Geek Girl Con report

The first annual Geek Girl Con help in Seattle was an awesome success. Doors opening for Saturday and Sunday and selling out tickets within two hours each day.

SmallRiniLady and Ava got involved and has a panel to talk about "Costume Crafts and Cosplay". So much material we will devote a week to it later this year to cover the material we presented.

SmallRiniLady also held a booth in Artist Alley selling lots of her cosplay and hair accessories. From there she got to see all sorts of Geeky Girls and many of their geeky male supporters (suprisingly a lot of them attended, which is always awesome).

Let's see what kind of people attended geek girl con.

Lots of Star Trek Fans


Including zombie versions


Video Games, her bag is knit!


Even some of the plushies get to be cosplayed

Anime Fans


Comic Book Fans



Ok this is apparently the first female super hero




Ok . . . so this green arrow is the version from the SmallVille TV series



Dr Horrible Sing-A-Long Blog was awfully popular





So was Dr Who, but I didn't catch any one in a Tardis outfit though I heard that there was one wandering around.

The closing ceremonies for the convention was a Sing-A-Long Labyrinth (1986 Henson) showing. Which ment the Jarad Cosplayers and multiple puppet making Panels



Star Wars Puppets


Sock Puppets



This is SmallRiniLady's little Sock Puppet, he was manning her booth for a while, brough in some customers while scarring away others.

So not everyone has to dress up in cosplay, but just dress up.  This family has a fun story.  They tried to make little tricorn hats.  So they kinda screwed up but ended up with fortune cookies instead.  Still makes a fun hat.

How are you any more geeky than a GIANT multi side Dice

Starting a New Costume Project: Riven

This is somewhat last minute, but I'm working on a new costume for Halloween, just to see if I can make it that fast, given that my schedule over the next couple of weeks is fairly tight. Follow along with me on my project!

The first step is RESEARCH. I found two great pictures of the character online. Both resources are artwork for the videogame League of Legends. My preferred method of online searching for images is a Bing Images search.

The next step is to break down the costume into different elements. I find that making a quick sketch of the character helps me do this because while I am sketching I am examining the reference pictures I have and going over every detail to imagine a)how that piece should work/look and b)what I could make it out of.

Sometimes when you have multiple layers of clothing and accessories you have to use your imagination to decide what is underneath, and what is all one piece vs. separates.

Next, I make a timeline, creating a chart with separate row for each costume element and a separate column for each time period (here, each column is 2 days). Then I fill in what will do on each day. Later I will update by changing the cells to green and marking them DONE.

click to enlarge

Day 1: formed the pauldron spikes and knee guard out of Model Magic

Day 2: Draped the front of the wrap top

Then I made the underskirt for the wrap skirt.

Day 3: First I draped the bottom layer of the skirt and sewed it to the underskirt

Then I added another layer on top and ripped up the bottom in a few places. I'll need to distress it more later, maybe tea-stain it.

Then I added a back to the top and found a belt that works.

This almost looks like a costume already!

Oh, and I should mention -- I am not buying ANYTHING for this project. I think I can make it with materials I already have at home. That white fabric I used for the underskirt? Leftover from making Eowyn's white dress from Lord of the Rings, which I made back when the movies were still in the theaters. Tub of Model Magic? Leftover from making my [Staff of Infinite Mysteries] for my Warcraft Priest costume. The belt? Bought that a while ago for a pirate costume. It was on clearance.

Pan Am Flight Stewardess Hat

I got an email asking if I could make this hat from the new show on ABC called  Pan Am, about the Airline stewardess of the 1960's for the Pan Am company.  For those who don't know I also own an Esty shop http://ThreeLace.Etsy.Com which is basically the Ebay of Hand made Art/Crafts/Stuff. 

Here's a picture of actress Christina Ricci wearing the lovely hat.  The Etsy requester provided this image as a reference.

On to making the hat.  I decided to make it a Pill Box style.  I watched the pilot episode and I noticed the back of the hat is curved down like a er um, i dunno, let's just say it's not pill box style.  But I think that a Pill Box style is easier to do and still gets the same front look. 

Circle for the pill box top, long strip for the pill box side. Diamond and a gold button for the fancy design on the side.  And the from I made a extra flap so that the front panel goes higher than the top surface (what's what i noticed on the show).

Although I picked a thicker fabric the structural integrity can always be improved.  I used Iron-On Interfacing to stiffen 

I dont have a serger, so instead i used that zigzag stitch to fake a serge.  Um as you can see I dont know the technical terms, does it show that I'm self taught?

Like I mentioned before, the front panel is higher than the top of the hat.  I also use it to hide the connecting stitches for the rim and the numbers I wrote (whoops it was suppose to be on the inside).

Using fabric glue I glued the front panel (even though sewn) so that it stays put and uses the fabric glue also to adhere the diamond to the side.  Sure I can do this by hand stitching, but the shortcut gets the same results in less man hours.

Going to be at Geek Girl Con!

Both Avalyn and SmallRiniLady will be Geek Girl Con.  The convention is "dedicated to promoting awareness of and celebrating the contribution and involvement of women in all aspects of the sciences, science fiction, comics, gaming and related Geek culture through conventions and events that emphasize both the historic and ongoing contribution and influence of women in this culture. We are having our first annual convention on October 8th and 9th at the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms in 2011." for more details please visit the Geek Girl Con website http://www.geekgirlcon.com


Avalyn and SmallRiniLady will be presenting  a costuming panel
Costume Crafts and Cosplay
11:00 AM-12:00 PM - (EMP Learning Labs)
Is it cosplay or costuming? Crafters In Disguise bloggers discuss costume craft from cosplay and costuming perspectives, including differences and similarities between the two. Get tips on techniques, materials, how best to approach a project, manage the design process, accuracy, and how to pose to bring your character to life.

SmallRiniLady will also have a Artist Alley Booth for her Mini Hats, Hair Fascinators,  and Cosplay Accessories LollyMist Etsy Shop