CONvergence 16 days and counting ...

WOW long time no post ...(but then again are you really surprised).

As I was researching my Mary Poppins dress this morning one of the pictures i stumbled across was one i had posted to my blog earlier this year. It was in my what I hope to make/bring to CON post and it made me laugh cause the list has changed quite a bit.

From my October 23rd post these were the costumes that I had slated to bring to CON

Old Costumes
-- Kaylee, Luna Lovegood, Dr Horrible Groupie and Dark Phoenix

New Costumes
-- Mary Poppins, Castle Anthrax, Rose Tyler - Steampunk variation and Quidditch Robes

From my January 11th post these were the costumes that I had slated to bring to CON

Old Costumes
--I apparently didn't mention what old costumes I'd like to bring

New Costumes

Committed to bringing
--Mary Poppins, Rose Tyler - Steampunk variation

Most likely will bring
-- USO Girl - Steampunk variation, Castle Anthrax, Quidditch Robes

Keep putting off
--Tetra - Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker, Poison Ivy

Would like to do soon
--Fi - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

And now with 16 days to go to CONvergence my list sits as

Old Costumes
--Luna Lovegood, Dr Horrible Groupie

New Costumes
--Mary Poppins, Rose Tyler - Steampunk variation and Secret Group Costume


So lots of changes to the lineup over the past 6 months ...the only new costumes to stay from beginning to end were Mary Poppins and Rose Tyler and the only returning costumes to make it to the end were Luna Lovegood and Dr Horrible Groupie. Had I been more diligent about budgeting and not being lazy when it came to my sewing schedule I could have gotten the USO Girl costume done. Ah well it will probably just end up being my Halloween costume.

Kaylee and Dark Phoenix are returning to CONvergence this year but I most likely won't be wearing them. My friend Andy is going to be wearing them over his deadpool costume. Kaylee at our Victorian Lady Doctor tea party on Sunday afteroon and I have no idea when he has Dark Phoenix planned.


My current costume plans for CONvergence are

Thursday
Dr Horrible Groupie

Friday - AM
Luna Lovegood

Friday - Mid
Rose Tyler - Steampunk Variation

Friday - PM
Mary Poppins

Saturday AM & PM
Secret Group Costume

Sunday
Rose Tyler - Steampunk Variation

As of last night the organza (over) dress for Mary Poppins is done, attached the bows to the hemline and installed the zipper. Tonight I hope to get the zipper installed in the satin (under) dress and maybe get either the waist cincher or the spats done. Everything "needs" to be done by Friday so I can start working on the secret group costume. I've got most of my accessories for that costume done and i have a mockup of the dress cut out now I'm just waiting for payday to go buy the actual fabric and begin construction. I always underestimate how long stuff is going to take ...but it really shouldn't take that long it's a fairly simple costume.

Costumes for 2013

So I'm taking a cue from Kelldar and putting together a list of what costumes I want to complete in 2013 and actually try to work out some sort of plan/budget. I didn't keep track of how much I spent on my Kaylee dress but I'm sure it was around $250 (and that was with coupons!)

SO DEFINITE COSTUMES ARE
Mary Poppins and Bert - (Mary Poppins)

Started working on these costumes last year actually and they were supposed to be Jason and my Halloween costumes, but I got lazy and started them to late.

-Jason's costume is I would say about 80% done. All the stripes ironed on the jacket pieces (thanks Natasha!!) and I have the lining piece fully assembled. I'm in the middle of stitching down the edges of the stripes to the jacket so they don't peel off of the coat, but my sewing machine is having a hissy fit and skipping stitches every couple of inches, so I have to rip out my work since they are top stitches and will show. I need to make his bow tie still and the band for his hat and his costume will be done. He wants to pick up some better accessories though (cane, glove, shoes, pants).

-I have my dress at about 60% done, the top organza dress is fully assembled and I have serged all the seams with my new serger!! I need to make the chest floofy part and gather/ruffle it and attach it to the dress. I also have to reinstall the zipper and attach the red bows to the hem line and then it will be done.

-The satin underdress is fully assembled and also just needs its zipper installed and the sleeve holes serged.

-I need to find shoes and then make spats for them.

-I need to find an umbrella and try to mock up the bird head for the handle.

-I need to remake my petticoat, it's way to bulky at the waist. Gonna make a waist band and just attach the tulle to a flat waist band.

