I've been working on local stages for nineteen years now, which means a lot of different costumes. I also inherited an enjoyment of sewing from my mother, a talent which furthers my passion for creating beautiful but completely useless outfits. I love Hallowe'en, because I get a chance to make something new. (Mind you, that costume gets hung up in my closet next to the last something new from last year's party, likely to never be worn again except when I get nostalgic or lazy.)

Most of my costume photos exist as developed prints; it's only in the past couple of years that digital records of my work have been taken. As they get sorted and scanned, they'll appear here.

Masquerades and Hallowe'en Costumes

I consider it a cop-out to wear something pre-made to any sort of costumed event.

My first cosplay project was a Star Trek TOS uniform created from the six-inch graph layout in the (now out of print) Technical Manual. I enlarged it by hand onto sheets of tissue paper (which took almost a week to do on its own), created a mock-up, adjusted it for arm length and torso length, found the perfect fabric in a remnant section, and voila -- perfect. This one brought tears to my future husband's eyes, as it was based on an RPG we were currently involved in. The insignia worn on the chest was that of his ship, the U.S.S. Raven, and to wear it was a huge concession on the part of my character. After that first costume, I was well and truly hooked into the creation of complex costumes.

I tend to be very secretive and slightly obsessive about my costuming. I like it to be a surprise for pretty much everyone when I walk into whatever event I've costumed for. It adds to the suspense, and let's face it, it adds to my costuming mystique as well.

Once I began keeping a web log, I started journalling my costume creation efforts (appropriately shrouded in secrecy so that no one guesses what I'm doing, of course!). You can skim through my Sewing archive here, and if you're really clever you can figure out what costume I worked on by looking at the associated dates. For example, I chronicled the Arwen costume from July through October 2002, and the Anna Valerious and Van Helsing outfits in late October 2004.

Anna Valerious - October 2004

One of my most successful costumes so far (successful both in terms of accomplishment and impact!) has been an approximation of Anna Valerious from the film Van Helsing, which I put together for Hallowe'en 2004. I did this costume, plus my husband's outfit (yes, of course he was Van Helsing, what else did you expect?) in just two weeks. Why the ludicrous time frame? Up till then, we were both going to do something completely different; in fact, I had the pattern for something very different and had gone shopping for fabric samples already for the other project. That one was put on hold for another occasion, as I just couldn't resist the fun of this set of costumes.

The Anna Valerious costume is made of four original elements: the shirt; the corset; the jacket; and the boot covers. I wore these over a pair of black stirrup pants which I've owned for years, and with my black leather ankle boots. Ideally, I'd have loved to have made new fake suede pants to match, but come on - I had two weeks, and besides, I hate making pants. I love the jacket; I adore the corset; but the real impact of this costume comes from the use of the hardware and the attention to detail.

The shirt is fine white cotton, kit-bashed from a basic over-the-head shirt pattern. I drafted new sleeves for it to make them fuller. It's got machine-embroidered trim along the neckline and the sleeve hems. If I'd had more time, I'd have added the decorative Eastern European embroidery along the shirt body, but it was that or make my husband's coat. The tassels are supposed to be functional in order to pull the neckline closed, but I sliced down into the scoop neck of the shirt instead and rolled a tiny hem, then embroidered over it and sewed the tassels and their cords on directly; the tassels are made from crewel wool.

The corset is made of a heavy black brushed cotton, from a pattern, which I again kit-bashed to remove one of the panels, and reshaped the remaining panels so it was a precise fit. The hardware is brass: there are eighteen large studs, fifty small studs, and seven buckles down the front. The horizontal straps on the front are actually velvet ribbon. I added the solid tabs or flanges on the bottom of the corset. The back eyelets are actually an amazing velvet ribbon already set with brass eyelets; it certainly made my life a lot easier, because I hate setting eyelets. The slight stretch of the material was eliminated by using the double-layer method of construction, and was further stabilized by sewing lots of casings to hold the boning. I used plastic baleen to bone it. The lacing is simple black cord.

The boot covers are made of the same heavy black brushed cotton. They measure something ridiculous like thirty inches high from ankle to top hem. Again, the hardware is brass; there are ten hoops on each leg. The tabs are black seam binding, folded around the hoop and hot-glued shut, and then trimmed to a point. The brushed cotton had a bit of stretch to it, so these are just pulled on over the stirrup pants. I had to pin them up, though.

