kelldar.com
  • Home
  • blog
  • costumes
  • Videos
  • tutorials
  • my art
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • site history
  • Home
  • blog
  • costumes
  • Videos
  • tutorials
  • my art
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • site history

kelldar.com

  • when mema manned my art table
    a day at the races,  Blog,  conventions

    when mema manned my art table

    May 30, 2002 /

    Um…. it rained a lot today I got Love Hina v2. Umm… yeah OH! haha!! Wanna know something kinda funny? My gramma is going to run my artist’s table at otakon!! lmao, she said she didn’t want to go around to museums with daddy bob and my aunt, so she said she’d sit at my table and sell my stuff…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Post Animazement 2002!
    Blog,  costumes

    Post Animazement 2002!

    May 29, 2002 /

    Well guys, Animazement was pretty fun. I’ll have my report and pictures up this weekend. I’m really pleased with how my pics came out, this time. I was also very pleased with my costumes! I’ll update our Xiaoyu pages, my lulu page, my misato page, and we got new pics of Ash’s Meryl and Ranma costumes. For Otakon, Ash and…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when i posted some animazement pics
    a day at the races,  Blog,  conventions,  costumes

    when i posted some animazement pics

    May 29, 2002 /

    Welllllll thanks a lot you stupid page… as soon as I email hispeed it comes back up. Now I’m going to get one of those “It comes up for us,” emails. Bleh! I posted some pics I’ve found of ash and I at az in my livejournal, but here’s a few more I’ve found: Ling Xiaoyus: She-Ra Misato Cosp/ACP 1,…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Last minute
    Blog,  costumes

    Last minute

    May 23, 2002 /

    Well, folks. Ash and I are off to Animazement. Check out my livejournal for some various costume ramblings, but here’s my tentative costume schedule: Friday – Xiaoyu, Misato Saturday – She-Ra, Lulu Sunday – Misato or Utena Ash will be wearing Xiaoyu, Ritsuko, and Ranma throughout the weekend, too. I can’t wait!! See you guys there!

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when it was animazement time!
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when it was animazement time!

    May 23, 2002 /

    Well folks, it’s that time. I actually got everything done last night. We leave around 4 this afternoon, drive to my gramma’s, drop off my clothes for next week & eat dinner with them, then go on to Nashville. Tomorrow morning we get up and fly out of Nashville around 7. We’ll be arriving in Durham around 9:30… and then…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Leaving for Animazement 2002
    Blog,  conventions,  costumes

    Leaving for Animazement 2002

    May 23, 2002 /

    Yep, tomorrow at this time I’ll be at Animazement 😀 I know this should go in my cosplay journal, but OH WELL! Xiaoyu… I’m pretty satisfied with Xiaoyu. I’ll probably wear it most of the day friday, with Ash in her 1P Xiaoyu costume. Speaking of which, I painted the design on the back of Ash’s Xiaoyu costume, and I’m…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Sketchblog: A note
    Blog,  misc fanart,  my art

    Sketchblog: A note

    May 18, 2002 /

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Art Post: Ocha designs (SunDowner)
    Blog,  my art,  sundowner

    Art Post: Ocha designs (SunDowner)

    May 17, 2002 /

    Ocha’s various outfits!

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when we were about to leave for animazement
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when we were about to leave for animazement

    May 17, 2002 /

    Ok, guys. As of tomorrow I’m officially out-of-town until… May 26, I think. Dad has all the stuff he’s supposed to be handling, so that should be taken care of. I’ll post again right before I leave for AZ…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when mema manned my art table
    Blog,  costumes

    when i wanted to be disco leia

    May 17, 2002 /

    doood!!! did you see the end of friends?! oh my god! You know how I said I wanted to do like, a secret agent version of my blog? forget that! I’ll just make a star wars version! I’ll use my Leia pictures!! hopefully some of them turned out well enough… hahathat’d be cool. You know what I want to make?…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when i forgot to take my eyeliner off
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes,  geeky stuff

    when i forgot to take my eyeliner off

    May 16, 2002 /

    “Random Thoughts” Uuuugh I didn’t take my eye makeup off after the movie last night and slept in it… now it’s all smeared around my eyes and I’m all creepy looking 😀 I swear, if Cath doesn’t stop trying to set me up with every guy she knows I’m going to kill her. And that’s that. I liked wearing my…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Art Post: Various SunDowner Designs
    Blog,  my art,  sundowner

