Today Jill Pantozzi debuted her CYCLONE AND FRANKIE costume for the legions of fans at one of her Comic Con International panels.
I created a tutorial of sorts, more like a "how not to do this" blog on AmberUnmasked. I documented BOTH attempts at the dress plus the monkey's outfit. (*as always be warned, the direct page linked is safe but other content on my site might be considered nsfw).
I'm working on a HUNTRESS: YEAR ONE variation costume for a friend. She's a completely different size than I am so I had to create a new pattern tracing over one of mine and adjusting it. We've looked at different fabric and decided to go with the Matte Metallic in Black for the main part of the suit. For the contrast color which is purple, we'd going with a great shade that's really vibrant in Milliskin Matte Tricot.
Luckily I happen to have the trade paperback of Year One so I compared those images to ones I had found on ComicVine. As it turns out there's a lot of subtle variations.No surprise there. Every artist put his own flare into a character. There are times when the purple looks like a "V" shape in the front but other times when it looks like a separate vest. I'm going with the vest look after consulting with my friend about how she didn't like the style where the purple actually looks like a bathing suit over the bodysuit. We've also decided to go with a black crepe for the cape rather than purple so that it can used for other characters; modifying designs this way is one of my essential tricks. Whether a wig, belt, boots or gloves aren't perfectly accurate don't mean as much to me personally as getting use out them because this stuff is not cheap. It's often labor-intensive if I've built the piece myself and/or expensive for the raw materials. Versatility is key!
Using the Kwik Sew 3052 figure skater pattern as a basis, I traced over the initial pattern onto muslin. I took some time to drape spandex over my dress form (again it's my size but I just needed an idea of the vest shape). Then I sketched on the muslin while referencing that panel above until I came up with lines that I hope will work. I highlighted the final lines in fabric marker. Traced that muslin with a different muslin so that I'd have the one original full-length suit pattern and then use the second to cut up into individual pattern pieces for color blocking.
So far, it's about 3 hours into the project. Time for a nap.
I finally got around to making a bit of a tutorial for the RAVAGER costume I made for Jill "the Nerdy Bird" for the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego. Since I'm trying to migrate everything over to my new site, the whole article is there. I'd love to figure out how to get my old entries from blogger converted to wordpress but since nothing works as it should in wordpress, I will probably have to copy and paste each entry.
These pictures are of a suit that I've made for someone else so it's a bit baggy on me because the customer is much taller than I am. I just had to try it on because I was so happy with how it came out and I think it makes for a better picture when you can see someone in an outfit even if it isn't perfect.
The customer commissioned just the black bodysuit in the style worn by Marvel's Black Cat, Felicia Hardy. I am not responsible for any of the accessories nor the fur trim which the customer will be adding later. So basically, I had it pretty easy but after having my confidence shaken a few times, I was nervous about delving back into taking commissions.
As usual, I used a Kwik Sew figure skating pattern as my base. I only had minor modifications for the leg length, neckline and front zipper. You can see me testing the neckline/cleavage in the picture to the right.
Here are my suggestions for the other elements of the suit if anyone else is looking to put one together (links naturally may break after original posting due other people's website dynamics):
Wig: I've switched from bestwigoutlet to cosworx.com because the prices are usually better; it's just harder to navigate around the site looking for color swatches but price usually wins. Plus cosworx is somehow related to cosplay.com which has a trading post/marketplace forum where you can find used and new wigs (and lots of other things).
Mask: I use Lance at XtremeDesignFx.com for that; he offers the perfect mask for Black Cat or Ms. Marvel among all of his other work. I do find that ordering takes a long time so keep that in mind.
Variations: Sometimes Black Cat has white boots and white gloves with the fur; other times black. You can avoid getting fur installed on the legs if you purchase boots with santa style fur trimming:
I put in a couple hours helping spread the word about the Toonseum's Superhero Day (vote for it on refresheverything.com/superhero so we can win some grant money, please!); then off to the Phantom of the Attic to pick up my comics which was quite an adventure considering that half of the city streets were closed for the parade; and then sewed for a couple of hours to help a friend who designed a costume for an all-recycling fashion show.
I can't show his complete design but I think it's ok if I spoil just my part of it. It's for a bellydance inspired outfit. I created a cape and waist sash out of old Superman bed sheets. The little jangles at the bottom are notebook binder rings.
THE BIG BARDA COSTUME FOR M.K. IS FINISHED!!! Time to go read some comics! Here are some Work In Progress pictures.
