Hocus Pocus - Fabric Galore

This project is definitely not really in progress right now but I've been dabbling with fabric research and swatches again, so in the spirit of sharing something new that's not just a recap of last year I figured I'd post it (and on Halloween of all days!).

I knew going in that this project would require a lot of research and trial and error, and fabric swatches are a key part of that. But I don't think I've ever ordered so many swatches for a project, and especially not this many types of fabric.

Winifred:
The coat:

Beautiful, luscious green velvet.

Sheer sleeve trim.

Sheer sleeve trim.

Coat lining.

I still had a swatch of kelly green velvet for the coat from when I dabbled with these costumes years ago, and I still love this fabric so much.

Kelly green micro velvet via Fabric Wholesale Direct

I've swatched some other velvets and looked at a few in stores and nothing has beat this, so it's definitely a winner.

Mint green chiffon and olive sheer voile for the coat sleeve trim.

Mint green chiffon via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Olive sheer voile via Fabric Wholesle Direct

I've been back and forth on these constantly. I like the drape of the chiffon better, but I think it's a little too vibrant and opaque. The voile is a bit stiff and just looks and feels a little more polyester plastic-y, but I think the more subtle color and sheerness are a better screen match. Then again, the chiffon seems closer to some of the display photos. Then again, washing and handling seems to help with some of the voile's stiffness. This might take some actual yardage to see how it drapes and moves.

Poly lining in sage green, pistachio, and dark sage for the coat lining.

Sage green poly lining via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Pistachio poly lining via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Dark sage poly lining via Fabric Wholesale Direct

In person, the sage is lighter and more seafoam-y, so there's actually more of a contrast between them. But I'm leaning towards pistachio or dark sage. The pistachio compliments the velvet okay and is a nice light color that should take purple dye well, while the dark sage blends in with the velvet and will be a more subtle contrast (which I think I prefer). I still need to do some dye tests with purple to see how the finished result would look.

The dress:

Sleeve lace and undersleeve netting.

Sleeve lace.

Kelly green peachskin and kelly green challis for the body of the dress.

Kelly green peachskin via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Kelly green rayon challis via Fabric Wholesale Direct

These were pretty close, but the peachskin is just a little better in terms of color (a little more yellow-green) and weight (a little heavier). It also barely wrinkles, while the challis wrinkles really easily, and I'm all for low-maintenance costumes.

Purple crinkle poly, purple crushed charmeuese satin, and plum crushed charmeuese satin for the center panel of the dress.

Purple crinkle poly via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Purple crushed charmeuese via Fabric Empire

Plum crushed charmeuese via Fabric Empire

The crinkle is pretty much perfect. It has a very faint sheen, which I think will help it move well without being too shiny, and the texture and color are a dream: perfect little uniform crinkles, and a really nice rich purple that ranges from nearly perfect to just a little warm depending on the dress photo. The plum crushed charmeuse isn't quite vibrant enough, but the purple has a really nice color, and even having more sheen it seems to still match the dress pretty well. This might just come down to preference of wrinkles.

Off white cotton crochet lace for the dress sleeve trim.

Via lacejamila on Etsy

I actually found this for Billy's shirt first, and then realized that Winnie's lace was really similar (just purple instead). So I decided to double up and just get more of the same stuff and dye it purple. As a rule I generally hate dyeing things, but lately I've been using Dye-Na-Flow more and more, and it takes a lot of hassle out of the process. This project has a lot of unavoidable dyeing anyway, so what's a little more? And having Billy and Winnie wear the same lace is kind of fun on a meta level.

For the undersleeves, I'll be buying purple cheesecloth and weaving it through with yarn for the lines.

Because of how I think the dress needs to be constructed, the green will probably be lined in front, and for that I'll use the same green poly I choose for the coat lining.

The petticoat:

Petticoat hem visible under dress.

Petticoat and trim.

Cherry red crushed charmeuese satin and burgundy crushed charmeuese satin for the petticoat.

