Sewing In Space
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This was my costume for a convention I went to with my neighbor. I have posted pictures of just the top earlier on here, but this is the finished costume. This is from the SGA episode 'Submersion'. The outfit is multiple different fabrics and vinyls, with embellishments and functional lacing. The makeup took over an hour to apply, not including wig styling. The makeup doesn't include any prosthetics, just paint, shading, glue, and some rigid collodian. 
My newest coat, from Stargate Atlantis, in all leather. The materials cost about $350, making this the most expensive project I've ever done. Picture taken in the Chicago Botanical Garden.

Over the past year, the entire family has been getting more interested in Star Trek, so I decided to make some costumes. My sister is an Andorian, and I am a Cardassian. The makeup took longer than anything else, with over seven hours sculpting the pieces, over two hours to apply each one, and even longer to remove. her forehead and my face and neck are made of gelatin mixture used in special fx. Her antennae are made of thermoplastic. The outfits took comparatively less time. Her pants and jacket are made of four different types of vinyl, with a zipper in the back. My pants are flannel, and the top is cotton with a sheer overlay and trim.
This is Teyla's coat from the Stargate Atlantis pilot episode. The amount of detail that went into it meant it took a couple of weeks to finish. The outer panels are made of brown vinyl and green faux suede, which I had to hand paint in order to get the correct pattern. I then cut strips of imitation sheep skin and used eyelets and lacing to attach it. The coat is fully lined in the same material, with a vinyl vest attached to the inside. The sleeves were made in a similar way, with the shoulders joined by lacing. The coat totaled 50 yards of leather lacing and over 200 eyelets. The shirt beneath it is made of a purple performance knit, with ruching on the front and lacing at the neckline. The pants are a textured knit, originally beige, that I dyed to the correct color.
This coat is from Stargate Atlantis. It is made from three different types of vinyl, with lacing in the back.The cuffs and collar are attached by the studs. 
This SGA coat is something I put a week's worth of work into. It is vinyl and crepe, fully lined. It has layered sleeves, vinyl bound edges, and vinyl applique, which all contributed to the length of the project. I ended up making a simplified version for my dog, who was not pleased with the matter. In another picture, I have a ZPM that I cast from resin, painted, and added a light to. In the last pictures, I put on the makeup that accompanies the costume, and carried the matching weapon, which I made from carved expanding foam, coated in caulk and then painted.
(Here comes the long-winded one)
        On September 24th, 2016, my family and I attended our first science fiction convention, the Official Stargate Convention in Chicago, so naturally, I had to make costumes for everyone.  I spent several months planning my biggest and funnest project yet.  (Our house ended up looking like every craft store you can think of got turned inside out.  And exploded.)  I made six costumes in just over two weeks, trying several new materials and methods, getting nowhere near enough sleep, staying up way to late the night before to do finishing touches, and getting up way to early the morning of to get everyone ready.  We then got everyone into one car, drove to Chicago, and had a wonderful time.  We all entered the costume contest, one of us taking third place, and were the subject of countless photos.  Overall, it was a great experience to have, and I look forward to doing it again.
        The first image shows all of us together.
        The second image shows my mother, dressed as Lya the Nox. It was an unusual project for me, but certainly a fun one.  I bought several yards of white cotton gauze, draped the pieces, dyed each piece individually to get the desired effect, the reassembled the pieces and stitched them in place.  I used fabric glue to curl the edges.  The wig started out as curly blonde; I made it frizzy and used hot glue to attach Spanish moss, raffia, and various other leaves and ferns from the floral isle.  Some of these had to be painted, so I used pink spray paint and left over fabric dye.
        The third image shows my father, dressed as Kasuf.  His was the fastest costume, as it is robes made mostly by draping.  I managed to throw it together in a panic, starting around ten the night before the convention, and finishing at two in the morning.  It is made from red extra-wide cotton, with various shades of brown cotton.  This was another unusual project for me, because the screen-used costume has unfinished edges and has hardly any seams, and I am used to always drafting a pattern and finishing edges.  The very first rule of sewing has always been NEVER LEAVE RAW EDGES and accuracy required that to go out the window.
        The fourth image shows my sister, dressed as an Ori soldier.  This costume took the longest of the six.  The actual work did not take unreasonably long, but there were several coats that had to be applied to each piece individually, and they had to dry between layers.  The pants are made of a clearance material with no content listed, the shirt is cotton, and the tunic is felt and vinyl.  The armor pieces were each made individually from craft foam reinforced with a fabric backing, with 3-D paint rivets, coated in seven to eight layers of watered-down glue, then polish and wax-enamel, and finally acrylic paint for weathering.  I then attached each piece to the vinyl and then to the tunic or belts.  I made the helmet in a similar way, but carving designs into it with a seam ripper instead of doing raised designs with paint.  The belts all came from second-hand stores; the black gloves were from Menards, and I added the vinyl cuffs and armor pieces.
        The fifth image shows one of my uncles, dressed as Col. Daning from Wormhole X-treme.  For those who know Stargate, this is very funny.  For those who do not, the episode was almost entirely devoted to making fun of all the other episodes.  This costume was one of the first completed, and was my first time making men's clothes.  The patch on the right sleeve was ordered from Ebay, but I could not get the globe patch in time, so I used my school's embroidery machine to make it myself.  That itself was a valuable lesson.  The fatigues are made from a camouflage twill, with an invisible zipper in the jacket and a belt for the pants.  These gloves also were purchased gloves that I added a cuff to.
        The sixth image shows one of my other uncles dressed as Yu the Goa'uld.  This was one of the most complex sewing projects I have done, for a number of reasons.  It had several different materials: yellow brocade, white brocade, two shades of brown satin, two different red home decor fabrics,gold vinyl, bronze vinyl, iridescent green material, cotton lining, heavy-duty interfacing, and a foam and felt hat.  The top and bottom of the tunic were made separately, with an invisible zipper in the top, and very small parachute buckles holding the two together under the belt.  The pants were made with a fitted lining that was stitched to the inside of the boot covers, and a puffy outer layer which was gathered at the bottom with elastic.  The gold was attached with glue.  This outfit also included a lot of hand stitching, on the collar, boots, and piping.  The hat is craft foam covered in felt, with a wig ponytail attached.  Part of that ponytail was cut of to make the beard.  This is the costume that took third place in the competition.
        The seventh and eighth image show myself, dressed as Teyla (when she dreamed she turned into an alien).  The pants are suiting material, and the coat is vinyl.  The armor is craft foam, coating in caulk to smooth out the seams, then coated with acrylic polish and wax-based enamel.  It is laced up the sides, and has rivets painted on with 3-D fabric paint.  I had done armor like this last spring, but I was not entirely satisfied with the result, so I perfected the technique and re-did it.  The make-up took several days to learn, as I had to cover my eyebrows completely.
        The last image shows Pixie. We got into these costumes again for another event, and I decided to make something for her. She is dressed as a Replicator. It is made of craft foam, painted and over a wooded frame. I tried to add the legs, but she wouldn't tolerate it and immediately bit them off. (That's what you get for trying to dress a dog.)  
​        We had a lot of fun goofing off, meeting like-minded people, and taking six costumed people into everywhere we could think of. For those who have not been to a convention, there are usually actors and other people who were involved with making the show.  We had the opportunity to take pictures with David DeLuise.  
On sewing and costumes: it is extremely gratifying to get complements on costumes from someone who worked on the real show.
This convention has been one of the funnest things I have ever done.  My recommendation to anyone is that if you have the opportunity to go somewhere in costume, definitely do it.

