Costume/cosplay meme day 20

20. Have you won any cosplay awards?

I've only been in one costume contest, and I didn't win anything then. In 2011 someone posted a list of 10 best stormtrooper versions, and had a picture of me in the cancan trooper as nr 3. Too bad I didn't save that list. :(


1. Your first cosplay.
2. How many costumes have you done?
3. Your most recent cosplay.
4. Your cosplay communities, where do you go to talk about cosplay?
5. Blatant self plug! Link us to your cosplay page, be it dA, ACP, Coscom, whatever!
6. Your favourite cosplay (that you have done)
7. The character you have cosplayed that is most similar to you (if none that you have cosplayed, then one that you will cosplay)
8. Your cosplay plans for the rest of the year (if you have no more for this year, then do next year!)
9. The dream cosplay that might just happen
10. The dream cosplay that will never happen
11. Something cosplay-related that you will never do (eg. crossplay, cosplay from a certain series)
12. Your cosplay idol.
13. Your cosplay specialty (ie. something that seems to apply to a large amount of your cosplays, it could be a specific series, or a common feature in their appearance, such as glasses)
14. Your cosplay-making habits (eg. singing while working on cosplay)
15. Your least favourite thing about cosplay
16. Do you belong to any cosplay groups? If so, what are they?
17. What events have you cosplayed to?
18. What is your best cosplay memory?
19. What is your worst cosplay memory?
20. Have you won any cosplay awards?
21. Show us your best cosplay derp photo!
22. Have you worn cosplay in a regular situation? (eg. at school, to work)
23. Your most expensive cosplay
24. Your most comfortable cosplay and most uncomfortable cosplay
25. The cosplay you put the most effort into
26. Any unfinished costumes? Will you ever finish them?
27. How many wigs do you own? Which is your favourite?
28. Where do you work on your cosplays and where do you store them when they’re done?
29. What is your favourite cosplay item? (eg. a pair of shoes, a wig)
30. Describe cosplay in three words. No more, no less.

Costume/cosplay meme day 19

19. What is your worst cosplay memory?

Well, I am overweight, and even if people haven't said it straight out to me it's been quite obvious that people don't think I should cosplay Princess Leia. I guess that's the joy of historical costuming, since I'm not portraying a specific individual people are a lot more open to accepting all kinds of body types.


1. Your first cosplay.
2. How many costumes have you done?
3. Your most recent cosplay.
4. Your cosplay communities, where do you go to talk about cosplay?
5. Blatant self plug! Link us to your cosplay page, be it dA, ACP, Coscom, whatever!
6. Your favourite cosplay (that you have done)
7. The character you have cosplayed that is most similar to you (if none that you have cosplayed, then one that you will cosplay)
8. Your cosplay plans for the rest of the year (if you have no more for this year, then do next year!)
9. The dream cosplay that might just happen
10. The dream cosplay that will never happen
11. Something cosplay-related that you will never do (eg. crossplay, cosplay from a certain series)
12. Your cosplay idol.
13. Your cosplay specialty (ie. something that seems to apply to a large amount of your cosplays, it could be a specific series, or a common feature in their appearance, such as glasses)
14. Your cosplay-making habits (eg. singing while working on cosplay)
15. Your least favourite thing about cosplay
16. Do you belong to any cosplay groups? If so, what are they?
17. What events have you cosplayed to?
18. What is your best cosplay memory?
19. What is your worst cosplay memory?
20. Have you won any cosplay awards?
21. Show us your best cosplay derp photo!
22. Have you worn cosplay in a regular situation? (eg. at school, to work)
23. Your most expensive cosplay
24. Your most comfortable cosplay and most uncomfortable cosplay
25. The cosplay you put the most effort into
26. Any unfinished costumes? Will you ever finish them?
27. How many wigs do you own? Which is your favourite?
28. Where do you work on your cosplays and where do you store them when they’re done?
29. What is your favourite cosplay item? (eg. a pair of shoes, a wig)
30. Describe cosplay in three words. No more, no less.

