Comp Insanity

I may have rocks in my head.

Over the weekend I signed up to participate in the Bernina Cosplay Competition run through the Cosplay Collective. The comp opened in October last year and it’s only now that I am signing up? What is going in my head?! But I’ve put my hand up to commit to this thing and I’m certainly going to give it a crack.

As for what I am making… After a lot of back and forth, I finally narrowed it down to Padme’s Pre-Senate Kimono Gown from Star Wars Episode 1. Shocking movie, but the costumes are impressive.

When I first decided on this one I thought it might be too simple. But then once the research began I realised that I am biting off a lot more. So far I am in the collection phase. I started off doing all my research:

• Finding reference images (screencaps, exhibition photographs)
• Searching for other cosplayers who have made the costume (What did they do? What went wrong? What worked well?)

I then broke down the costume into its numerous components and made myself a shopping list. Hello bullet journal. Next up, I started hunting around my favourite fabric websites for supplies. There are a few elements that I will be able to use fabric from my stash for which does help bring down the costs. Next on the list though is ordering my notions, and decorative supplies (beads, embroidery threads, hooks, worbla, fabric dye). Then there are the purchased supplies such as makeup, wigs and wefts.

But while I am waiting for all of that to arrive, I need to make a start on drafting up my patterns. I’ve selected two from my pattern collection: one is a Kimono costume pattern and the other is a straight sleeve pattern. Come this weekend I really want to make a start on drafting my patterns and get my mockups cut out. From there I will be able to sew them up and make any adjustments. How the first mockup turns out will determine if I need to mockup a second time (or third etc). For me, it really depends on how close I am to the final version before I made any more changes.

Right now, online shopping it is…