Cherry red charmeuese via Fabric Empire

Burgundy crushed charmeuese via Fabric Empire

I thought the burgundy would be the clear winner, but in person it's too purple-y (more like wine). The cherry red is a great color though. The texture is fun, and the wrong side is matte enough that it negates the worry I had about using satin as a cheap-but-maybe-not-so-accurate fabric option. But lately I've been thinking about the actual construction of the petticoat and how to make it more multi-purpose to use with other costumes. So I decided to make it like an 18th century petticoat to wear it for historical stuff too, and I'll end up just using the same cotton-poly broadcloth I've made my other petticoats out of.

Red venise lace (DressyJessie) for the petticoat trim.

Via DressyJessie on Etsy

Speaks for itself. BEAUTIFUL. Looking for the trim is actually what made me think about reusing the petticoat with other historical costumes, because I just want to show this off all the time.

The bloomers:

Bloomers fabric and trim. Shows what looks like a shorter row of pointed lace that goes over the top of the fringe.

Bloomers trim.

Bloomers trim.

Another potential sighting of the extra lace. The darker pointed lace at the top should be the petticoat, and I think the lighter, more scalloped lace in the center of the image might be the short lace that goes over the bloomers fringe.

Red diamond cut-out lace (Stylish Fabric) for the bloomers.

Via Stylish Fabric

I'm so, so happy to have found this, because it's a very close match for a very particular fabric. The bloomers might never show so it doesn't really matter what they look like (I could even go so far as to skip them), but just knowing how accurate they are will be gratifying.

Red knit ITY jersey, red interlock knit, red matte milliskin, red shiny milliskin, and red cotton jersey for the bloomers lining.

Red knit ITY jersey via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Red interlock knit via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Red matte milliskin via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Red shiny milliskin via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Red cotton jersey via Fabric Wholesale Direct

I came really close to just getting the usual poly lining, because it's cheap and works great. But with the outer diamond fabric being stretchy, I can cut the bloomers slimmer around the waist and hip to reduce bulkiness under the dress but still be comfy and able to move around. This only works if the lining stretches too, of course, so I decided to try a stretch knit. I have a thing about textures, and something about the feel of the interlock gives me the heebie-jeebies. But the ITY jersey is pretty nice: soft and fairly smooth, good stretch and color. The milliskins and cotton jersey are still pending the arrival of swatches, but I have high hopes for them.

Red venise lace fringe for the bloomers trim.

Via DressyJessie on Etsy

Like the petticoat lace, this is kind of self-explanatory. Beautiful stuff, and has just the right look. If I have leftovers from the petticoat I might add some of that to the bloomers too, for the hypothetical extra row of lace at the top of the fringe. (I also have leftover venise lace from Lucille Sharpe's nightgown that would work for the extra row on the bloomers after a quick dye job.)

I was originally planning to do black suede boot covers for the shoes, and I still might, but first I'm going to try to permanently modify a pair of boots. If that doesn't work, I know Fabric Empire has great faux suede.

Billy: 
Billy's stuff is so distressed and decayed, that on the one hand I have a little more wiggle room than usual with the fabric choices because it won't look the same after so I don't have to worry about matching so much; but on the other hand, it'll help to choose fabrics that are already textured to make the distressing process easier and add some visual interest. Color is also tricky, because the coat and breeches are weathered differently, and all of Billy's scenes take place at night and aren't well-lit.

The coat:

Lots.

Of.

Texture.

Brown cotton gauze and various cheesecloth for the coat.

Dark brown gauze via FabricPlanet on Etsy

Obviously I won't be using pink cheesecloth on Billy, but it gets the textural point across.

The gauze is fairly lightweight, so if I go that route I might have to play with interfacing (depending on how the gauze layers with lining). The cheesecloth adds great texture, but I'm worried it'll hide so much of the gauze I'd be better off using a plain cheaper fabric as the base. Which would be fine, but I do like the gauze for the option of tearing holes in the cheesecloth so texture still shows through from underneath. I really admire Cosmicsaur's amazing Billy coat, so I might do a similar technique and apply small strips of shredded fabric for the tattered bits, rather than having a whole solid ratty layer. In that case, the gauze will look nice for an overall distressed look that more rotten spots can be created on top of. I'm also thinking about cutting the coat pieces so the slightly pleated texture of the gauze runs horizontally to help match some of the texture seen on screen.

Brown crushed charmeuese satin and brown crinkle polyester for the coat lining.

