces. The picture below shows both one aged piece (left) and the corresponding paint-only piece (right).

 Lets put them together! They are held together with hot glue and strips of felt.

The two sides are tethered to each other in back with a gold chain.

There are more pieces still to be made: the center-front medallion, the headpiece, and the belt will all be made in the same method. I can't wait to keep going!

A Quick Comic Con Recap

So we've already established that I'm a terrible blogger. We went to San Diego Comic Con and the word that best describes the trip is: EPIC. In every possible way this trip was incredible. The media, the panels, the people, the stuff. It was one giant sensory explosion.

I took notes on my phone of everything that happened. There was so much going on that we would have forgotten half of it otherwise! So here are my quick and dirty notes and a few favorite pictures. I'm planning on doing a full photo book of our experiences eventually. Hopefully it will be done before next year's con! Yes, we already got tickets at the special presale for this year's attendees...

Wednesday, July 11
We got up super early and headed to the airport. Everything went really smoothly right until we got on the plane. They made us get back off again, Houston (where we were connecting) was shut down from a massive storm! Since we only had a 45 minute layover we started to panic.

We got back on the plane an hour later, and they managed to make up time in the air. We got off and RAN to the next gate, where we barely made it on board before they left. That's twice in my life I've had to sprint through an airport like that.

We made it!

After we got to San Diego we picked up our bags and Brian's cousin Eric picked us up at the airport. We went from there straight to the Zoo! It was amazing, Heidi (Eric's wife) works with the tigers there, and took us behind the scenes. The big female tiger wouldn't stop roaring at us, and we found out she had actually eaten somebody when she was in the wild... comforting.

Awwww

Thursday, July 12
It's the first day of the convention! We were dressed as Star Trek officers this day (Command Red for the Next Generation). Eric took some fun photos of us outside before we left.

We arrived at 7, it was super easy to get to the parking under the center. Apparently if you arrive later this is not the case.

Long line to get tickets! It wrapped all the way around the harbor. Probably about 2 miles, but it went very fast. Everyone took lots of pictures and kept telling us we would die... Even a little kid. Red Shirts die in every episode of the ORIGINAL Star Trek, not TNG. Silly people. The convention was HUGE completely overwhelming

We got interviewed on camera 3 times: A gay tv show, a pool company and a web video series. All of them said they needed the obligatory Star Trek cosplayers.

We looooooove our pocket chairs. So did other people, we spent 12 dollars on 2 little fold up chairs (about 4"x6"x.5" folded up) and it was the best thing we could have bought. Otherwise it's the floor or stand all day...

We got a chicken sandwich and burger for lunch which were great.

We met the Penny Arcade guys, they remembered us! We won the dickerdoodle contest a few years ago, and they love Gojis picture and autographed it for us. Also told us we were sick people (I'm ok with this)

We also met Brent spiner and Marina Sirtis from Star Trek and got their autographs.

We ran into Jerry from face off

And Profiles in History (they auction off Hollywood Memorabilia) has a booth... I got to talk to Joe! He was super nice.

We went to the 25th anniversary of TNG and got to see the new blue ray footage. What a great panel. It was wonderful to hear about their approach to this monumental task. All the effects in TNG were done on tape (shudder) so they had to be completely redone and recomposited from scratch!

I got to meet Stan Lee and get his autograph!!! It was very 'soup nazi' Next, Next, Next... then I ran to catch up with Brian who got in line for Rifftrax live at the indigo ballroom. We barely got in before it started and it was hilarious!!!

Stan the Man

Then we got Mexican food by Petco park and the stadium was doing a "Walking Dead Escape" thing which was awesome to watch. We didn't do it, but I wonder if I would have escaped the zombies...

Zonk.


Friday, July 13

This day we dressed up as Nausicaa and the 'brainslug guy'. Took some good photos... Brian's face makes me laugh!

We got there the same time as Thursday... And said screw that to the Big Bang Theory autograph line, it was insane. Probably had to get there at 3-4 am to get a good spot there.
Then we waited in line for 2 hours to get in to the show floor. Dont need to come quite so early Saturday... When the doors open we dashed to the official t shirt booth for sdcc shirts. We had tried multiple times Thursday but never got into the full line. This time we got lucky!