Costume/cosplay meme day 18

18. What is your best cosplay memory?

Definitely the two times I've worn my cancan trooper at Star Wars Celebrations. I love the response I get in that costume, especially from women who think it's great to see a "sexy" costume that isn't slutty or just showing off a lot of skin.

1. Your first cosplay.
2. How many costumes have you done?
3. Your most recent cosplay.
4. Your cosplay communities, where do you go to talk about cosplay?
5. Blatant self plug! Link us to your cosplay page, be it dA, ACP, Coscom, whatever!
6. Your favourite cosplay (that you have done)
7. The character you have cosplayed that is most similar to you (if none that you have cosplayed, then one that you will cosplay)
8. Your cosplay plans for the rest of the year (if you have no more for this year, then do next year!)
9. The dream cosplay that might just happen
10. The dream cosplay that will never happen
11. Something cosplay-related that you will never do (eg. crossplay, cosplay from a certain series)
12. Your cosplay idol.
13. Your cosplay specialty (ie. something that seems to apply to a large amount of your cosplays, it could be a specific series, or a common feature in their appearance, such as glasses)
14. Your cosplay-making habits (eg. singing while working on cosplay)
15. Your least favourite thing about cosplay
16. Do you belong to any cosplay groups? If so, what are they?
17. What events have you cosplayed to?
18. What is your best cosplay memory?
19. What is your worst cosplay memory?
20. Have you won any cosplay awards?
21. Show us your best cosplay derp photo!
22. Have you worn cosplay in a regular situation? (eg. at school, to work)
23. Your most expensive cosplay
24. Your most comfortable cosplay and most uncomfortable cosplay
25. The cosplay you put the most effort into
26. Any unfinished costumes? Will you ever finish them?
27. How many wigs do you own? Which is your favourite?
28. Where do you work on your cosplays and where do you store them when they’re done?
29. What is your favourite cosplay item? (eg. a pair of shoes, a wig)
30. Describe cosplay in three words. No more, no less.

Adventures in dye-land

So last Sunday it was time for me to do what I had dreaded for a long time, it was time to dye the fabric for the gold handmaiden. I went home to my mother's house, since has both a good stove, larger pans than me, and a bath tub.

Before embarking on this adventure I was really scared of it, in the end I found that it's been pretty fun, especially if you aren't too picky with getting a certain shade but can accept some variety. Hopefully this will be helpful to some other who haven't dyed before.

First of all I washed my fabrics. Since it was silk I was a bit worried, but I was going to treat them a lot worse in the dye process than what the washing machine could do o them. I even put the silk/rayon velvet in the tumbler, and it turned out fantastic. I did this step last week.

When it was time to dye I started with soaking the fabric in really hot water in the bath tub. I had cut the fabric into three pieces, the general size of the pattern pieces.

 I used hot water since I didn't want the fabric to cool down the dye bath when I put it in. In the instructions it says to have the dye bath on the stove to keep the temperature, but that wouldn't be a good idea with a plastic container so I will have to do with the heat from the water when I pour it in.

While the fabric was soaking I boiled a lot of water on the stove, in my mother's biggest pots. I also put some water in the regular kettle. This water I poured into the container to heat it up, and then I poured it out again. I wanted the container to be hot when I poured the boiling water into it, so that it wouldn't cool down immediately.

Here you can see the two pots and the container, remember to protect the floor. One thing I also realized was that you don't need to fill the container. I filled it a bit more than half-full. You only need enough water, and space, so that the fabric can be moved around in it.

Now the velvet was very heavy when wet, so I had to split it in two batches for it to work. I put the first batch in and let it be there for 19 minutes, then I took it off, put it in the bath tub with cold water, reheated most of the dye bath in one of the pots and put the next batch in.

When the second batch had been in for 20 minutes I put them both in the washer and washed with a silk detergent in a cold water/hand wash cycle. Finally I put it all in the tumbler, on low heat.

While the velvet was in the tumbler I repeated the process with the silk taffeta. Only with this fabric I could put it all in one bath. I also didn't put it in the tumbler. Then I had to go home to my own place, so I hung all the fabrics up to dry in the bath room. (My mother's on a vacation trip, I wonder if she's going to be surprised when she gets home?)