Brown crushed charmeuese via Fabric Empire

Brown crinkle poly via Fabric Wholesale Direct

The lining was a bit of a challenge, because I need something that can facilitate movement with the shirt and waistcoat (not let the coat cling to the other layers) but it can't look too crisp/modern/pristine. So these fabrics are a lifesaver. The crushed satin has a more random and distressed crushed pattern which looks like natural weathering, and the wrong side of the fabric is matte enough to be a little more subtle (and again, look more dusty/old and less shiny/fresh). The crinkle poly has a more uniform and subtle pattern, and the fabric is more matte. The lining looks green-ish in the movie, but I'm hesitant to stray from the brown-grey-black palette and neither of these fabrics come in an appropriate dark green. So that'll take some consideration.

The breeches:

Brown cotton gauze again (?).

Dark brown gauze via FabricPlanet on Etsy

The coat and breeches look like they're different fabrics, but it's hard to tell with the heavier distressing on the coat versus the fairly intact breeches (and again, the low lighting throughout Billy's scenes). My current theory is to use the same fabric as though they were a matching suit, and then let the layering/weathering on the coat distinguish them a bit.

Based on the texture in that behind-the-scenes photo, I'm also thinking about maybe some twills or tweeds for the coat and breeches.

??? for the waistcoat.

It's been incredibly hard to find a fabric that's affordable, non-stretch, black and gold/silver, and striped in the right width. This might come down to making my own. Luckily plain black fabric can be had just about anywhere for cheap enough (I might even have enough in the stash) and I already have tons of gold/silver paint. (The waistcoat stripes look gold-ish to me, if anything. But the buttons are all silver and the metallic trim looks silver too, so I might just do silver or at least grey stripes to make it all match—which is what makes sense both historically and for the character color palettes in the movie.)

The shirt:

Shirt and ruffle.

Lace ruffle detail.

Lace cuffs.

Ivory cotton gauze for the shirt.

Ivory gauze via FabricPlanet on Etsy

Basic cotton gauze is basic, but it's just about a perfect texture match, so that's a blessing.

Off white cotton crochet lace for the dress sleeve trim.

Via lacejamila on Etsy

Again, this is the same stuff that I'll use on Winifred's dress sleeves. I'm scared and excited to shred it.

Mary:
Mary is kind of a unique part of this project in that the costume is more or less technically done. For version 1.0 I did manage to finish her whole outfit, if not to the standard I wanted, so for version 2.0 I could keep everything and just do upgrades. But there are distinct things I want to change, so more likely I'll be repurposing just some bits and pieces and completely remaking others.

The vest:

Vest and shirt.

Vest cape.

Vest cape.

I used burlap for the old vest, and it looked okay but was stiff and hell to work with. I didn't want to deal with that again, so I got a sort of twill fabric that's a lot easier to handle and more pliable. The cape on the back of the vest was leftover red voile from Mary's skirt, and I'll probably do the same thing again (or likewise use leftovers from whatever I remake the red skirt out of).

The shirt:

I've continually struck out finding the right kind of orange checked/striped fabric for the shirt, so last time I got dark saffron voile and planned to stitch on the stripes.

Dark saffron voile via Fabric Wholesale Direct

I ran out of time to do the stitching, but I liked the fabric. So that's still a viable option for the remake, but this time around I'm looking for striped fabric again and I've found a few contenders with a white checked cotton in red and orange.

Red check cotton via WarmKittyQuilts on Etsy

Orange check cotton via WarmKittyQuilts on Etsy

It'll have to be dyed of course, but again with this being a dye-heavy project I'm not too worried about this piece. Also being cotton, it'll be an easy process no matter what I use. The different stripe colors give me some options, and I'll do dye tests on both because I don't want the orange stripe to disappear into an orange base or the red stripe to be too bright/contrasted. The simplicity and scale of the stripe pattern seems pretty spot on, too.

The apron:

I'm happy-ish with the fabric I have, and I don't know I'll ever find something affordable that's better.

Perfectly hideous, or hideously perfect?

So for now the plan is to disassemble the pieces, weather and slightly customize everything, and then reassemble them more or less the same way (with a few little technical upgrades). But I'm also getting some crazy ideas about knitting the apron with specialty yarn. So we'll see what happens.

The skirt:

Outer plaid skirt.

