That Thing I Made: A little bit of Whovian on the brain

So one of my biggest recent projects was my first time trying my hand at cosplay. Don't know what cosplay is? See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay

So, last year (2012) when I went to Fan-Expo I hear word that a Doctor Who convention was in the works for 2013. I was given a flyer and it got tucked away and nearly forgotten about for almost a year. Then, one day in sept, I was cleaning around my bedside table and found said flyer. I checked out the website and what do I see? PETER DAVISON IS COMING TO TORONTO!!!?!?!

Number 5 himself over here on the other side of the pond. I was all excited and having missed Colin Baker at Fan Expo this year I begged the hubby and he said sure! It would be a fun family thing and being a small convention would be a great 1st con for Little Badger. Well, my head started running with fun and crazy ideas. What would I wear? To cosplay or not to cosplay? Make something new? Just wear my Tardis skirt with one of my many Doctor Who t-shirts? (yes, yes, in case you haven't noticed by now I'm a big geek.) November 1 was coming up fast and I had to figure something out ASAP.

Then it happened.

One day, I was out shopping at a local Once Upon A Child and there it was. . . without any effort at all,

The perfect vest! Ok. So, the real 5 is wearing a full sweater but GOOD ENOUGH! Also found a nice pair of white denim pant which I later dyed with coffee to get a nice rich beige. (Forgot to get pics. Boo. )

While I was at it I grabbed another outfit for a potential 2nd costume which lead to the inspiration of my own. I ended up going with the nurse from an episode called "The Empty Child".

A great, slightly creepy, episode about a little boy trying to find his mummy. And so for day two I decided I'd dress my son up as THE empty child.

So, I had the basis for both costumes but the troublesome parts were the coats for both of Badger's costumes and the dress for mine, and the masks for both of us. I wasn't up for spending $50 a piece for real gas masks that would only get worn once and never again. And I didn't have time to sew coats and dresses from scratch.

The first coat ended up coming from a women's small crop blazer. You know, the kind that are supposed to spot at the waist instead of the hips? I though I had a before picture of it but apparently I don't. But here it is after cutting off the sides and reattaching the sleeves. Also cut took in the sleeve by an inch and cut off and reattached the extra length to turn it into a cuff.

One thing I learned was that the hardest part (for me) to reattaching the sleeves was making sure they were both at the same angle.

So with that done, then came the bias tape.

Let me just say, this was my first and very likely my last ever time (if I get my way) working with bias tape. Oh my god so not for me.

But I did it. Here you see I started with some faux pocket flaps. And (as seems to be the theme of this post) I failed to get pictures of the back. That was also a bit tricky but I was able to stitch rip up the back seam to as to give the coat a tails sort of look.

And striping the pants. Used a fabric marker instead of paint since then I could use a ruler to draw the lines. Though after how long that took I will admit to having had some second thoughts. But they turned out. And there you go. One Mini Doctor Number 5!

So there were two new things under my belt. Adapting a coat and using bias tape! Next up was mask making. But wait, I was running short on time and still needed to sew bits for my nurse costume!

I sent out a plea and a lovely lady (a new friend I made recently at a craft show) answered my call. Last minute notice she threw something together for me that was the basis for the perfect on the cheap mask.

And she even made two of them! One for me and one for Badger. I then took them home, adjusted the straps, cut the eye holes bigger and added the canning rings.

The finished product won Best mask making in the novice division of the masquerade (basically a costume contest) !

The rest of the costumes came together quickly. I found the perfect dress but in a light blue. Dyed it navy (yeah yeah no pictures again. ) Make the arm covers out of dress shirt cut offs with elastic run through. The collar just some white cotton sheet and interfacing for stiffness. And the apron made from a bed sheet that had a nice hem so I kept that hem for the bottom of my apron.

And there we were on Sunday, the perfect creepy mommy/son duo. This was a photo taken by one of the other convention goers.

But Saturday really was the best. His mini 5 got so many oohs, aah,s and awwws, By the end of hte day he was a posing pro.

He LOVED petting K9. Also, FIMO CELERY!

And blue Tardis became his new favorite words that weekend. Well, that and red Dalek.

Ok, this was seriously adorable and I wish I had thought to film it instead of photograph it. The cutest little Dalek was just enamored with my Mini 5 and she kept tottering up to him trying to touch it face. he'd giggle and run away and she would follow after.

Oh Hey, a backside shot!

The best part, well for me, was meeting the man himself. As he turned to Badger and I he looked down and exclaimed "I'VE BEEN MINIATURIZED!" That was the best compliment I could have gotten.

Silly green socks. Oops. Oh well. Nothing's perfect. It was an amazingly fun weekend being able to really geek out and run around and see the creativity of all the other fans.

Just a few other pictures. Sorry for the poor quality. Most of them were phone pictures. But good news! I finally have a new camera! So hopefully better pictures will be seen in the near future!