NanoWrimo did swallow me whole*

So why didn't I use my carnival of a closet for this year's Halloween costume?  Confession: I wanted to be Harley but I was a little nervous about premiering the costume at a con.  I know, me nervous about wearing ANYTHING? She who flounces about in public in things most folk would be embarrassed to leave the house in?  Who puts on hats, gloves, and seamed stockings whenever she can?  Who has no problem wearing a cosplay to a movie completely unrelated to it?  Or perhaps dinner out as Captain America on a day that isn't Halloween?

Crazy eyes, also a some what blurry look at the makeup.

Well, we all have our comfort zones.  And for me fem versions of male characters had become a con comfort zone.  Oh yes, I have Death but have you ever noticed how she isn't sexualized like many other female comic book characters?  Harley represented the deep end to me and since I'm not one to do things by halves I decided to go for it.  But with a little caution.

Yet another poorly drawn concept sketch. Those little shapes in the corner are ideas for pattern pieces.

The costume itself presented some other challenges.  There's a lot of Harleys out there and while I find inspiration in looking at other cosplayers I certainly don't want to straight up copy someone else. I don't know where the 1920s style came from but once it hit me I was churning out concept sketches.  I like that it fits with Harley's gangster's moll voice.  I also like that it's something I've never really seen and reflects my own style as well as Harley's.  Plus, comfy.

This dress seems good for dancing.  Must go dancing in it some time.

Let's start with the dress:

Fabric - As mentioned, I was having trouble finding the right fabric and once I found it I realized the cost of fabric alone would be twice my cosplay budget.  While I always go over budget I felt like it was bad to go that far over with one purchase.  So I strolled the aisles of the fabric store looking for something that was even close to what I had in mind.  Needing two particular colors in the same fabric made this an extra challenge.  All I could find was 100% polyester.  I am not a fan of polyester.  I don't sew with it and I try to limit it's presence in my ready made clothes.  But, standing in the fabric store, I realized that if I wanted to be Harley - this was it.  I told myself that if I didn't get the fabric now, I'd have to do something else.  Or completely re-evaluate my plans for the costume.  So I bought it.  My major complaints about the fabric were how badly the fabric frayed and that after pre-washing the fabric lost most of it's drape.

Notice how I managed to hide most of the neat details on my costume?  I'm very good at that.

The pattern - In the past I've made two twenties style dresses by adapting commercial patterns.  I was ready to try self drafting.  Which is actually another one of the reasons I didn't go with my ideal fabric - I would have been quite upset if the dress was a failure and I ruined that much expensive and beautiful fabric.  I looked at tons of reference photos, drew pictures, and thought a lot about construction.  I used plain old brown package wrapping paper to create the pattern pieces.  The pattern worked well except I had made it too long and had to cut out about a foot and a half in the middle and reattach the skirt to the bodice.  I'm excited to try making another 20's style dress again because I have all sorts of ideas for improving construction. 

The sequins look better than this in real life, I swear

The decoration - Initially I was on the fence about adding lace but as I messed up a bit on putting the neckline together - I decided the lace would nicely cover my mistake.  I wanted to bead the dress but I found the fabric to be too flimsy to stand up to the weight of beads so I used sequins instead.  There are still beads there - I used them in the middle of the sequins to help hold them on like I've seen on other garments.  I've never put sequins on anything before but once I got the hang of it - it was kind of fun.  Plus I love the results.  Sparkly.

Best close up shot of the hat.  Also, no glasses so you can better see the makeup.

The hat:
I had a hat in mind but I figured the dress was the priority.  I was going to make a quick scarf to wear ala Clara Bow (my other visual inspiration for this costume.) but I ended up making something too big to use.  I decided since I had everything I needed to make the hat I might as well go for it.  I used veiw C from this pattern and it was super fast and easy.  I didn't look at the instructions though.  And I didn't use fleece like I was supposed to.  I have to say, I think I'm in love with sewing hats.  It takes so little fabric and goes so fast.  It's the beading that was time consuming but like with the sequins, the results were worth it.

The bag:
Harley carries a little black handbag sometimes but that's sort of boring.  I took fabric I already had (a cream colored linen) and made a little bag.  I beaded the dollar sign (hugely time consuming) and bought some pretty gold cord and voila - a fancy beaded bag that doubles as a loot bag.

Other accessories:
Earrings - The red one is part of a pair I made back when I made beaded jewelry.  The black one is from a pair I got as a gift (Thanks S!).
Gloves- Captain America to the rescue here.  I took one of the gloves I no longer needed for cap and bought a black pair from Sock Dreams.  I used the remaining lace to edge the gloves.  Of course now I have an "extra" pair of mismatched gloves.  I'm sure I'll come up with a use for them.
Gun - Bought at a party store - definitely something not something I was interested in making.  I do have plans to alter it so it fits with the costume better but those had to wait til after Halloween. (As my friend says: "Eh, it's just Halloween." Cons are when it's important.)
Shoes - the prettiest shoes in the world from Miss L Fire.  How I wish I'd had the money to get them in all four colors - it would have been awesome to wear one black and one red.
Stockings -Both from sock dreams but different pairs.  One with a red seam and one with a black seam.
Shawl - the little scarf that turned out way too big.

The whole thing?   Went off well.  I was particularly proud of my makeup.  I do need to do some minor adjustments on the dress - to improve fit - nothing cosmetic.  And then there's the gun - so this baby isn't quite con ready but I do think once it is I will have fun walking the con floor in it.  Though I'll probably still have nerves the first time.

Watch out Harley! Wonder Woman is behind you!

Even if Harley isn't completely done and I've got updates/revisions I'm working on for other cosplays I'm already thinking about a new one.  I want to try to do some simple ones - using the supplies I already have.  I've got someone in mind already but I don't know if I will do that one or work on updates on older costumes.  There is a con coming up in January that I hope to attend but I'm not really sure what I want to wear yet. 

* Well not only the novel - I obviously did other things but when I'm churning out 2,000-3,000 words a day I'm not too interested in spending more quality time with my computer.  Right now I'm less than 10,000 words from winning.  My novel is horrible and makes no sense.  So all is progressing as expected.