Wraith Queen Visits Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2013

We bought our tickets. We prepped our costumes. Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo was just a few days away.

I have decided to revive my Wraith Queen. I wore that outfit once, and the biggest reason I haven't worn her again is the make up. With almost no prep, and using what I had on hand, my make up was horrible. This time, I have decided to plan ahead (ok, I picked up the make up two weeks ago, and am finally doing test trials on it three days before we leave...).

I hated the eyebrows last time. Wraith don't really have much hair on their faces. A handful of males sport moustaches or beards, but the females have hair only on their heads. My attempts to cover my eyebrows with make up last year didn't work. At all.

At the store, they suggested I use wax to cover the hair, and apply make up over the wax. I picked some up, since I was there. A woman I met recently suggested spirit gum, if I don't have really bushy eyebrows. I decided to test both.

This is my first attempt at hiding my eyebrows with spirit gum under the make up:

It didn't really hide the hair at all. 

I tried the wax on the other eyebrow:

Where I had decent wax coverage, the make up went smoothly over top. There is a spot where the hair is thicker, and that didn't cover as well. The over all success on this one was better.

Cleaning the wax out of my eyebrow hair was hard. Standing in the shower soaping my face and scraping wax out of my hair was tedious, and I still had to go over it with adhesive remover to get rid of the spirit gum underneath. 

The spirit gum only side was actually harder to clean, surprisingly! The next morning, I am still finding little bits of adhesive and make up tucked away in the hair. 

It turns out I am allergic to spirit gum, and had very itchy skin. So, the wax would be the best option, as I can use as little spirit gum as possible to minimize any reaction. 

My slits were much more successful! I built one on the back of my hand so I could see what I was doing. These will be going on my face on Saturday.

To the left, that is the wax sculpt. I rolled out a little snake and stuck it to my skin, pressing the sides out and smoothing it out so it was a bump. I then pressed a sculpting tool into the middle to create the hole. 

After shaping it, I applied a layer of the white make up I had used on my face. 

To the right is the finished product. I used eye shadow to create the shadows. I was a little heavy handed with the green shading around the outside, and attempted to soften it with some white eye shadow I had. Unfortunately, the white had sparkles in it. I won't be doing THAT again. Note to Self: use the sparkle-free white to lighten...  The edges of the wax could be smoothed out a little more, but all in all, it turned out quite well. I hope it goes well when I try to do this on my cheeks!

After putting so much into the outfit, it was a real shame to have the make up ruin the whole thing. Not this time! Mwah ha ha!! 

So, I went to the con, I had a great time, saw lots, bought little. Took no photos. Not even of my own outfit. So once again, I am missing the crucial final photos of the outfit I worked so hard on! Next time, my friends. And there will be a next time. 

I received some fantastic advice from a make up artist at the con, and have decided to try making those cheek slits out of latex. I have been documenting that, and will share the results of that, good or bad, at a later date. It is slow going, and with several time sensitive projects on the go right now, my blog is suffering from lack of attention!

Until next time, happy costuming!

Belly Dance - X-Men's Storm

I am taking belly dancing, and it is a lot of fun! Our recital is coming up, and the theme has been established: Super Heroes.

At the beginning of the class, we were asked to purchase veils, as we would need them for the choreography. I found a white silk one that looks great! About half way through the course we were told about the super hero theme. For the rest of the rehearsal, all I could think of was how much my white veil looked like Storm's cape.

Thus, my concept of Storm as a belly dance outfit was conceived! I found some white velvet-like fabric in my collection, and made a belt that I could attach my coin belt to. Keeping things versatile here!

But to make this a Storm outfit, it would need some X-Men accessories! I made a design out of fimo that I could attach to pin backs and attach temporarily to my outfit.

I made what is called a "cane". The image goes all the way through the cane, and you slice off pieces that you can either attach to another piece of fimo, or use them as is.

I rolled out my gold Fimo into a long flat strip, and cut that strip into four equal pieces. These will become the gold X in the middle of the cane.

I stood the X up on my work surface. 

Next, I rolled out some black Fimo and cut that into strips, layering them around the gold of the X. Then I rolled out a snake of red, pinched it into a triangle snake, and cut that into four pieces. I wedged the red triangles in.

I then put a little bit more black around to completely enclose the red parts. I left the ends of the gold X open. 

Then, I rolled out gold Fimo and wrapped it around the whole thing. My cane is finished! You can see that the image goes all the way through. 

I have to roll it down a little to compress all the fimo into a solid shape. There were gaps of air in it between the layers of colour, and that needed to be squished out. Once I had it rolled down to the size I needed, I cut slices off, like you would with a cinnamon bun. You want to roll it as you cut so you don't end up with a flat side.

