Catchup Time

It has been some time since I last posted on here. All I can say is that life changes. I haven’t done a whole lot of costuming since I last posted. In fact in 2018, I only made three new costumes and one of those was simply finishing one that I had started two years prior. It’s not that I gave up sewing, in fact my wardrobe is a testament to that fact as I have spent rather a lot of time sewing up general clothing (for work and the like).

So to catch things up:

In September I attended OzComicCon. Things were a little crazy at work as I was acting in another role, and packing to move house at the time and I didn’t have the inclination to make anything new. So I polished off a couple of my older costumes and wore those: my Beauty School Dropout from Grease and my Ravenclaw Uniform and Robes.

   

Then came Supanova in November. Still acting in another role at work, but finished moving house, this time I managed to whip up a new costume. Based on artwork by Savannah Alexander of human form pokemon (Gijinka), I dressed as her 1930s style Ivysaur. I had originally planned to turn the plush toy into a bag but he was just too cute to butcher.

  

Since then, I have only been working on my own outfit sewing. I spent quite some time making new pieces to take on my recent trip to Japan. I was there for three and half weeks in March. Now, I do plan to make a start on some new Cosplay projects.

I also attended Supanova on the Gold Coast this year. It was a few weeks ago in April, and as I was freshly back from Japan I didn't have time to whip up anything new. So, time to pull out a previous costume, I wore my Saber Lion.

  

After moving my stash of fabric twice recently, I definitely want to have less of it next time I decide to move house. So, my goal this year (and in those to come) is to sew up the fabric that I have there. Everything that I made for Japan came from my fabric stash, so that’s been a bit of a blessing. But I have big rolls of fabric tagged for historical costumes and large chunks of fabric for cosplays.

On top of it all, I have been trying to downsize the rest of my stuff. Moving house really hits home that you have too much stuff. But part of this are my costumes. I have some that I am still attached to, but they don’t fit anymore. Is it any wonder when I made them five or more years ago? Health issues and weight gain, plus the general changing of my body shape means that these costumes just don’t fit me the way that they were made to do. So, I have slowly been listing onto my Etsy store. I plan to go through everything again and pull out the ones that I have been hanging onto despite not being able to wear them.

So despite not costuming for the last few months, I have been busy enough to keep myself going. But stay tuned because more costuming is to come.

Brisnova

I know it’s the new year already, but life has caught me by surprise and I’ve been rather busy of late. So busy in fact that I have yet to post about a couple of events that I attended towards the end of last year. The first – Brisbane Supanova. It’s our biggest convention in Brisbane and one that I attend every year. 2016 was no different. It was a weekend of catching up with fellow cosplayers, taking photos, browsing the shopping hall and trying to stay cool. Nathan Fillion was probably the biggest draw card in terms of celebrities. I would have loved to get a photo but I refuse to spend my entire weekend in line. His panel line was bad enough – snaking around several times and down three halls of the centre. Not my cup of tea. But it is an event that I love to cosplay for.

The convention begins on Friday afternoon and runs through to Sunday evening. It all started out at 1pm on Friday. I took myself into the city in my brand new costume. I didn’t have time to make a big costume but I did have the time and energy to throw together something a little cult – A Beauty School Dropout Angel from Grease. And I was lucky enough that my bestie dressed up as Frenchie to match. The most stressful part of the costume was waiting for the rollers to make the headdress arrive (Australia Post took its sweet time about it). It was an incredibly comfortable costume to wear and even though be slightly obscure, we were recognised by other attendees. It’s definitely a costume that I will be bringing out again.

Come Saturday, the heat had set in for the weekend. Spring had decided to treat us with an early weekend of heat and humidity. Makes for a lovely time when you are trussed up in costume with layers of fabric, undergarments, wigs and makeup. Again, my bestie and I teamed up for the day and dressed as DC Bombshells. Gael Storm as Cheetah and myself as Black Canary. They’re certainly fun costumes to wear.

Lastly, Sunday rolled around. This time, we dressed as Disney Princesses – Aurora from Sleeping Beauty and Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I have to say, I love cosplaying as a princess. There is nothing like the look on a little kid’s face when they realise that their favourite princess is standing in front of them. It’s a good feeling. And it was certainly a day of hugs from children.

But at the end of it all, we quickly slipped into some regular clothing and hit Coffee Club for dinner on the way home. It’s become sort of a tradition for us to stop for a good meal after the convention before heading home to crash into bed. And before we know it, the next convention will be upon us. I really should get to sewing.