Here are the fabrics hanging and you can immediately see that the velvet on the left, the first batch, has a totally different shade than the velvet on the right, the second batch. What must have happened is that the first batched sucked up most of the red pigments in the dye, leaving the second batch a more yellow/golde shade. The sad thing is that the second batch is perfect, so I will need to see if I can remove some of the dye from the first batch, or if it's possible to overdye it to become more yellow.

My plan now is that I have ordered some colour remover. I will cut up the velvet into the pieces I need to assemble the robe and hood, that should also leave me with a lot scraps so that I can do tests before trying to bring the both batches into the same colour. If I can't remove the red from the first batch I have another packet left of the original dye and then I need to dye the second batch again to give it more red.

Costume/Cosplay meme day 17

17. What events have you cosplayed to?

My main cosplay events are the Star Wars Celebrations, I've been to all American and European ones since 2005. Then there are quite a lot of smaller events with the Nordic Legions.

As for historical costume events I haven't been to very many, three times at the Sala Silvermine's 18th century celebrations and once to a masked ball. I'm hoping I'll be able to attend more in the future.

1. Your first cosplay.
2. How many costumes have you done?
3. Your most recent cosplay.
4. Your cosplay communities, where do you go to talk about cosplay?
5. Blatant self plug! Link us to your cosplay page, be it dA, ACP, Coscom, whatever!
6. Your favourite cosplay (that you have done)
7. The character you have cosplayed that is most similar to you (if none that you have cosplayed, then one that you will cosplay)
8. Your cosplay plans for the rest of the year (if you have no more for this year, then do next year!)
9. The dream cosplay that might just happen
10. The dream cosplay that will never happen
11. Something cosplay-related that you will never do (eg. crossplay, cosplay from a certain series)
12. Your cosplay idol.
13. Your cosplay specialty (ie. something that seems to apply to a large amount of your cosplays, it could be a specific series, or a common feature in their appearance, such as glasses)
14. Your cosplay-making habits (eg. singing while working on cosplay)
15. Your least favourite thing about cosplay
16. Do you belong to any cosplay groups? If so, what are they?
17. What events have you cosplayed to?
18. What is your best cosplay memory?
19. What is your worst cosplay memory?
20. Have you won any cosplay awards?
21. Show us your best cosplay derp photo!
22. Have you worn cosplay in a regular situation? (eg. at school, to work)
23. Your most expensive cosplay
24. Your most comfortable cosplay and most uncomfortable cosplay
25. The cosplay you put the most effort into
26. Any unfinished costumes? Will you ever finish them?
27. How many wigs do you own? Which is your favourite?
28. Where do you work on your cosplays and where do you store them when they’re done?
29. What is your favourite cosplay item? (eg. a pair of shoes, a wig)
30. Describe cosplay in three words. No more, no less.

The Lady of the Mine

Yesterday it was time for a very special tour of the Falun Mine. In December we auctioned out a "ghost tour" of the mine for charity. We normally don't offer tours like that so this was a one of a kind thing. I of course loved to take part, and made sure that I got to play The Lady of the Mine. Most mines, at least in Sweden, have a Lady living there. She's the spirit that controls everything, the treasure is her treasure and she can give and take it away. She can also warn miners of any dangers, as long as they respect her rules. The most common descriptions of the this Lady describes her as a very beautiful woman, dressed in expensive clothes, like a real queen. Usually when people portray her they dress her simply in white flowing robes, well I wanted something else. I love the descriptions were she is describes with "skirts that swosh by and jewels that bangs", or as one person say "like a jingling gypsy woman".

The dress that I wore is actually an old ballgown that I made, with inspiration from the mine. The ball gown has a really nice skirt, but the bodice was a disaster so I donated it to the "dress out" wardrobe at the mine some time ago. I think I was the first one to use it though. Then I tried to find as many big necklaces and bracelets I could find, and finally I used my gold leave tiara. The veil are a couple of meters of gold poly organza, I have bought it to use as interlining for the gold handmaiden but I calculated that I had enough to be able to use a piece of it for this.