They are ready to bake. I followed the instructions on the package, as different polymer clay brands have different instructions. Some bake at lower temperatures, or need to go in longer. If you bake them too long, you run the risk of burning them, which can release toxic fumes into the house. I don't feel like breathing toxic fumes. 

So that is how to make a cane out of fimo! This works with any polymer clay, and as you get good at it, you can make almost anything! My Mom made fimo beads for years, and has made some amazing images, including a tiger's face. 

Once they are baked, I used hot glue to attach pin backs. Once our recital is over, I should have pictures of the finished outfit to share!

Princess Serenity - Commence Collecting

Its official. I am starting work on my Princess Serenity costume. I have started buying the bits and pieces for it.

I decided that the wigs at The Five Wits were worth checking out. I just ordered my "Serene Crystal Tokyo Queen" wig and hope to see it in the next couple of weeks. They say that their wigs are made of Hiperlon. From the homework that I have done, this appears to be the material that most of the higher quality cosplay wigs are made from, and it is heat resistant and washable. Nice! Once I get it, and have a chance to wear it around, I will give my non-expert opinion on it.

The craft and dollar stores abound with the little pieces that will make the details of the costume. I found a bag of "crystals" at the dollar store that will make a perfect "Legendary Silver Crystal" to wear on a dainty silver chain around my neck. Still looking for a nice bale to attach the pendant to the chain, but so far, it looks much like the one from the manga! Yay!

Crystal pendant and Chain

Even before I decided to buy the wig, and I had that crappy yellow one, I still wanted to go for the manga style princess. The circles around the bust would be silver. Well, lucky me, I went to the craft store and found (on sale and still able to use my coupon for further discounts!! Bonus!!) these silver circle pieces. I bought a whole bunch of them.

Silver Circles for around bust

For the waist band, I plan to use a variety of beads, pearls, crystals, etc. Each row around her waist seems have a different material. I am still keeping an eye out for good deals on pearls and crystals. The fabric store has chain and lace with crystals already on it, so they will be evenly spaced and I just have to stitch a string of these things onto the dress instead of individually sewing them on. Another bonus! I will keep an eye out for sales on these babies, because they are expensive! I don't have them yet, so no pics.

I did pick up craft foam. I plan on using this in layers to sculpt the shoulder pieces. I should be able to shape this reasonably well, and make a shell to go over the fabric sleeve.

Craft Foam for shoulder pieces

I also have lace left over from a previous project (this lace trim has appeared on two different outfits already), and if it isn't too creamy I might use it somewhere in the bodice.

Ivory Lace

I am trying to really bump up my cosplay to more than just a simple reproduction. I don't just want to be recognisable from across the room. As you walk closer, I want more details to jump out. I want you to be able to stand next to me, and see another layer to the character. There needs to be more depth. More life. This should be a living, breathing entity, with a story told with every choice of beading, fabric, colour, texture... This year, I am anticipating a huge increase in Sailor Moon related costumes, to celebrate the new Sailor Moon. I want this to be one to remember.

Princess Serenity - Inspiration

This past Halloween, I did my usual shopping. I never buy finished costumes, for obvious reasons... but certain accessories are just better to purchase. I always hit up the Halloween stores, as well as the dollar stores, box stores, drug stores, grocery stores... every store! in search of any little items that I might need for existing or future costumes.

I was in Value Village looking for another foam head, as I had purchased one from there last year. I didn't find the foam head, but I did find a Sailor Moon wig! Tee hee!! If I had found this a few months ago, I might have considered doing a Steampunk Sailor Moon instead of Sailor Mars. Oh well. It is nice to have one of the other characters. I think everyone does Sailor Moon.

I snatched up the wig, happy to have found one that I didn't have to order from ebay. I am still reluctant to order things online, even though it has become easier and safer in the last few years. It still makes me nervous. This is a cheap wig, and the odango need some fixing, but it gives me a starting point, for sure.

I would love to have one this colour, in keeping with the manga version. 
I actually just stumbled onto this woman's website where she sells these wigs.
So far, I am pleased with what I see.... I may end up buying one from her....

Having a usable wig is inspiring me to start work on a Princess Serenity costume. I have wanted to make one for almost as long as I have wanted to make the senshi outfit. Since picking up the wig, I have been keeping an eye out for anything I could use for Serenity. Pearls are going to be a biggie. Also, anything with moons on them, of course. The wig is yellow, even though I would have preferred the white/silver one I have seen online. Authenticity would dictate that I go with gold accessories to go with the anime version, but I really dislike yellow/gold. I also feel that I have had my fill of gold/copper/brass metals with my Steampunk Sailor Mars. I think I will aim to have this one completed for spring, and the start of the convention season next year, and to coincide with the release of the new Sailor Moon next summer.

