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Art Post: Piper Designs (SunDowner)

Blog, my art, sundowner

Art Post: Piper Designs (SunDowner)

May 16, 2002 /

Piper’s various looks…

art old sundowner

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My Costume History Day 87: Belle’s “Something Ther

My Costume History Day 87: Belle’s “Something There” dress from Beauty and the Beast, from MTAC 2007

So by this point I’d done Belle’s ballgown and village dress, so I figured I’d keep going and make her pink winter/“Something There” dress too. Hancock didn’t have a great selection but I made what I could find work - I got a thin pink fabric for the skirt, a pink cotton for the bodice (which I dyed darker), and a light pink matte satin for the stripes and ruffles.

(I was using a little figurine of Belle in this as my reference, and she had a much larger swoop of light pink down the skirt in that figurine that she does in the movie. Should’ve had more references handy, but it was pre-smart phone for me...)

The dress is all one piece, with boning in the bodice and a lace-up back. I wore it over one of my existing petticoats. The cape I made out of red stretch velvet with some white marabou trim hand-sewn on - the capelet section is separate and just pulls on over my head once I have the cape on.

Debuted this at MTAC 07 and... kinda didn’t like it. Afterwards I went back and took in the side seams which helped it fit a little better, but it’s still not one of my favourites. I made myself wear it a few more times - to Dragoncon 07 (where I took NO pics of it) and to a GMX probably around 2011-2012? Did the white backdrop shoot in 2014, and thankfully I actually really liked the photos of it with my newer Belle wig from 2012.

I do still have it - but I’ve also had some of the materials to remake it completely. Will I ever get around to it? Who knows. It would be a fun easy rebuild, but it’s just finding the motivation...

My Costume History Day 86: Ceremonial Princess Lei

My Costume History Day 86: Ceremonial Princess Leia version 2 from Star Wars, made for MidSouthCon 2007

As you may have seen a few posts ago, I made a very last minute ceremonial Leia for Halloween in 2005. I always knew I wanted to revisit it, and since I was still in my “make all the Leias” phase, the remake came along pretty quickly.

This time around I used jet-set knit for the body of the dress, and white chiffon for the sleeves/bust overlay. Mom & I modified an empire waist dress pattern. It was not perfect but a HUGE upgrade from 05 version.

Dad helped with the belt again - we used my ANH belt as a basis to cut a new belt, I painted it silver, and dad made the conchos for me. Originally it velcroed closed, but when I made jedi Leia in 2019, I took the belt back out to my parents’ house, where dad made 2 extra conchos for me for the back (it originally only had 4 side conchos), and we put snaps in.

Bought the silver at the thrift store, and bought the resin necklace pieces from someone online. I painted them and attached them to a metal necklace base using friendly plastic, because they didn’t have any holes or connectors to attach to anything!

I did like how this turned out, but the shoes were AWFUL. Turns out they were my size - but in wide. They absolutely TORE my feet up everytime I wore them!

In 2010, I reconfigured the sleeves a bit and cleaned up the facings and wore this to WSMI in Huntsville. It had been enough time I’d forgotten how evil the shoes were and paid the price afterwards LOL.

In 2012 we got this shot on the white backdrop, and then it just sat around the house for years. In 2020 I got it out for a few videos, and discovered some of the chiffon seams were tearing away. In addition, it really didn’t fit well by that point - the bust line had always been a little too high on me and by 2020 it was sitting in the middle of my bust instead of under it LOL

So in 2020 I remade this completely (and got new shoes!) - but I do still have the 2007 version. I don’t think it’s in good enough shape to sell, so it’ll just stay here for now I guess!

My Costume History Day 85: Wonder Woman (Alex Ross

My Costume History Day 85: Wonder Woman (Alex Ross style) made for MidSouthCon 2007

I wanted to do a Wonder Woman costume for a few years at that point so I finally buckled down and started putting it together for MidSouthCon 07. I decided I wanted to do base mine on her Alex Ross-style suits.

I bought the red pleather corset and blue/white star swimsuit bottoms on ebay, along with the boots! That was the easy part!

For all of the armor pieces, I wanted them to be metal. My gauntlets are made out of silver craft metal and velcro closed at the wrist. The tiara, chest piece and belt are all gold craft metal which Chase patterned, cut and assembled for me. It all velcros onto the bodice, and on the tiara, we glued some craft foam onto the back to make it a little more comfortable. The red star was from the craft store. The lasso was some gold braided trim.

I really love how it turned out! It felt so cool to wear, though I had to watch out for hugging people - the head of the “eagle” on the chest piece poked out and I could easily poke somebody if I gave them a hug LOL And the gauntlets could bite me if anyone grabbed my wrist (looking at you @kitkatmemphis LMAO) Despite the safety concerns, I wore this a lot over the year - having a super recognizable costume is always really fun.

(I also wore it to an event at a school, where the velcro decided to peel off the bodice while I was standing in front of a group of kids. I had to quickly cross my arms to push the chestpiece back into place, and then basically keep that pose the rest of the time to keep it on LOL)

Originally wore a long black wig with it, but after that wig got turned into my Ame-Comi Wonder Woman ponytail in 2008, I switched to a shorter wig. Never loved that wig, but that’s what I had to use when we got this shot on the white backdrop in 2009 (one of the first costumes we shot on the backdrop!) and I really wish I’d just gotten a new wig for it. Oh well.

