Hello! I've been costuming for about ten years now, and had built up a collection of about ten costumes, mostly Star Wars, and was RL and 501st though I'm inactive status for both. I had to leave all the costumes behind with my parents this summer, though, when I moved from the US to Ireland. I haven't made anything new in a long time and am eager to do so! I'm getting started now that I've seen TFA a couple times and am no longer spending most of my free time dealing with final move-related tasks. I'm also finally trying my hand at learning some real prop-building for the first time - just 'small time' things to start, but I'm excited to gain some new skills.
In the past I've always taken care of the fabric aspects of my costumes and either commissioned all the 'hard pieces' or exchanged work with other costumers who had an easier time with prop building but more difficulty figuring out the sewing bits.
The costumes I left behind *sob* that I'm most proud of are my ANH Leia Senatorial Gown, my Generic Imperial Officer (black), and my AOTC Padme Light Blue Tatooine Midriff.
The Padme I made following a tutorial I found online and was much more complicated than I'd realised at the outset, especially with the stretch in the fabric, and involved beading and figuring out paint work with a stencil on the fabric and worrying about things like absorption and if the paint would be reflective and then the head piece, which I made from craft foam and had to figure out how to 'weave' together and then spray painted in many layers over several days and had to dry and wait for clear weather... all things that I'd never had to consider before in costume building and can seem so simple from the 'outside' but take a lot of thought and planning to get the exact effect, especially if you don't want to waste materials (and money), and it gave me even more of an appreciation for the amazing work so many in my con family and beyond do. I've always been so impressed by the work of the folks here in the RPF and I'm really excited to be here and learn what I can.
Now that I've gone on and on... I'm stoked to get to it! I am a little nervous because I haven't made anything in so long and I have arthritis problems that since then have started affecting my hands (the arthritis being why I went inactive - I'm hoping to get active again by attending events where I can sit if I need, like things with info tables and such as my ex-membership officer very cleverly suggested), but I'm hoping that it won't be a problem if I leave myself plenty of time to work on each part so I can take it slow.
Oh, and to explain my signature: I'm 5'11", so I tend to make for a rather tall Princess Leia
