Contact Cards

It occurred to me last weekend that many cosplayers have a card. They hand them out for several reasons. If someone takes a photo of you and you'd like them to send it to you, you can hand them a card and ask them to do so. If you sell or design pieces, you might have a shop with a card you can hand out when people admire your work. If you just want more people to follow you on social media or read your blog, you can hand cards to your admirers and they'll have the information they need to find you online.

Mostly, I wanted cards for the first reason: to get people to send their photos of me to me. But I also want to be able to stay in contact with some of the amazing people I meet while doing cosplay, and this seemed like the easiest way to do that. Plus, I don't think I'll have many costumes where I don't have somewhere to tuck away a few cards to hand out. (I have to be able to carry my wallet and phone anyway; a handful of cards aren't much bigger than that.)

So I made some at Vistaprint last weekend after I finished the harness, and they're here!

Now I just can't wait to hand them out!

One Year of Cosplay

It might be weird that I know the anniversary of my first cosplay, but it's easy to remember... it was at NYCC 2014. Beth told me she was going to NYCC in October and I should go with her, and I thought... yeah, I should! Plus, she was going to make me a costume, so that was cool. That's how, one year ago today, I found myself walking into the Javits Center in NYC and my mind was completely blown. NYCC is HUGE. It takes up a ton of space, there are a ton of people there, and everything is just so... GRAND. So of course I was immediately in love with the entire thing.

Then I started walking around. And I learned that Beth had not been joking when she said that total strangers give you compliments and ask to take photos with you. That really surprised me, even though I had been given fair warning. After one year and six cons, there have to be at least a hundred pictures of me on strangers' phones, cameras, Flickr feeds, Facebook pages, blogs, and what have you (not counting the photos my friends and I have taken... Chris probably has 100+ all on his own). It's weird to think about, but it's also really cool.

NYCC was unbelievable. It was tiring and crazy and I loved it. Then I came home and later that month, we went to Tidewater Comicon and it was even better, because it was at home, and I saw that these people exist in my own city; it's not just a weird New York thing.

This year, we've gone to another Tidewater Comicon, Wizard World Richmond, Awesome Con, and Baltimore Comic-Con, plus I have two more in the next month and a half. Every con is different and fabulous in its own way.

We've entered the Tidewater Comicon cosplay contest each time we've been there, and I love the way they do it. On the exhibit hall floor, you go to the contest table whenever you want, and you get a number, they take a photo, and you talk to the judges about your costume (character, methods, materials, everything). We really appreciate the judges there, because they asked well-informed questions; they clearly know what they're doing.

At Baltimore last month, I did my first stage cosplay contest. It was different and a little terrifying, but I got to talk shop with other cosplayers. We swapped ideas and plans and materials vendors. (The Ring Lord should really give me a commission for that one.) I hadn't really gotten a chance to do that before, so that was really fun, and I hope to see some of those people again at future cons.

And now, I'm in the middle of putting together a costume on my own, which is an entirely different experience from watching Beth swear at a sewing machine and being her cheerleader.

I freely admit that I love the attention I get when I'm cosplaying. Strangers come up to me to compliment me, ask questions about how something was made, take pictures of and with me... it feels amazing, and there's nothing quite like it. Everyone is so unbelievably nice.

I haven't had any bad experiences, like harassment or even mild rudeness. Every con I've been to has really pushed the "cosplay isn't consent" idea and it seems to have sunk in really well. I haven't seen anyone take my photo without my permission, much less touch me. (I had to actually invite people to touch the Iron Man dress at Baltimore because they didn't want to ask, but it just looks so interesting.) This doesn't, by any means, mean that it doesn't happen; I'm just saying that I'm lucky and haven't experienced it myself. And I am confident that if anything does happen, there is a huge community that would protect and support me, because cosplayers are tight like that.

