In the beginning...

In the beginning, there was DragonCon. The mysterious place my husband disappeared to on Labor Day. My sister-in-law and I finally witnessed the glorious spectacle ourselves in 2006. We didn't have tickets - we just wandered around, awestruck at the people and costumes. We were hooked. We both costumed the following year (I paid someone to make a costume for me), and in winter 2007 I bought a sewing machine and took a sewing class so I could make my own costumes.

I wore my first hand-made costume, a spring dryad, to DragonCon in 2008. And I have been addicted ever since. DragonCon is an annual event now for me, my husband, brother, and sister-in-law. My sister has joined us and we hope to continue to drag her along as well. My husband and I now seek out Cons and ren faires in the southeast - any excuse to put on a costume (or look at costumes)! ImagiCon, Mid South Con, Shadow Con, TN Ren Faire, AL Ren Festival, and Stone Mt. Highland Games so far this year.

Although I only took the one sewing class, I have spent countless hours viewing web tutorials, reading sewing books, and pouring through costume websites and blogs trying to learn more. Some of the topics I've researched and applied include: priming and painting plastics, paper mache, feather masks, gathering and ruffling, using a serger, handling special fabrics (such as metallics, fur, sheers, etc), patch work skirts, circle skirts, pattern modification, boning and eyelets for bodices, various sewing techniques, stiff cape collars, fabric identification, and much more.

I hope to post photos of all my costumes and give a description of how I made them. I'll post links to favorite sites and sources of information and materials. In my web and blog seaches, I have found so much useful information on handmade costumes and thoroughly appreciate the costumer that documents each step of the process and lets me know what materials and techniques are used. Many costume descriptions show a photo and have not provided the detail I crave, so my posts will be fairly detailed.

Please share with me your favorite sites and sources (and photos) - I am always looking for ways to make costumes bigger and better!