We bought a book we'd seen yesterday about the Comic Con documentary. Then went back to Penny Arcade and bought some stuff and gabe drew a picture in the book we got.

Then we met Lavaar Burton and he gave me a hard time about my name and how to spell it. We wandered around and ran into Brandon from face off! He was really nice and brought us to his booth where they were demoing some special effects makeup. Also Georgio Tsoukalos was there! (he's the 'ALIENS' guy) He was nice we got pictures with him.

We took lots of breaks throughout the day on Friday, we were definitely the most tired this day. And people stopped us constantly for pictures. Apparently people do remember Nausicaa! While shopping we found a gorgeous Kermit print and bought it. But not after walking all the way to the other side of the floor before deciding to do it. It's seriously beautiful.

Got in line to meet the fables guys. Waited a while but we'd missed them Thursday. Got Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham to sign my Fables #1!

Changed to mundane clothes because I was really hot.

On our way to a panel we ran into Wil Wheaton!!!!! Brian chased him down an escalator and he signed his t shirt (which happened to have a picture of Wil Wheaton on it).  Then we continued on to see Dark Matters with John Noble and since we got there really early, we ended up seeing the premier of Brickleberry, Daniel Tosh's new Comedy Central animated show. Extra disturbing. Dark matters with John noble was awesome!!!! He's so quick and we got to see clips of the new season, it was moderated by the guy who does spongebobs voice, so that was an interesting touch...

Then we got dinner in the Gaslamp  district at the Sci Fi Channel restaurant (It was fully decked out to promote a new show). The food was good, but it was really expensive and we had pretty nad service. Then we got home, and Brian's staff for the Harry Dresden costume he was wearing the next day hadn't arrived by UPS yet. Without the staff, the costume is pretty unrecognizable. He was up until 230am making a replacement. It's not as good, but at least he can wear the costume.

Saturday, July 14
This day we dressed up as the Other Mother from Coraline, and Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files books. We did another great photoshoot with Eric.

Arrived later than before. Around 8. We got in line outside for tickets to possibly win Mythbusters autographs. After several tries, we got one ticket for each group (Adam/Jaime and Carrie/Grant/Torrey). Then we took a break, we'd been in line about 1.5 hrs

Perused the show floor next. Lots of people wanted pics, we were a total hit! Then I got in line for Adam/Jaime and got their autographs. Adam loved that I complemented his Ted talks.

Then we ate lunch on the mezzanine. Great view of the show floor... bad food. Then we went to the floor and got in line at the Profiles in History booth to meet Sean Astin. We walked up and he was shocked at my other mother costume, he called his daughters out of the back and introduced them to me as the Other Mother. I guess they had just watched the movie. I got his autograph and took pictures with him! On our way back upstairs we were stopped by two girls in a small booth, they took pics of us and one of them drew Harry Dresden for Brian.

The exhibit hall from the mezzanine

 

Sean Astin!

We got John nobles autograph, he did a big shocked expression on seeing me! Then we checked the Penny Arcade panel line, it was ridiculously long so we took a break.
We wandered our way to the G4 booth where they were doing a live taping. Nathan Fillion was there! We were right off camera.

We went upstairs for the rest of the Mythbusters autographs. Brian got in line and I got yelled at by security for milling around. I walked laps for about an hour. Afterwards, we were taking a break and Brian met a girl dressed as Molly Carpenter (from the Dresden files). It turns out she is Jim butchers assistant! I took pictures of them together.

Just a couple of wizards, hangin' out.

Then we went to the Nerdist area outside. They had every batmobile on display. We also saw some recorded show segments on the WB Extra stage including an interview with Kevin Bacon. We entered the nerdist costume contest while we were there. I won "most accurate" which included $50 to Michaels and the 4th season of Chuck! The judge was Holly the incredible costumer from the Comic Con movie.

We dropped stuff at the car and went to the Gaslamp for dinner. On the way we got stopped for even more pics and every time a big circle would form around me as others joined in. We got to the Gaslamp Strip Club (It's not what you think! It's a grill your own steakhouse) and we waited 1.5 hrs for a table... this made for a very grumpy Bre. The food was great!!! Also we were sitting on the patio area, and I scared some children that walked by with my Other Mother costume.

Home and. Zonk.

And that's it, we were off to the airport bright and early Sunday and spent the day traveling. I can't wait to go back!