Cosplaying has also taught me a lot of new skills, mostly in the way of crafting. In the past month alone, I've learned about leather crafting, painting, EL wire, and how difficult it is to sew on pleather. For my next few attempts, I'll be learning how to craft with foam, making a mask, and so much more about sewing.

Anyway, all I wanted to say is that it's been an amazing year and the next one will be, too. I have more ideas than I have time/money/energy so it's hard to say what will come next!

More Research = More Work

That moment where you're looking for better reference photos for one piece, and you find out you missed some things on a piece you already finished...

Specifically, I needed images of Harley's back, and I found more images that show different angles of the harness... and I have to go back and add six O-rings (two of which I already knew about). And I was going to leave off one of the straps (the one that goes around the neck and down to just about armpit level in the front) but I'm not sure I can get away with that now. We'll see.

Sure, it showed me I have more work to do on the harness...
But on the bright side, this is a really excellent image.
And it makes me wonder if I want a police hat.
(That doesn't sound right... "police hat." What are they called? A cap?)

Studs/Brads

I learned yesterday, by testing them, that brads are much easier to put in the leather than actual studs. So that's what I'm rolling with.

Problem was, I had small silver ones, and what I needed was large black ones. So I went back to Michael's today and did not find what I needed. What I did find, however, was large brads that look like baseballs. So I decided to get those and paint them.

As you can see, it was going to require a couple of coats. Then I saw something else already sitting out on my sewing table and decided to try it to see if it was more effective...

Nail polish! It was thick enough to cover it with one coat, it's shiny like metal would be, and I'm fairly sure that it won't chip (but I might need to put on a clear coat just in case). I don't think they'll fully dry before I go to bed tonight, so I'll have to work with them tomorrow.

Harness Weekend

The harness is complete! Okay, I still need to add the studs on two of the straps but that's only because I have silver studs and I need black. But I had a weekend that went from learning how to use a sewing awl to putting on a COMPLETE harness!

Finished product first:

I didn't take nearly enough photos to do a tutorial, but I did take enough to share the journey with you.

I now own a sewing awl, which (and I only thought of this because of all the Walking Dead I've been watching) would make a decent anti-zombie weapon in a pinch.

Have to test it first, of course!

I didn't actually use it for any of the actual sewing, as it turned out, because I was sewing edge-to-edge, and the instructions for the sewing awl showed me how to sew flat side to flat side. So I used the awl to make the holes and I sewed with a blunt needle.

I knew I needed something under the work to keep my sewing table from being utterly destroyed, but I started off with just a few layers of cardboard. So this happened:

(Look very carefully. That isn't dust on your screen, it's little marks all over my sewing table.)

The first thing I sewed on was the snap to the under-bust band.

It may look like there's a lot of waxed thread getting in the way on the right picture, but actually, the snaps were kind of wobbly to begin with, so that solved a problem for me. They snap really snugly and don't pop open too easily. The top picture is the hole I had to bore out for the middle of the "innie" snap (I'm sure they have a technical name but I haven't learned it yet). I made the hole with a combination of the sewing awl, needle-nose pliers, matte knife, and scissors.

Next up was sewing the over-arm pieces to the under-bust piece.

I don't mean to brag, but damn that's some fine spacing and snug stitching, not to mention a tight knot that won't budge a millimeter. (Yeah, I'm proud of my work, what can I say?)

One thing that was kind of a problem until I got into the swing of things was my needles.

This happened twice (but I only took a picture of the first one). I was worried that it was going to be an average of one needle per strap. The problem was that, most of the time, I couldn't pull the needle out of the hole with just my fingers (waxed thread makes your fingers kind of... waxy) so I used the pliers, but apparently I sometimes had too much of an angle on it so they snapped. But I got better at that whole process, and no more needles were sacrificed.

Then I added a snap and the O-ring to the neck band (and modeled it for myself, because photo breaks are an integral part of my creative process). Then I added the bands that I called the clavicle bands (and modeled again).

Then, Birk and I (okay, Birk, because I can't see my own back... it's a personal flaw that I embrace) measured/marked the back of the over-arm bands for where the X on my back needed to go.

