Dragon*Con 2018: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - SUCCESS!

Preparing for turn in a prettyish kind of a little wilderness

I recently returned from another amazing Dragon*Con weekend, and wanted to actually - ACTUALLY - finish updating the blog on my costume progress from the event. Sadly, in years past I've been too exhausted/sick/lazy after the event to actually post costume updates, so (for example) you will not find any evidence of my 2016 Rey from The Force Awakens or the conclusion of my 2017 Dolores from Westworld on the blog (unless future me has retroactively added entries on them out of guilt!), but I'm hoping to start some new habits for the next year.

So. This costume. This costume turned out fabulously! While I did not look like the Elizabeth Bennet from the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies film, I definitely felt like the zombie-murdering Elizabeth Bennet of our hearts. Plus, I was recognizable enough to merit several picture requests from strangers and multiple accolades from passers-by (or expressions of alarm upon noticing the severed head they hadn't registered at first glance).

One of the highlights of my Dragon Con was actually the author Naomi Novik, who, after signing my copy of Spinning Silver, asked to take MY picture!! *extreme fangirling*

In addition to the overall look of it, the costume was mostly comfortable enough to wear all day (although I strongly recommend against trouncing in it across Centennial Park in 90 degree weather) and accomplish the usual Dragon*Con tasks of standing in line, sitting on the floor, lugging merchandise you couldn't resist buying, and eating/drinking with wild abandon (empire waists work miracles).

On top of that, I was so so so proud of the work I did to make this a durable, properly made Regency gown that I hope I can wear to many a Jane Austen event in the future. Let me break down the elements behind this look below.

Dragon*Con 2018: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Getting Started

Dragon*Con is right around the corner, and while I plan to wear several of the same costumes as last year with a few alterations, I did finally (belatedly) decide to make at least one costume to wear. So...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie
in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

I decided to to try to make an Elizabeth Bennet costume from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a zany remake of the classic in which Elizabeth and Darcy's budding romance has to take a few pause breaks to slaughter zombies. It's delightful, actually.

Jade Brocade Formal Dress

Have you ever rage-sewed anything?

Look, I fully intended to keep to my plan of "no more sewing for the fall" since I had such a hectic summer sewing costumes for Dragon Con, however I became very angry with Nordstrom's recently as I was shopping for a dress to wear to our cousin's wedding, and when I become angry, apparently I get shit done become resourceful rather quickly.

Hopefully the rage wasn't too noticeable in the final product

So here's the story.

Crochet Baby Pumpkins

Today I want to share with you these three adorable little crochet pumpkins I made for my niece and two nephews! I was feeling the Fall Spirit a little early, and these were actually complete weeks ago -- but I wanted to be sure the packages had safely arrived before I showed them off on the blog.

Handmaid's Tale Costume

I had the wonderful experience of reading The Handmaid's Tale for the first time earlier this year. While the book was nothing like I expected it to be (somehow I had it in my mind that it was futuristic science-fiction, not near-future post-apocalyptic), it made quite an impression on me. You can read my Goodreads review of the book to hear more about my impressions. I had chosen to read this book finally (after years of hearing nothing but amazing things about it) because I knew Hulu was making an adaptation of the novel for a television show this year. 

While the show struck me completely differently than the novel (the dangers of adaptations...), it was still neat to be able to visualize fully the world Margaret Atwood had created. So when someone presented the idea of doing a Handmaid's Tale costume for Dragon Con this year, I eased into the idea of sewing my own. Because of the popularity of the show and the surprising (or maybe not?) choice of many liberal protesters to wear the iconic red costumes, there was no shortage of costumes out there to buy. But, the guilt of buying something that I could definitely make was too strong, and so I set out to sewing. 

"Blessed Be the Fruit."

Of course, I've been busy making Dolores for most of the summer, so this costume was made over the past two weekends. Probably about 12 hours of sewing all told. At least I was able to re-use Dolores' boots for this one!

"Under His Eye."

Westworld Cosplay: Making the Bodice

While it only seems like a few days to you, it's actually been several weeks for me working on the bodice of Dolores' costume! I am actually so ridiculously impressed with myself by how this turned out. Sure, I can't lift my arms higher than shoulder-height, but if I stand really still it's still gorgeous to behold. 