Red and houndstooth layers in the skirt.

Houndstooth visible under the plaid, with less difference in skirt length than in display photos.

The skirt was the most properly finished piece so it more than anything else could be reused, but it could use some tweaks too. I'm also thinking about taking a different approach to the construction, so I might just sell the finished skirt to fund materials for a completely new one. Whether I use the finished skirt pieces or buy more yardage, I'll stick with the same plaid I already have unless I find something better by chance.

Madras plaid 1402 via Fabric Wholesale Direct

I skipped the houndstooth layer last time, mostly because I couldn't find a woven fabric in a large enough pattern. Last year while thrifting I found a scarf that's the perfect fabric, and there's just enough to make a short fake layer that'll be attached to the underside of the plaid along the hem.

I also want to replace the red under-layer, because the voile likes to stick to the plaid so the whole thing doesn't drape or move right. As an alternative, I'm looking at red crinkle poly and red peachskin.

Red crinkle poly via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Red peachskin via Fabric Wholesale Direct

Either of these are silky enough they should move well under the plaid, so it'll just come down to color and texture.

The bloomers:

Bloomers under the skirt hem

Close-up of the lace trim.

I didn't do bloomers before, mostly to save time and money, but I want to add them now for the same reason I'm doing Winnie's bloomers: because I can, and because accuracy is cool. I haven't found any definitive photos yet, but the fabric is probably plain white like the trim, so I'll just use something from the stash. For lace, I'll probably get something suitable from the shops I'm getting the other laces from. These are a few good options.

Via DressyJessie on Etsy

Via DressyJessie on Etsy

Sarah:
Isn't my responsibility anymore. For the full Sanderson Sisters trio a friend of ours will be doing Sarah, so while I have some theories and might chime in with ideas from time to time,  I'm not doing full-blown research and not constructing anything. Bless.

I'm sure I'll be back and forth on these right up until I order the fabric and start sewing, but for now I'm pretty happy with having things this organized.

 

Happy Halloween, all! And stay tuned!

San Diego Comic Con 2019

More 2019 recap.

*Sigh* I've honestly been putting this off because I didn't know where to start with it. SDCC was a full year+ ago now, and even at the time the whole thing was a whirlwind and I kind of felt in a fog all weekend. I also didn't take many photos, so there's not much to show. But it was a big event and I feel like it needs to be recapped. So I'll do my best.

I used to go to SDCC every year, which I'm keenly aware was a privilege given how hard it can be to get badges and how expensive the whole trip can be. A few years I was just lucky enough to get badges, and a few years I had a pro badge which helped secure attendance and cut costs, and my friends and I always made the trip on a budget. Back in those days SDCC was also often the only con I went to and one of the only big trips I made all year, so it was more manageable to plan for without a bunch of other stuff to fit around it.

2015 was kind of a dud, with uncomfortably big crowds, problems with event organization, and I think just a general burnout on our part. For the first time I understood my friends in the comics industry who used to go every year and then got bored or fed up with it and stopped. So after that year I stopped going to SDCC and focused on smaller, more local events like WonderCon, L.A. Comic Con, and Labyrinth Masquerade. (In a lot of ways, Labyrinth became the Big Event replacement for SDCC.) Every once in a while there was the thought that maybe it would be worth going back to SDCC at some point, just to get a taste of it again. I did miss the annual trip to San Diego and the big to do over the whole thing. But nothing really came of it.

Then last year, a friend who was going to be on a panel at SDCC invited us to go along. We were able to get badges for just that day and planned to share an Airbnb with her, both of which made the usually difficult and expensive trip suddenly very doable, even on the comparatively short notice (we had a few months to prep, but this is a trip that's usually much longer in the making). Only being at the con itself one day, we only needed one costume compared to the full four-day lineup we'd done in the past. I brought both flight suit Carol Danvers (which I ended up wearing) and Civil War Sharon Carter (which I kind of wish I'd worn) as options, and my friend brought Civil War Natasha Romanoff.

On the drive down, we ended up going right past San Juan Capistrano. I did my elementary school mission report on Capistrano (I liked the sparrows that lived there) and I'd always wanted to go, but I'd never realized it was so close to where I live now. So we took advantage of the coincidence and made an unscheduled pit stop.

