So, I got invited to a friend’s Star Wars themed birthday recently (I won’t say *which* birthday, I don’t think that would be particularly appreciated). Someone had joked about it being a costume party, with obvious consequences…
In terms of options, there was only ever one choice…
So, I present Bryn Solo!
A few things I learnt from this particular escapade…
1) I really need to practice my had-stitching — Seriously, it’s terrible. The stitches are uneven, crooked and all over the place. It’s a miracle that any of it hangs together (the stripe on the trousers is stitched on by me).
2) Spray Paints are jolly good fun — The blaster originally came in a wonderful shade of white plastic, which rather ruins the effect:
But after some painting…
Not quite the right shade of grey on the muzzle, but a lot closer than the original prop did…
3) The Holster — Possibly the most accurate part… an actual replica bought online from Jedi Robes.com
4) 80s beige shirts are hard to come by… even in London — Despite checking out all the places you’d expect to find such things in London (Shoreditch, Soho, Covent Garden & Camden Market, I’d not been able to track down a single place I could get a shirt & jacket combo that worked. Amazon listed a “deluxe” costume (this version came with a seprate vest and shirt…) which answered the requirement. The trousers on the other hand came with some ridiculous fake boots… speaking of which…
5) Knee-high boots for men — Another thing that turns out to be quite tricky to find. The only pair I’d been able to track down were a pair of rubber riding boots (essentially wellington boots). The problem was, whilst they were okay to the size of my foot, I couldn’t actually get the damned things on. So, in a fit of pique, I cut a 10″ slit in the inside edge, which fixed one problem, but created another…
A zip was dismissed (since it wouldn’t add enough space for me to actually be able to zip them up). I opted instead to put in a large velcro tab type thing (which was initially glued in place, then re-enforced with stiches – again, appalingly stitched).
So… the stripe is badly stitched on, the boots are a travesty and the shirt comes from a cheap costume, but I honestly couldn’t be happier that it all hangs together. It actually *looks* like what I’d originally intended. My take-away from the whole thing is that I just need to take a bit more time to look at a problem, then implement it properly, rather than half-heartedly working on getting it done (because part of me didn’t fully believe it’d work). The solution I came up with worked, and a bit more effort on my part would have ended up with with a much neater-looking end product. I’ve also learnt a lot about how some of these materials work, how to attach one to the other, and where I can pick up supplies to get these jobs done.
Plus, I have a reasonable Han Solo Costume…
Achievement Unlocked: 1st Cosplay Effort
Skills:
+1 Sewing
+1 Prop Replication
+1 Botching & Making Good
loved this post! This is awesome. The boots looked really tough to get on and good idea cutting a slit! I just found out about your blog and looking forward to more posts. If you have a second here is a link to my latest post. http://nerdycanuck.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/zeppeliniii-bron-yr-aur-stomp/ Please check it out and let me know what you think:) Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. I think I’ll revisit making it at some point to make things a little better with some of the stitching 🙂
Can I just say that I’m loving this new format that some of your posts are taking (about how you’re grinding various skills): it’s engaging and fun.
And it was awesome to see you in costume, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking Nerf herder. 😉
Who’s scruffy-looking?
I’m enjoying the new format too. It gets me back into writing again…
Pingback: Yes, and… | Welsh Geek in London