Malta Comic Con Photoshoot: Juliet and Fionna

Long time no update, but vet school has been taking up a lot of my time. Coupled with the fact that I don't have a sewing machine at the moment, that means I don;t have much to write about. However, I recently was able to go back to Malta. Fortunately Malta Comic Con organised a photoshoot to promote the 2015 convention, so I brought a couple of costumes along.

The first costume to get photos was Sakizou's Juliet.

Model: MalteseLizzieMcGee Cosplay

Photographer: Photography by Sven Farrugia https://www.facebook.com/Photography-by-Sven-Farrugia-125137150837920/?fref=ts  

The photos were taken at Magazino Hall on the Waterfront. Part of the building will be used to house the convention, but we used the more run down part of the building for the shoot. I wore the worst shoes for this type of building: very uncomfortable white heels that made walking difficult and even a bit painful. That's what you get for wearing badly fitting shoes.

 I changed quickly into my Fionna costume. Luckily I wore the same wig for both costumes, which saved time. 
Cosplayer: MalteseLizzieMcGee cosplay
Photographer: JD Media https://www.facebook.com/jdmediamalta/?fref=ts

I've had this rusty old sword in my wardrobe for a long time, and thought it would be perfect for Fionna.

My dress did get a couple of marks from dust and dirt. Hopefully those will wash out! You can see the uncomfortable shoes in this photo: I bought them for Madokami (that project isn't progressing any time soon :( ) but they are too big and mega uncomfortable: I stuffed the toes with tissue paper to try to make them fit, and now they are even more uncomfortable.

Daenerys Season 3 Blue Dress Part 2

Once the mockup was done, I cut out the lining pieces from a linen-type of material, then pinned them over a dress form to see what they looked like. I borrowed this form from my mum, and it was vital for this project. I then cut out the pieces from the shiny blue material (some polyester material, as I found it in the furnishing section). 

I overlocked all the pieces together, except for the back. This was because I wanted to make the back circle very smooth so there would be no raw edges. I used Addie Marie's tutorial and it worked brilliantly.

The next step was adding the decorative stitches on the dress skirt. In the photos they look like running stitches, but it was hard to be certain. I used a longer stitch on my sewing machine and sewed many straight lines in a darker blue thread. This technique also had the benefit of firmly attaching the lining and outer layer together, and creating a nice texture. Pippa cat helped by looking pretty.

 I then covered the hem with bias tape, and also turned over the top edge of the skirt pieces and sewed it down. One skirt piece is attached to the bodice, and the other is completely separate, and is held round my waist with snaps. 

 The next step was sewing the darts. The darts I initially drafted were not accurate, so instead I pinched the darts and pinned them until they looked right, then basted and sewed them. There are no darts in the back, only in the front.

 Once the main dress was finished, I had to make the cross over straps in the front. This meant a lot of smocking. It took about 2 or 3 days to finish all the smocking just for these pieces. I followed Michelle Carragher's tutorial, and it worked beautifully
http://www.michelecarragherembroidery.com/How-to-create-dragonscale(2880143).htm

I cut out 4 cross over pieces. I added interfacing to 2 of them, but I didn't need to, as the smocking makes the fabric stiffer. I hand-sewed the smocking to the non interfaced pieces, then faced them right sides together with the interfaced pieces, sewed, and turned them right sides out. I actually advise not adding smocking near the seam allowance, as this is bulky and it will be difficult to close if you use an invisible zip.

My cats "helped".

I then added the sleeves. They stick out  bit too much and are a little too stuff, but look quite nice.

I made two versions of Daenerys' dragon claw necklace. One was made from a random pendant I had. I painted the top with gold acrylic, then blended the gold into the black.

 The other was made from a shell. I painted it, and filled the middle hollow with hot glue and pushed a loop of cord into the glue. This is quite fragile and a bit too small, but still looks good.

Daenerys Season 3 Blue Dress: Part 1

I've wanted to make this dress for quite a while. Daenerys is one of my favourtie characters from both "A Song of Ice and Fire" and "Game of Thrones" (even if both occasionally grate at me. Like the awkward awful dialogue written for Tyene in Season 5. Or the stupid change to Dany and Drogo's wedding night. Urgh). 

The costume is beautiful but also practical and modest. 

 It looks simple but is actually quite detailed and complicated. Dany has many costumes featuring dragonscale smocking, which is beautifully explained here http://michellephan.com/new-tutorial-daenerys-from-game-of-thrones/ 
This dress also has some beadwork and a net applique decoration.

Trousers

 I started with this pair of linen trousers. They were much too big, so I knew would have to remake them

 Firstly I removed the beads and embroidery until I was left with a plain pair of linen trousers.

 I took the trousers apart and cut out a new pattern, using a Burdastyle pattern.

 I'm pleased with these trousers. They have a lapped zip and front pockets

The Dress  

I wish I'd had a pattern to use. I tried to make my own pattern by altering an existing one, and it didn't work as well as I thought it would. Simplicty and McCalls both have useful patterns; Simplicity has a pattern which is almost a replica of Dany's gown (Pattern 1246). Andrea Schewe, the pattern designer, wrote about it http://www.andreaschewedesign.com/blog/all-about-pattern-1246-tv-fantasy 

It took a while to get the pattern to look exactly how I wanted it too, and my lack of expertise shows in the finished dress

Malta Comic Con 2014

So Malta Comic Con's over. That's the last local convention for 2014. I'd say the (very short) convention season ended on a good note, at least in terms of cosplay. The turnout was excellent, and the quality of the costumes was fantastic in general. 

The contest was also much better organised. The judging criteria were much clearer:

Audience impact was a little hard to gauge, because everyone applauded each cosplayer, but the other criteria wee very clear. The judges also asked us questions about our costumes, and gave us a chance to explain exactly what we made, altered, or bought. I think we lost a few points for not completely sewing all of Jenny Flint's costume, not making our own prosthetic, and using cheap plastic swords - my sword was particularly flimsy, and actually fell to pieces on stage. Darn cheap plastic katana.

I think my favourites that day were Lady Thor, the Bioshock Infinite couple, and Annie from League of Legends.

  I've been planning to enter as Madame Vastra with my friend as Jenny Flint for a year now, and we finally debuted our costumes. I think we look pretty darn good. 

 The makeup took about 90 minutes to apply, and I was amazed how well it turned out. Another friend applied most of it for me. I don't think I could have done it without her. The prosthetic is stuck down with spirit gum and blended with liquid latex. Once everything was dry she covered it with green face paint and added details with more paint and some eye shadow.

Because I was so busy with the makeup, and only got to St James Cavalier at noon, I didn't see very much of the con. I had a look around the tables and chatted with various artists and creators. Got myself a copy of Pilot: Mythology, and very nice Tank Girl t-shirt too. I also tried out a demo game: The Adventures of Scottie. It was made by some friends of mine, and it looks like a lot of fun.

We came third in the costume contest (Group Pose category), and I don't mind too much, considering how good the second and first place competitors were. First place were a fantastic Bioshock Infinite couple, and second place were a Magi couple. So many couples this year :)

 I didn't attend the second day of Malta Comic Con, partly because my Female Titan costume is nowhere near ready, and partly because I had other commitments. Oh well, maybe next year. I'm already thinking of all the costumes I could create :) . . . 

Photographs were taken by the talented Sven Farrugia: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Photography-by-Sven-Farrugia/125137150837920?fref=ts
He took some amazing photos of the cosplay contest and of cosplayers at the convention

Malta Comic Con 2013

 Will update soon . . .