Our Airbnb was in the outskirts of San Diego proper, and as a first experience doing Airbnb it was pretty fun. I did miss the convenience of staying at a hotel with a con shuttle (also just the luxury of staying at a hotel) and being closer to the action. But it was also nice being in a private house in a quiet neighborhood, going grocery shopping for whatever we wanted and just generally tootling around in the suburbs. And it was a lot cheaper than a hotel downtown or even on Hotel Row.

We went to the con on Friday, and started the morning with the West Coast Avengers photoshoot. Weirdly, for being a bigger con it was a much smaller group that gathered compared to WonderCon. Maybe just too much other stuff going on and dividing people's schedules. But I loved being part of the Carol group again, and it was fun to see some familiar faces.

We also met this amazing Civil War Sharon! I've never seen anyone do this costume in person, and it made me wish I'd worn mine.

The rest of the day we went to our friend's panel which was so much fun, and then did the exhibit hall. I'd forgotten how hectic the floor can be, and how overwhelming the crowds and just overall scale is. There's also way too much to see in one day, so we scoped out the exhibitor list and floor map to make sure we hit our favorite booths.

Saturday was devoted to tourist-y sightseeing. On our other trips we'd spend most of our time at the con and always hung around downtown, so we hadn't seen much of San Diego. So this time we spent the day in Old Town. We went ghost hunting at the Whaley House, had the absolute best drinks at Nibble Chocolate, window shopped, and just generally enjoyed the atmosphere. (I also used all the walking to participate in a virtual 5k for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11!) We went back downtown to Little Italy for our traditional dinner at Filippi's.

Sunday we were back downtown again to see all the outdoor non-badge con stuff at the convention center and in Gaslamp. Some big highlights were the Apollo anniversary stuff, the "Starfleet Museum" (a gallery set up with Star Trek props as viral marketing for the new Picard series), and of course the cosplayers.

It was such a fun weekend, we seriously considered going back to SDCC this year. Until this year happened and everything was cancelled. But we're still looking ahead to next year and beyond.

Thrifting Wizardry - My Tips and Tricks

While everything about pandemic and quarantine and just 2020 in general is A Lot, certain frivolous things I'm missing have been on my mind lately. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, even if it's more a state of mind than tangible season here in Southern California, and it always has me wanting to go out and do stuff. Normally I've been out haunting craft and thrift stores and making Halloween and Dapper Day costumes for weeks by now. This year, that desire to do is amplified by not being able to. Craft stores I can get to online (even if the thrill isn't the same), and Etsy has certainly seen more of my action than usual. But thrift stores are still out of reach.

I've been burning through thrift haul videos on YouTube to live vicariously through other shoppers' past experiences (at the moment I'm watching The Closet Historian and Rachel Maksy, who I highly recommend), and their recaps got me thinking that I could take my own trip down memory lane. I'm figuring out how to do a profile of sorts on some of my all-time favorite thrift finds, and maybe one on identifying vintage markers in more modern clothes, but in the meantime I figured I could jot down some of my methods for A+ thrifting. I can't even pretend to know it all, of course, and everyone's goals and opportunities are different so your mileage may vary. But I've been thrifting basically all my life (big thanks to my thrift-enthusiast parents) and I feel like I've developed a bit of a knack for it. So these are the major tips and tricks I follow when I shop.

-Find your niche
I wear a lot of t-shirts and jeans/leggings in Real Life, so I don't necessarily go thrifting for stuff I'm going to wear on a daily basis. Though at this point, after years of thrifting a lot of my "nicer" everyday clothes are secondhand. So I might pick up some casual wear incidentally, but mostly what I'm looking for is more hobby or special occasion stuff, and for me that's pre-1950s antique/vintage/retro or lookalike, pieces for costumes I'm planning, and things made from great fabric I can repurpose. My roommate loves 1970s pants for office wear. My parents collect dishware and unique wall art. If you have something specific to look for, it can make the whole process more manageable and more exciting. Thrifting can also be a good way to figure out what your niche is, as you start finding things that jump out at you and connect the dots of what makes you tick.