    Art Post: Various SunDowner Designs

    May 16, 2002 /

    Other character references from SunDowner… The villains and their main outfits. And two of Miles’ looks. In 2016 when I went back through my old sketchbooks, I found a few of these that weren’t finished. Here are two of Madison’s: And another of Miles’:

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Art Post: Piper Designs (SunDowner)
    Blog,  my art,  sundowner

    Art Post: Piper Designs (SunDowner)

    May 16, 2002 /

    Piper’s various looks…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when we dressed up for star wars
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes,  geeky stuff

    when we dressed up for star wars

    May 16, 2002 /

    I was tempted to post after I got home from the movie last night (this morning?). It was 3 AM and, despite the fact I’d been tired coming out of the movie, I had woken up a little more by the time we got back. I wore my Leia costume, and yes, I ended up being the only one out…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when I put danishes in my hair
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when I put danishes in my hair

    May 16, 2002 /

    Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh my nose!!!! darn allergies!! I didn’t get the bbs done today. I ended up having to work all day today… and now I have to get ready for Star Wars. I took tomorrow off work, so hopefully I can do it then. Ok… I have to get my hair put up into Leia danishes… (put a danish in my…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Art Post: Britan Designs (SunDowner)
    Blog,  my art,  sundowner

    Art Post: Britan Designs (SunDowner)

    May 15, 2002 /

    Britan’s various outfits… Issues 1-7 looks!

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Misato and Xiaoyu updates
    Blog,  costumes

    Misato and Xiaoyu updates

    May 15, 2002 /

    Ok, just a quick rundown here before I leave to go get ready for Star Wars… Got Misato’s shirt made. I had originally bought one, but it turned out it was going to be too long and too bulky (it was a sweaterish type thing). So I made one in like, five seconds. It actually turned out just as good…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when mema manned my art table
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i got a gift

    May 14, 2002 /

    Loooook!! Look at what Priscellie gave us!! Here!! Whehehehe cute cute Indy!! XD

    Read More
    kelldar
  • Nervous
    Blog,  costumes

    Nervous

    May 14, 2002 /

    (it’s a nerve inspired rant about Animazement… beware :P) I’m getting really really really nervous and excited. Next week!! It’s next week!! I’ve already started packing. Gathering up costume pieces and putting all my makeup together and setting it inside my big suitcase. I’m taking two suitcases, a big one on loan from my gramma and my regular one… and…

    Read More
    kelldar
  • when i won’t settle for anything less than han solo
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i won’t settle for anything less than han solo

    May 13, 2002 /

    I’ve figured it out! The reason I’ve never been in any kind of relationship! It’s so simple – I won’t settle for anything less than Han Solo. I haven’t been on the computer at all since yesterday afternoon – the power was out here almost all day! 🙁 Mom and I went out and about… I got two new shirts…

    Read More
    kelldar
180181182183184

newest costumes


Current Projects

Endor Leia Remake
Disneybound Leia 3

Follow Me

Instagram Feed

kelldar

My Costume History Day 84: Random costumes circa 2 My Costume History Day 84: Random costumes circa 2003-2010

This post is to talk about some pre and post 2006 costumes that are just silly little things that don’t warrant their own post.

Jubilee from X-Men, for Dcon 03. I put this together for my cousin to wear to Dcon, but of course I had to put it on too. Bought the yellow jacket on ebay, made boot covers out of blue knit, and spray painted a pair of sunglasses. Wig was my Yuffie wig.