Princess (Approx. 13-16 years) and Neo-Queen Serentiy (mid-twenties?)

So, for now, I am doing my research into the different variations of Princess Serenity. I thought of doing Neo-Queen Serenity, because of the more mature look to her (and the fact that she would be closer to my age than the teen princess). But, I don't really like the crown, and the mermaid style of the dress would be too constrictive for my taste, not to mention the length would result in a very dirty hem, and would likely be stepped on and possibly torn. I think I will go with the just-to-the-floor length of the princess' dress...

Manga: Seems to attach to the dress. Anime: Floats on her shoulder.

One of the more difficult parts of the princess dress is the shoulders. Depending on the artwork, they are sometimes drawn as being attached to the dress, other times they are floating on the shoulders with no apparent means of attachment. I prefer attaching it to the dress so it stays in place. I saw several different ways that others had managed the "floating" sleeves, including using clear elastic, and I just didn't like it. I plan to do a poofy off the shoulder sleeve, with the front and back "swirls" attached over top. This means that the sleeves are in fact soft, not a hard shell that would be difficult to move in, and they could easily be attached to the dress itself. The manga version seems to have these attached sleeves, and I prefer the level of detail in the manga over the simplified anime version.

In keeping with the manga level of detail, I will have a lot of embellishments. With the heavy beading and trim on the bodice of this dress, but still wanting to keep it strapless, I will need a sturdy framework to support the weight. Boning inside the dress itself will keep things upright, but having a corset underneath it all will keep it where it should be. Once I finish the corset I am currently working on, I will make another one in white or flesh colour to wear under lighter coloured clothing. That will go well under the white dress of this costume, and provide the "scaffolding" so it stays where it should!

I am getting excited about this project! Eeee!!!! Ok, Christmas first, then cosplay!

Genre Mash-Up: Steampunk Sailor Mars - Pt 7 Complete!

The costume is done and has made its debut! The Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo also had its debut, and both were well received. With ticket sales capped, the ECEE was saved from the same mistake its Calgary counterpart suffered in April. No lockouts, no Fire Marshals, and everyone had a great time. I plan on returning next year with pre-purchased tickets, to avoid having to show up at 7am to get day passes! Yes, I did that, after hearing on Friday that tickets almost sold out during pre-sale. But I was second in line to buy my day pass, and was home by 9am to nap and get dressed!

My worries that my costume would not be recognized for what it was were totally baseless. At the very least, those who approached me knew what TV show my costume was from. A common question was "Are you Sailor Moon?" to which I simply responded, yes. But, many did actually ask "Are you Sailor Mars?" or simply exclaimed "Its Sailor Mars!" So, I would count this as a total success!

From the previous posts, it is likely fairly clear that there are many layers to this outfit. Let me show you just how many!

First, there are the base undergarments, that I will not show... I do want this blog to be family friendly! (That explains the blue towel, right?) Second, the base corset or bodice, this is the one with the million and a half pieces of boning that I made for my pirate costume.

Over this, I layer my skirts. First, the petticoat for body.

Then, the red skirt, where I have stitched a ribbon and a large button (Not visible in this photo, oops!). My little purse hangs from the ribbon, and is secured up and out of the way by the button. This way, my purse is not visible to everyone, and I am not carrying a purse or wallet that is out of character.

Next is the brown over skirt. This one has a ribbon that ties up a section of it so the red skirt is visible underneath.

The lighter bodice goes over all of this. This bodice is lacking the tabs at the bottom, so the under one is longer and helps support the weight of all the skirts. This over-bodice is lighter, has less boning, and is mostly for visual purposes.

Next, the shoulder piece. I ended up sewing the bow right to it, because it was flopping around too much. I might pull it off and attach it with snaps, so that I could change things around to different colours, but for now, this is the only Senshi I am doing, so it is sewn in place. I did put hook and eye fasteners on the bodice and shoulder yoke to keep it from shifting around as I move throughout the day.

The back bow still has pin backs. I need to be able to lace the bodice up, and sewing the bow directly to the bodice doesn't work for that. I did need help pinning the back bow to the bodice, and my husband was kind enough to do this for me! And to remove it later, because taking it off really wasn't much easier that pinning it on in the first place!

The gloves didn't like to stay in place, so I tied them to the underarm of the bodice. This kept them more or less in place throughout the day, though I was still tugging them up every now and again... I will be adjusting those to fit a little more snugly around my upper arm so they stay in place better.

