Female tusken mask build

 So back in 2013 I posted about my Female Tusken and that I had sold the mask and that my main goal was to build a new mask and start using the costume again in 2014.

My old female tusken costume

Since then I have sold the mask and bag, lost the bracelet and gotten rid of the underdress. So what I have left is a leatherbag, without the bone clasp, gloves and armwraps, boots and the hood. Now I think that I will remake the hood anyway for this new project, but my first priority is to make a new mask, and in fact I bought a mask kit in 2012. It is not available anymore, it was a run of masks made for people in Denver, Colorado, and I got in on the last remaining one after the Denver build. I have started the mask a few times, but I have been a bit too worried about my skill in building and then I've quit the project.

Now I really want to finish it so I hauled out my mask, and realized that in my start with the kit so many years ago I had made a few things I would not have don today. I had made cuts in some of the bricks to what I then thought would make them align better with each other, I had also cut out and clued the white, flat "bone"s to some of the pieces. In doing that I had cut them shorter than I would have preferred today, but I don't know what kind of glue I used I simply couldn't get them off without risking the integrity of the pieces. So I had to continue where I left off.

The first I did was to paint the main pieces. For a base layer I used the brand Cospaint in espresso gold. The good thing with cospaint is that it is a bit flexible and it also works as a primer so you can paint directly on foam with it, you don't need to seal the foam first. 

I felt that the espresso gold was too brown though, so I dry brushed a layer of antique gold acrylic paint on top of the espresso gold. This gave it a beautiful brass colour. Now if you follow the 501st legion CRL for this costume they have an example of a mask that is very brown copper, but if you look at the reference pictures of the actual costumes they are much more brass than copper.

With that all the base paint was done. 

I then sanded off the paint on the pieces that I was going to glue to the connecting "bone" pieces. For glueing I used contact cement.

Where I glued the "bones" to the square pieces I got a bit of a gap. As I mentioned the "bone" pieces were done back in 2014 or so, today I wouldn't have assembled them like that. The gap was filled in with foam clay. And the good thing with cospaint working on foam is that I could then paint the foam directly once it was dry.

The squares, and bones, were glued to a backing piece of canvas using contact cement. I also had to bend the top bone pieces so that they can fit to the curved mask. Here is where I noticed that when I cut the bones I hadn't taken the curve into account, so today I would have cut them longer.

Once the glue had dried I cut the backing canvas to just follow the outline of the harder mask. Then it was time for the fun that is weathering. I dry brushed a mix of verdigris and ivory black acrylic paint, I also used a paper towel to wipe off excess paint when it was on. In some places I felt that I went a bit overboard and then I dry brushed some more antique gold acrylic and cosplaint in copper over that.

And with that the mask is finished and ready to assemble so I can wear it, and then it's time to start on the hood itself.

costume plans 2024

 So what am I looking forward to make in 2024? My body is going through changes, and I will probably not get my final body shape and weight after my operation this year. The normal development is that a person that has gone through with a gastric bypass first looses around 20% of the weight, and then they gain some back again before stabilizing. With that being said I want to make new costumes, but I need to make costumes that are adjustable and not too depending on fit. 

My main cosplay plan for the year is to finally finish my new AOTC female Tusken raider.

It's been on my list so many years, but this time I feel that I am serious and I want to have it finished for Närcon in the summer. It is a totally new build, I will basically just keep the boots, gloves and the pouch. Or rather I will finish the pouch that I started with on one of my earlier attempts to remake it. 

Then David is coming with me to medieval week, and he has said that he wants to have a landsknecht outfit. Well first he said that he wanted to make one himself, but it will be me who makes it. He also needs two more shifts to wear with his costumes, so that he can change during the week.

He has said the he would like a pink costume, but we haven't decided on other design choices. I also hope that I will remake my half-finsihed pink trossfrau for myself, so that we can match each other during medieval week. 

I have some loose other plans, some cosplay and an idea for a new trossfrau in case I decide to go to a huge event in early 1525, but I will see if inspiration comes. It's also a question of my budget this year being a bit tight, since I have been on sick leave after my operation and needs to get my finances back in shape after that. For a costume it is also obvious how the inflation and low worth of the Swedish krona has made buying fabric and cosplay supplies a lot more expensive. 

The yearly costume recap 2023

 So it is time to sum up the costuming/sewing year of 2023. I have definitely felt that I haven't made a lot of things, especially for myself. The reason for that is very simple. I haven't been been happy with myself, and most of my costumes that I have done over the years have been too small. I mentioned earlier on the blog that I made a gastric bypass in November. Now most of 2023 I have been aware of that I was going to go through with the operation, and that has just made me even more uncomfortable in my own body, and sad over the fact that I couldn't wear the costumes that I used to wear. I even skipped the yearly NärCon cosplay festival, even if it was also because I wanted to spend my whole summer holiday with my husband. I did do some events though, and one of the biggest events I've been part of.

It started with Star Wars Celebration Europe in London over Easter. Since 2023 is the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi I brought my ROTJ Mon Mothma for the Rebel Legion photoshoot.

I am the ROTJ Mon Mothma in the front, just behind the ewok

I also brought my jedi costume, which is a really comfy costume to wear at conventions, and the one new costume I brought was my fandom fashion take of Constable Zuvio.

SWC23 involved a lot of walking so I switched the high heeled boots that I had bought for the costume for sand coloured sneakers instead.

I have used the dress as an everyday dress since then, I quite like it as a comfy regular day dress.

After Celebration it was all focus on getting dressed for the 500th anniversary of king Gustav Vasa's triumph parade in Stockholm, and that meant meaking sure that David had something to wear. I first made him a pair of joined hose, a black cap and a faux double and gown.

It's faux in that the double and skirt is actually one piece of clothing instead of separate, still I thought it looked pretty well. I also made a coif, a shirt and trousers for our friend Björn who wanted to walk in the parade as a peasant.

Björn borrowed a doublet and for the day itself David chose to wear his older coat instead of the faux doublet, also because of the fact that it was 25 degrees warm and the coat is cooler. Under the coat you can also see the vest that I made to attach the hose to, so that they didn't fall off. This is also a bit unhistorical since it would have been a sleeved doublet in the 16th century, but I wanted to keep it as cool as possible so I skipped the sleeves.

For myself I decided to wear my 1520s court gown, but I had to add strips of fabric in the sides to make it bigger. It is hidden under the arm though so it wasn't too visible.

After the big parade it was time to prepare for medieval week. My one project for the year was to make a bathing shift.

It was a really good addition that made it so much easier to go bathing and keep clean during medieval week. I also made a new simple shift and a small untergollar, or partlet, to cover the neck opening of my yellow kirtle. I have had to make it bigger, and with that the neck opening had become so deep that I needed to fill it in, or risk being undecent.

Here I am, with the rest of the cooking team of Stockholmsfänikan, in my outfit that I wore the whole week, which is basically the yellow kirtle, new shift and partlet.

I did one last dash of sewing ahead of the annual Christmas market, where our 16th century guild is present. David needed new and warmer trousers. By now the joined hose that I had made for him had fallen apart totally, I also added a new furlined hat for him and mittens and a wool partlet for myself. Most of these items were lined with the fabric from the worn out hose.

I am really happy with this photo since it is the first time in a long time that I could fit into my green gown, so I am hoping that the coming year and with more changes to my body I will find the joy of making costumes for myself again in 2024.