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Art Post: Piper Designs (SunDowner)

Blog, my art, sundowner

Art Post: Piper Designs (SunDowner)

May 16, 2002 /

Piper’s various looks…

art old sundowner

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My Costume History, Day 141: Marie Antoinette for

My Costume History, Day 141: Marie Antoinette for Dragoncon 2011

I wanted to make an 18th century sack back gown. I drew up a design theme I wanted to go with, which was a kind of deep periwinkle and silver with a star theme. I found a taffeta online that looked exactly like what I wanted and ordered a bunch - without getting a swatch.

It arrived and it was bright royal blue, not periwinkle. I was irritated and the fabric store of course wouldn’t let me return it. So after a meltdown, I decided to roll with it.

I used those Simplicity patterns along with a book I had as a guide for everything. Made the stays out of some cotton and canvas - they weren’t great, but they got the job done. Made the panniers out of some cotton and hooping. Made the petticoat out of some taffeta and netting. My aunt had gotten me a cut of this silver and white brocade while traveling - it wasn’t enough to make a full underskirt, so I just sewed it to the front of the petticoat as a faux-underskirt.

Got the basic dress constructed and then the fun part - decorating! I made a ton of this pleated trim out of some silver satin for the front - and I had enough of the blue taffeta from the dress leftover that I made some from that too, it zig zags underneath the silver and goes around the back in swirls. I beaded all of the pleated trim with blue and clear beads. Added some silver trim to the front and sleeves, and made one of the sleeve flounces from the silver satin from the trim. I also made my necklace out of leftover beads.

The wig was 3 wigs sewn together. It actually wasn’t too bad, weight-wise. I did have to be really careful when putting on or it looked crooked LOL. I added some leftover trim and beads to the wig, and a big white feather I got at Mood in NYC (the one thing I bought when I visited LOL). The shoes were my wedding shoes I added bows to.

It’s not perfect but I loved how it turned out. It’s so much fun to wear - so swishy! I did the white backdrop shoot not long after - but besides that, I haven’t worn it in this configuration again. But I have worn it a lot more - but we’ll talk about that tomorrow, it was too much for one post, so stay tuned for part 2...

My Costume History, Day 140: Lady Blackhawk from D

My Costume History, Day 140: Lady Blackhawk from DC Comics, for Dragoncon 2011

My Dragoncon 2011 lineup was very spandex-heavy, in case you haven’t clocked that from my last few posts. I wanted to do something that WASN’T that, and after flipping through my folder of costumes I wanted to do, I settled on Lady Blackhawk.

Headed to Hancock and got this black fabric for the jacket and skirt. For the skirt, I just cut a long piece, lined in some black lining taffeta, and pleated it down to fit. Sewed it to a matching waistband and it closes with a hook and bar.

For the jacket, I had this old Vogue military style jacket pattern that was perfect for this. Just needed a few tweaks. It zips up the front, then the front crosses over and closes with snap tape. I lined it with the same lining taffeta, and added all of the black buttons on the front.

For the hat, I went to Spirit Halloween and found a hat that was the shape I wanted - re-covered it in my black jacket fabric. Bought the gloves. The belt was a strip of black leather with a metal “buckle” Chase made for me - it velcros closed underneath that.

The patches were the most fun. I bought some yellow patch blanks online - drew the shapes on the back and then embroidered them on. Got them sewn to the jacket and hat and she was done!

I was REALLY happy with how this turned out. It went together so easily and I loved the finished costume. Wore it to Dragoncon that year, but had one nitpick - I didn’t like the black buttons. They just disappeared. I did go ahead and shoot it in its original state on the white backdrop not long after, but I did bring her back to Dragoncon 2012, and for that, I updated the buttons. Found some cool aged brass button and felt like that was what it needed - you can see them in the upper middle photo in slide 2.

I still have this! I haven’t worn it since. Which is a shame because I still really love it. Maybe i’ll bring it back to dcon this year... hmmm.