The cap "topped" it off nicely (Ha ha?). Finish with earrings, bracelet, choker, boots... It was quite the ordeal just getting dressed!

So, those are the many layers of the costume. When doing anything that is historical, or at least inspired by historical costumes, there are going to be many many layers. I think this concludes my Steampunk Sailor Mars adventure. Onto the next project!

Genre Mash-Up: Steampunk Sailor Mars - Pt 6

The Sailor Senshi all wear a tiara with a coloured jewel in the middle of their forehead. I really didn't want to wear the gold band across my forehead, so I opted to make a hat instead. My goal was to make a cap, shaped to my head, with the front edge mimicking the shape of the tiara. It turned out quite well! Probably the best hat I have made yet!

I tried cutting a flat piece, but that resulted in a very flat cap that stuck out on either side of my head....kinda looked like wings! Not what I was going for. After a few failed attempts at "winging it" to get the shape I was looking for, I pulled out a foam head, pins and thread to join my paper and pencil. 

I measured on my own head the total length that I wanted. I then measured this and marked it with pins on the front and back centres of the foam head. I put another pin in the top middle, and tied a piece of thread joining the three points. I measured how far I wanted the hat to come down above my ear, and placed a pin in that point as well. I marked out the general shape I wanted using pins on the foam head, and joined them up with thread. I then started dividing this up. I wanted to create a series of flat shapes that would form a curve when stitched together. I placed pins within the general shape, and joined them together with thread also.

Once I had the little pieces marked out, I carefully traced them onto the piece of paper, following the thread lines. These were now my pattern pieces.

I traced these onto a nice patterned felt, flipping them over to get both a left and right side for the hat. I then cut them out, and started carefully stitching them together. Once all the pieces were sewn, I put a line of glue down each seam, on the inside of the hat, to help reinforce the seams. The stitches are mostly holding onto the fuzzy soft side of the felt, to avoid too many stitches showing on the outside, and this doesn't hold very well. The risk of a stitch popping out was a little too high for my liking. The glue helped.

With all the pieces sewn and glued in place, I stitched a lighter piece of lace around the outer edge. This was going to be my faux tiara.

I hung a chain and a Mars symbol from the bottom of the jewel, and stitched that into place. Last minute, I decided to add a gear behind it, to help add a little more Steampunk flavour to it. Yes, I added a completely erroneous gear to make it more Steampunk... But, it does look cool.

I found a set of gold bobby pins with little amber jewels in it, and used that to pin the hat to my hair. I think that, even though they are far more visible, they look a thousand times better than plain black bobby pins! 

With the rest of the outfit, it was a nice final touch!

Genre Mash-Up: Steampunk Sailor Mars - Pt 5

As mentioned in Part 3, the finished skirt was a little limp and lifeless... and anime skirts are almost always full bodied and full of movement. This skirt requires a petticoat.

After looking at many petticoat tutorials, I became frustrated with the amount of math required.... I hate math! So, I decided to wing it. Again.

I measured the total length of the finished red pleated skirt. I cut a piece of lining that is the same length. I used the full width of the material, and will gather the waist and finish with a drawstring. This will allow me to adjust the waist to fit whatever corset I might be wearing with it. I stitched up one side and hemmed the skirt, so what I am left with is a hemmed tube.

I cut two pieces the full width, and half as long. (My lining is about 30" long, so this layer is about 15" long). I stitched the sides of these two pieces together so I have a tube that is now half as long and twice as wide as the lining. Hem this also, because it is much easier to hem before all the tulle is added. Next, I cut a piece of tulle that is the same size as this layer. This, I stitched flat to the top edge. Because this will be gathered, I didn't bother gathering the tulle before sewing it to this layer.

Next, cut strips of tulle. I cut them to 12", the full width of the material. I now have a nice stack of 12" x max width of tulle. I took each piece to the sewing machine, and with my longest stitch available, ran a straight stitch up the centre of all the pieces. So, if you look at the strip, there is a long stitch line the entire length of it, dividing my 12" strip into two 6" sections.

Once all the pieces of tulle have their line down the middle, I pulled one of the threads to gather the pieces. I now have a pile of slightly gathered tulle strips.

Laying my lining flat, I pinned the gathered pieces of tulle along their stitch line. The plan is to have the edge of the tulle hanging over the edge of the lining by about 1-2". This will hide the lining and allow for the ruffled edges of tulle to stick out slightly from under the skirt.

