As you may have noticed in the last post, I hit a bit of a road block with this dress and its faithfulness to the original - what I had thought was a satin side panel, was upon further reflection and rewinding of the episode in question - A FULLY OPEN ON THE SIDES TOP/TUNIC THING. With pants that had two different types of legs and velvet boots. I...I just....I was not prepared for this.


I admit I'm playing catchup on the show, but f*ck me. After watching the scenes here I had a small meltdown and decided that ultimately I just don't like this look. Not only do I have no idea/don't want to make pants with one nylon leg, this is just not my aesthetic. I feel beautiful in long gowns, I do not think I'd feel as beautiful in this kind of tunic thing. So. Game time. I decided to do something in the spirit of this inspiration that would also being a design that I'd feel nice and pretty in while wearing.

First step: satin panel (obviously after a trip to JoAnns where I actually bought two different pieces because I suddenly had decision paralysis).

While wearing the dress I took a pair of small scissors and free handed the cut on the (my) right side. I decided that an organic, free flowing affect with the lace would be the best way to bring the two fabrics together.


After the first rough chop I laid it out on my ironing board for pinning and refining.


Here's the rub - because of the effect I wanted and my little experience hand sewing, each side took 3 HOURS to secure. I was primarily back stitching the whole thing and went along not only the seam of the dress, but out into the lace pieces over the satin panel, since clearly those couldn't move either.  The first chunk was a labor of love and self-hatred that I did from bed, the second (a week later) standing over my ironing board and dealing with the back pain. I'm thinking that if 1) you were more experienced 2) you had more space there would obviously be better ways of doing this, but I did what I had to.


After that I used my machine to do quick top stitch hem along the bottom of the satin fabric, but honestly only because when I tried to hand stitch it my thread kept getting knots and finally I gave up.


For the next side, of which I apparently didn't take any pictures? (sorry) , I gave my soul a break with the black nylon and just cut the dress seam to seam. No organic-flowy bullsh*t, but a harsh break to juxtapose against the other side. With that decision made, pinning and sewing the whole panel only ("only") took three hours.


After making the most ridiculous binding tape out of the remaining nylon to finish the hem (we're not discussing it more, it really was the most terrible option for an inexperienced person), the dress is done. SHOCKING. I KNOW. I did some Googling for shoes because 1) I wasn't sold on thigh high boots and 2) I didn't want to spend a lot of money on shoes for a very specific cosplay. But hey - the internet provides and I'm going with these hard-to-walk-and-stand-in-for-long-periods-of-time heels from Macy's:


And you've waited a while, but here's a blurry finished pic!


Don't miss out! You can find the other parts of this series below:

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III 
• Part IV

So what's next after finishing an abnormally large crown? A dress of course!

(And yes, an eye patch, but that'll be later.) 

After taking a lot of time in Google examining Margo's outfits, I went with the one that realistically I thought I could pull off best with a combination of craft and shopping:


But even in going this far, I didn't totally decide until even more dress research. My plan from the start was to alter a purchased dress, so if I couldn't find one that fit my needs it was a nonstarter. Which is why while it's boring to say I went through 27 pages just of AliExpress, then went to Google, Poshmark AND Ebay before finding a serious contender, it is exactly what happened. And that contender was the Illusion Yoke Lace Gown by Adrianna Papell.

I found one on Ebay in kinda my size (16) for a well price $84 - good for the budget and more than likely guaranteed enough fabric to be able to play around with if need be. Long sleeves, high necked, all sorts of other details kind of taken care. Plus Adrianna Papell is a brand I know and trust, so I wasn't worried about the quality of the garment. The big questions were the lining and the beading accent along the waist. And thus begins the shitty mirror selfies, so my apologies in advance. I wasn't really thinking about capturing this at blog quality [face palm].

Not bad right? Fits better than I expected, and after getting my more experienced friend to take a look at it, we both agreed removing the lining should be doable. And my friends, it was *doable* but it was certainly not *pleasant*. Because what I found one weekend morning was that the lining seams and dress seams were sewn together, so I couldn't use my seam ripper without resewing the dress as I went. Which to be honest sounded comparable to death and so instead I spent 5+ hours with a tiny pair of scissors meticulously cutting everything out along each and every seam.


The seam ripper did coming in handy when I got to the bodice though, because the beaded accent was attached to a ribbon that was sewed through the dress to the first layer of the bodice lining, so...yeah. I got that off but it was also a hassle. Some lace was cut and kind repaired using navy thread and since it doesn't like ridiculous I'm just calling this whole process a long-winded win.

Now there were some other decisions made in and around this time: first that it wasn't a lace panel on the side but Margo wearing lace tights (purchased), and that the longevity of this costume would be better served by inserting a sheer piece anyway to give the lace something to hold on to. Oh and I bought a bodysuit. It's not nude and as such not 100% screen accurate, but when I tried beige/body toned options they looked like shit with the tights so... it is what it is. And let's not dwell on the fact that I didn't see that additional blue satin panel until just now and it made my soul cry. I'll figure it out or I won't (or Jessica won't) so wish us luck.