Dazzler from X-Men, made in late 04. I had bought this bodysuit for a project that didn’t pan out, so I turned it into Dazzler. Made the collar out of marine vinyl covered in silver lame, and the belt out of the same lame. Made the mask out of scraps and spray painted my childhood skates silver. I realized if I tried to wear this at a con with those skates, I’d break a leg LOL So I never wore it anywhere and these pics are all I have to document it. A few years ago most of it got thrown away when I discovered the skate wheels were crumbling into dust.

Random Elf from late 04 - my parents gave me this purple velvet for Christmas, and at first I was going to do Arwen’s hope gown, but couldn’t figure out the sleeves, so I made a cape instead. I’ve worn this with soooo many costumes over the years, so I think that was a good decision!

Spider-man swimsuit from SDCC 05 - I wanted a nerdy swimsuit. That didn’t exist back then, so made it with a Kwiksew pattern, red and blue spandex, and painted the lines on with fabric paint. Sadly the stretch has died in the fabric now and it’s unwearable.

Village Belle version 1 from Dcon 06 - Quick change version intended for a skit that didn’t happen. The back was so ugly I never wore it. I think it eventually got thrown away.

Casual Jean Grey from Halloween 09 - threw this together for Halloween at work. Sewed an X-Men symbol onto a black knit top I made. Wasn’t even hemmed, everything else from my closet.

Kiss the Girl Ariel from Halloween 2010 - also for work Halloween, this was my Briar Rose bodice and shirt with my village Belle skirt and my Phoenix wig with my Britan. Entirely made of other costume pieces LOL Once day I’ll dig it out and take real photos of it.
My Costume History Day 83: Dorothy from the Wizard My Costume History Day 83: Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, for Halloween 2006

We had a cairn terrier named Kes at the time, and for a while we were going to do a Wizard of Oz group around her, even though she was wheaten cairn and not black. It never really worked out, but I eventually did decide to do Dorothy for Halloween in 2006.

There’s not a lot to this — it is straight up the Simplicity Dorothy pattern with no mods. Got the blue checkered fabric at Hancock, used a white cotton for the blouse with blue rickrack. Bought the ruby slippers, basket and stuffed Toto at a costume store, and added more sequins to the slippers.

Wore this Halloween night and it was fun and comfy. Of course took some pics with Kes. And then I didn’t touch it again for over 10 years LOL

In 2017 I was like, I need to get this costume catalogued shot on the backdrop, so I got it out, gave it a really thorough ironing and steaming (it was sooo wrinkled). I also updated the socks - I bought some stockings at Spirit Halloween and dyed them blue. I also decided I wanted to do the braided look instead of the hair down I’d done in 2006, but I knew my own hair braided wouldn’t look thick enough, so I braided my Belle wig. I really love how the backdrop photos turned out! And it made me kinda fall in love with this costume. (It also FIT me way better in 2017 than it did in 2006.) After that it became a regular rotation for options to wear around Halloween. Most recently I wore it to visit my grandma at her nursing home - her birthday was in October, so I’d usually go in costume because she loved to see my costumes, and her birthday being close to Halloween made that a good excuse LOL. This one was a great option for that because it wasn’t large or unwieldy to wear in that enviroment, and it’s something everybody recognizes. Unfortunately after that excursion, as we were walking back to the car, one of my ruby slippers completely fell apart LOL. Guess you can’t count on 20 year old costume shoes to last...!
My Costume History Day 82: Leia’s Hoth uniform fro My Costume History Day 82: Leia’s Hoth uniform from Star Wars, for Nashville Comic Fest 2006

A few posts back I talked about my Cloud City Escape Leia costume - of course, that was the basis for my Hoth Leia costume, since they are the same suit. I had intended to have Hoth Leia done for a con in Jan 2006, but ran out of time - but I did have the suit done, so I wore it as Cloud City Escape for several months before finally circling back around to finish the Hoth elements.

The vest is made out of some lightweight lining taffeta lined in cotton, with batting for the quilting - modified a basic vest pattern, adding the quilting stitching and changed up the collar shape. Added the pocket in the front - Chase made my badge and it just slides into the pocket.