I sold this in around 2012-2013-ish after I made an updated version in 2009.

My Costume History Day 84: Random costumes circa 2

My Costume History Day 84: Random costumes circa 2003-2010

This post is to talk about some pre and post 2006 costumes that are just silly little things that don’t warrant their own post.

Jubilee from X-Men, for Dcon 03. I put this together for my cousin to wear to Dcon, but of course I had to put it on too. Bought the yellow jacket on ebay, made boot covers out of blue knit, and spray painted a pair of sunglasses. Wig was my Yuffie wig.

Dazzler from X-Men, made in late 04. I had bought this bodysuit for a project that didn’t pan out, so I turned it into Dazzler. Made the collar out of marine vinyl covered in silver lame, and the belt out of the same lame. Made the mask out of scraps and spray painted my childhood skates silver. I realized if I tried to wear this at a con with those skates, I’d break a leg LOL So I never wore it anywhere and these pics are all I have to document it. A few years ago most of it got thrown away when I discovered the skate wheels were crumbling into dust.

Random Elf from late 04 - my parents gave me this purple velvet for Christmas, and at first I was going to do Arwen’s hope gown, but couldn’t figure out the sleeves, so I made a cape instead. I’ve worn this with soooo many costumes over the years, so I think that was a good decision!

Spider-man swimsuit from SDCC 05 - I wanted a nerdy swimsuit. That didn’t exist back then, so made it with a Kwiksew pattern, red and blue spandex, and painted the lines on with fabric paint. Sadly the stretch has died in the fabric now and it’s unwearable.

Village Belle version 1 from Dcon 06 - Quick change version intended for a skit that didn’t happen. The back was so ugly I never wore it. I think it eventually got thrown away.

Casual Jean Grey from Halloween 09 - threw this together for Halloween at work. Sewed an X-Men symbol onto a black knit top I made. Wasn’t even hemmed, everything else from my closet.

Kiss the Girl Ariel from Halloween 2010 - also for work Halloween, this was my Briar Rose bodice and shirt with my village Belle skirt and my Phoenix wig with my Britan. Entirely made of other costume pieces LOL Once day I’ll dig it out and take real photos of it.

My Costume History Day 83: Dorothy from the Wizard

My Costume History Day 83: Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, for Halloween 2006

We had a cairn terrier named Kes at the time, and for a while we were going to do a Wizard of Oz group around her, even though she was wheaten cairn and not black. It never really worked out, but I eventually did decide to do Dorothy for Halloween in 2006.

There’s not a lot to this — it is straight up the Simplicity Dorothy pattern with no mods. Got the blue checkered fabric at Hancock, used a white cotton for the blouse with blue rickrack. Bought the ruby slippers, basket and stuffed Toto at a costume store, and added more sequins to the slippers.

Wore this Halloween night and it was fun and comfy. Of course took some pics with Kes. And then I didn’t touch it again for over 10 years LOL

In 2017 I was like, I need to get this costume catalogued shot on the backdrop, so I got it out, gave it a really thorough ironing and steaming (it was sooo wrinkled). I also updated the socks - I bought some stockings at Spirit Halloween and dyed them blue. I also decided I wanted to do the braided look instead of the hair down I’d done in 2006, but I knew my own hair braided wouldn’t look thick enough, so I braided my Belle wig. I really love how the backdrop photos turned out! And it made me kinda fall in love with this costume. (It also FIT me way better in 2017 than it did in 2006.) After that it became a regular rotation for options to wear around Halloween. Most recently I wore it to visit my grandma at her nursing home - her birthday was in October, so I’d usually go in costume because she loved to see my costumes, and her birthday being close to Halloween made that a good excuse LOL. This one was a great option for that because it wasn’t large or unwieldy to wear in that enviroment, and it’s something everybody recognizes. Unfortunately after that excursion, as we were walking back to the car, one of my ruby slippers completely fell apart LOL. Guess you can’t count on 20 year old costume shoes to last...!

My Costume History Day 82: Leia’s Hoth uniform fro

My Costume History Day 82: Leia’s Hoth uniform from Star Wars, for Nashville Comic Fest 2006

A few posts back I talked about my Cloud City Escape Leia costume - of course, that was the basis for my Hoth Leia costume, since they are the same suit. I had intended to have Hoth Leia done for a con in Jan 2006, but ran out of time - but I did have the suit done, so I wore it as Cloud City Escape for several months before finally circling back around to finish the Hoth elements.

The vest is made out of some lightweight lining taffeta lined in cotton, with batting for the quilting - modified a basic vest pattern, adding the quilting stitching and changed up the collar shape. Added the pocket in the front - Chase made my badge and it just slides into the pocket.

The boots I bought from Delia’s LOL and I made the upper part out of two different grey faux suedes. They velcro closed over the existing boots. The gloves were vintage I bought on ebay.

