Papercraft Skulls And Other Things

A bunch of cosplay stuff, and occasional tutorials. On mastodon @[email protected].

[glowingskull]

Note to self: When sewing patch pockets with flaps, turn the flap right-side-out, iron, and top-stitch before doing the same for the pocket. This prevents the pocket from being wider than the flap.

[glowingskull]

a 2.5mm-thick ABS print at ~15% infill is pretty flexible, when talking about objects measured in tens of centimeters, so be sure to note that down

[niuniente]

Traditional European Christmas time monsters, photographer across the Europe by Charles Fréger.

[glowingskull]

drunk in the street: "hey what's your costume?"

cosplayer: "i have pamphlets"

[glowingskull]

me: ".... and then it wraps up with a cover of the not-throwing-away-my-shot song from Hamilton"

also me: "but that's the presentation audio for the Sniper Doll costume, and you don't yet know how to twirl a rifle."

me: "so what?"

also me: "that competition and costume comes after Utopian Coat 3, which comes after getting Utopian Coat 2's finishing touches for this Halloween. it's a 2026->2027 costume at the earliest."

me: "look, a costumer can dream."

[glowingskull]

so the goal is to have a bunch of LEDs in the coat, where I can trigger a lightshow that depicts a space-based Beam Weapon destroying something over the horizon, blanking out the stars in its brightness

but I want to have some sort of narrative for that, so while the coat is a work of art, the coat is clothing that is worn by a model who plays a character, and that character gives me an opportunity to narrate that lightshow

costume contest stages provide a little bit of music and a little bit of lighting, and a stage with a backdrop, so if I have a prop that emits a light that matches the color of the beam, then I can work that into a little story

the thing is, though, props need to be transported. a Beam Rifle prop that's big enough to be seen on stage is going to cause so many questions in transit, and invites questions about whether I want to barrel-sweep the audience. but it doesn't have to be a beam rifle.

the thought percolating in my head is to use the backdrop to show the beam firing: something that fits up my sleeve, and emits a very bright green light with moderate focus. I face away from the audience, the wall gets lit extremely green, the house lights cut out, and then the twinkling stars of the coat are washed out by the green beam descending from the heavens, and the dim glow over the horizon.

[bwabbitv3s]

I finished the last constellation tonight. All 40 of them are now done! Went through and double checked and every stitch is in place for them and all the beads are in place. Which just leaves the milky way part to do.

[bwabbitv3s]

Started stitching the Milky Way in. Slowly making progress on it as I am hiding the travelling thread so the back will look nice.

Looks pretty cool and keeps the readability of the other stitches. Very happy with it. Just a thousand or so to do. As they are in a grid roughly every centimetre apart.

[bwabbitv3s]

Update on the constellation quilt. I have gotten the last Milky Way stitch done now. Which means the quilting part of this project is done. My next step will be to baste the edges down, remove the pattern, trim the quilt square, and lastly attach the binding.

[bwabbitv3s]

Progress on the constellation quilt has come along quite a lot now. Finished the binding on the quilt over the weekend. I prefer to machine stitch the binding to the front then hand stitch the back side. It gives such a nice finish to the quilt. Took the time to measure it also and it ended up being 72" by 72" (183cm by 183cm).

With that done I could finally start removing the pattern. Which is taking both less time and more time that I thought it would. As it rips really easily so that goes fast, but the tiny corners and removing it under the beads is slow. You can now see the difference in the glow effect with it against the dark front of the quilt instead of the pattern.

[bwabbitv3s]

Behold the stars of the constellations of the northern sky! I love how this quilt has turned out. It was a lot of fun to work on and the effect is so cool in person. Overall I would estimate it took about 90-100 hours to complete. Give or take 10 hours if you want to count the time I spent custom dying the fabric.

I made sure to get a nice photo of it in daylight. For once I also remembered to get a quilt label on it. The back really shows the difference in readability of the quilting on the ice dyed fabric compared to the solid front. Thank you everyone that has followed this. I am glad you all found joy in it.

Those that are interested, here is the pattern I used by Haptic Lab. I made the large northern hemisphere version, and plan to make the matching southern hemisphere one next year. I also got your back for the less crafty people. Haptic Lab sells finished quilts in this pattern, both as a large quilt and a small one.

[toolusingmammalgirl]

I don’t think I posted this here yet: Apollo Mojave, in their appearance that stuck with me the most.

[abroerman]

my take on a Utopian from Ada Palmer’s brilliant Terra Ignota series

[toolusingmammalgirl]

“We expect you to turn on us, and distrust us, throughout this war and ever after. But you will have an ever after, now.”

Huxley Mojave, from The Will to Battle! Dang, I love drawing Utopian coats.

[glowingskull]

the struggle, when planning a cosplay garment for use outside of cosplay contexts, between

"neat coat, where'd you get it?"

and

"why are you wearing body armour?"

[glowingskull]

Bought two jean jackets from the thrift store. Now to conduct crimes unto bleach and dye with them. Maybe some light bejazzling.

[glowingskull]

Bought some dyes, too, so now I need to look up:

bleaching denim

application methods for RIT liquid dye on denim

etc

[glowingskull]

I know what artwork I'm going to use for this next coat's skirts, but it feels like I'm way precommitting if I say that now.

What if the aspect ratio needs to change? (it can be stretched) What if there's better art out there? (you reviewed the entirety of several artists' entire known oeuvres) What if I want to commission art from someone? (seems unlikely; shifts printmaking well to the right) What if I want to team up with a printmaker? (not realistic based on hobby schedule) What if I want to make the art myself? (not realistic based on other artwork projects)

[glowingskull]

Bought two jean jackets from the thrift store. Now to conduct crimes unto bleach and dye with them. Maybe some light bejazzling.