My Costume History, Day 139: Emma Frost from X-Men

My Costume History, Day 139: Emma Frost from X-Men, for Dragoncon 2011

I really wanted to do a White Queen/Emma Frost costume because I wanted to make the cape, but I also really didn’t feel like wearing a corset and underwear. One day I came across some art of her in a bodysuit, and I thought, that top shape but in a mini-dress would be really cute. So off I went to the fabric store.

The dress is a variation on my fav leotard patten (Kwiksew 2004) - I changed the neckline shape, added an underbust and waist seam, and added the skirt as a separate layer over the top. It’s two layers of white spandex plus a lining layer of nude spandex - so it’s quite heavy!

Made the boot covers same as my Ms Marvel ones - also 2 layers of white spandex + 1 of nude so it wouldn’t be see through. They’re sewn to a pair of dance tights at the top.

The belt is a piece of silver leather belting material and I made the X-Men buckle out of a wooden disc.

And the fun part was the cape. Got a white matte satin and made a basic cape. The fur collar is basically a stuff animal LOL I bought some white faux fur at Hancock, cut out 2 big sort of U-shaped pieces, sewed them partially together then stuffed it with batting to puff it up. Finished sewing it closed then sewed it to the top of the cape.

Of course, that ended up being kinda heavy, so now I had to figure out how to wear it, because I didn’t want visible straps. I ended up using hook and bars to attach it to the top of the leotard dress.

At the last minute I decided I needed gloves but I did not want to make gloves, but I found these white stretch gauntlet gloves online and bought them. They don’t match exactly but oh well. I did make the collar out of my scrap fabric, and wore my fav blonde wig.

I love how it turned out! It was fun to wear and of course my fav part of it was that cape. I love how the white backdrop shots turned out too, some of my fav pics of myself.

This costume got a second life - when I decided I DID feel like prancing around in a corset and underwear - but we’ll talk about that in a couple of weeks.

My Costume History, Day 138: Valkyrie from Marvel

My Costume History, Day 138: Valkyrie from Marvel Comics, for Dragoncon 2011

I fell in love with this Chris Bachalo art of Valkyrie and had to make it.

Started out with a basic leotard, made it out of black spandex with a collar. Next was the cape - found a textured blue fabric at Hancock, gathered it at the shoulders and sewed some quilting batting inbetween the gathers to give it a little more “heft” there - it snaps onto the leotard.

The giant sword, chest plates, gauntlets and armor Chase made for me out of plastic & foam. They velcro or tie on with leather strapping.

The belt was fun - bought the basic belt, & started adding accessories to it. Bought some toy swords & daggers, repainted them, added some leather straps & beads. Made a pouch out of scrap fabric. The belt sits too low on my hips to stay in place, so I added extra leather pieces and cording to hold it around my waist.

The boots were a lot of work. They were my Ms Marvel boots I didn’t like & replaced. But they worked fine as a base for this! I made new boot covers, using some black pebble-textured vinyl as a base. Then I covered them in strips of the same vinyl, and various other pleathers & leathers I had in my stash. They are sewn to the boots at the top (had to make an extension for the taller one), & then close with snap tape down the back so I can still access the zippers of the base boots. Also added some little metal found pieces & another dagger. I love how they turned out!

The wig I bough, I chopped up my old sleeping beauty wig to add more wefts to make it thicker.

I wore it at Dragoncon and hated it LOL I was so overstimulated wearing this, the boots were still uncomfortable, didn’t like how the wig looked. I brought it home & redid the wig and liked it better - shot it on the backdrop and thankfully loved the photos and felt better about the costume after that!

Then I didn’t do anything with it until 2023 when I decided to wear it to Memphis Comic Expo, because Chris Bachalo was a guest. It needed some repairs but it was wearable! Sadly did not get to meet him in this - the boots finished me off that day and I had to admit defeat and go home LOL Oh well, maybe next time!

