Things are about to change

 So there isn't a lot of activity here anymore, and one big reason is that I haven't had a lot of passion for making new costumes. A big reason has been that I have not been happy with what has been going on with my body. I have always been a big and curvy girl, but over the last years I have noticed that my weight is just creeping upwards and I can't get it to stop. There seems to be correlation in that I can either control my weight, or have good control over my autoimmune disease (type 1 diabetes). I am now weighing more than I have ever done before, and no matter if there are medical reasons I don't feel that I fit into any costumes anymore.

After some time of investigating my weight issues, and it was so nice to hear that I do keep a healthy enough lifestyle and that it's not a simple issue of "eat less, excercise more" I have decided to do a gastric by-pass operation. I want to do it now before I gain even more weight. A gastric by-pass isn't just about not being able to eat, a lot of the effects come from the reprogramming of that metabolic systems that occurs with the operation. I also have no idea what will happen with my body, the great majority of course looses weight but it's very individual on how much you loose. For me the important thing is also to stop gaining weight, even if I of course hope that I will get back to a size I had a couple of years ago. It will also take quite some time before the weight stabilizes after the operation (first you usually drop weight, then you gain some again, and then it stabilizes).

That being said this weekend was the last chance for me to be out wearing costumes and nice clothes before the operation, that will take place on November 10th.

First my mother was invited to a ceremonial dinner at her old student nation, so it was time to bring out a ballgown when I came with her. This is actually a gown that I have bought, not made, since I have outgrown all my old gowns and I bought it last year when me and my husband went to a ball the weekend after our wedding. I was busy enough making my wedding gown, so it was out of the question to make a ballgown as well.

Then I missed the first day of the local convention AvestaCon, since I was driving me and my mother home from the dinner that day. But on Sunday I was trooping with Swedish Garrison and Nordic Base there, and since one of the great things with AvestaCon is that they have professional photographer Johan Falkenström there, and you get one free photo for every costume, I got some nice photos of first my jedi.

He doesn't take photos with the light on for the lightsabre, and I haven't had time to ask someone to fix it for me. 

My favorite photo was with my jawa, and a borrowed tusken rifle

AvestaCon is held in a wonderful old iron foundry that has been turned into an art museum, and I found a table with a lot of old rusty machinery and stuff, so more photos were taken with the jawa in its true element, and I hope I can share them soon.

Favorite photos of 2021

 Despite a pandemic there were still some events taking place, the biggest being Medieval Week in Visby and ComicCon in Stockholm. I also got better at taking photos by myself with a tripod and selftimer. So here are my favorite photos of 2021, without any specific order.

Looking back on 2021

 So what a year 2021 has been. I had some really big, or rather one really big thing happening to me, and that really affected my costuming.

If you don't know in 2021 I met the most wonderful guy in the world, and he's now my fiance and we are planning our wedding for 2022. That being said, I got some things done, even if most of it was before I stopped being single.

Going back my plans for 2021 was

• a wool nightgown
• a simple 16th century shift
• a pair of 16th century hose
• a regency outfit for a ball
• finishing the 1520s courtgown by making the cape
• Princess Daisy 
• Jedi librarian

The regency ball was cancelled due to the pandemic, so I didn't do anything regency related.

Out of the plans I did make the wool nightgown a simple standard medieval gown that will work medieval farmer from the viking age up until the renaissance. I just realized that I haven't posted about it all though.

The simple 16th century shift was made by remaking an older shift, it also fitted HSM challenge four. 

Me wearing the new shift

Princess Daisy was a success, when I finally finished her in time for ComicCon Stockholm.

Me and Tom/woodsling as Luigi and Daisy

I think my jedi librarian was my favorite project of the year though, and the one I'm most happy with. It also got approved as a jedi with the Rebel Legion.

As for things I hadn't planned, this is what I got done.

The winter started out with restrictions due to the pandemic, so we and my friends in our 16th century guild met up outside in the winter, and I needed something to keep warm.

The first thing I did was an historical jacket. I made it to be generic and fit most time periods from the 16th to the 18th century. It was mostly based on 16th and 17th century images though.

Worn with my mustard kirtle and one of my 16th century hoods, but without the wulst, I finally felt that I had something 17th century to wear, as I did at the annual Christmas fair at the Falun Mine.

I also made a hood out of black wool.

