I’ve decided to create a fun group board for people to pin Etsy listings to. You can find it here!
Rules
I cannot remember the last time I was this excited to make a costume. It might have been back when I made one of Eowyn because she is my role model, but I am having a blast with this and I’ve not even gotten any of the materials. To me, that is what really maters. Having a cool costume to wear for Halloween and Movie Releases is just an added bonus.
I’ve been doing some reading of Doctor Strange (and decided that the old Doctor Strange comics aren’t exactly good), and some research (read: googling), and discovered some pretty cool things. First thing is, while I can find no reference to a female Doctor Strange (because there have been female versions of a lot of them, in fact, in Ultimate Spiderman theres a universe where all of them are girls), but I did find the below image of Doc’s girlfriend (well, one of them) taking on the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme.
Its nice that they were able to create a female character that isn’t 98% cleavage and bare legs.
And then there’s this woman (Doc’s daughter from a different dimension or something, idk, you can read about her here), who is also pretty darn cool.
Basically what I’m saying is: whomever is making the female versions of the Sorcerer Supreme can keep on keeping on because neither of them are overly sexualized.
I also stumbled across some concept art from the All New All Different Doctor Strange (that’s the one I love best) which shows some awesome new detailing on the costume (particularly the cloak) (and that’s where I got my featured image from, by the way). He also appears to wear sneakers, which makes my idea to wear my tennis shoe styled heels that much better.
Clearly I have to have some version of the eye, particularly since it might be one of the infinity stones (at least, in the MCU), but I haven’t decided if I’m going for the movie version or the comic version yet. Honestly the movie one looks better (and I love that its based on the window in the Sanctum Sanctorum), but I think the one from the comics might end up easier to make……
There are two different looks I could go for for Doctor Strange’s belt, one being plain gold (straight out of the comics) and the other being leather and brown canvas (from the movie) and I’m probably borrowing from the movie one for this because I have some really cool faux leather fabrics laying around and it would be a shame not to use them.
I’m not sure how much of my planning for the wig I mentioned in the last post, but I don’t think I talked about it at all. I am going to add in the silver highlights that Doctor Strange has (is there a reason that happened? I haven’t been able to find it in all my reading) and accent them as much as possible (I’ll probably braid them or something, to make them look super cool), and then theres the debate of how to style it. Part of me wants to leave it all the way down – because, why the heck not? – but I’m not sure that’s really a great idea (after all, it has to look fight ready). So I’ve come up with two possibilities:
No matter how I style it, I’ve decided I’m going to grab some of those cheap, witchy beads and charms that you always see out around Halloween and weave/braid/tie them in, just to add a bit of fun. Mostly how I do it is going to end up depending on how the wig looks once I get it, because some wigs are easier to style than others.
Possible Wigs
In my last post on the subject, I was still debating over what pattern I was going to use to create the bulk of Doctor Strange’s costume (the tunic-y thing he wears under his cloak), and I didn’t even consider using Sentinel (M2080), because I hadn’t seen it somehow, but once I did I knew that it was absolutely perfect for what I was going for and that I had to use it.
I’m not going to be using the hood, because I don’t really like it, and I have a different idea for the arm wraps – either the ones by Creative Rash or Captain Morgan Teague’s – but despite that change, this pattern is much closer to what I envisioned than anything else I’ve looked at!!
The undershirt I will be doing in some variant of blue, and I might be removing the fancy clasps in favor of something easier (like snaps or velco, seriously guys I’m that lazy (or I might just make it a pull over)) because I don’t think I want the claps from this, the lacing from the vest, and the belt all piled on top of one another. That just will not look good, me thinks.
The over part I will not be doing much altering to, because I like how it looks already. The holes for the lacing will be interesting, because I’ve never done anything like that before, but enough people do it regularly that it can’t be too hard, right?
In order to mimic Doc’s costume from the comics (which is a dark blue tunic with a light blue bat/creature on the front), I’m going to make the under shirt a slightly lighter shade than the vest, although, I won’t be using the baby blue from the comics. The darkest part will be the body of the vest (which is the entire over thing except the front stripe which is shown in super light blue below).
The bottom layer I’m going to make out of something soft and drape-y (read: something comfortable that I won’t mind having against my skin), and the outer layer I’ll make out of something stiffer.