[glowingskull]

One month to see if I can assemble a new trenchcoat from scratch.

[glowingskull]

I have collided with the ugh field of cutting out the pattern.

[glowingskull]

The pattern is cut!

Now to make the first-pass version with field-expedient materials: windowscreen and staples.

[glowingskull]

Now I understand why the numbers on the pattern don't make sense: I bought the Sizes 44-52 pattern, not the other one! The paper is too big!

We'll see how well this work.

[glowingskull]

Considering that I probably should be making this in a 34-36, I'm pleased how well the mockup in 44 worked out, done in half a day with windowscreen and stapler.

When I get around to doing this with the real fabric, I'm not sure if I'm going to line it. The fabric I'm using is pretty slick on the wrongside/inside, and I'm going to be wearing this in August heat. More layers is worse. But putting a lining in might help with structural rigidity and re-wearability, if I don't cover all seams in bias tape made of cotton duck, and I'm probably going to have to line the front inside anyways to give me some pockets. Much to think about.

Converting the collar to a hood, on the other hand, will mostly just be a question of how big I want it to be. More window-screen drafting lies ahead.

[glowingskull]

The real fabric has been cut out, and I spent a week seam-ripping off a bunch of tiny polygons to clear space to machine-stitch the seams. I guess I'm going to spent a lot of time stitching those back on.

Still haven't figured out the dimensions for the hood, but that's still downstream of doing the sewing that creates the collar.

For the waist, I'm probably going to fit a belt into the inside of the coat, just to give it some cinch. Maybe also some shoulder straps, to make sure it stays on.

I also finally have some "horsehair" braid that can be used to provide some body to the cuffs, which I'll probably hand-stitch in. I wonder if the hotel will have an iron that I can use to add my contractually-obligated amount of retroreflectivity.

[glowingskull]

That last post was on August 6.

On August 9, I machine-stitched the eight body panels together, then threw all the other bits I thought I'd need into my bag and packed up for Worldcon.

From August 10 to 12, aboard an Amtrak sleeper, I constructed both sleeves, and sewed one into the coat.

On August 13, I attached the other sleeve by hand, reinforced both sleeve stitches with machine stitching. Upon an overheard note at the number of Masquerade applicants, I got my application in. I was within the last 5 applicants; they cut off at 47 and I was entry TT.

On August 14, with significant help from the Costume Repair booth, I got the shoulder pads in place. I also made and attached the hood, and figured out my music for the show.

On August 15, I put some horsehair into the hood, wrapping up about 5:30 p.m., during the tech demos. There was also a mad sprint from the convention center back to my hotel, because I realized that I was missing a shirt and gloves for the costume. Sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. my costume was judged, in the madhouse that was the Green Room, and then it was the classic hurry-up-and-wait for the actual performances.

That wrapped up at 10:59 p.m., at which point I went over to DJ Scalzi's rave, and hung out with other Terra Ignota folks outside the rave.

The author who inspired this outfit was seen wearing it and smiling, so I'm quite pleased.

I also have a to-do list to make the costume actually "finished" which includes:

writing up the whole project, and finding people's photos

fixing a bunch of small holes and poorly-done seams

reinforcing the seams so they don't stretch

adding lining

adding a dust ruffle thing at the bottom of the skirts

redoing the front zipper so it's not always visible

adding an internal belt for pockets

making a little mylar Utopian Flag for the shoulder

iron-in retroreflective tape

Delian sun insignia on back in a different reflective pattern

epaulettes

better shoulder pads

[glowingskull]

I have a flowchart for the next Utopian Coat project. This is a very sane flowchart and I hope to have no Con Crunch next year, for Los Angeles.

[glowingskull]

One month to see if I can assemble a new trenchcoat from scratch.

[glowingskull]

I have collided with the ugh field of cutting out the pattern.

[glowingskull]

The pattern is cut!

Now to make the first-pass version with field-expedient materials: windowscreen and staples.

[glowingskull]

Now I understand why the numbers on the pattern don't make sense: I bought the Sizes 44-52 pattern, not the other one! The paper is too big!

We'll see how well this work.

[glowingskull]

Considering that I probably should be making this in a 34-36, I'm pleased how well the mockup in 44 worked out, done in half a day with windowscreen and stapler.

When I get around to doing this with the real fabric, I'm not sure if I'm going to line it. The fabric I'm using is pretty slick on the wrongside/inside, and I'm going to be wearing this in August heat. More layers is worse. But putting a lining in might help with structural rigidity and re-wearability, if I don't cover all seams in bias tape made of cotton duck, and I'm probably going to have to line the front inside anyways to give me some pockets. Much to think about.

Converting the collar to a hood, on the other hand, will mostly just be a question of how big I want it to be. More window-screen drafting lies ahead.

[glowingskull]

The real fabric has been cut out, and I spent a week seam-ripping off a bunch of tiny polygons to clear space to machine-stitch the seams. I guess I'm going to spent a lot of time stitching those back on.

Still haven't figured out the dimensions for the hood, but that's still downstream of doing the sewing that creates the collar.

For the waist, I'm probably going to fit a belt into the inside of the coat, just to give it some cinch. Maybe also some shoulder straps, to make sure it stays on.

I also finally have some "horsehair" braid that can be used to provide some body to the cuffs, which I'll probably hand-stitch in. I wonder if the hotel will have an iron that I can use to add my contractually-obligated amount of retroreflectivity.