My Costume History, Day 137: Rogue’s Shi’ar Suit f

My Costume History, Day 137: Rogue’s Shi’ar Suit from X-Men, for Dragoncon 2011

Another in my “random Rogue costume” sidequests - I always liked this weird pink suit, so I decided to make it for Dcon.

I bought this pink spandex online, but when it arrived I didn’t love the color of it, it was too pale - so I dyed it, & it took the dye well and I got it to the right pink tone I wanted.

I modified a leotard pattern I had - I did not want a front seam, & all my bodysuit patterns had a front seam and I was never happy with how they fit, so I used a leotard pattern I knew I liked, and just added legs to it. It still didn’t fit great at the end but it was worth the experiment.

I made the yellow spandex panels separate - sewed each horizontal panel together then top-stitched the seam to make sure they stood out. Then sewed it onto the suit. I did also, regrettably, have to make gloves for this.

Chase made my “armor” pieces - the shoulders are plastic, & they velcro on. All of the other pieces are foam & also velcro.

For the armor pieces that sit on the hips, I decided to put them on a belt instead of directly on the suit. Made a basic belt, covered in in my scrap fabric, & added the X “belt buckle” to it. She doesn’t wear a belt with this look, but I liked it so oh well.

The shoes are some I bought back in 2005. I found them on clearance online and bought them “just in case.” They were exactly the look I wanted here, so I finally got to use them! Hoarding for the win! I painted the soles, and covered them in my pink fabric - they’re heavy, so I did not attach them to the suit, they are separate pieces.

Unfortunately, much like Mara Jade the year before - the damn things broke at Dragoncon. The soles fell off as I was putting it on in the hotel room. We didn’t have any glue strong enough to repair it, so I just took some pics of it in the hallway outside our room.

And then I never wore it again, except to fix it for the white backdrop shoot not long after, so I at least had more photos of it. I still have it. Dunno that I’ll wear it again, since like I said I was never happy with the fit, but who knows, maybe one day I alter it and it makes another appearance.

My Costume History, Day 136: Ms Marvel from Marvel

My Costume History, Day 136: Ms Marvel from Marvel Comics, for Dragoncon 2011

After doing the black suit Ms Marvel look the year before, I really wanted to do the red suit look too. And after taking stock of what fabric I had on hand - I realized I could make this without buying hardly anything!

Especially because I was able to reuse all of my first Ms Marvel costume accessories - the wig, mask, gloves, boot covers and shoes are all from that version. So all I needed to make was the new leotard.

I had enough fabric leftover from the 2010 version for this - a basic red spandex, a matte black spandex, and the gold metallic for the applique.

To make this I took my fav leotard pattern, Kwiksew 2004, traced it out and the cut it apart to create the seams at the shoulder and “brief” area. Then I used that to cut of my fabric. I did essentially make 2 versions, because I wanted to line it. I did the applique the same way as the 2010 version - Chase cut it out for me, because he has the steadier hand and this was going to have a raw edge! I hand-basted it onto the front panel of the leotard before assembly, then machine sewed it.

The only thing left was to add the scarf - and I did have enough red spandex left for that, but after draping it, I decided I wanted a longer scarf. I wanted something stupid and dramatic LOL. So I headed to Hancock and thankfully they still had the exact same red spandex, so I bought another yard to add onto what I already had. It’s all just a long tube of spandex - I hand-tacked it into place on the front of the leotard, and it’s also tacked together at the back to keep it in place.

This is actually my fav Ms Marvel/Carol costume I’ve made out of the 3 I’ve done. I just love it, it’s comfortable to wear, and I just like how it looks on me. I wore it a lot over the next couple of years - Dragoncon, C2E2, GMX. Also nice that it doesn’t take up a lot of room to pack!

Haven’t worn it in several years, but both it and my black version are still always first in my mind when I think about throwing on a comic book costume for a con to this day.