Its an online pattern only, meaning I couldn’t go and pick it up like I wanted to, but with cost, shipping, tax and everything it added up to $19.95 which isn’t terribly bad. And because it will take a while to arrive in the mail that lets me spread out the expenses of buying the fabric (because I won’t do that until I have the pattern physically in my hands) and purchasing the pattern.
I’ll probably wear it with black cotton leggings (which I have) and boots (which I have), maybe even the heeled boots I bought for Wanda Maximoff, so that lowers some of my costs. All that’s left is the cloak, and I have a cloak pattern I will most likely be using, although Simplicity just released a pattern for a cloak that’s clearly meant to be Doctor Strange (8238 for those of you who are curious), I don’t see the point of buying it when I have a perfectly alterable pattern already. I’ll also need a wig (and I’m not planning on a super nice one), and that should be the end of it.
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a huge comics buff, I’m not one of those people who have been reading them for years and want to tell you all about how I know more about them than you and so on and so forth. But what I am is someone who, in the last two weeks, has read literally dozens of Doctor Strange comics (because I can read them on my phone while I’m standing in line or waiting on class to start). I’ve even read more about the Doc than I have about Kate Bishop, which feels like such a betrayal, but he’s so great!
I’m not going for a ‘gender swap’ or ‘rule of 63’ to be precise, but I’m also certainly not going to just crossdress as an old guy. I mean, I have boobs, and I’m not hiding them, and I’ll probably have a long wig just because I like that kinda thing, but I’m not gonna go all out feminine. Its just going to be something that I like that fits Doc Strange.
I also want to base it (or at least, the cloak) around the more recent Doctor Strange design (circa Doctor Strange 2015 which is a great run), because its much more toned down than the traditional Strange and because it lacks his super stupid collar (which I have neither the patience to make nor the desire to wear).
Kialnax’s Costume Breakdown: This provides a great break down of the costume from the movie, including up close photos.
Cosplay Help
A lot of people, when it comes to cosplay, just don’t know where to start, or think that they can’t find exactly what they want/don’t have the skill to create replicas. However, a lot of pattern companies and indie blogs have started creating a lot of very useful patterns and tutorials just for those people.
Today’s post is all the help I could find and/or create for Lord of the Rings Elves (although, they could work for any high fantasy elf). If you think you may be doing one of these cosplays in the future, I’d suggest book marking this page because I will be updating it as I go.
It’s all really about the fabric you use.
Rivendell = Silks in blue and silver
Lothlorien = Fluttery and lightweight (think of a little kid’s fairy costume) in white and blue and silver
Woodelves = Greens, browns, and other ‘natural’ colors in wools and linens with leather. If you’re being a stickler to the books they don’t wear armor (I know they do in the movie, that was just wrong, okay?)
One of the great things about making Lord of the Rings costumes is the number of resources because 1) a lot of people have done it already and 2) the costumes travel around a lot, so you can get good, up-close photos of them.
Mens
Women’s
Jewerly:
Cloaks:
I had my college orientation this week, and I got a Wii U, so I’ve been busy and not doing a lot of crafts.
I’m still plugging away on this. I got quite a bit done at my college orientation, and I’ll be working on it at the RWBY showing I’m going to tonight, so hopefully I’ll make some noticeable progress (the thread it so tiny!)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIDTKAWDD4z/?taken-by=craftingonpinsandneedles
I haven’t been working on this as much as I should – otherwise it would be done! – because its not as mindless as the Hyrule Warriors Scarf. But I’m almost done! Maybe this afternoon I’ll finish.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIXugEjgxd9/?taken-by=craftingonpinsandneedles
I finished my Belle Bomber so you should check that out! And I finally got up decent photos of
This is a fun cape crossed with a sweater that I made based on this thing here. I stumbled across it on pinterest and fell in love with it even though the pattern (what little there was of it) was written in Russian.
Initially, this was going to be called the “Red Nancy Drew Jacket” because it looks like something the infamous sleuth would wear, however, I began to realize, as I was piecing it together, that it also looked like something that Sherlock Holmes would wear (or at least, if he was a female). So I changed the name to reflect one of Sherlock’s most infamous stories (and his first).