The most unexpected project was when I got picked as a pattern tester for the Selina blouse from Scroop Patterns.

I finished the pocket for my traditional costume, an embroidery that had been started more than 15 years ago.

This was finished in June, and then I wasn't single anymore, which explains the lack of updates for the rest of the year.

As for the HSM challenges I finished a few at least.

Challenge - on your head

Challenge - closures

Challenge - zero waste

Challenge - joy 

Challenge - purple

Challenge - the costumer's new look

I have also started a bunch of cross stitch embroidery projects for borders to 16th century shifts and veils, and it would be fun to finish them and actually use them for something.

Stockholm comicon report

 After almost 2 years it was finally time for proper convention again! There were fewer tickets, so the crowds were smaller, and you had to have a vaccine pass or negative test to get in, but otherwise it was as before. It was so much fun being back together with cosplay friends from Nordic Legions and just others you meet anyway.

One of the guests was Evanna Lync, Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, so of course I brought my Luna with me and had my photo taken with her. These kinds of photoshoot are one second affair, so you have to be prepared beforehand. I got a bit surprised when there was no plexiglass between us, so I lost some time and didn't exactly get the photo that I wanted, but it is good enough. She was really kind and it was she who placed herself really close to me and put her arm around me.

The rest of the Harry Potter cosplayers from Dalarna took a few round around the hall before I was going to be in the Nordic Legions' booth. I was in the booth with my jedi, but I kept the Luna wig since my hair wouldn't exactly look the best after quite a few hours under a wig.

I thought the blone looked quite ok as well. The jedi was really comfortable to wear at a convention. The only bad thing was that I had forgotten the belt that I hang my pouch from so I couldn't wear it. 

Saturday I started off as a jedi again, but this time in my own hair so no wig. We had some Nordic Base photos taken, and then a huge group photo in front of the replica of the Millenium Falcon (The Swedish Falcon) that premiered at the convention.

Then after lunch I switched to Princess Daisy, and it was soo much fun. She was fun to pose with, easy to wear, and it was pretty fun to take photos with more "serious" princesses.

On Sunday it was Daisy again, and now my friend Tom went as Luigi, we actually found quite a few cosplayers from Nintendo. Even if there were generally fewer cosplayers on Sunday than on Saturday.

All in all Daisy was a success, and it was sooooo great meeting all friends from the Nordic Legions again. I also managed to have three costumes, that all had very comfortable shoes. Daisy's orange sneakers were the best though.

Feet get tired even in comfy shoes though, and Milou was a bit sceptic when it came to the smell. Can't be worse than the stormtrooper armours in the changing room though.

A travel case for my lightsabre

 So I needed some way to transport my lightsabre for my jedi librarian. I found that I had a poster tube that I could extend enought to carry the blade, but not the blade and hilt together. So I decided to sew a little case to keep the lightsabre safe in my bag.

The outside was made by quilting two layers of wool together, all from scraps so the outside was pretty patched together, but I felt that it added some character to it.

I lined the inside with some cotton sateen, and made a pouch both at the top and the bottom so that the lightsabre won't fall out.

The case is simply rolled up and held together with some pieces of string.

Photos from the silver smelting plant in Falun

 Today I worked with guiding and lecturing at the silver smelting plant that is still intact in Falun. Well I also went there an hour before I needed so that I could take some fun photos in a really exciting location.

I used a variation of my jedi, with black pants and visible boots instead of the long skirt. It was hard with a phone and selftimer to work with the light, with the lightsabre, so it was more fun to play around outside of the slmeting plant.

I'm thinking that I should return and take some photos from the other side of the wall as well, to make a sequence that looks like I'm jumping over the wall.

I've also realized that I only have photos of myself in costume, so I decided to take some of myself in more regular clothes, that I can use when people want photos of me.

Jedi librarian photos

 Time flies, and I realized that if I wanted to have my jedi approved before Stockholm Comic-Con I needed to send in photos quite soon. I haven't done the jedi librarian tools that should hang in the belt, but they are not needed for a generic librarian. So I got dressed up and went outside my house together with a small tripod and my phone. All photos are taken with self time, I had to delete quite a few where I was not in the photo.

The one thing I'm worried about is that the standards call for a brown pouch, and maybe this beige is too light. We will see what the Rebel Legion judges have to say about it.