Costuming Year in Review, 2012

I always like to do year-end roundups of all my sewing and costuming projects, but I never manage to actually get them done by year's end. But better late than never! Forthwith, the 17 projects I completed (or helped to complete) in 2012!

1. "Indy Anna" Jones

 

My brother has always been the junior Jones in our family (except for when our dad is Indy and Sean is Shia LeBoeuf)-- but this year he couldn't come to Comic-Con. So I filled in! This costume was a snap, because Dad and Sean both own multiple copies of all the Indy accessories, so they just lent me the smallest hat, belt, bag, etc. I had originally planned on making some Katharine Hepburn-esque pants, but ultimately decided on a skirt. So I made a half-circle skirt out of some tan wool, and bought a shirt and boots. I didn't get to do my hair in a fun 30s style because I had to change into this one in the parking garage after wearing Maleficent that morning. :P At Dragon*Con we finally got our whole Indy group together for the very first time, huzzah!

Tiny Princess Captain America

It's Tiny Princess Captain America time! I made this costume for my three-year-old niece this summer, originally for her to wear at Origins. She's since worn it for San Diego Comic-Con, the Fourth of July, and Halloween. Read on to find out how to make it!

Carly's Hufflepuff Tie

My friend Kelly's daughter Carly wanted to dress as a Hogwarts student from Hufflepuff house for Halloween 2004, but they were having trouble finding a black-and-yellow-striped tie for the outfit. So I offered to make one. I couldn't find any appropriate pre-striped fabric, so I tore some black and some yellow cotton into one-inch strips and sewed them together with quarter-inch seams to make a square of striped fabric. I based the pattern off of one of my husband's ties, with a little help from this website. I made it a fair bit shorter than a typical tie, both because I didn't have quite enough fabric and because it was for a seven-year-old, and backed the whole thing with interfacing. It was a fun little afternoon project, and I think it turned out quite nicely.

Katara, Toph, and Zuko

Characters: Katara, Toph, and Zuko
Costumes: Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3 outfits (respectively)
From: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Made: 2008

Oh, Avatar. Okay, fine, *technically* it may be a kids' cartoon, but I personally think it's one of the most awesome series in recent memory. If you haven't watched it, I highly, highly recommend it. That finale-- OH MAN. My friend's kids were the ones who got me into it; they told me that if I liked Kim Possible (and I did), I'd *love* Avatar. To thank them for being right, I offered to make them Avatar costumes for Halloween.

They chose a fun assortment of characters-- Katara, a waterbender; Toph, an earthbender; and Zuko, a firebender. This was my first time replicating animated costumes, which presented an interesting new set of challenges. I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

Halloween 2008

Katara Detail

Toph Detail

Zuko Detail

Construction

I don't currently have much construction information for these. Katara and Toph's costumes were mostly made with linen from fabrics-store.com; Zuko's is crinkle cotton and cotton broadcloth, with gold silk taffeta accents.

Will Turner

Character: Will Turner
From: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Made: 2003

During my sixth viewing of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, it occurred to me that my friend Dan would really make an excellent Will Turner-- he was tall, had the right build, and his hair was quite long as the result of a bet with a co-worker. One day in September 2003, while we were over at his house, I floated the idea of his dressing as Will for Halloween. He wasn't opposed, so I dove right in, and when I presented him with the costume in late October, he liked it so much he wore it home, and then wore it to work on Halloween!

This costume actually does double duty-- with the addition of different pants, and the removal of the stockings and shoes, it becomes a passable hobbit outfit.

Halloween 2003

Trying on the completed costume, October 2003

As a hobbit, headed to Trilogy Tuesday, December 2003
(socks and shoes because it was cold!)

Construction

Girl Hobbit

Character: Girl hobbit
From: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Made: 2003

This one was for my friend Debby! I'd already made her husband a Will Turner costume that doubled as a hobbit costume, so she was totally up for being a hobbit lady. Like me, she loves the color blue, so we used Rosie Cotton's party dress from Fellowship as a jumping-off point.

Release of Return of the King (Trilogy Tuesday), December 2003

Eowyn's Shieldmaiden Dress

Character: Eowyn
Costume: Shieldmaiden Dress
From: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Made: 2002

This beautiful dress first appeared in promotional images for The Two Towers and was almost immediately dubbed the "Shieldmaiden" outfit. Unfortunately, it didn't make an appearance in TTT, but we finally got to see it in Return of the King! Ngila Dickson, the costume designer for the LOTR trilogy, has said that this outfit is meant to convey a "sense of [Eowyn] fighting in her underwear." I think it does a good job of that, and it's very pretty besides!

I didn't make this dress for myself-- I made it for my best friend, Amy, whose favorite LOTR character is Eowyn. After making my Arwen chase dress, I was eager to get my friends to start dressing up as well. Amy liked the idea, so we looked at all of Eowyn's outfits, and she chose this one. This was my second full recreation, and in some ways it was harder than the chase dress, because at the time there were only a few good images of the dress and no tutorial to help me.

Someday I'd love to make this one for myself! I've still got a fair bit of the cream silk left, and it's such a beautiful dress...

Going to see The Two Towers at our college, spring 2003

Construction