     This was work I did for the Junior Women's Club for their 2017 play. They put on a children's play each year as a fundraiser, and this year's was Disney's Descendants.
​     From right to left in the first image:
     I did Mal's jacket, which was made from purple stretch vinyl. It had twelve zippers, only three of which was functional, for a total of over 100 inches of zipper used; a double stand collar that had to be reinforced with thin foam in order to stand properly, layered sleeves, pink and green paint and weathering, decorative stitching over much of the jacket, a painting on the back, and over 130 studs.
     Evie's blue jacket was made of faux suede, with a double collar, over- and under-sleeve, three zippers, white painting on the sleeves and collar, a three-dimensional painting on the back, and over 200 studs.
​     I did all of Maleficent's costume, excluding the headpiece. It included a lined chiffon skirt and a top with a three-piece stand collar, foam-reinforced shoulder pieces; bell sleeves with metallic, brocade, and two colors of faux suede; a vinyl belt decorated with paint, studs, and trim; a stretch-sheer panel, and metal print vinyl with purple weathering. This totals to 12 different fabrics and three days of panic and late nights.
     Working with the Junior Women's Club was a lot of fun, and I look forward to working with them again in the future.

Another dress from SGA. The main part of the dress is snake skin print with a sheer net overlay and invisible zipper; the sleeves and front panel are two different types of tulle; and the sleeve caps and waist piece are textured vinyl attached by lacing.
From SGA. The pants are suiting material, the drape and sleeves are printed cotton with an organza overlay, the top and sleeve bands are stretch vinyl, layered and with stud accents.
This is a Tok'ra jacket from SG-1, made of textured vinyl, fully lined, with layered sleeves, hook and eye closures, and buckles. I made one for Pixie as well.
This dress is worn by Adria the Orici in The Ark of Truth. The orange dress is made from satin, fully lined with an invisible zipper in the back. The coat is made from glitter satin, fully lined, with a double stand collar, double sleeves, and a two color train.The necklace was also made by me, from seed and glass pieces.
This is my collection of Stargate uniforms. The first is the Atlantis science officer uniform, made of faille with a zipper in the front. The second is the SG-1 field uniform, made of green twill, fully lined, with several pockets; ribbed cuffs, collar, and waist; the appropriate patches for the team. The accessories include a vest from black canvas, a belt an holster for my zat'nik'tel (made from folded paper coated in resin), and fingerless gloves, all made by me.
This is my winter coat, inspired by SGA. It is vinyl  with a suiting lining, plus a inner layer of fleece for warmth.It closes in the front with straps and buckles.
This costume is from SG-1, from a people they encountered called the Shavadai. The under-dress is crepe back satin; the over dress is lined brocade with frog leg closures. The headdress took longest. It is made from light gauge aluminum sheet with gems, trim, and other beads, as well beaded and braided tassels. The back is taffeta and the veil is chiffon.
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