New D&D player = new dice bag!

This character is described as having purple hair, vine tattos on her ankle that wind up her leg, and a tattoo of waves on her side. She's also a Dragon Master, and has a pact with a platinum dragon.

Dungeons and Dragons Dice Bags!

My friends and I recently started playing D&D. We just finished our first real dungeon crawl and defeated our first large creature, thanks to some odd-defying rolls and smart decisions made by the wizard Azrael and sharp-shooter Caoilainn. My character's name is Ash Yorrick Freewill, and she is a badass Tiefling Bard who is trying her best to defy her demonic heritage and be a noble fighter in the quest to protect the world from an evil uprising.

But, adventuring aside, I made these dice bags for the party based on our characters and their personalities/appearance/traits. I made the d20 bag for the DM. I admit that stitching on the d20 could have been neater, but Athena (my sewing machine) was having a hard time and, honestly, after all the geometry involved in making that bag, I kind of rushed to get it done.

Overall, the party was pleased with their bags, and I am happy to have made something cool for my friends and fellow adventurers.

Edit: I have been told by my friends that they have received some inquiries about the dice bags. I'd be happy to take on commissions for custom work. Email me for info! bmusingcostumesandcrafts@gmail.com 

Part of Your World, or at Least Your Kitchen

Short but sweet:
K ordered a Little Mermaid inspired apron for Mel for Christmas. Here it is!

Something there that wasn't there before

Lauren and I have been friends for a little over half our lives, but it is only in the past few years that we have developed a designer/cosplayer relationship. I have to say that I am grateful that Lauren trusts me enough to let me choose her costumes, and then proceed to make a vision come to life. You may remember Lauren from such costumes as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry,  and Maleficent. (That was a Troy McClure homage,  as we're both Simpsons fanatics!)

On Thursday night I finished making alterations to a dress that Lauren found at a thrift shop to make it look like Belle's dress from the "Little Town" sequence in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. When we were discussing cosplay ideas for this year's Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, I was most excited about the possibility of making a dress from my absolute favourite Disney movie. This sent Lauren on a thrift store scavenger hunt to find a reasonably priced garment that could be altered fairly quickly, and on a budget.

The before/after picture is posted below. Here were the steps involved in altering the dress.

1. Square the bust line. Lauren tried on the dress so that I could see how it fit. Rather than measuring and marking, I took a short cut and took the scissors to the dress while it was on Lauren. This is where the duration of our friendship comes into play -- "let me just put these super-sharp blades close to your jugular and cut down to about where your heart is" -- then I used masking tape to mark where the material would need to be cut across. We also the discussed the length and what to do about that white stripe in the middle of skirt. It turns out that the stripe was easily removed,  and I had some material on-hand for the white trim.

2. After that initial fitting,  I measured my tape markings to make sure everything was symmetrical,  and set to work cutting, pinning, and finishing the edges of the bust line and straps.

One challenge presented by the dress was that there were rhinestones randomly placed on the shoulders, and so I had to be careful the avoid them. Careful as I was, one tiny rhinestone was overlooked and shattered my sewing machine needle. Luckily I had a spare handy, so disaster was averted.

Without the apron it become apparent how much fuller
the skirt is without the sewn-in pleats.

3. Un-pleat the pleats. This involved using my seam ripper, a hot iron, and steam. Thankfully removing the pleats gave the skirt a nice full look, which is exactly what we wanted.

4. The trim: I used material from the lining from a skirt that I bought but never wore (it was also a thrift shop find, so I can be fancy and say I up-cycled it).

I decided how wide the trim should be, measured the circumference of the skirt to see what length of trim would be needed, then set to work measuring and cutting.

The trim was attached,  edges finished, and layers of tiny zig-zag stitching was used to add some pizzazz to an otherwise boring part of the dress.

5. Trim 2.0: still not satisfied with the length of the dress, I added a sheer broad ribbon, which added about 5cm of length to the dress.

6. Apron! It's just skirt lining and ribbon!

With about 2 hours of work (spread out over a couple of days and between watching episodes of 'The X-Files'), the dress was done. Lauren added a blouse, a crinoline, and some accessories. The final fitting was Thursday night, and Fan Expo was Friday. I didn't attend this year, but our friend Christina (who has an awesome doll blog that you should take a look at) posted some pictures of the completed cosplay.

