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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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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.

My Costume History Day 78 - Kenner Princess Leia f

My Costume History Day 78 - Kenner Princess Leia from Star Wars, made for Dragoncon 2006

I thought it would be fun to translate the original Kenner action figure Leia outfit into real life, and set about to do it for Dragoncon 06.

The jumpsuit is made of the jetset knit - and I made it the same as my ANH Leia dress from a few months before, 2 big “T” shapes sewn together, except this time I split the skirt section down the middle and made it into wide legged pants. I also gathered the bottom of the sleeves into cuffs, and skipped the hood.

The big vinyl cape I made out of some white marine vinyl - I basically just took a photo I found of the action figure cape laid flat and blew that up to use as a pattern. Cut the arm holes out, and added some wire hooping to the hem in the collar section to help it stand up. Made the belt out of silver belt I bought, with some silver button covers added.

So I got this made for Dragoncon 2006... and I never wore it. I took too many costumes and did not have time to wear them all - so I figured, this one is easy to skip, I’ve got plenty of other opportunities to wear it.

Aaaand I never wore it. It got tossed in a bin and forgotten about for years. (Fun fact, sometime in 2006-ish I also started making a poster Leia dress - it was like 75% done and I lost it. I think it got tossed in a cleanup.)

In 2012/2013 when I pulled out a bunch of old costumes to sell, I included this one. I took some pics of it on my dressform for the listing, and my friends were like “you need to put that on and take pics in it before you sell it!” So I did - next white backdrop shoot, I finally put this on and got pics in it. Unfortunately that point, it wasn’t in perfect shape anymore - the original belt had disappeared so I had to use a stand-in, and the cape was very wrinkled, and no amount of careful steaming and pressing could get them all out.

BUT I am glad I got some pics in it before I sold it to a new home. I think I would’ve been SO pissed at myself now if I hadn’t. It was a fun addition to my Leia collection and I’m glad to have it properly documented!

My Costume History Day 77 - Padme’s Lake Dress, ve

My Costume History Day 77 - Padme’s Lake Dress, version 3, from Star Wars, for SDCC 2006

Yep, we are already at version 3 of my Padme Lake dress saga - if you go back a few posts you’ll find my 2nd version from earlier in 2006, which I wasn’t all that happy with. I sold it to finance making this third version.

Off to Hancock for fabric. This time for the underdress, I got some white spandex. Is that accurate? No, but I ended up loving the spandex for it. For the outer dress, I found this really lightweight, so so soft silk blend.

Starting with the underdress, I used the same pattern from version 2, Vogue 7797, but I altered it a bit more than version 2, making the lower part of the dress longer, and much fuller and wider. I dip dyed it in the sink once it was done.

The outer dress was what I really wanted to improve from version 2 - so this time I got some cheap fabric at Hancock, and used that to do a mockup I could use a pattern. I got it all draped on my dressform and figured out my shapes, wrote my notes directly on the mockup, and then used that was my pattern to cut the real fabric.

I did a gather at the sleeve seams and sewed them together, and also added some fitted spandex sleeves underneath to help keep them in place. Once I had the outer dress basically done, I dip dyed as well - around midnight like 2 days before we left for SDCC. Annnnd I messed it up. I got the yellow way too far down and it was like HIGHLIGHTER yellow. I freaked out and ran and woke my mom up, she calmed me down and luckily found a box of RIT dye remover which thankfully worked. Started over being more careful this time with less dye and it worked better second time around LOL

Still skipped the satin edging - we’ll get to it next time don’t worry! Same accessories carried over from version 2.

Debuted it at SDCC 2006, and got some fabulous pics outside during the RL photoshoot. Also wore it in the Dcon parade a few months later.

And that was about it for this version - did one photoshoot (pre white backdrop) before I dismantled it in 2008 for parts. But we’ll get to that in future posts! You’ll see parts of this one appear in version 4 and my disneybound...

My Costume History Day 76 - Mustafar Padme from St

My Costume History Day 76 - Mustafar Padme from Star Wars, for SDCC 2006

When I did Huttslayer Leia the year before, I’d bought like 3 yards of this brown faux suede for it, and of course I hadn’t needed that much. But that left me with plenty leftover in my stash - and of course one day I looked at it and realized I could make Mustafar Padme with it.

It wasn’t ideal for this costume - it’s a little too stiff, but it was fine for back then. I modified a maternity top pattern for it, adding the collar. Made the sleeve/gauntlets and did the Naboo symbol embroidery. Bought the pants and dyed them slightly darker, and bought the boots on ebay.

The harness is some leather I cut and dyed, and it all velcros closed in the front. Of course the most difficult part of this was the jewelry - I sculpted them out of Sculpey, and Chase cast them for me, so I had back ups. Painted them gold, and they velcro on.

The baby bump was a small pillow I sewed some straps onto so it would velcro on at the back, and I also made a spandex tube I wear over it that smooths the sides down to look more natural.

Debuted this at SDCC 2006, with Chase in his new Darth Vader. We got to take a lot of silly pics together - it was a lot of fun. Also took it to Dragoncon 2006, where there were many shenanigans.

Did a couple of photoshoots with it, and the white backdrop in 2012/2013 - because I was past my Star Wars phase at that point I didn’t think I’d wear it again, and I wanted to sell it. Sold it to a new home, which I do regret. I did keep the boots, because I loved them (super comfy!) so I’ve still got those hanging around in case I ever get my shit together and remake it.