-Do your research
You don't have to know everything. There's still so much I have to learn about the things I love to shop for. But getting a sense of the aesthetic and value of what you're looking for can be helpful. I don't always feel like I know my niche on a technical level, but I've done enough research to develop an eye for what looks correct to me. I can't always explain why it's right, but I know it when I see it and it just feels right, and that helps guide me. The more you research, even casually, the more this will become second nature. Knowing what you're looking for is especially useful at antique/vintage stores that have older stuff at higher prices and where you want to be a bit more careful, but it's super useful at thrift stores too. Knowing your niche at thrift stores can help you identify, for example, vintage design elements in more modern clothes. If you're looking for 1940s and know the look, you can find and take advantage of the 1980s-does-1940s stuff which is pretty common and cheap, and you can get a vintage look for less. Always a win.

This also applies to the types of stores you visit. In my area, thrift stores are generally larger charity "chains" with multiple locations (Salvation Army, Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, etc.), and antique/vintage stores are private small businesses. If you like to shop conscientiously, help out those small businesses and do a little digging into which charities you'd prefer to support. Once you start going to stores, you'll also learn which places have the best prices or best inventory (or, ideally, the best combination of price and inventory) and you can develop a list of favorites.

-Set a budget (eww)
This is tied to research, because you kind of need to know the values of items and price points of different kinds of stores to maximize a budget. But it's also just its own issue. I kind of break this rule, because I don't really set a budget per se. I usually shop at thrift stores where the prices are low, and I shop for specific types of things, so I tap myself out on what's available before I spend more than I'm comfortable with. At antique/vintage stores I might lust after a lot, but I only let myself buy things I need that are at a price I'm comfortable with. Basically I just judge where my finances are at and play safely within that so nothing else suffers. So that middle ground works for me, and those kinds of general limitations instead of specific numerical cut-offs can work as a budget too. Like most things, do whatever works for you.

-Look through EVERYTHING
Depending on the size of your thrift store or how many you go to, this might be more or less feasible. But it's worth a try. Things might be sorted incorrectly or misplaced on the wrong rack. I regularly find women's clothing in the men's section and vice versa (to say nothing of clothes you want to use however regardless of how they're branded—the gender binary is a social construct and everyone should wear whatever they like). Different brands, eras, and styles will have different sizing and different cuts, so they'll fit slightly different: a size small that's cut to be oversized might fit like a large, a large might run smaller than usual, and so on. This also goes for sections of the store that you think won't have anything good. One of the coolest finds I've ever made was a World War I liberty loan pin mixed in with a bunch of random 1980s and 1990s knick-knacks in a $1 discount bin. You really just never know what you'll find where. There are treasures out there. Discover them!

-Try stuff on
I do sometimes skip this step when I know I can pass an item on to someone else if it doesn't work for me, or if it's just too cool or the deal is too good and I have to have it regardless (maybe to use as a collection piece for study). If I'm straight-up repurposing fit doesn't matter of course. And unfortunately sometimes there's no dressing rooms. But most of the time, I try on everything I possibly can. Something might be my style and my size, but then I try it on and hate how it looks. Something might leave me feeling eh on the hangar, but once I try it on it's perfect for me. In the same principle as looking through everything, eras and styles and sizes can vary, so you'll never really know until you put it on.

-Manage your expectations
If thrift stores have a weakness, it's inventory. Unlike online shopping on sites like Etsy where you can much more easily search for and find specific items, at a thrift store you're limited to whatever they might have in stock that day. I tend to get my hopes up too easily, and under thrifting conditions that's a recipe for letdown. To manage that, I try to keep an open mind. I do still shop with specific items in mind, and if I find that great! But I don't let myself get caught up in the idea of finding it, and I just let it be a more low-key, adventurous experience to see what unexpected things I might come across. Of course if you go to a store and don't find anything regardless of whether you were on the hunt or just browsing, that's still disappointing. But I spin it as a chance to save my money for something good that will inevitably come along later. Also, going to stores you're familiar with that consistently have good stock improves your odds of finding stuff, so sometimes it helps to also just manage your time and only go to places you know have the best odds.

-Make peace with "no"
On the other end of the spectrum, inevitably you'll find something that stirs your soul but you just can't have. This one is difficult for me, because my eyes and aesthetics are often bigger than my bank account.  Make peace with passing on things that are beyond your budget or that you can't make work. It will happen, and it'll be okay. On the other hand...