Marking where they need to go
(and the circle drawn on my back is supposed to be the O-ring).

Then I attached the X bands to the O-ring
and we taped them into place to make sure
everything lines up the way it's supposed to be.

Seriously, Birk did SO MUCH measuring and lining up and adjusting and taping and Sharpie-ing this weekend, and he deserves a big round of applause.

The arm bands just needed some elastic and they'll hold in place on my arms just fine, so I used some Krazy Glue (which worked spectacularly) and held it in place with binder clips while it dried.

And then I was done! And you've already seen the final product up there at the top.

I'm really proud of this one. I wanted to get this whole thing done this weekend, and I did. I learned a new skill and it turned out really well on the first try. I managed not to injure myself (though my shoulder is pretty sore from all the awling, but so far no bruise) despite all the scary pointy objects involved.

Prototype: Harley's Harness

I don't know what else to call the convolution of leather straps Harley wears in Arkham Knight, so I'm going to call it the harness, because that's what it feels like.

Instead of jumping right in and cutting up all my (expensive) leather, I thought it would be a good idea to make a prototype to make sure all my measuring was correct and that everything looked right when it was attached where it was supposed to be.

I am SO GLAD I did that, because I realized (1) one of the pieces needed to be eight inches longer because I should attach it to the underbust strap for stability, and (2) I need TWO overarm straps, or the back pieces have nothing to attach to on one side. So this was a very valuable exercise and I should always do it when working with expensive-to-replace materials.

So this is part of my prototype, which I made out of the same packaging foam that I used to cover the lights for Iron Man. (That stuff came in VERY handy this past week!) I labelled everything with a Sharpie so I'd know where each piece went and how long I cut it (and if I needed to add notes like "add two inches" or something, I could write it right on there). Then I taped everything together, including the (not yet spray-painted) O-rings where needed. I made marks on the tape where I'd be adding snaps or elastic or Velcro so I'd know what I could and couldn't un-tape to get out of it. (I would be the person who makes an absolutely perfect piece and then realizes she can't put it on or take it off.) And from doing the prototype, I discovered that there's one less place I need to add a fastener (it will slip over my head after I undo the collar piece), which is awesome, because I expect that to be quite a pain.

I've cut the leather now (and I have ONE spare belt blank in case I need to re-cut something) and painted the edges red, so everybody cross your fingers and hope that it all fits together the way it did in my prototype!

Iron Man Scale Dress

This one is a Beth creation, but I made the lights and also I had a ton of fun wearing it and entering the cosplay contest at Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend (and winning second-place amateur female!!!) so I wanted to share it with you guys.

That entire dress is knitted, with plastic scales from The Ring Lord (black scales that we spray-painted, because it's cheaper than buying the colorful scales and you can get the exact color you want that way).

I don't have any photos of the back, but there's a neat criss-cross of leather lacing providing a lot of support because the dress is crazy heavy. (It actually stretched out over the course of the day as I stood and walked, which was an important lesson for us to learn.)

The lights are EL wire coiled up inside a packet of vellum paper and covered with thin white foam packaging I had sitting around. The battery packs are tucked into the gauntlets past my wrist, and one inside my bra.

When I walked, it sounded like a staccato rain stick (it's the best comparison I can come up with, but pretty accurate) and I couldn't hear the high-pitched buzz of the EL wire all day (ambient noise from the con was enough to cover that up, even with three of them).

The common questions I got (other than photo requests) were:

- Is it heavy? (Yes, I would guess about 10-15 pounds.)

- How many scales is that? (About 10,000.)

- How long did it take to make that? (About 5 weeks of intense work.)

- Is it warm? (Yes, I'm basically wearing a fitted afghan.)

So this is just to say congratulations to Beth for doing a TON of work on this thing, and to say that I had lots of fun wearing it. You'll see it again in several months... we want to make some changes to it for May (and hopefully it won't be insanely warm then).