Here's a quick look at what the major elements were made from (I threw in some of the expenses just because they were in my hand scribbled notes):
Cape - modified a Butterick pattern #4377, added some length, made more narrow; cutting & construction about 5 hours, shortening after making it too long 1 hr; pleated & finishing 2 hrs; made from red crepe and red stretch lining (Denver Fabrics online) Belt - gold belt pleather from the ribbon section of Joann's Fabrics ($12); Wonderflex pieces heat molded ($20), craft foam sheets ($5), bra closure for adjustability ($2), velcro used in other things also ($15); spray painted gold caribiner clip Body suit cutting & construction - 3 hours (just the blue shirt & pants); another 2 hrs for zipper, hems, elastic.; modified Kwik Sew pattern #3029 for the pants and the torso - had to add long sleeves which are pointed and have an elastic loop to go around the middle fingers. Briefs - custom briefs made from metallic foil spandex Gloves - purchased by M.K. off ebay; I modified by cutting off a few inches of the gold, adding black spandex and snapping on gold spray painted buttons. Strap accessories - the shirt straps around the biceps are grosgrain ribbon covered in plasti-dip; the legs are just the plain ribbon w/o the plasti-dip; gold spray painted buttons snapped on. Boots - purchased by M.K.; sprayed the top 3" with black plasti-dip for about 3-4 coats; snapped on the gold sprayed buttons. Motherbox - completely done by M.K. Chest armor - made by Richie's Armor, the creator of the female stormtrooper ($45); dremeled, painted and accessorized by me; added straps.
I'm not doing the head gear. M.K. is handling that part of the project and posting progress at the SCF boards.
Officially the project began April 14, 2009 when I was contacted by M.K. and we immediately began conducting our research on fabrics and designs. That's exactly a 4 month period of working on this. It was by far the most challenging project I've done with many failed experiments along the way. I even tried making the chest armor myself originally and spent quite a bit on materials for it but it was just easier & cheaper to go to an expert.
I made this Mockingbird leotard for Jen months ago and wanted to wait for final pictures before showing it off.
I was so happy to see that Jen got the chance to wear her Mockingbird costume to San Diego Comic Con International. With the Dex Starr rage kitty that Jill brought + Jen's Mockingbird, I guess I really was there in spirit!
This is by far the most fun I've had completing a commission. It wasn't easy but the result is just so funny that I can't help laughing about it.
RAGE KITTY: Took left over spandex and began draping it over kitty and marking it for cut lines.
Cleaned up the design of the pattern pieces a bit. Laid out on red PVC and black 4-way stretch spandex.
Began the assembly with constant testing of the fitting.
Compared it to the original artwork. The only thing left off are the waist hash marks. The rest seems pretty good.
Last step was create the embroidered patch of the Red Lantern Corps and use some vinyl glue to affix it to the back (per customer's request since it's easier to see than Dexx's belly).
And we have the 99% finished Dexx Starr! He needs to be colored blue which might possibly be done with blue hairspray.
I was happy to unload one of my practice pieces to a friend in Tech Support who happened to be in need of a new supersuit. It just so happened that her character Blue Lotus wears light blue and white which is what I had used when drafting a design for Rogue. With an official Tech Support patch added to the chest and a new blue cloak, Blue Lotus is ready to go. I can't wait to get pictures from her modeling the entire ensemble.
It took about a month to complete due to working just at night and on weekends, but I did complete my first commissioned costume. It was a very large super suit (2XL) which required a whole lot more fabric than I normally have to purchase. I felt bad having to charge so much but double the fabric really did add a lot to the cost. For example, I can get some good quality spandex for $20/yd (retail) and for my own suits, I only need 2.5 yards but for such a large suit, the pants alone were 3.5 yds.
I don't know when the recipient of the costume will receive it. It was commissioned by this person's friend as a present. So in order to get any kind of pictures, I asked my boss at the comic book shop to don the costume. He added a Yoda pillow to his waistline and struggled with the mask because I didn't want to add a lot of glue to his face or the mask, just enough to take to the pictures; but in the end, we had Bill put together enough to model for a few shots.
This suit is made out of a knit material basically the stuff that most T-shirts are made out of; I made the cape out of lining material to keep the cost down. It's an original character called Captain Fatman and the creator originally used the old fashioned Green Lantern (Alan Scott) as his costume inspiration. I took that look and swapped a few things but kept the basic color scheme: red, green, purple, gold. The shin guards were just red shiny things from Wal-Mart that I repainted.
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