Too Many Scraps

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2012 Couture for a Cause, Raleigh NC

Reference photos of outfits I made, on model Alicia

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I’m Rocket! Found an amazing Captain America to pose with at DragonCon 2016 - Marvel Photoshoot.

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I am having adventures in wig crafting. I bought two of the same wig (always a risk with blondes, because blonde washes me the fuck out - but the red tones in this wig seem to work pretty well for a change.

I carefully cut apart the wefts from one wig and hand stitched them into the other. The main wig is currently drying with glue in an attempt to follow tutorials on adding a ‘hairline’ to it. I’ll find out when I get home today if it worked.

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Me as Rocket with my new shiny gun! Thanks  Enderpants Fotography

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Chewbacca progress.

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T-Rex Tuesday: Me as Charizard-Rex at Animazement last Friday : )

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Rocket Gun, mostly finished.

I think it's done. Needs to be sealed, maybe brighten up the scope. And now I want to do it again, except do it perfectly. There are some hot glue lines and some uneven foam cuts underneath. I'm glad I added a plastic gun grip, makes it much easier to hold. It's a bit more than four feet long. I made everything except the plastic space gun that I cut apart. Foam, craft foam, worbla, greeblies, screws, pvc and fiberglass tubes. And a plastic drinking cup.

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Rocket Gun WIP progress. I just have to build the forward sights and maybe a few other tiny details, then I’m good to paint!

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I’m working on a thing for my first fursuit and I’m kinda creeped out by my own work station.

I’ve made most of this out of melty plastic beads and hot glue. The plastic beads melt very nicely and give the teeth a really awesome translucent feel. The gum paint is coated with massive amounts of ‘acrylic paint glaze’ to make them wet looking. I referenced a lovely person who make a youtube video, only she used sculpey instead of plastic. 

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I’m tooting my own horn. cause “TOOOOOT”

Most recent commission for a client of Hoth leia suit and vest. I need to take in the vest a little bit, and the suit collar doesn't quite close all the way, but otherwise I think it looks pretty damn good.

My client is modeling her new suit at Celebration :D

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I did a thing.

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Must get better photos sooooon.

Myself in my Midna.. needs some touch ups.

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Here is a photo of my cats, eagerly awaiting the opening of their new KitNipBox. I should have photos of a new Imperial Officer Uniform that I remade for a friend, but until then. Cats.

Danny the giant grey doof and Louie the loving black tux, age 19.5. 

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Not 'shopped.

I packed a costume when we went to New Zealand last year. I didn't pack one when we went to Europe and I kind of regretted it XD. Near the end of our trip, we were driving down the coast of South Island, and the guys wanted to stop and look at beach rocks. My brain went DING, and I threw on the dress by the side of the road and hopped on down to the rocky beach. Neither my husband or his brother, as it turns out, are great with a camera, but I'm happy.

Along the South Island drive, we also found the Lobster shack that was on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives, so my hubby was very happy. Good lord that thing was expensive, but apparently worth it.

And yes, we went to Hobbiton too - on Frodo's Birthday!

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I did a thing today.

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Amazing who turns up at a Ren fair these days XD,

I have a new costume I can literally throw on at a moments notice (yay) with minimal extra stuff.

Site resources: http://www.costumersguide.com/chase.shtml

This site had I think the most helpful photos. The movie is over ten years old now??? and some of the other sites had links to images on other pages that  no longer exist.

http://leavesoflorian.blogspot.com/2013/02/arwens-chase-dress-lord-of-rings.html

This one is also full of embedded photos, but I didn't always find it again when I googled the dress.

http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Elf/Arwen/Chase.htm

This page was most helpful with pattern suggestions.

I started with seven goatskin hides. They're the right color but I mistakenly thought they were suede, which is what I really needed. In the end though, I really like the goatskin finish, even though they're white on the insides of the skins.  The ebay price was very good too - I couldn't find 'dove grey' suede leather, and when I could, it was outrageously priced or far too thick. So this ended up being a really good compromise between settling for microsuede fabric and going for using all leather.  I used 4 full skins for the skirts, which overlap very nicely and are full. 1 skin went to the sleeve bottoms, which are huge, and the other skins were enough for the bodice and upper arms. I had to re-cut one upper sleeve because the embroidery didn't work out the way I wanted. It's still hard to tell exactly how the design was done on the sleeves, but I'm happy with the machine embroidery, and it didn't give me an issue with the leather. The bodice is unlined, but I'm considering either lining it or finding another way to reinforce the leather so it won't stretch over time. I think I already have to take it in a bit.

Yesterday I re-hemmed the goldish sleeve material and fray-checked it. I glued down the inside of the sleeve material and trimmed it up - which is blue microsuede cut from a thrift store shirt. I trimmed down my ears yesterday too, so they should sit better next time. I still don't have my 3D printed belt buckle, so it looks like I'll just be making it out of worbla or wire reinforced sculpey. The last bit is baseball stitching the seams, but I don't like the way I've started them. The good news is, this leather has been surprisingly forgiving of oopsie needle punches.  I'm not entirely sure why the bodice pulls so much on the side near the arm scythe, so I'll have to see if that's fixable.

I think I'm planning on removing the front zipper entirely and replacing it with hand sewn in hooks and eyes. I don't like that the zipper is somewhat visible, and that there's a line of top stitching that is visible at the front.

The collar is still kind of crazy and needs adjustment.  I should have done a pattern test on the collar, but alas, I did not.

I will probably not be offering this as a possible commission.  The leather is too hard to find.

If we ever go back to New Zealand, I'm totally bringing this along.

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My Arwen Chase dress is ALMOST DONE. Was done enough to wear to the Carolina Renaissance Festival anyway. I still have to baseball stitch the seams, and make the belt buckle, but I'm pretty pleased with how the leather behaved while sewing, even if it wasn't suede. Can't wait to wear it on a horse! 

(also, need to trim down the open side of the ears so they fit closer and look smaller overall)

Thanks to my friend Rebecca for taking the photos!