-Feel free to take chances
If you're on the fence about something, don't feel bad about saying "why not?" and just going for it. Try it out for a while. Best case, it works! Even worst case, it doesn't work and you sell it or gift it or just donate it again. Of course I can really only justify this when the item is cheap enough that it's not a big risk to potentially be throwing that money away. And I only do it on pieces that have at least one thing going for it: generally it has to at least fit and not look like a disaster, and if it doesn't fit I have to be fairly sure I can alter it or turn it into something else. Just like finding your niche in the first place, thrifting is a great cheap way to experiment with your niche and really develop a style or interest by taking a chance and trying things out.

I hope that helps someone (anyone) in the wild world of thrifting. As I think of any other cool tips and tricks I'll update, and in the meantime hopefully plan for some other thrifting wizardy posts (shall this become a series? Hmm.).

Stay tuned!

Hocus Pocus - Booooooook!

Hocus Pocus is still technically on hold right now, pending the time to do it justice, so this is kind of a major throwback. But I had already started the spellbook before the rest of the project was delayed, and I decided to finish it to have a prop to carry at WonderCon when we did Jay and Ice.

__________

As soon as I decided to be Winifred, I knew I needed her spellbook. It's been on my dream prop list for a long time, and this was the perfect excuse.

By chance, we already had a book box laying around, which is how I've always wanted to make it (built-in storage is always a win).

As a bonus, it's even Disney.

It's only slightly smaller than one I was considering buying, so it works really well. I'm thinking this'll be a prop to carry around at events. Being undersized is less of a hassle, and being a first attempt I don't mind if it gets a little beat up. Then I'll go back and buy a larger box as a nicer duplicate for display and photoshoots.

I did some minor mods to the box itself (cut down and flattened the spine, which was originally very curved), then marked the placement for all the seam lines and attached pieces on the covers.

 
I found some old shoelaces that worked well enough for the raised seams, gluing those down and leaving a slight gap between them that the eventual paper coating can be tucked into.

But the hot glue soaked into the shoelaces more than I expected and I wasn't able to stitch through it anymore. So I pulled the shoelaces off, did a bunch of tests, and replaced it with strips of 2mm craft foam (cut at an angle to soften the edge and help blend it with the cover) glued down with Tacky Glue. No photos of that, but whatever. I was making steady progress at that point so I just kept rolling with it.

I also sculpted the snakes for the front and back covers, the three parts of the clasp, and the fingers for the spine, all from Premo Sculpey.

I initially planned to buy and modify toy snakes and fake fingers and sculpt as little as possible, but once I started playing with the stuff it was a lot easier and more fun than I expected, so I went ahead and did it all. The second set of snakes turned out a little rougher than the first, so those went on the back and the nicer first set went on the front. All the snake and clasp pieces were painted solid black, making sure to fill in all the lines and holes, then drybrushed with pewter, then drybrushed even lighter—just catching the edges and highest raised surfaces—with a brighter silver.

The fingers were glued to the spine with E6000, and I made the seams around the fingers and the ridges for the gathers at the snake's mouths with puffy paint. After all the base pieces were attached, I applied paper towels to the entire front/back with watered down Mod Podge, pushing it around a little to get some wrinkles and extra texture. I did a solid base coat of dark grey to mask the colors on the paper, then a solid coat of medium brown, then several different drybrushed layers of lighter browns and yellows.

I got the eye from MisterEyes on Etsy. This was the hardest piece to find, but this is better than I hoped.

After the eye was glued down (E6000 again), I made lids with more paper towels and Mod Podge and painted that to match the rest. In hindsight I should have just applied the eye first and then done all the paper towel and paint, but I had the time to set aside for doing the cover and didn't want to wait for the eye to arrive. I initially left off the eyelashes, but I have a lot of fake lashes and recently found one that's missing its pair, so I might cut that up for the eyelashes someday.

The stitching was the slowest and most time-consuming part, and the part I'd been actively avoiding, so that's what held up finishing. Dental floss ended up being a good match for the sinewy looking stitching on the book.

So I just went through doing random messy stitches. I kind of referenced the screen-used book, but mostly it was just getting the same overall look without replicating the exact placement. Once all the stitches were, I weathered them all a little with light brown paint.