Hmm, I asked that someone could take a picture from the back to show the tail that I had made, but it was apparently invisible.

It's also fun to go heavy on the make up. I used a coat of white face paint as a base layer and then coppertoned eyeshadow on the cheekcs, the eyes were done very heavily with copper/green/blue glittery eyegels, and then some very red lips.

I would have loved to see what I looked like when I stood in the darkness with an oil lamp in my hand, one person said that the oil lamp was invisible so that they thought I had the fire in my hand.

HSM 15: Challenge 2 - Blue (an 18th century blueberry muff tutorial)

I wanted to do something quick for the blue challenge. I had the remnants left from when I did my big revolutionary hat, and that is a wonderful cotton velvet and it being winter and all I felt that what I need is a muff. A blue muff would of course also go very well with the hat. I was a bit worried about the use of velvet though, since most muffs on fashion plates and also most reproduction muffs seemed to be made of silk or fur. A quick search made me very happy though. I found two example of paintings with velvet muffs, and not only velvet they are blue!

Now I generally concentrate on the later 18th century, when the muffs tended to be bigger, but smaller muffs are around throughout the century.

Now I'm not the first to make a muff, and I very much relied on the tutorials by Katherine C-G and Leimomi Oakes, in a way my muff is a mix of the two.

The first step was to make a muff base, with a muff base it would be easy to make loads of muff covers in the future if I feel like it. The muff base was constructed from cotton, a thin silk and two layers of batting.

As a pattern I used a muff that I have and love. As a student I was actually known for using this muff in the winter, then I got a job and bought a bike and it's hard to use a muff when cycling.

The base layer is simply the muff x 2 with added seam allowances. I cut out two layers of batting and a silk layer using the cotton as a pattern. My plan had been to cut up an old pillow and use the filling for stuffing the muff, but apparently I had already thrown it away. I also cut the silk layer about 2 cm bigger than the cotton layer.

At this time I also got a lot of assistance by Kurbits, one of my mother's two cats that I'm cat-sitting this week.

I quickly quilted the padding to the cotton layers, so that it wouldn't slide around. This is going to be on the inside, so I wasn't very careful with getting the quilting lines exactly straight and on equal distance from each other.

I cut off the padding from the seam allowances and sewed the silk lining to only the cotton layer.

I sewed the silk to three sides of the cotton/padding layer. As you can see the silk is bigger than the cotton, but when it's all turned to the right side the padding ends up between the layers and then the silk lining fits snuggly to the cotton/padding layer.

Then it was just a matter of turning the right sides out and sew the open sides together to form a tube. Tadah, I had a muff base.

For the outer layer I cut a rectangle a bit larger than the muff base.

I sewed two channels on the short sides and then sewed the long side together. Now here I did the mistake that made my muff a bit smaller than planned. The outer layer need to be a lot longer than the foundation, since it's going to be drawn together and form the short sides as well. Still I managed to get the muff foundation into the muff cover and close it with two sets of blue ribbon that I found in my stash.

I haven't trimmed the muff, I want to keep it fairly simple so that I can use it for a lot of different outfits, and a simple case of changing it up a bit would be to just change the ribbons to some other colour.

The Challenge: 2 - Blue

Fabric: 0,5 m cotton broadcloth, 0,5 m silk (habotai?), 0,75 m blue cotton velvet

Pattern: Made my own

Year: 18th century

Notions: Sewing thread, 1 m blue poly satin ribbon, 1 m of poly batting

How historically accurate is it? The fabrics are accurate, but the ribbon and batting are not. I also made it all by machine so I'd say 40%

Hours to complete: 1,5

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: It was all from stash, and most of it old enough that I can't remember what it cost when I bought it.

Future things: I would love if I can use the last of the remnants to make a cape, or rather capelet. I'm not sure that it's enough fabric left but I would love to have a matching hat, cape and muff. I will at least try and see what I can make out of it for the stash-busting challenge.