The boots I bought from Delia’s LOL and I made the upper part out of two different grey faux suedes. They velcro closed over the existing boots. The gloves were vintage I bought on ebay.

This is one of my fav Leia costumes - it was one I was wanting to get around to doing for a while. It’s also one of my fav hairstyles to do. I’d wear this way more often - if it was more comfortable! I debuted it at the Nashville con in October 2006, and wore it to several more cons over the next few years, and some various Star Wars events, but it was never comfortable because of the suit. (Did an event on my own one night that I had to drive to and had to unzip the suit and take it off to the waist to drive there, because I couldn’t sit and drive with the suit choking me LOL) I did also finally get to do a SNOW shoot with it in 2021 - I was worried about the snow messing up these old boots (they are starting to make concerning cracking sounds when I wear them now), but I figured if they get messed up, that’s more impetus for me to finally remake this!

And yes, one of these days I AM going to remake this from the ground up. It’s long overdue. But I have to get around to my rebel briefing room/Endor remake first, because it’s even older and in even worse shape. One thing at a time...
My Costume History Day 81: custom mandalorian from My Costume History Day 81: custom mandalorian from Star Wars, made for Dragoncon 2006

My 501st garrison (Southern Outpost at the time) had all started making their own custom mandalorian kits. Chase had one too, so I wanted one for myself.

I made the vest out of some heavy black twill, with black pleather trim on the bottom edge, red piping, and red suede panels in the front. The undershirt and I pants I made out of a grey stretch knit which I weathered pretty extensively - I also added a bantha skull to the sleeve, and some more of the red suede panels to the side of the pants. The capes were my fav part - there are 2 layers, one of my leftover red suede, one of black suede, and one of a really cool distressed black chiffon. They are all attached at the shoulder of the vest with a button.

Chase made all of the armor for me - the chest plates and shoulder pieces are all heat formed plastic and velcro on. I think the knee pieces he already had from something else. The “gauntlets” are repainted and weathered shinguards. The belt I bought - Chase made my belt buckle, and added a holster and some other little greeblies to it. The helmet we bought online - maybe from someone on the RPF? - can’t remember. Chase painted and weathered it for me, and also added some lights. Modified a blaster and added a blade to it and used some scrap fabric to add some wrapping to it.

Debuted this at Dragoncon 2006 for the big mandalorian group pic we did in the bottom of the Hyatt (and right after, I changed into Huttslayer in the public bathroom right there for the Leia shoot in the same area LOL). It was a lot of fun — at one point while I was wearing it, two little boys came up and asked for a pic with me. After the pic, they said thanks and I said “you’re welcome” and they both screamed “IT’S A GIRL!” and ran away LOL.

I wanted to do some upgrades to this after, but never got around to it. I did dig it up and clean up a few things in 2017 and did a photoshoot after a snow storm, but besides that and the white backdrop, that’s pretty much all I’ve done with this. The pleather parts are falling apart now, but maybe one day I’ll get it wearable again.
My Costume History Day 80: Corde from Star Wars, f My Costume History Day 80: Corde from Star Wars, for Dragoncon 2006

I loved that there were post-blast promo images of Corde from AOTC - & I thought it’d be fun to make THAT version.

As mentioned in my 2004 Leia costume post, I started making the robe, decided I didn’t like the fabric & started over. Well I still had that half-finished robe, and that became my Corde underdress. I got the sleeves added & finished it up.

For the outer robe, I got a white fabric at Hancock and white satin for the sleeve linings. Modified a robe pattern. The bulk of the work for the costume went into recreating the pattern all over it - I made 2 stamps, & then sat for days stamping the black and gold design all over the robe. It’s not 100% perfect but it’s the best I could do in 2006, and I’m still pretty proud of it. I made the appliques out of some black suede leftover from the mandalorian, and glued them on.