This is one of my fav Leia costumes - it was one I was wanting to get around to doing for a while. It’s also one of my fav hairstyles to do. I’d wear this way more often - if it was more comfortable! I debuted it at the Nashville con in October 2006, and wore it to several more cons over the next few years, and some various Star Wars events, but it was never comfortable because of the suit. (Did an event on my own one night that I had to drive to and had to unzip the suit and take it off to the waist to drive there, because I couldn’t sit and drive with the suit choking me LOL) I did also finally get to do a SNOW shoot with it in 2021 - I was worried about the snow messing up these old boots (they are starting to make concerning cracking sounds when I wear them now), but I figured if they get messed up, that’s more impetus for me to finally remake this!

And yes, one of these days I AM going to remake this from the ground up. It’s long overdue. But I have to get around to my rebel briefing room/Endor remake first, because it’s even older and in even worse shape. One thing at a time...

My Costume History Day 81: custom mandalorian from

My Costume History Day 81: custom mandalorian from Star Wars, made for Dragoncon 2006

My 501st garrison (Southern Outpost at the time) had all started making their own custom mandalorian kits. Chase had one too, so I wanted one for myself.

I made the vest out of some heavy black twill, with black pleather trim on the bottom edge, red piping, and red suede panels in the front. The undershirt and I pants I made out of a grey stretch knit which I weathered pretty extensively - I also added a bantha skull to the sleeve, and some more of the red suede panels to the side of the pants. The capes were my fav part - there are 2 layers, one of my leftover red suede, one of black suede, and one of a really cool distressed black chiffon. They are all attached at the shoulder of the vest with a button.

Chase made all of the armor for me - the chest plates and shoulder pieces are all heat formed plastic and velcro on. I think the knee pieces he already had from something else. The “gauntlets” are repainted and weathered shinguards. The belt I bought - Chase made my belt buckle, and added a holster and some other little greeblies to it. The helmet we bought online - maybe from someone on the RPF? - can’t remember. Chase painted and weathered it for me, and also added some lights. Modified a blaster and added a blade to it and used some scrap fabric to add some wrapping to it.

Debuted this at Dragoncon 2006 for the big mandalorian group pic we did in the bottom of the Hyatt (and right after, I changed into Huttslayer in the public bathroom right there for the Leia shoot in the same area LOL). It was a lot of fun — at one point while I was wearing it, two little boys came up and asked for a pic with me. After the pic, they said thanks and I said “you’re welcome” and they both screamed “IT’S A GIRL!” and ran away LOL.

I wanted to do some upgrades to this after, but never got around to it. I did dig it up and clean up a few things in 2017 and did a photoshoot after a snow storm, but besides that and the white backdrop, that’s pretty much all I’ve done with this. The pleather parts are falling apart now, but maybe one day I’ll get it wearable again.

My Costume History Day 80: Corde from Star Wars, f

My Costume History Day 80: Corde from Star Wars, for Dragoncon 2006

I loved that there were post-blast promo images of Corde from AOTC - & I thought it’d be fun to make THAT version.

As mentioned in my 2004 Leia costume post, I started making the robe, decided I didn’t like the fabric & started over. Well I still had that half-finished robe, and that became my Corde underdress. I got the sleeves added & finished it up.

For the outer robe, I got a white fabric at Hancock and white satin for the sleeve linings. Modified a robe pattern. The bulk of the work for the costume went into recreating the pattern all over it - I made 2 stamps, & then sat for days stamping the black and gold design all over the robe. It’s not 100% perfect but it’s the best I could do in 2006, and I’m still pretty proud of it. I made the appliques out of some black suede leftover from the mandalorian, and glued them on.

Once the robe was finished — then it was time to destroy it LOL This was really hard to do after all the time stamping it! I wrapped my dressform in plastic, put my robe on it and took it all outside and started throwing dye on it. Once I had a base “dirty” color I started going in with black and red paints for burns and blood.

The beaded neckpiece was actually a beaded shawl my grandmother had given me a while before - I added some onto it but it worked great as-is. The wig was a lot of fun - I built up the shape with foam, covered in fabric, and then heat-shaped the wig hair over the forms. The center was a cardboard tube I painted. The great thing was that if I messed up, that was fine, it was supposed to look messed up LOL

I debuted this at Dragoncon 06, and used black and brown eyeshadows to dirty up my face, along with my fake blood from my battle Padme. I was soo happy with how this turned out! My plan was to next take it to Celebration... but we got engaged and realized with a wedding to plan, Celebration 07 was out of the question. So I ended up not wearing this again for a long time. Finally did the backdrop shoot in 2012. It’s still here - I had it out for a video not too long ago! Maybe I’ll bring her back to Dcon this year for her 20th anniversary LOL

I put together a simplified Starlord outfit for Ke

I put together a simplified Starlord outfit for Kevin to wear on our Disneyland trip last month, but it ended up being way too hot for the jacket. So he wore it at @hsvexpo instead. I wore my Scarlet Witch - so we kinda sorta matched? Same universe anyway 😹 meanwhile, Chase was wearing Beefsquatch from Bobs Burgers and didn’t match at all! 😹 (but definitely got the most attention!)

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