The jacket is made of a red velveteen, which I dyed to a dark blood red, although these photos make it brighter. The cut is based on a kit-bashed pattern for a bolero evening jacket. I redrafted the body to eliminate about six inches, and redrafted these sleeves as well to get that great curve and cut. It's lined in regular black lining. The decoration is gold silk cord, and it was attached mainly with hot glue, with sewing around the tight curves and stress points to reinforce it.

The full effect was rather impressive, even if it was only an approximation of the official costume. The pictures really don't do it justice. (And yes, there I am with my eyes closed, as they inevitably are in 40% of photos taken of me. Also appearing in this set of photos is our littlest cat, Nixie, who would apparently like to be a vampire hunter when she grows up.)

This costume won Best Theme Costume at the popular and legendary annual party I attended.

Incidentally, this set of costumes are the first I made with my new sewing machine, and the difference was palpable. When I think of the anguish and tears of frustration evoked by the behaviour of my failing baby sewing machine during costumes like the Promethea outfit and the Arwen costume, I can only thank my group of friends yet again for gifting me with my new grown-up Kenmore machine. Making these two costumes would have been impossible without it.

The Scarlet Witch - June 2004

Every year, a couple of friends host a Superhero Party, and the object is to dress as a hero (or villain!) from some sort of graphic media. It's a terrific opportunity for all of us to indulge our inner super-powered person, and the costumes are always imaginative and hilarious.

In 2004, I chose to go as the Scarlet Witch as designed by George Perez (and illustrated here by Scott Rosema). Part of cosplaying is the joy of finding perfect costume elements. These satin ribbon spike-heel shoes, for example, are shoes I will never, ever wear again, but they make the costume (even though they're not canon). When I found them, however, at a liquidation outlet for only nine dollars, they were the only pair left and I couldn't pass them up, even though they were a size too small. They're not costume canon, but they are so very Scarlet Witch. (Someone recently called a similar style of shoe 'ballet stilettos', which is a remarkably appropriate term.)

The headpiece, cape, and sleeves are also made of red satin which has a touch of spandex to it for a good stretch (imperative for superheroine outfits). I cut and sewed these elements out from another skirt purchased at the same liquidation outlet. The bustier is pretty much pre-purchased; I modified it to show more skin at the cleavage (ahem - you've got to love George Perez), took a good six inches off the bottom, and added the lacing and the eyelets through which to lace it. The skirt too was remarkably ready-made; all I did was unpick the side seams and hem them. This was a really popular costume. I can't imagine why. :)

Arwen Undomiel - Hallowe'en 2002

Being completely in love with the so-called "riding outfit" or "chase dress" designed by Ngila Dickson and worn by Liv Tyler in the 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for Hallowe'en 2002.

Bear in mind that I started this project in July of 2002, and at that time the details avilable on this costume design were really few and far between. Now, of course, if you want to make any costume derived from Peter Jackson's epic trilogy, you can go to AlleyCat's fabulous LOTR Costume pages, for example, and find tons and tons of details (and oh, how I wish I'd had these details when I made this costume!). When I began, there were some bad production photos, details taken from a toy of Arwen, screen caps of the theatrical release of the film, and lots of imaginative guesses from cosplay fandom.

In the discount fabric district I found a light crepe-like material, which looked suede-like in some lights, in a pale blue colour. I dyed it with a dove grey, and the two colours merged to create an interesting grey-blue which I liked very much, although not completely authentic. I could have run the fabric through another dye bath, but I was dyeing cut pieces in a pot on my stovetop, and it took forever because there was about ten meters of fabric for the overdress. It was also July, and stifling hot. So I chose to skip a re-dye. I searched even harder for an appropriate jacquard-type fabric for the contrast lining of the rolled collar; this too I dyed. For the undersleeves and underskirt, I searched for a light crinkled chiffon or voile with some sort of leaf pattern on it, and I finally found one in white with pale greys and blues on it that required no dyeing whatsoever.

I started out with a basic princess line dress pattern. I redrafted the lower sleeves to be almost a three-quarter circle, and included the slit up the bottom so that the undersleeve would be shown off whenever I moved my arms. I created an underskirt pattern, and one day when I had screwed up all my courage I sliced up the center of both skirt layers and rounded them off to create the elvish petal-look Dickson had designed for the elves. I made the basic sash which had come with the pattern, but I added two panels in the back, and two thinner ties of grey suede in front and back as well. The torso is laced with silver cord. After putting my DVD on pause in the appropriate film scenes and squinting at the blurs and odd angles, I finally managed to sketch an approximation of the belt buckle, and created it out of Fimo and painted it silver. And yes, I made an Evenstar with Fimo, silver wire, six petal-shaped paste diamonds and one round paste diamond; this is actually the second version, because I accidentally cut the bent wire on my first one, and the gems in it were, alas, unsalveageable.