What we started with, and where we ended up.

 Now to end with some parody lyrics based on Something There, because writing parody lyrics is one of my other (lesser known) hobbies:

The dress was blue,
With a white stripe
And its neckline, it was rounded
And too high,
But now it's square,
The stripe is gone,
And when wearing it,
L burst out into song

The skirt had pleats,
It was too short,
But had potential to be something
Really sweet

And so I cut,
And ripped and stitched
And made the dress look really different than before

Trim, ribbon, and an apron,
Who'd have ever thought that this could be
True, the dress was not charming
But it looks much better now
as if from the movie

Well who'd have thought
Well bless my soul
Well who'd have known
Well who indeed
And who'd have guessed the difference
That some thread could make
It's so peculiar
When you see
An altered dress
That looks like something there that wasn't there before
You know perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before
There may be something there that wasn't there before.

Making Magic

The summer of 2007 was when I discovered the Harry Potter series after a prolonged resistence to the trendy series. However, from the second I read the first page of Philosopher's Stone,  I was fascinated by the world J.K Rowling created. Within a week I had breezed through the series and was, with all other Potter fans, anxiously awaiting the release of Deathly Hallows.

This year, when my friend told me that her daughter wanted to be Hermione for Halloween,  I was super excited. The English teacher in me was excited that this little girl has a love of reading that will only grow with time. The auntie/Potter fan in me wanted to make this experience as awesome as possible. So when my friend said that she wasn't sure what they were going to do for a wand, I immediately said, "I'm on it." (Also, just using a stick from the backyard is unacceptable!)

Here is my guide to wand-making:

Materials: imagination, suspension of disbelief, a stick, gardening wire, masking tape, paint brushes (I like using sponge brushes to apply varnish), acrylic paint, acrylic varnish, cardboard, ruler, glue or tape to affix label, optional access to a computer to print lables and a letter, optional fabric and sewing machine to make a cushion for the box.

1) Study wandlore. Consider the witch or wizard for whom you are crafting the wand. What is their personality like? What house would they be in? What are their interests?

2) Once you have chosen a wand wood and core, write a letter to the witch or wizard (on behalf of Garrick Ollivander) to explain what their wand is made of. Chloé's is applewood, phoenix feather core, 11 and 3/4", moderately pliable.

3) Find a stick. Please be respectful of Nature when you are finding your wand wood. look on the ground and see what Nature was to offer intead of lopping off a living part of a tree.

4) Craft a handle. I did this with my handy-dandy gardening wire (as previously seen with the Maleficent horns), and masking tape.

5) Paint! I chose to only paint the handle, but you may choose to paint the whole wand.

6) Varnish! I varnished the whole wand. I used Americana Starlight varnish to add a little sparkle, and then Americana Triple Thick Brilliant Brush On Gloss Glaze to make it shine.

7) Package. You can easily find lables for Olivander's online, and there are also templates for boxes. I made a simple box out of some cardboard that was just taking up space in my apartment. Painted it inside and out, and whipped up a quick cushion for the wand (sewing machine was already out and set up for my costume projects), then affixed the printed lable to the box.

8) Deliver! Send an owl with the packaged wand and letter to the wizard or witch.

Maleficent

This is Lauren as Maleficent.  This costume was made for her to cosplay at Fan Expo Canada 2014, and for Halloween.

The horns and the back are what seem to draw the most interest. The horns were formed  with gardening wire, small starter pots, and making tape (all dollar store materials). From sculpting to paint and varnish, the whole horn-making process took about two hours (excluding the paint-drying time, of course).

This costume is my version of what I thought to be the most remarkable scene from the Maleficent movie; just after her wings have been burned off. Also, I didn't want to make wings (lol). The wounds were easy to make. The dress material kind of melted, and left the solid scorched bits around the edges. Then I sewed in some bathing suit liner, and painted it with acrylic paint and white glue.

Feedback from Lauren was that the top was hard to get into for Fan Expo. It is very tailored to her, so I added a side zipper, running from the left armpit down to the bottom of the blouse.

The staff is a painted branch from the garden, topped with LEDs and a substance called Goo-Hu, that is moldable rubber/epoxy which dries into a super bounce ball.

I'm very much looking forward to going out with her and my friends this Friday for Halloween!