My Costume History, Day 135: Queen Hippolyta from

My Costume History, Day 135: Queen Hippolyta from Wonder Woman, for MidSouthCon 2011

I was a cosplay guest of honor for MidSouthCon 2011, and I wanted to make something really special for it. I’d had this Hippolyta costume on my want list for a while, and it seemed to fit the bill.

I started out by making a basic bodice out of cotton, then layering some silver leather over the top. I painted the black designs on it, and trimmed the edge in some gold leather leftover from Kingdom Come Wonder Woman. I also sewed the belt directly to this bodice - it’s made of gold belting I cut into squares and glued to the top of the base.

The chestpiece velcros on - Chase sculped, cased and painted the chest piece, my shoulder eagles, my gauntlets & tiara for me. The shoulder eagles attach to a sort-of elastic “backpack”. The tiara has a couple of loops on either side for pinning onto my wig.

Underneath the bodice is a haltertop I made of red chiffon, and I made the waist wrap from the same chiffon, trimmed with some gold ribbon. Made the cape from a blue fabric, and just draped it and hand-sewed it in place to get it to lay the way I wanted. The brooch and necklace I made from various pieces from the craft store.

The skirt is made of panels of leather, painted blue, with silver and gold leather and stars glued along the bottom. I painted the same black design onto the silver leather portion. Each panel has a couple of holes punched in the top so I could attach them to a waistband that velcros on underneath the bodice.

Bought the sandals & wig - added some extra pieces to the sandals with more gold leather leftover from Kingdom Come.

After debuting this at MidSouthCon, I wanted to do a few upgrades - I needed to add some more leather to the bodice (the cotton layer was showing in a few spots), & I embroidered over all of the painted-on black designs on the bodice. And Chase added some more detail to my tiara.

After that I was SO happy with this! It’s one of my fav comic costumes. I’ve worn it to Dragoncon a couple of times since. Did the white backdrop shoot in 2015. I know it probably needs some repairs & cleaning up, but it’s here whenever I feel like wearing it again.

My Costume History, Day 134: Enchantress from Thor

My Costume History, Day 134: Enchantress from Thor, for ECCC 2011

Enchantress was another comic book costume on my “want” list, so I decided to make it for our only trip to Seattle for ECCC.

The bodice I made using my fav bodice pattern, Simplicity 5006. The outer fashion layer is green spandex - I alternated using the wrong and right sides on the panels to get a different sheen, and the side panels are the same metallic fishscale spandex I used for the skirt.

For the skirt strips, I cut out each panel from that fabric, then heat-bonded it to some green cotton to give it a little more body. Each piece is sewn onto a strip at the top, which has snap tape attached - it snaps to the backside of the belt to keep it in place. I made the belt out of green wetlook spandex, and did some top-stitching and beading on it. The gauntlet gloves are made of the same fabric - I made them segmented to make them a little more interesting.

For the leggings, I started by making them as boot covers - copied my Ms Marvel ones, just making them longer. Before I sewed the back seam, I added the green circles. Chase helped me neatly cut them out of my green spandex - he has a steadier hand & I was leaving these edges raw! I then hand-basted each circle into place, pinned them together to make sure it looked right, then machine sewed them, & sewed the back closed. Then I made a pair of fitted shorts out of the same fabric and sewed the “boot covers” to them.

The tiara is heat-formed plastic shaped on my head mold on our home-made vac table. I debuted this at ECCC but felt like it needed some tweaks, so as soon as we got home we did a second tiara - this one was a little bigger and I felt framed my face better. I also shortened the skirt panels, and added another set of panels to the bodice with some horizontal seams just for some more visual interest.

I also played around with several different wigs - I think I’ve worn a different wig everytime I’ve worn the costume LOL. I did also wear this to Dragoncon that year and for a couple of shoots, including the white backdrop. Haven’t worn it since except for a tiktok video back in 2020 - it’s still here and around if & when I need it.

Princess Leia art project day 12 - Ewok village dr

Princess Leia art project day 12 - Ewok village dress!

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