I hand-embroidered the Art Nouveau-like scrollwork on the sleeves, with two strands of silver embroidery floss and one strand of pale grey.

I wore this dress with a pair of knee-high brown lace-up corduroy boots which look like suede, and a pair of plum sheer nylons. Overall, I loved making this dress more than I enjoyed wearing it. No matter how I altered the torso, it never lay right, and because I had a second layer of heavier fabric lining the roll collar, it never rolled out quite right. And overall, I just felt self-conscious when I wore it. I have a pronounced scoliosis, which means that one of my hips is higher than the other (plus the opposite shoulder, too), and in this dress it was really noticeable; that might have been part of the problem.

Promethea - May 2002

Another superhero triumph was my Promethea costume, created for the very first Superhero Party in 2002. This one is a combination of two adapted patterns for the bustier, and a self-drafted skirt. The fabric I found while visiting my parents in Oakville: it's a stretch gold spandex/rubber thing that I would never use for anything other than this costume. Apparently no one else would, either, since it was in the discount bin. I think I bought three meters, and it cost me all of five dollars. Sewing it was a pain in the neck, as the rubber kept gumming up my poor baby sewing machine. It stretched and glued remarkably well, however,and I'm proud of the belt pendant (which you can't see very well, as it's gold fabric paint on gold fabric, alas). I wore this costume with a cape made of a sheer white voile trimmed in red ribbon, and black strap sandals with high heels which matched the original design perfectly.

Making the staff was a lot of fun, too; it was one of those elements that came together quite well. It's two lengths of rubber tubing for aquariums, wrapped around a wooden dowel, topped with a pair of angel wings from the craft store. The whole thing was spray-painted with pale blue car paint, and then lightly misted with a silver coat of the same auto body colour.

This one won Best Costume. And to think I almost didn't go because I had broken my last sewing machine needle trying to finish the skirt, and all the stores were closed, and I was so frustrated with the whole thing that I almost called it quits. Thank heavens for staples, safety pins, and glue!

Promethea is the brainchild of Alan Moore, drawn by J.H. Williams III. For an idea of the source material, you can look here, although I was working from the action figure (never the most accurate of costume sources, but it was all I had at the time).

Samhain Fairy - Hallowe'en 1999

This costume was original. Most of it was done via draping, except the bustier top. This was actually the first corset-style top I'd ever made. It was a Burda pattern, and now that I've made more corsets I know that the pattern is needlessly complicated. Nonetheless, I used it again later as the basis for the Promethea bustier, because I was familiar with it.

The dress itself is a sleeveless princess line, made in a black cotton shirting. The skirt has a six-inch opening in the front, and under it is a light chiffon netting in black (doubled up because it was a bit too see-through in a single layer). The chiffon panel is not attached to the sides of the skirt; it's sewn into the waist and a little bit down the sides, but it was designed to open when I walked. The corset is of a black rayon with a raised leaf pattern woven into it, highlighted with a silver thread, and zips up one of the sides under the arms. I added three or four leaf-shapes cut from the patterned rayon to the shoulders of the black dress, to provide a fluttery cap-like sleeve effect. The skirt is longer than floor-length, but cut unevenly in a jagged hem to imitate the leaf-like cap sleeves. Under it I wore a wonderful pair of black tights with sparkles woven into them, which showed faintly through the double layer of netting when I stood still, and more clearly when I took a step forward and the chiffon panel separated from the cotton skirt.

The wings are done in a dragonfly style in the same black chiffon netting as the central panel of the skirt, and outlined in a glitter glue. There's no wire; I wanted them to float. They're pinned to the back neck of the dress, which zips shut.

The crown is made from two lengths of red berries on twigs of wire wrapped with brown floral tape that I found in a craft store; I think they were supposed to be Christmas decorations! But they twisted into a coronet beautifully. My branch sceptre is just that -- a visually interesting find from a wood in southern Ontario.

There's more to come!

New material is always being being added to this area of the site. Watch the What's New section on the home page for updates, and check back often!

^ back to the top ^

< back to the See page <

> to the See: Work page >