I’m so totally in love with this coat that its not even funny. I want to wear it all the time which isn’t even possible right now because of the weather (when I photographed this thing it was over 80 degrees fahrenheit outside). I’m a bit afraid that the sleeves will be annoying or too bulky to wear under my backpack straps this fall, but I’m going to try and pray that it works, because its too nice not to.
Links:
Materials:
For the most part I followed the pattern exactly, only altering a few times (either because I didn’t want to do a certain technique or because the pattern was unclear so I decided to run with it and do my own thing).
Its a pretty simple pattern, although, for being a “Learn to Sew” pattern that was supposed to teach things, I found myself having to google a lot and the main thing that it was supposed to teach me – using bias tape to sew an underarm sleeve, is a pretty specific skill. I don’t see myself using it often enough to have made this just to learn that.
Alterations & Problems
Work in Progress Wednesday
I’ve been pretty busy lately, largely because I just saved up enough money to get myself a Wii U, so I’ve been playing that a lot. I’ve also not had much to work on, because most of the projects I have to do are in their final stages.
I’ve also been working a lot on a special post for the blog. I don’t want to give too much away, but if you like Zelda and Cosplay you’ll love it -wink-
This is basically done, in fact, I posted a wrap up for it, but I still need to do a bit of messing with the zipper, because, as it stands right now, it rubs at my neck too much.
It’s too thick to close it the way I was planning to (the snaps won’t go through the fabric), so I’ll have to figure out something else. I may do some sort of reverse button and then put something decorative (like the pearl snaps which I still really want) down the front.
I’m done with the stranded part and onto the main body which is plain blue, so hopefully it will start moving along at a faster rate here soon.
I really love jackets, its kind of a fact of life when you have thyroid problems (because I get cold so easy!) so I’ve decided to start making some of mine. I have a pretty weird taste in clothing – most of my stuff is from junk stores because that’s just what I like – so its hard to find something off the rack (not to mention my arms are abnormally long for a woman).
The portfolio project for this item can be found here.
I’ve also loved Bomber Jackets since I was introduced to the Doctor Who companion Ace McShane (photo to the left). Hers isn’t exactly my style, I don’t wear that much black (when I can help it anyway, its not my fault all the good fandom shirts are in black!), its a very eighties look, and I don’t like jackets that you have to work that hard to keep on (its much too big for her). So now I get my own bomber jacket, done in colors that are a bit more me.
I stopped by the fabric store and started looking through their patterns for one that I liked – the one that Emily used was French, and although my mom took French in High School she’s pretty rusty at this point and sometimes her help is anything but (love you mom!) – and was finally able to narrow my decision down to one of two patterns: McCall’s M7100 or Butterick B6181. I finally settled on the Butterick Pattern for two reasons; it was on sale (which is always a great thing!) and because the the example for the McCall’s had been sewn in Camo Fabric and that’s always a turn off for me (I live in the south and it is everywhere and gets old very quickly). I’m doing it in two colors like pattern D. Butterick ranks their patterns and claims that this one is “easy.” The jury is still out.
I ended up really pleased with what I made. Considering that this is a practice run for the Rapunzel Bomber (because I didn’t want to risk ruining that fabric!) thats cut from an old set of curtains and other random fabric that I think was intended to become curtains that I found in a thrift store (I am NOT joking), it turned out well.
Its actually pretty flattering on me, except when its zipped up (shown left!) and I have my hands in my pockets, but in the event that I need to do that (its very warm without even zipping it) I’ll be so cold I won’t care about how I look. Theres plenty of room in it – I cut it as a size ten, although I’m actually much closer to an eight – and as you can see in the picture to the right, I can even put a sweater under it (and it looks really nice with that sweater!)
Materials:
Cut from the Gold
Cut from the Blue
Cut from Both
This is an unlined pattern, but I decided that I wanted to add a liner for a variety of reasons including: a little extra warmth (its a pretty thin fabric), added durability, and because it just looks cool.
I bagged the liner, which was the best decision I’ve ever made. It was so easy!! For the sake of being (probably overly) useful, I’ve linked a ton of tutorials below.
Other Lining Tutorials:
*** my favorite tutorials.
Crafting On Pins and Needles 