-I need to mock up and make her red waist cincher

-I need to purchase a sturdier hat and make the chin strap


Rose Tyler - (Doctor Who)

I'm going to be making a steampunk/victorian version of her outfit that she wears in Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. I've wanted to make this ever since I found this corset on corset story.

It will match my friends Doctor Who Costumes who did a big Victorian group last year at CONvergence.

-I have most of my fabric picked out, I just need to pick up some white cotton to make a chemise to wear under the corset.

-Haven't decided if I'm going to do a bustle pillow or a bustle cage for the skirt. My friends have suggested bustle cage because of the denim that the skirt will be made out of. It's a rather lightweight denim though so I'm undecided at the moment.

-I will need to figure out some kind of hat ..if I go steampunk it can be a tiny jaunty hat

-I need to figure out boots. In the episode Rose wears baby blue timberland boots. So I'm thinking regular Victorian boots with blue spats on them.


MOST LIKELY WILL DO
USO Girl - Steampunk Variation

I bought this corset when it was on sale and figure it would make a good USO Girl costume starting off point.

Castle Anthrax Dress - (Monty Python)

Quidditch Robes - (Harry Potter)

COSTUMES THAT I'VE BEEN PUTTING OFF
Tetra - (Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker)

Poision Ivy - (Batman)

COSTUMES I'D LIKE TO DO SOON

Fi - (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)

Steampunk Fluttershy - (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Happy New Year!!

So another year has come and gone. 2012 had it's ups and downs like every year does but I'd like to think that the ups outweigh the downs. I'm trying to recall the year and here's what i came up with ..ahaha

January - April
-Drawing blanks ...can't remember what I did so it must not have been that exciting

May
-Started working on my Kaylee (firefly) dress

-I want to say Jason got his new job around this time as well

June
-Pretty much spent the whole month of June at Natasha's house sewing the Firefly costumes

July
-CON!!!

August
-Jon & Jean had a party ...was tons of fun (Jason had to much fun) =P

-I'm sure I went home for Mom's birthday

-We went to can't stop the serenity at the Riverview theater ...I wore Kaylee the first night and Jason wore Cap'n Tightpants aka ..Mal. The second night we wore Dr Horrible and Horrible groupie

September
-September brought back Packer football season and adventures at the Herkimer

-Mom came and visited in the middle of the month ...I introduced her to the wonders that is SR Harris

-Jason and I went to Ren Fest ...I actually made an outfit this time. Just a basic wench costume but fun all the same

October
-Jason and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 5th and we went to Parma for dinner. OMG was it delicious!!

-Went to my first Zombie Pub Crawl with Jason, Jason's friend Ben, Jon & Jean. We had an 80's theme going on ...It was a blast!! Little drama in the middle of the night (never do zombie island!!) ..but other than that loads of fun and I can't wait to do it again this year!

-Started on Mary Poppins and Bert costumes for Jason and Myself for Halloween that just never got finished ..they will now be BritCon and CONvergence costumes

-We did the Pedal Pub for Halloween with our friends Matt, Sam, Garrett, Gerran, Steve and Hannah and some of Matt & Sam's friends. Jason wore his zombie pub crawl costume and I wore Luna Lovegood. It was tons of fun, we had random strangers hop on the pedal pub at the last block ...they were wasted and wanted to know what the magic pedal thing was

-We went to a Halloween themed comedy show at the Spring Street Tavern with Seth, Hannah & Natasha. Jason wore his zombie pub crawl costume, I wore Kaylee and Natasha wore the TARDIS. She won best costume and I won best what the f*** costume (ahahah)

-Jason's Birthday was in October and we went to Chino Latinos ...we ate so much food it wasn't even funny

November
-We went to the Marscon Masquerade ball at the Crowne Plaza in Bloomington ...we weren't quite sure what to expect when we got there. It was in a tiny little room but several of our friends were there and lots of people I recognized

-Matt Davis moved back to Alabama in November so we had a going away party for him at the Local. At the end of the night it was just Hannah, Charles, Matt & Myself and we ended up staying out till 4am doing last minute Minnesota/Wisconsin things with Matt

-My 31st birthday was in November and we went to memory lanes bowling alley

-Jason and I went back to Wisconsin for thanksgiving and I had 8 days off from work it was glorious!