I repeat for the shorter layer. Once the gathered pieces of tulle are pinned securely to the lining pieces, I stitched them down over the long gathered stitch I had earlier. This will leave you with a ruffle sticking out up and down. Fold down the top half so it hangs down over the edge of the lining with it's bottom ruffle, and there you go! Two layers of gathered tulle, and you only had to do it all once! I hate working with tulle, and this just saved me the trouble of having to go through the gathering and stitching once! Yay!

Once all the tulle is stitched to the lining pieces, it is time to put it all together. I ran another long stitch along the top of the short piece, where the single layer of tulle is, and pulled the thread to gather, like I did will all that tulle. Once I had it gathered to fit around the inner lining, I stitched it in place. Once the waist band is pulled tight, the layers of gathered lining and tulle puff out nicely!

This is what it looked like putting all the layers together! Quite the mess!

It gives the overskirts the much needed volume! It was a huge relief, because with the convention only two sleep away, I was starting to enter panic mode!

Much better with added volume!

Genre Mash-Up: Steampunk Sailor Mars - Pt 4

Props. These can be big, small, simple, elaborate... They can be incredibly descriptive for the character, like a trademark sword, or can be a fun little detail.

I had decided that Sailor Mars needed a prop. A few ideas came to mind... I would love to have made all of them, but time will only allow for so many.

I wanted to make a fiery crossbow, rather than the full scale flaming bow and arrow. Non-functional, of course... most conventions stipulate that all prop weapons must be made of safe materials, and cannot be functional. This crossbow would be made from various pieces of wood, and would be permanently in the drawn position and glued into place, never to fire its arrow. I didn't have time for a crossbow. Sorry if this is a disappointment... it was for me too, and perhaps one day, I will make it. There are just so many logistical issues with it, and I don't even know where to start.

I figured I would go for something simple... something easy to make Marsy and Steampunky. How about the  Transformation wand? With several variations of that throughout the series, it shouldn't be too difficult to make one that at least resembles on of them. My personal favourite was the star version. I just think the star that repeats on Sailor Mars' outfit is great, and having several stars on it already, this seemed like a natural choice.

I trolled the aisles of my local craft and sewing stores for the pieces I would use. With Christmas coming up, I was able to find a felt star that had a nice filigree pattern cut into it. Glue this to a stable layer (a wooden star, in this case), paint it gold, and I have a nice Victorian version of the topper on the star wand.

I found a nice wooden something or other in the woodworking section of Michaels Crafts. I squashed a piece of Fimo (polymer clay that hardens when baked) to fit between the star and the handle.

I painted them as separate pieces, and glued them together when they were dry. I didn't like they way the red and gold Fimo piece stood out, so I painted that gold after I assembled everything. It looked much better once it was painted gold too!

I glued some gears to it, and wrapped a chain around the handle. It looked quite nice when it was done. I will include some better photos in my summary at the end of the project.

Final note on props... in addition to the rules of the convention about weapons and props, remember that you are going to have to carry this thing around ALL DAY! Being a totally non-functional prop, not a purse or something else that was actually useful, I found it annoying to carry this around for 6 hours. And it wasn't even that heavy. I am having second thoughts now about taking this prop to my next convention, and instead I am thinking about making a different accessory that is hands free.

Genre Mash-Up: Steampunk Sailor Mars - Pt 3

Overskirt and Underskirt

The overskirt is from Butterick pattern B3906 - Misses Petite Costume (really descriptive name!). Basically, it was for a generic barmaid/housemaid/peasantwoman outfit. The type of fabric used would determine the theme of the costume. I had made it with a brown pinstriped material with an ivory cotton lace trim and a brown ribbon tie, as seen in the pirate photo in the previous post. For Sailor Mars, I will be swapping out the ivory cotton shift for a red taffeta pleated underskirt. The red taffeta will be the same material used in the sailor collar.

I didn't bother buying a pattern for the underskirt. I am basically going to make a shorter version of the black skirt I had made for the Victorian Dress I made earlier in June. I gather the top to a waistband, and make lots of pleats which are sewn to the bottom of the skirt.

I did go back and forth with how to do the bottom of the dress. I could do a gathers, or I could do knife pleats. Looking at Sailor Mar's original skirt, I decided to go with the pleats, even though they will take much longer. The Victorian skirt took 6 hours just to do the pleats. But, having done them once before, it went much faster this time! And, I don't think the skirt is as full, so there were fewer pleats to make.

With the pleats stitched to the bottom, I gathered the top and sewed that inside a simple waistband. I am not sure if I will use hooks or ties to close it. I am thinking about using ties, because I may need to adjust the size depending on the corset I might be wearing with it.

It is lacking in volume, and as anyone who has watched any anime knows, their skirts are never limp and lifeless! I don't want to go full out Lolita, but a petticoat will finish this off nicely.