MOVING ALONG.

Because the next random, late afternoon weekend decision I made was to not only cut the right sleeve off as per the original, but to also play around with extending the left sleeve by using all the next extra material.

There aren't a lot of in-process photos of this because it was even more made up than everything else I've done.I slid it on the still existing sleeve to get the approximate full length I wanted, cut off the extra, and then slowly (very slowly) but surely used back stitches and slip stitches to attach it. After it was mostly secure I used both types of stitches again to slowly shape the opening (it was a little too suddenly angular - I don't know how to better explain that the slope from arm to wrist to hand was off. Sorry to suck). And this ended up having to be done right side up because when I tried to slim it from the inside everything went wonky FAST. I'm just thankful that 1) most of the messed up-ness from this ridiculous method is on the inside of the arm at the sleeve, and 2) the fabric being lace was very forgiving, so even when I did a final check the morning after in bright sun it didn't actually look laughable.

And that's we are. 50-75% of a dress that I actually think fits and works pretty well. Believe me, I'm just as shocked as anyone.


Don't miss out! You can find the other parts of this series below:

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III

And so the crown drama continues! I don't really want to stretch this into a fourth post just about painting/aging, which means you're all probably going to be stuck with more pictures than words and I'm sorry in advance if that's confusing.

First up - priming! I was worried the primer I already had on hand, being brown, would mess with the "glow" of the gems so I picked up one in white from the same brand. A couple of thin coats in the alley next to my apartment building (and a round of masking tape goo removal with a cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol) later, and we were good to go!


Here is where I'm going in with a round of  "do what I say, not what I do". Later on in this post you'll see the crown resting on parchment paper, and that was BY FAR the better plan. Trust me. Because the next step is to start painting everything gold (paint available here - thanks kind reviewer for the swatches!) and if you're like me and vaguely impatient then the parchment paper will keep you from mucking everything up. Oh, and I almost forgot an important step! The glass gems along the side were still clear post priming, but before beginning the gold I took some random green nail polish (I think Essie?) painted each one, and then applied a clear polish topper. I prefer this method because the end effect is still translucent and matched the orange stones pretty well. 


I started with a small sponge tipped applicator, but no go, I couldn't get into all the nooks and crannies (and there are so, so many). I was finally relegated to using your typical synthetic brush, and just going at it. In the end it took 2-3 coats of gold to get it evenly coated, and I probably could have been even more meticulous if I wanted.


The last steps are kind of... ephemeral and artistic, so do what you will until you get an end result that you like. First up is aging - take a dry, natural haired brush, dip it in dark brown/black paint, stipple it directly on the crown  and immediately wipe most of it away. This creates a realistic "grime" and makes the final piece more authentic (I think Punished Props Academy has a good example of this in their Elder Scroll video).


After that I went in with some Rub 'n Buff, but I think incorrectly? I applied with a brush in small areas and then took a washcloth and buffed at the areas. But in pictures I've seen since then, of other people using it, it looks like they're applying and buffing at the same time using a microfiber towel? Shrug. I'd probably recommend more research in that department.

After the Rub 'n Buff was applied I kind of felt like it overwhelmed the aging, so I went in again with another super light layer of the dark brown paint and honestly? I kind of think the final result looks great and I'm still a little shocked about it.


I've got some tentative plans for how to make this actually wearable, the one downfall of it being mostly hot glue and slightly too big is that it doesn't want to stay on my head independently, but there you go! A kind of screen accurate take on High Queen Margo's crown [pats self on back].

Next steps include choosing an outfit and then an eye patch, since the second depends on the first. Wish me luck and I'll make sure to keep you all updated!

Don't miss out! You can find the other parts of this series below:

• Part I
• Part II

Ok, so where were we - crown, right? Hot glue.


Well next up after getting the shape nailed down was to investigate the jewel options. Originally I had planned for it to be a much longer search, to be stuck in Ebay and Etsy hell with maybe a long trip to Goodwill in my future. Reality? One Annual Rummage Sale later and I had everything I needed to keep going.

At the sale I found two deals - a pair of orange oval stoned earrings for $15, and a grab bag of clear glass beads for $4. I had already contemplated what my options would be if I couldn't find the right shade of teal/green, and painting glass with nail polish (not totally dissimilar to what I did for Princess Warrior Daisy) definitely worked for me. Especially for $4.



Again, installing these were a relatively simple process - I looked at my reference photos and kind of went with my gut, getting it as close as possible and creating a little "inset" shape for the jewel. I used the hot tip of the glue gun to melt a space into where I wanted it to sit, pushed the jewel into place, and circled it with even more hot glue after that. The  more difficult part here is that this is the point where I really started to clean up my lines and shapes.