December
-Jason & I went out to Boston to visit Rachel and Ben while they lived out there. On Saturday we wandered around Harvard & MIT, went to the museum of fine art, went to the north end and got the real deal Italian food and a canoli. Sunday we spent walking the freedom trail and saw all sorts of cool historic landmarks ...the graveyard where Paul Revere and Sam Adams are buried, Paul Revere's house, the old north church and the site of the Boston massacre. We then went to the Thirsty Scholar in Cambridge where the opening scene of the social network was filmed and watched the Packer game (go pack go!!)

-Jason's company party was at the Pourhouse ...which is super cool!! They rented out the whole top floor of the place for like 5 hours with open bar

-We started talking with Natasha about moving in with her when she buys a house in early 2013

-I started going to Ceili dancing at the Dubliner on Wednesday nights with Natasha, Erik and a bunch of the other festy/con type people

-New Year's Eve Jason, Jon, Jean, Natasha, Andrew & I went to Insert Coin(s) and it was a blast!! Will definitely be going back there soon. We purchased tickets that came with open bar, but on top of that all tickets included free appetizers and they were really good actually and kept refilling them all night long (we weren't quite sure what to expect). All of the games also had 50 free credits in them. Played a good mix of games but ended up playing space invaders and super pac man the most


And that's my year in review =P

If i think about it I'll try to add pictures

Halloween Costumes & CONvergence 2013

So I've really been dragging my butt on Jason and mine's Halloween costumes ...we had intended on going as Mary Poppins and Bert (the jolly holiday versions) but I've been so lazy with it not much progress has been achieved. As of right now I have all my pieces cut out and two different tops attempted. I also have my crinoline put together and ready to go.

The part that is stumping me is the different sized necklines. I'd really love to line the whole outfit, but with the different sized necklines it's been a bit challenging. I had an "ah ha!" moment at midnight last night on what to try next but it was too late to try anything with it. If it doesn't work out I think I'm going to have to either scrap lining this garment or sub a white tank-top with a neckline shape that I like.

The following image is someone's fairly accurate recreation that I've been working off of for my reference.

I haven't done anything with Jason's costume yet other than shrinking the fabric before I cut it. I have to cut out the pieces, iron on the stripes and then construct the Jacket. Really shouldn't be hard at all just a wee bit time consuming.

Thanks to Make It Love It for the inspiration/help on the stripes.

Fuse the bias tape onto the fabric

Stitch down edges of bias tape to fabric

I'm still feeling confident that I can get these done by this weekend though. Just need to power through!! =D


On a different note registering for CONvergence rooms was this past weekend and oh what a cluster that was. Long story short the server crashed almost instantly and for myself and all my friends we never saw anything other than "no rooms available". We all ended up getting rooms at the Sofitel across the street (and hopefully all on the same floor) so who knows we may end up liking that location better. The Elevator traffic at the DoubleTree get's backed up pretty bad and if your on one of the higher floors it takes forever to get on an elevator going down, so you usually end up walking down the stairs.

Speaking of CONvergence ...I'm super excited as always. I've got several new costumes that I hope to make and wear next year. No plans as of yet to enter the masquerade but that could always change. I'll be bringing back Kaylee's Shindig Dress, Luna Lovegood, Dr Horrible Groupie and most likely Dark Phoenix. New costumes are going to be Mary Poppins (with TARDIS bloomers ...cause after all she is a time lady), Castle Anthrax wench, Rose Tyler (circa Empty Child ...victorian-ized) and possibly Quidditch Robes. The theme next year is British Invasion so for the first time most of my costumes will fit the theme (not that I've ever really cared).

Trying to figure out a good time to wear Kaylee again, the costume was awesome and I got great response from it but it was a little on the large side and hard to get in and out of the party rooms with. I'm guessing early evening on either Friday or Saturday. Party room costumes will most likely be Mary Poppins, Rose Tyler or Castle Anthrax wench. I'll also be wearing Rose Tyler to TARDIS tea on Sunday afternoon.

That's all I have for now. More updates later as the costumes progress =)

Geek & Sundry Giveaways

little shoutout for some awesome giveaways happening over at geek and sundry. signed copies of seasons 1 & 2 of the guild. If you haven't watched the guild yet ...you need to!! hilarious! http://geekandsundry.com/

Pottermore

just signed up for pottermore ...find me at username: WaveNight18522

Magic Mike

So the girls and I went to see Magic Mike last night. It's not going to win any major awards ...well ever ...but it was a fun silly movie perfect for girls night. Dare I say I might check it out again when it comes to the cheap theater =P