Are you beholding yet? Reference photos in last post

Because there was quite a lot that could go wrong with this, what with having to improvise on the pattern, having to add ribbon, having to make the shaped hemline, convincing my machine to sew buttonholes, etc... I decided the first thing to do was to create a mock-up using some spare fabric.

Westworld Costume: Planning and Preparing Stages

I'll bet you all were wondering when I was going to start posting Dragon Con costume progress, huh?

Well, while I am definitely procrastinating, I have not been idle! I have been planning my two big costumes (that's right - I SAID TWO) for Dragon Con for months now. In June, I decide to take the plunge and commit to my most complicated costume, Dolores from Westworld.

If you haven't seen Westworld and you like robots in cowboy hats, you need to get on the bandwagon. It does contain a fair amount of gore and naked people though, so you may want to watch it through your fingers scrunched up over your eyes.

"Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world. The disarray. I choose to see the beauty." - Dolores

Chambray Dress (FROM HELL)

OK, it's probably not entirely fair to say this chambray dress was from hell. It was just definitely at a more advanced skill level than I'm used to and as a result, I spent about as much time ripping out stitches as I did putting them in. I think the end result is passable though, don't you?

This is one of the biggest projects I've ever sewed that wasn't made out of a knit. This is big for me. This is a thin chambray I originally bought to make a winter dress, but since winter is long gone I adapted for a spring dress pattern I had.

Crochet Woven Basket

I think we've all been having the "Back to Work Blahs" so I haven't been working on anything big (sewing, etc.). I did cash in the rest of my Christmas gift cards on a few more sewing supplies, some yarn, and a magazine of crochet patterns. I was pretty psyched about the crochet patterns because they were for things besides scarves, hats, and blankets! One of the patterns that caught my eye was this woven basket pattern. I thought this might be a good way to use up some of the yarn I had in my craft closet and learn a few new stitches.

The yarn in the basket is only a *small* sampling of all the yarn I have left in my closet

Busy Sewing Weekend!

What can I say - Christmas was very good to my sewing room this year! Hubby gifted me with a new sewing machine (a Singer Confidence - helloooo, automatic tension and fancy stitches!), my mother-in-law gifted me with a dress form, Mom gave me a new iron and pressing cloth set, and a variety of enablers other people gave me enough gift cards to truly go bananas buying fabric at Jo-Ann's. The result was a whirlwind New Year's weekend spent sewing actual clothes - not costumes - for the first time in my life.

Also please note that dress forms make for the best post-sewing photoshoots. Now you don't have to see my "I've been locked in my sewing machine all weekend" hair :)

As intended without belt

Belt added on a whim

The biggest project of the weekend was this red t-shirt dress. Some of you may be looking at this and thinking "hey, doesn't that look kind of like..." Yes. You are correct. This is the same pattern I modified to make my red Star Trek dress over the summer. The dress was so comfy and the color was so fun that I decided I wanted a "real" version I could actually wear to work without looking crazy very enthusiastic about my fandoms. It uses the McCall's 7122 "Look, Ma, I'm Sewing" basic, basic pattern. The dress is kind of a sack shape which I think they mean to be a "swing dress" or something. I wasn't sure it looked right so I ended up using some extra fabric to make a belt. However now I'm not sure I'll use the belt. ::shrug:: For what the dress lacks in shape, it makes up for in ease to make.

Blue Chevron Baby Blanket

Things have been quiet around this blog lately - but not because I've been idle!  I've spent the past month and a half working on a very special gift for my sister-in-law's baby-boy-to-be, who will be debuting this February.  His mom lives way up North, so I figured she could use something to keep her and baby warm until the snow melts or they move back South - whichever happens first.

A special bundle for the bundle of joy

I've been getting better at crochet after I cut my teeth on my other nephew's crochet blanket this past summer and I really wanted to try a new pattern.  I absolutely LOVE crocheting patterns (once I get the hang of them, of course) because I can count much more easily.  For example, this pattern required me to crochet 11 single crochet, do something special, then crochet 11 single crochet, etc.  It's much easier than trying to keep count of all 225 stitches in each row!  Not to mention, crochet stitches look so pretty when done in a pattern.  I was really amazed at how easy the chevron pattern was.

Star Trek Costumes and Dragon*Con progress!

I haven't posted in a while because I've been stuck in this awkward phase wherein I have a lot of projects in progress but very few actually completed.  My latest "completed" project was the two Star Trek costumes I made for husband and myself for the movie premiere of Star Trek Beyond the last week in July.  And wow, what a headache these two costumes turned out to be.

