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!

Nice to see more of the one-off costumes.

And more on-offs and an old school character.

Only ran into one other nurse. Looking at this picture I'm thinking I should have gathered my apron a bit. A well.

Really great cyberman!

And even an Ood!

A really nice one taken by another con goer!

So there you have it. A major bout of geekiness and sewing.   Next up, more birds. Because I'm way behind on sharing all the new ones with you. ^_^

All Who'd out.

Until next time,
Keep Crafty! 


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That thing that kept me so busy from September till mid November...

So, I'll start off by saying this isn't cute. This isn't sweet. It's not pretty. It's Halloween. 

Well is was a few months ago. Following fast on my sons' first birthday and the fan expo convention, Halloween was the next big thing to get in the way of all my usual crafting and occasional blogging.

Now as you may have seen from my last post. I love me some horror movies. And  I love Halloween. Thanks to some memorably tricksie neighbours I had as a kid, there long kindled a love of the scare in me.

Some of my favorites included the man next door who one year sat in a chair next to a candy bowl looking like a really bad over stuffed dummy.  Until you tried to reach for the candy that is. Now yes, I remembered being scared. But it was almost a literal scared silly as my friend and I ran away screaming and simultaneously giggling like idiots.

Then another year, funny enough in the same duplex but the other side, we walked up to the door as normal, rang the bell, and then prompetly ran away screaming our heads off as the door slowly opened (seemingly by itself) and a big towering Death himself; big, deep hood missing a face,  boney hands outstretched toward us, approached the entrance. Accompanied by the appropriately creepy music.

The real kicker though was when I was 9. Or some time around there.  For week and weeks before Halloween, thinking I was old enough to handle a haunted house, I begged my mom over and over to take me to a haunted house.  My home town had a few big ones that well really well known in the area. And after much pleading she finally caved.

I was so excited standing in line.

I didn't know what I was thinking. 

Why I thought I was ready for this. 

But as the cast in makeup and masks started walking up and down the waiting line, I quickly found out I wasn't. Some of the makeup was so good I was soon bawling to be taken home.

My mom, to teach me a lesson, wouldn't budge.

 It wasn't until on of the cast came over, came down to my level, and started trying talking to me. Her makeup was a really well done bunch of prosthetic pieces (as I can remember it anyways) that had the whole empty eye socket and melting skin with boney face effect.  One that had me particularly pee my pants scared.  But she explained the makeup. She offered to let me poke it to see that it was just rubber and paint. She told me about herself and a bit about the haunt. She gave me the little peek into the backstage of haunts and I was sold. I spent the whole walk through the haunt marveling at the makeups and effects rather than paying any attention to the haunt itself.

Now, keep in mind, I wasn't allowed to watch scary movies till I was almost 17.  And I'm talking things like The Crow or Silence of the Lambs. The real heavy stuff, (ghost or slasher) I didn't see till I was almost 20.  But I have found that I gravitate more towards the creepy than the gory.  Well, unless it's zombies or comedy then gore is all good. Like Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland. Dead Alive.  They are a bit more wacky than serious.  Or if it's over the top and splashy like Freddy or Evil Dead.  But if the gore is surgical or precise cutting,  I'll spend more of those scenes with my face in my hands.

But no, instead, give me a good ghost story. Something to make me jump in my seat. Give me goosebumps and a sudden desire to sleep with the lights on. Maybe it's the adrenaline rush, ,who knows, but those are the kind of horrors I enjoy.  (Hey, there are worse things to be addicted to I guess.) (FYI: Asian horror corners the market in awesomely creepy ghost stories!)

Anywhoo,  I digress. . .

I swore to myself that some day I would build my own haunt.  And I got older. And things got in the way. Life got in the way. Then I ended up in Canada. (that's the really really really brief version of ages 10-24) There I got involved with the zombie walks and found I had a knack (and love) for the scary makeup fx used.  A few years later we bought our house and I thought yay!  Halloween will be so much fun!  But nothing happened. I didn't know where to start.

Then I met Rick.  While doing makeup on some student for a teacher friend of mine for halloween 3 years ago, Rick, seeing one of the students in the halls came and tracked me down and asked if I'd be interested in doing makeup for his haunt.  Turns out Rick, of the Leacock Haunt, has been building a haunt in his driveway (well now in the middle of his cud-a-sac because it's gotten so big)  for over 20 years now.  On top of that he was collection non perishable food as a ticket to go through and then donating it to the local food bank.  I apologized as I'd just picked up a seasonal job as a costume/party supply store for Halloween and wouldn't be available but that I loved the idea and to keep in touch for the next year.

Next year rolled around and RING*RING. Do I want in?  We got to talking about my love of haunts and horror and my longtime dream and instead we worked out a trade.  I help teach his people a few makeup tips and tricks and help make some small prosthetic pieces and in turn he came over and helped me build my first driveway haunt.

It was great and the neighbours loved it.  So when Halloween rolled around this last year I HAD to do it gain.  This time he didn't help with the build, but he looked at my ideas and helped me come up with a plan and gave me tips on how to build it. He also helped me gather my wood as he had a truck and I didn't.

Most of my plywood was gathered (with permission) from the junk piles of local subdivision construction sites. The 2x4s were bought cheep at home depot from their culled wood pile (anything with imperfections like mold or knots or warps).  I was supposed to build some props and special FX for him in return but his haunt didn't make it this year.

Hurricane Sandy had managed to blow her winds all the way to Canada and he had to take down his walls.  Me, I was too stubborn. I tarped the heck out of my frame work and prays for the best.  It was build strong enough to stand up to the wind but it was the rain the caused the most damage. 

Even with all the layers of tarp, the cardboard ceiling still got leaked on and caved in in some areas. But in the end she pulled together last minute with the help of some amazing neighbors and friends.

And here she is...

It was a very wet and cold Halloween.

Doesn't look like much from the outside does it?  Care for a tour? 

I painted in a few extras on this one like the neck and the color around the gums.

This one I repainted entirely as when I bought it it was just a simple light brown with a bit of dusty dark brown shadowing and no other color.

One of my high school volunteers

This way. . .

Are you my mommy?

 

This is an amazing lady who drove all the way out here (almost a 2 hour drive) just to save my butt last minute on Halloween because I couldn't find anyone else to fill this roll. Same with her guy pictures earlier behind the grate.

 This year I also put up signs to let people know to bring food donations in order to go through the haunt.  And it worked.  And my neighbours thought it was great and I even had some saying they wanted to help next year!

A great big diaper box and a big wipes box (hey I got a baby, you use what you got!)  full of canned foods. One neighbour even donated a $10 bill because she forgot to bring the food.

Pardon the unflattering photo. I was still exhausted and recovering from the lead up to Halloween.

 And there you have it.   I learned a lot of do's and don'ts this last time around.  Like PLAN AHEAD.  And start lining up help and cast LONG before I start building.  Not a month before Halloween.  And to expect and plan for the worst from mother nature.  Also, I think this year my idea kind of got away on me.  Next year I think I will try to keep it a little more simple.

So!  Onto the next project!  Un-burying my craftroom again because during all this madness it because a dumping ground for sluppies and things that needed to be put away.   Hopefully my next post will be of a slightly sunnier topic.  I hope I didn't scare too many of you away with this one. ;)

Boo.

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