When you're applying layers of hot glue, things get bulky and bumpy - fast. I first thought I could use my heat gun to warm a butter knife to shape pieces, but no go. It didn't get hot enough. And it only took about 5 secs of heat for me to realize I couldn't apply the heat gun to the crown itself. So instead, and I'm sorry in advance, I took the plastic guard off the tip and started using the gun itself. Without applying more glue I'd smooth and coax curves into being more fluid, removing extra glue as I went. I even refined the shapes of the leaf tips, because I wasn't sure how much could be fixed later in paint touch ups.

What does this mean for you? It means that I have even less of a "tutorial" to offer you, because there is no right or wrong answer. Hell, even a coworker said that she had a hot knife I could borrow in the future (I still don't know what that is). It's totally up to you to decide if your crown is looking right, which I'm bad it in general because I tend to think in terms of "right" and "wrong". Still, my final result (before painting) is one I'm happy with. It's not "perfect" but I'm satisfied and am happy to keep going towards completion.



Which brings us to the end of Part II! Next up is painting and I'm not sure how long that will take. I backed each jewel with hot glue because I wanted to see how the opacity would affect the sheen. So far so good, but I did decide to buy a white primer instead of the brown I had on hand, because I'm still concerned a dark backing would negatively affect the "glow". After the white primer is gold acrylic paint, and after that aging with brown/black, and then going in with gold Rub N' Buff for that "real" effect (I learned about this stuff from Epbot, and a couple places you can see her using it are here and here).

Not too shabby right?! Though you should have heard the cursing as I was covering the jewels in masking tape, it was not my shining moment. And looking at these HUGE PHOTOS now kinda makes me want to go remove some of the glue on the edges of the orange tones....shrug. It'll happen or it won't but at least it's not a total fail!

Don't miss out! You can find the other parts of this series below:

• Part I

I'm going into this post with a couple disclaimers:

1) I haven't (yet) seen The Magicians. I did that thing where I read all the episode recaps on io9 and watched the clips on YouTube. And even with that lackadaisical education, Margo and Eliot are my favorite.

2) I am not a professional. Like, at all, but especially at DIY related activities. I'm piecing this process together from all the reading I've done online over the years and videos I've watched for fun (though there were a couple videos (one and two) I watched once I decided this project).

Ok, now that that's out of the way, at some point next year I'd like to cosplay as High Queen Margo, from The Magicians.

And with that decided, for some reason I also thought that starting with the crown would be the best thing to do. It might have also been slightly influenced by my kind of ridiculous work life and the fact that sewing is hard and is going to be a much longer term hobby to try and even sorta master, but WHATEVER. Here we are. I did try to be slightly reasonable though, and started with the most important, and also most boring, part of a project where you're trying to make something that looks like a thing that already exists - research. And lots and lots of reference photos.


I really wasn't kidding about the reference photos part, because I wasn't going to go in and spend hours watching the show only for good shots of the crown - that defeats the purpose of enjoying it and sounds miserable. So I went into the crown making business after confirming an organic, leaf/tree inspired motif, with 2 orange stones and approximately 4 teal/green ones. And with a little help from the videos linked earlier, I decided that building a base of wire and bulking it out with hot glue, would be an "easy" way to go about it.

Supplies Needed:
-16 Gauge Wire
-22 Gauge Garden Wire
-Needle Nose Pliers (with wire cutting ability)
-Hot Glue Gun
-Untold Number of Glue Sticks

Ultimately, while it sounds like a cop out, I printed 5-6 pictures of the crown from different angles, and tried to create the general shape with the garden wire. I used the pliers to cut out the base from the heavier 16 gauge wire, and then piece by piece used the garden wire to create the upward flowing bits of crown. I knew this wasn't going to be a project for perfection - the original result is too organic and also, I don't know what I'm doing, but slowly it came together. Doing it this way involved a lot of do-overs (ie, reshaping/curving/moving wire), because I didn't want to do any gluing of pieces to each other until every piece was done. And I knew this tactic wouldn't work for the leaves, so I had to envision where they would go later. Is it creepy to say I was building the skeleton before the person? Probably, but there you go.


The only problem with doing it this way is that depending on how you think about it, you're going to waste some glue. I didn't have a final count going in and you're going to end up hating some of the ones you make - or at least I did. It's a good way to get organically matched-but-not shapes, but if consistency is your jam then I'd vote for creating a stencil or something to put under the parchment paper.

Still, even with all this kind of ridiculous conclusion making, I ended up with a very crown like shape that did (when you squinted at it) look like the original! I mean, the squinting is necessary because there's some shape perfecting and jewels and panting and aging and blah blah blah. Stuff. There is still a lot more that comes after this, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and how it wasn't a total headache to build. Crafting is a wibbly wobbly world of existing constantly on the edge of disaster, but friends, I'm happy to say that so far, so good.


And for sticking around with me this long, bonus cat pic! Sophie is generally very good for a cat while I'm crafting, sitting behind me on the floor or sleeping on the bed, but hot glue? Oh my god she HATES IT. Or desperately wants to eat it, depending on how you read those sorts of behavioral clues, and I'm sure the stringy bits that come along with this medium don't help. But sheesh. I have never had to shoo my cat away more often then when I was working on all this.