He was on board with the idea until I told him he had to wear it in public

You all may remember my fabric dyeing woes from June.  I had the absolute worst time selecting fabric for these costumes.  Aside from the fact that the colors used in the official costumes were kind of a strange, dark teal rather than true blue, the shiny pattern on the fabric was impossible to replicate.  So I gave in, decided that if one of us had a red costume and the other one had a blue costume we would at least look like Star Trek, even if they weren't the official colors.  So we did that.  I ordered the same kind of adamantium god-awful fabric in true blue and true red, and they look fine.  Really, fine.  I was no longer Carol Marcus, but I could be generic Red Shirt Lady #3.

The second problems came from the sewing patterns.  They were both "Learn to Sew" easy things, yet somehow the sizing was completely off.  I used this pattern for husband's shirt, and I guess because it was supposed to be for pajamas or gorillas his shirt came out easily 3x too big.  I spent most of my first evening of sewing cutting down the sleeves and then having poor husband try it on again.  I used this pattern for my dress, and even though I measured myself pretty carefully I also ended up taking in about six inches of excess fabric on the side!  I suppose I should be happy I didn't accidentally make it too small, but geez.

The Fabric from Hell, not to be undone, also did its best to be unhelpful in the utmost.  Since it's incredibly stretchy, anything other than sewing it to itself became a problem.  When I went to sew on the metallic ribbon, the fabric stretched out horribly as it attached to the ribbon, creating weird waves.  The same problem happened when I tried to finish the neckline with bias tape on both costumes.  You can see it especially well on my costume in the picture above.  Having researched the problem, I believe I need an even feed sewing machine foot, or a "walking foot" that keeps the fabric from stretching unevenly as you sew.  Next time... next time...

Hahaha then there was that time I tried to make a turtleneck without a pattern and I realized that no matter what you do, the thread it requires to sew a seam around your neck and lie flat will always be too small for your head.  Duh.  So I remain mystified as to how turtlenecks can stretch over your head and then lie snug against your neck.  I suspect magic, or elastic thread, if that's such a thing.  I ended up buying the cheapest black turtlenecks available on Amazon and then cutting off the sleeves.  So as my husband says, "Redneck Steve Jobs".

In the mean time, I am trying to spruce these costumes up for Dragon*Con, which is only a little more than a week away!  I'm removing the bias tape from the neckline and just putting in a simple band of the same fabric.  Hopefully that will work.

Stay tuned for my Rey costume progress!

Yes, I've actually gotten farther along than this

I'm Dyeing Over Here

My latest costuming adventure has turned into something of a headache, and not only because chemistry was involved.

Testing the dye.  Turns out the wine was mandatory.

So since my last post I have a spent some time plotting out my next costumes because there is a finite amount of time between now (first week of July) and Dragon*Con (first week of September) and realistically this signals the end of the costuming season.  True, if I wanted to start another costume after that point I could use it for Halloween, but since there are no predictable events requiring a costume between November 2016 and September 2017, I can foresee a lull in the costume-making business.  I mean, I could try to plan ahead for next Dragon*Con but a) I don't know what will be relevant next year (after all - they already changed the stupid Star Trek uniforms yet again!) and b) maybe I'll be a different (hopefully smaller) size by then.  So really not useful to plan ahead too far.

With that in mind and given my erratic costume making schedule, I budgeted out two more costumes I could make in time for the convention, which gives them each one month to make.  I decided to try to make a Star Trek costume first because I could wear it to Dragon*Con as well as the premiere of the new movie on July 22nd.  There was also this amazing moment about two weeks ago when I was browsing McCall's patterns online and found out that they not only had a Rey costume pattern from Star Wars, but that the entire site was having a $2 pattern sale.  Um, sounds like destiny to me.  As a bonus, I could wear that costume to the next Star Wars movie premiere if we end up going.

Awesome, so first up is the Star Trek costume that will hopefully be ready by July 23rd.

Outlander White Dress - Complete!

Huzzah!

Mom came through two times last month on either side of her visit with New Nephew, and her encouragement gave me the strength I needed to finally work on my Outlander White Dress costume I started over a month ago.