Once the robe was finished — then it was time to destroy it LOL This was really hard to do after all the time stamping it! I wrapped my dressform in plastic, put my robe on it and took it all outside and started throwing dye on it. Once I had a base “dirty” color I started going in with black and red paints for burns and blood.

The beaded neckpiece was actually a beaded shawl my grandmother had given me a while before - I added some onto it but it worked great as-is. The wig was a lot of fun - I built up the shape with foam, covered in fabric, and then heat-shaped the wig hair over the forms. The center was a cardboard tube I painted. The great thing was that if I messed up, that was fine, it was supposed to look messed up LOL

I debuted this at Dragoncon 06, and used black and brown eyeshadows to dirty up my face, along with my fake blood from my battle Padme. I was soo happy with how this turned out! My plan was to next take it to Celebration... but we got engaged and realized with a wedding to plan, Celebration 07 was out of the question. So I ended up not wearing this again for a long time. Finally did the backdrop shoot in 2012. It’s still here - I had it out for a video not too long ago! Maybe I’ll bring her back to Dcon this year for her 20th anniversary LOL
I put together a simplified Starlord outfit for Ke I put together a simplified Starlord outfit for Kevin to wear on our Disneyland trip last month, but it ended up being way too hot for the jacket. So he wore it at @hsvexpo instead. I wore my Scarlet Witch - so we kinda sorta matched? Same universe anyway 😹 meanwhile, Chase was wearing Beefsquatch from Bobs Burgers and didn’t match at all! 😹 (but definitely got the most attention!)
Chase and I wore Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati at @hs Chase and I wore Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati at @hsvexpo this weekend as well - it was a lot of fun, though I think I got my knee armor on the wrong knees and I now have a rubbed raw spot on both knees 😹
Had an absolutely fabulous time at @hsvexpo this p Had an absolutely fabulous time at @hsvexpo this past weekend. So much fun getting to hang out with friends and wear some costumes! Big thank you to @ashleyeckstein for being so cool & kind to Kevin!
My Costume History Day 79 - April O’Neil from the My Costume History Day 79 - April O’Neil from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, made for Dragoncon 2006

So much of my costume content as an adult has roots in things I loved as a kid. I loved TMNT, and I had all the major action figures - except April. I could not find the April action figure anywhere. Well, my dad had to go on a business trip to LA, and my mom and I got to come along as a vacation. One day while we were on a bus tour, we stopped at a little shopping center and... there she was. It wasn’t even a toy store but they had a little display of TMNT action figures, and they had April. Mom got her for me! (even though I’d already gotten a lot of other stuff at a cool toy store I found earlier in the week - they had SOOO many Breyer horses!)

In summer 2006 when Chase said he wanted to do a Leonardo costume (because he’d come across the mask), the little-kid part of my brain went PING and I said OK and I’ll do April! Something about having or being the lifesize version of a beloved toy really scratches an itch.

I got on ebay and found a vintage 70s jumpsuit and bought it to modify - when it arrived, it was clear this was a homemade outfit, it was so cute. A bonus of that was that the pants had been hemmed but there was a LOT of fabric in the seam allowance - possibly to let out in case the owner grew more? LOL Whatever the reason was, it was enough that I could cut it out and use it to make the pockets on the chest, without even losing the length of the original pants. I made the belt out of some white marine vinyl, used boots I already had and bought the wig. I didn’t have a fantastic 80s camcorder to carry, but I did have a late 90s one, so I carried that as a prop. (And now I’m wondering, did I actually record anything? Do I have some lost Dragoncon 06 footage somewhere? Hmm.)

We had fun wearing these together at Dcon - in fact I wore it more than planned, and that’s why I never got around to wearing Kenner Leia that con. This was the only time I wore it though - pulled it out for a white backdrop shoot in 2012/2013, and then sold it to a new home.
Follow on Instagram

Archives

SEARCH

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Receive notifications of new posts by email.

SITE BY KELLDAR

Ashe Theme by Royal-Flush - 2026 ©
  • Home
  • blog
  • costumes
  • Videos
  • tutorials
  • my art
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • site history