I’m torn on remaking it - because I know I could make a more accurate one now, and I also know I could do the hair SO MUCH BETTER now too. 3d printed would make the brooches so much easier. BUT... this is one of those costumes that when wearing it at a con, I felt like I might as well be wearing street clothes. It was not appreciated. So do I really want to go through remaking this just for myself, just to scratch the itch of replacing the one I sold? Only time will tell.

My Costume History Day 75 - Rogue from X-Men, made

My Costume History Day 75 - Rogue from X-Men, made for SDCC 2006

Rogue has long been one of my fav X-Men characters (and it’s still baffling to me that in all these years I never got around to doing the classic green/yellow suit? I don’t know how that happened LOL), and when I saw this blue and yellow suit I was like, ok that looks easy to throw together for a comfy SDCC costume.

I bought the blue spandex suit from River’s Edge Dancewear. Picked up the yellow spandex for the accessories at Joann, and the base boots online (exactly the same base boots that I’d used for Starfire the year before - I liked them!)

Boots arrived and I painted the soles, and made the uppers out of the yellow spandex. Made the gloves with that one awful Vogue pattern, and the chest straps with some marine vinyl, covered in the yellow spandex, with some detail stitching to create a sort of ribbed look. The center “X” was actually some kind of X-Men toy Chase found - we took it apart and made the yellow frame around it from Model Magic. Made the arm and leg straps same as the chest pieces and they velcro on. The boots attach to the suit with velcro - not a great idea on spandex, wouldn’t do that again on future costumes LOL

Bought the wig from another cosplayer - I LOVED that wig, it’s still one of my fav wigs I’ve had. Kinda sad I don’t have it anymore!

I wore this at SDCC 2006, and again at Dragoncon that year to the X-Men photoshoot (back when things like that were small enough that it was held in the Hyatt lobby.) It was a really fun costume - and indeed very comfy, especially the shoes.

Shot this on the backdrop in 2009 - love how the pics turned out! In 2012/2013 I did a big costume clean out and sold off a lot of things I decided I wasn’t going to wear again, and this was one of them. We had fun and I hope it went to a good new home!

My Costume History Day 74 - Princess Leia Animated

My Costume History Day 74 - Princess Leia Animated Style, for Wonderfest 2006

Gentle Giant was doing this series of statues of Star Wars characters in an animated/Clone Wars style, and when they released the Leia one.... tbh I didn’t love it at first glance.

BUT it did grow on me over time. I added it to my Leia collection. And then I decided it would make a fun costume, so off to Hancock for some white and nude spandex.

I used a basic Kwiksew stretch dress pattern for this - lined the upper portion in the nude spandex so it wouldn’t be see through. Added the slits in the skirt, changed the sleeve shape, added the collar and the hood.

The belt was made same as my regular Leia belt - cut of leather, painted white, and dad helped make the conchos for me again. This one velcros on though... I guess I wasn’t feeling the snaps in 2006.

Wore it with my Eternal Jupiter/Bespin Escape Leia knee high boots and when I do the buns for this one, I always try to do them a little larger and little farther away from my head at the top and bottom so they have that “stuck on” look.

Debuted this at Wonderfest, and loved it - it was a fun twist on a very recognizable costume. Took it to SDCC a couple of months later, where I was SO excited to discover the Gentle Giant booth had a GIANT version of this Leia statue on display! I got to pose with it for quite a while! Also took it to Dragoncon that year, and it made an appearance at any early GMX, I think like 2009ish?

It was a fun costume, and I’m really glad I did it. I did kinda stop wearing it because a mass produced version of it came out not long after, and then this more fitted Leia dress look was everywheeerrree. So I semi-retired mine. I did get shot on the white backdrop in 2009. And I do still have it - minus the boots (pleather death circa 2020), so who knows, maybe it’ll make a reappearance at a con one of these days.

My Costume History Day 73 - Ripley from Aliens, fo

My Costume History Day 73 - Ripley from Aliens, for Wonderfest 2006

So this costume was not on my radar. But some of my friends had Alien costumes, and they wanted a Ripley to match, so I agreed to put this together.

Bought the shirt at the thrift store - it was a basic white turtleneck I cut the collar off and shortened the sleeves, and weathered. The pants were from ebay - weathered those too. The belt was all black webbing and velcros on, with wooden dowels on the shoulder straps.

The shoes I got at the thrift store and painted, and I made the uppers out of white and red marine vinyl and craft foam. It wasn’t great, but it worked for a quick costume. Bought a short black wig and it was ready to go.

One my alien friends let me carry his pulse rifle, and we had a lot of fun doing this little group. So even though this costume wasn’t on my radar - I’m glad I did it! I love the photos from that event, it was a fun weekend all around.

I never wore this to another con. I did want to get it shot on the white backdrop in 2013, because I was planning to sell it. However, my wig had gone missing. I got another short black wig just to do the shoot, but hated how it looked. Plus I didn’t have a pulse rifle! So I was never happy with the white backdrop shots... and thus I never sold it. Because in the back of my mind, I need to reshoot this - I DID find the original wig not long after! And I really need to find a pulse rifle to shoot with! If I can ever pull this together again for a reshoot, maybe I’ll remake the upper parts of those shoes, too.

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