You’re going to a convention and you’re bringing a costume.

What do you take with you? Other than your costume and accessories, there are a few items to keep in an emergency repair bag or in your hotel room.

Emergency Kit Bag:

1. Aspirin: A headache or muscle pains can hit at anytime. Have a few caplets with you in case the day begins to wear on you.
2. Safety pins: A great way to make last minute saves or alterations.
3. Sewing kit: It’s not just buttons you may need to affix. Bring a spool in the colors you may need. A good kit will have scissors and pins included.
4. Small folding scissors: Handy to keep on you. Plus, they’re small enough to pass security.
5. Spot remover: You have to eat, which means you might spill. A spot pin or wipe is nice to have around during a lunch run.
6. Krazy glue: You can fix shoes, props, even your nails.
7. Tape: If a hem falls out or an ornament falls off your belt, you’ll need some tape.
8: Shoelaces: Sometimes it’s just easier to tie one on. If your armor is falling apart, a quick knot or two will keep it in place until you can get back to your room.
9. Extra hair pins and bands: Walking all day can jostle a hairdo or wig, extra pins will allow you to stay on the move and secure your look.
10. Eye drops: Convention spaces and hotels have a tendency to dry out our eyes. It’s a good idea to keep eye drops with you, especially if you’re wearing contacts.
11. Adhesive strips: Good for blister care…and other minor injuries.
12. Clear nail polish: Will help with runs in your stockings.
13. Q-tips: Good for applying and removing makeup.
14. Straws: It can be hard to drink in full makeup or mask.
15. Snack bars: Easy to eat and handle while costumed. Minimal staining probability. Plus, food courts can get expensive.
16. Tissue: You never have a tissue when you need one.
17. Wipes: You hands may pick up ink from the program, better to be safe than sorry.
The bag should be small enough to fit on your person. Maybe it fits in your camera bag or messenger bag. If you plan well, your character may have a prop or outer robe that could hide the bag or fanny pack within its form.

Room Kit:
1. Hem tape: Easy to use and quick to apply in the room. A last resort if you don’t have thread.
2. Static cling spray: It’s a must. Pick up a small travel size bottle.
3. Extra pair of stockings.
4. Low heat glue gun: Full repairs are sometimes necessary.
5. Thick socks: If blisters start forming and you plan to keep going on weekend, a plush pair of socks will cushion the pain.
6. Duct tape: It holds the universe together, why not your costume?

If your costume has special needs, make sure you plan for adjustments and repairs. You might want to pack permanent makers or touchup paint. If your costume is white, keep a piece of chalk with you for smudge cover-up. A spare wig cap might even come in handy. Look over your gear and make a good guess. If you’re flying, please make note of weight limits and weapons rules.

Today I’ll go over Part II of my Ariel tutorial. Part I can be found here.

Last week you found a few reference photos or stills that showed the entire outfit head to toe, back to front, right? Good.

Hopefully you have your coveralls. If you’re having trouble locating some, hit the surplus stores for old military ones like mine, try a feed or outdoors store, a nearby uniform supplier, or hit the internet. Too big isn’t a problem, you can always take it in. Like me!

First things first, wash them. Adjust the size to a comfortable fit. Fitted isn’t necessary since it will be covered by an EMS vest. *chalks, pins, and sews* I shortened the waist and crotch, took in the sides and legs, and resized the zipper.

Get your reflective tape ready. I used 1in tape. Why? Reflective fabric trim was hard to find locally. The tape was cheaper online than the trim was. This means laundering my costume is problematic but not impossible. I haven’t had the tape pull away from the material yet. *crosses fingers*

The stills show trim down each arm and around each leg just below the knee. One strip across each back pocket. I recommend at least three rolls (40in ea.) per costume to allow for placement errors (please measure to be sure). The vest should have all its reflective trim already on it. Pin and stitch the trim or mark the fabric and place the tape. It’s one of the easier steps.

Optional: There is additional reflective designs on the coveralls that are obscured by the vest. I chose not to do them since I planned to keep the vest on while in costume. One strip across each front chest pocket. One asterisk star with caduceus center on upper left chest.