Ignore the clompy shoes -- borrowed husband's until I can find the right pair

With her help, I finished the dress in about two days (not counting the day I spent cutting out the pieces earlier) and the shawl in one evening.

Purple Woven Wall Hanging

A few months ago, I started a new job and got my own office for the first time in my life.  I wasted no time decorating the space behind my desk so that when people walked in I would be framed by colorful clutter artfully eclectic decorations.  However the space directly across from my desk, which no one sees but me, is completely blank but for a retro wall clock I found in the supply room.  The cinderblock wall even has a screw installed in it, just waiting for something to hang on it.

I already had some posters and picture frames in my office and I was craving something a little different to put there.  Something 3-dimensional with a bit of texture.  Then I remembered a girl on my Facebook list who made these textile wall hangings (Shout out to Rachel, not even sure if you read my page, but if you do, thanks for the inspiration!).  I always wondered exactly how she made these things or where she even got the ideas for them.  I decided I wanted to learn about it and try to make one on my own.

It's supposed to look like that, I promise.

Rainbow Crochet Baby Blanket for New Nephew

My brand new nephew is here!  And I couldn't wait to practice my newly-learned crochet pattern, the V-Stitch, on a new blanket for him.

The art of "Procraftinating"

Update:  My Latin-speaking husband has recommended I use the term "Procraftinating" as opposed to "Craftcrastinating" because it actually makes sense.  Suggestion taken under advisement.

OK, I'm not totally to blame for not working on my Outlander costume anymore this week.  I did have to wait for the jersey needle to come in (though I could have just driven to the store to purchase it instead...).  However, mostly I'm nervous to start the costume because I'm afraid it will be too difficult and I will mess up and then I will be sad.

But that's OK - I'm apparently at my most productive when I'm procrastinating.  Or in this case, "Procraftinating".

First up, I spent an entire evening assembling this gorgeous beast.

Note the multiple stacks of as-yet unused fabric

The dimensions are slightly smaller than I thought they would be, but I am able to store most of my crafting supplies in here.  I have a section for sewing, crochet, coloring/drawing, and even my old scrapbooking stuff from back before I figured out that making digital photobooks and then printing them was way, way easier.  Hopefully now that I can see all my stuff I'll be more likely to use it!

Crochet Cowl - Another Outlander Inspiration

While I'm waiting on the special sewing machine needle to come in the mail so I can finish my Outlander dress, I decided to occupy my time with some other crafts!

Outlander has apparently caused quite a stir in the crochet and knitting community because of its plethora of fabulous cowls, wraps, etc.  As such, there has been an explosion of copy-cat patterns emerging online.  Learning to properly crochet has been on my crafting to-do list ever since a few friends and I decided to pick it up together a few months ago.  I understand how to do the various stitches, but following patterns has been the bane of my existence.  I have been trying and failing at a shell pattern scarf over the past month, and so decided to take myself back to Crochet 101 and follow an Outlander pattern I found online.

Outlander Costume - Planning and Preparing Stages

While I have a million costume ideas in mind, I decided to try something simple first that would easily be recognizable for what it was without having to add too much detail.  Lately I have been fawning over the show Outlander - which, for those of you not in the know, is a show based on the epic series by Diana Gabaldon about a woman from the 1940s who goes back in time to Scotland in the 1700s.  So while I would love to make (some day!) one of the main character's gorgeous 18th century gowns, I thought I'd try first the simple white dress she's wearing when she's transported back in time.

Here are some screenshots from the show.

Claire Randall, pre-time travel 

Very first costume attempt - inspired by the show Vikings

Let me first backtrack and explain my history with sewing costumes or clothes.

Last Halloween was really my first attempt at sewing anything that wasn't a lopsided curtain or pillowcase.  I understand the general idea of using the sewing machine for making seams, so I figured I was ready to take my skills to the next level and attempt to make a costume.

Definitely a logical conclusion, right?

So I was pretty obsessed with the show Vikings at the time, particularly with the show's leading female character Lagertha, a shield maiden who proves that being feminine and being a complete badass are not mutually exclusive, and everything looks better when you do it in eyeliner and chainmail.

Halloween was around the corner, and I thought it would be fun if I could cobble together a costume that though it maybe didn't look exactly like one of Lagertha's costumes, it would at least suggest the general idea of being a Viking.  Here is what I came up with - you be the judge of how "period accurate" it really is.

Viking-inspired Costume, Halloween 2015