The clasp pieces were glued to a metal hinge, and there's a set of magnets in the book cover and the underside of the front clasp (under the rhinestone), so the clasp actually functions.

Aside from stitches, the last big thing was just gluing all the snake and clasp pieces on, and that was that.

It was pretty handy and a good amount of fun carrying it around at WonderCon, though weirdly a lot of people mistook it for the Evil Dead Necronomicon or the book from The Neverending Story.

I haven't had another chance to bust it out, so for now it has a place of honor on the shelf in front of my Hocus Pocus wall.

I'm currently in the process of researching and prepping version 2.0, which will be more screen accurate in size and detail.

Stay tuned!

Long Beach Pirate Invasion 2019

2019 recap continues!

After a mixed bag experience in 2017 and skipping 2018, I made it back to Pirate Invasion in 2019. We did modified Jack Sparrow and Pirate!Norrington last time and enjoyed it, but this time we went full historical with our chemise dresses. They've served us well as French aristocracy at Labyrinth and French and American middle class at Huntington Beach Revolution, and were reinvented yet again for pirate shenanigans (before we wildly distressed and weathered them for French Revolution Zombaes 2.0; this was actually their last pristine outing).

Back in February as I was prepping for HB Revolution, I did a poll on Facebook asking which side I should support. After getting the clear majority vote for America and wanting to make my ancestors proud, I decided to do an American impression. But Anglomania was always kind of in the back of my mind, so I decided Pirate Invasion was the perfect chance to finally go British. And pirates are cool and all, but I'm Royal Navy trash, so here we are.

First and foremost, this meant getting to make the Horatio Nelson portrait I wanted to do for HB Revolution.

Via Royal Museums Greenwich

Except that didn't happen. And that was really the first in a long line of failures for this event.

Most of the outfit was recycled from HB Revolution—all the undergarments, dress, hat, neckerchief, sash, shoes—and I just made tweaks as needed. The petticoats got a proper hem, both shorter and cleaner and actually finished. I used similar jewelry but swapped out a few pieces to be a little more flashy (I was aiming for a slightly more aristocratic impression, and this is a much less historically accurate event). For the hat, I just added the obligatory feathers and extra ribbon I never decided on when I first made it, and used some hatpins.

I was undecided on shoes for a while. I love, love, love my Kensingtons, but they're a little rough on my feet, especially when walking on hard surfaces (at HB Revolution, walking on the grass was a lot less fraught than on the paved paths). They really need to be stretched, but I haven't got to that yet. And of any historical-esque event I do, this is one where taking shortcuts with footwear for comfort is definitely a guilt-free option. But failure #2 was deciding to wear the Kensingtons anyway, because I have too much pride and my whole ensemble was accurate and stylish enough I didn't want to compromise. Wearing the Kensingtons wasn't a complete disaster, but the discomfort was definitely distracting at times.

We ended up being probably some of the most historically accurate costumed attendees there, which was a strange experience. At cons I usually fall in the "average to good" quality category and at reenactments I feel like I'm probably somewhere between passable and good for accuracy. But we got a lot of compliments, and I think it had to do with being (humblebrag here) good quality and detailed and also standing out aesthetically from the more stylized Ren faire steampunk-ish crowd (no shade; I love those costume genres too). I even got maybe the best compliment on one of my costumes yet: "You look right out of a painting." She went with Vermeer when Gainsborough would have been a little more on point, but I'll take it. On the flip side, two people complimented our "cosplays," someone said "Oh wow, I love the Regency," and I accidentally got into a spat over the timeline of the chemise dress (our respective insistence on worn before/during/after "the Revolution" was all just a misunderstanding over which revolution each of us was talking about, but she wasn't very gracious about it). So you win some, you lose some.

There were some bad and kind of sketchy experiences with vendors and event staff that really put a damper on the whole experience, funnily enough right at the beginning and end of the day. Everything in between was pleasant enough. And ironically, despite the event usually drawing a somewhat rowdy crowd, all the attendees (and in fairness, most of the vendors) we interacted with with were pretty excellent. I really can't say whether I'll be back for a while. There's not a lot there that's a big draw to begin with, and some of these experiences left a bad enough taste. Time will tell.

Stay tuned!