Next up, modify the vest. You’ll have to examine the vest you chose. The one from Rothco I used needed to have the black netting removed from several areas. I also added black elastic to hold EMT implements. The ID badge will need a tab where it attaches. Take the netting you removed and fold it over and tack into place at the left shoulder.

That’s it for today. Depending on how short you are will determine how much sewing you needed to do. I hope you’re taller than me. I’m positively petite!

Next week we will make the patches and badges. I’ll share my scans and line art with you so you don’t have to worry about such things. You will need to take a headshot on light background with your makeup and hair styled similarly to how you plan to wear it in costume. Or be completely goofy, it’s your badge. This will need to be in digital format.

Next week: same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Continue reading… Part I | Part II | Part III

I know it’s late in the day, but this still counts as an Earth Day post.

Here’s me in a flower child costume celebrating Mother Earth. We only have one earth. We need to do our best to keep her pollutant free. We need to use renewable resources and recycle whenever possible. Mostly, we need to love one another right now.

Make a wish for a healthy and happy earth.

Peace

Yes, I’m that costume girl. A girl. In costumes. But that’s not all you’ll find here. Other people will share their ideas and creations too.

For example: ManWithPez.

He’s working on three new costumes to add to his closet.

Currently said closet includes things like Simon Tam, Half of a Blue Hand pair, an Ariel EMT, and the very awesome Seymour Krelborn. Don’t let all the Firefly costumes fool you, his tastes are broader than just Sci-fi.

What are these three new costumes?
1. Spider-Man. Not just any Spider-Man. Spider Sense Spider-Man on the street in his casual wear.
2. Y: The Last Man. Yorrick hiding his male identity behind a gas mask.
3. The Waffler. Alton Brown’s Waffle crusader.

I love Alton Brown! Love him. I made a joke about making a Waffler costume. MWP saw the episode and fell just as hard as I did for the masked breakfast man. I am considering joining the Y idea and creating a Beth II or Hero ensemble. The Spider Sense costume is a great way to be an iconic character without becoming one of the thousands of men in red tights.

Thinking out of the box. I like it.

Want to share your ideas? Leave a comment or drop me an email: me at thatcostumegirl dot com.

The first step in every costume endeavor is deciding who or what you want to be. Make a list of three or four ideas. Then narrow it down to one choice by looking at the time and skill level involved.

I wanted to do something recognizable to a particular fandom, but unique enough that there wouldn’t be 100 of us. ManWithPez suggested the Ariel EMTs from the series Firefly. An excellent choice. Not only is ‘Ariel’ a great episode, but the costumes require minimal sewing. And among the fans, high recognition.

The next step is finding reference pictures. I used screen captures from www.Still-flying.net. Comic books, trade books, stills, and screencaps are excellent reference sources.

Please choose your references carefully. The lighting from the episode was blue and antiseptic, giving the patches a purple hue. I had started making the patches when it occurred to me to check the companion books. The Firefly Companion showed one of the patches and it was more red than purple. I don’t know if they used the red or if it was a mock. Oh well. I can live with the purple.

The hard part was the lettering. From Firefly translation sites, I knew it meant ‘nurse’. But I still didn’t have a clean shot of the characters. I copied the fancy calligraphy version from the translation site then changed the font style in an editing program. From there I cleaned up the lines and played with the round letters until I felt they looked liked the ones on the uniforms. I’ll share that with you so you don’t have to worry about it.

The last step today is making a plan. Analyze your costume head to toe. Begin to make a list of supplies you’ll need. For the EMTs you’ll need:
Needle and thread: blue, black, grey.
Blue work coveralls
Silver reflective tape or stripping ~$2.50 a roll
Blue Medic vest ~$26
Work boots or tennis shoes (dark neutral color)
Blue cap
Blue undershirt
Felt 5 for $1: purple
Fabric paint*: black, grey/silver (reflective is important), and white/opal (reflective is important)
ID badge holder
Pen light 6 pack for $6
Misc medic gear
Walkie talkie or Radio
Ariel Ambulance
*I painted the patches, but you can embroider them if you prefer.

Gather your gear and I’ll see you next week for Part II.

Continue reading… Part I | Part II | Part III