#Harley Quinn Swiftie cosplay

[sheliesshattered]

Felt cute, might steal the Batmobile later

[sheliesshattered]

Quick preview of the cosplays I've been working on for Dragon Con 2023: Rhaenyra Targaryen's dress from HotD s01e07 and s01e08, a punk version of Rhaenyra, and my Harley Quinn-Taylor Swift mashup.

This is only half of the costumes I'm taking to Dragon Con this year -- full lineup coming soon!

[sheliesshattered]

I did a lot of sewing in 2023, and spent more time on my sewing projects than on any of my other hobbies, even though I ended up with relatively few finished products. I drafted patterns, fitted mock-ups, and worked with specialty fabrics, several of them new to me. I'm pleased with how all of them came out, and feel like I improved my skills in both sewing and drafting. And most importantly, I had a ton of fun wearing each one of these projects!

The majority of the year was spent on my Rhaenyra Targaryen cosplay, starting last January with drafting a pattern from my measurements, sewing a mock-up, fitting the mock-up to achieve a more screen-accurate look, and adjusting the pattern accordingly. I worked with silk for the very first time, black silk organza for the underdress and red silk jacquard (woven by a small maker in India) for the main dress. I dyed lacing cords to match, hand-sewed several yards of trim, set a couple dozen grommets by hand, sewed on several different types of beads, and did a lot of handsewing to complete the whole thing. I worked on it continuously for just over seven months, in between work and alongside other sewing projects in the last month or so.

The other major sewing project last summer was the sequin shorts for my Harley Quinn/Taylor Swift mashup cosplay. I based them on the sequin shorts in the first Suicide Squad movie, but made them red and black to match both Harley's more typical color scheme and Taylor Swift's Red color scheme. I drafted a pattern by altering a swimsuit pattern I drafted in 2020, and made a lining out of swimsuit fabric to check the fit, then cut out the exterior sequin fabric. I'd worked with sequin fabric before, but never one with sequins attached in one continuous chain of stitches, which took a little while to figure out how to best handle to keep from unraveling when cut. I ended up handsewing extra sequins onto places of the shorts where the sequins had fallen off.

I purchased the Taylor Swift tshirt but added quite a lot of hand-sewn details, to make it look more like the Suicide Squad tshirt. In July and August I also finished a bunch of other small cosplay crafting items, everything from wig styling and jewelry making, to gluing rhinestones to a pair of bunny ears, repairing the beading on a purchased dress, and adding a hidden pocket to a purchased skirt, all in preparation for Dragon Con at the end of August.

After Dragon Con I needed a couple of months to recover, and while I did start (but not yet finish) a simple knitting project, I didn't do any sewing or pattern drafting again until late November. At that point I knew I wanted to make a cozy stay-at-home winter dress and get it finished just as soon as possible, so I could start wearing it as the weather turned colder.

I drafted a new dress pattern based on the pattern I drafted for Rhaenyra's dress, and a pair of funky wide legged pants from a pajama pant pattern I'd drafted in 2022. The whole project, from drafting the pattern and ordering a sample of the heavy fleece fabric I wanted to use, to the final hand stitching on the hem, took just under a month -- much faster than the Rhaenyra project, with much less fussy fabric and far fewer details. Now that I've gotten to wear it around the house over the last week and a half, there are a few small changes I may make to it in the future, but generally I'm very happy with it.

Currently I actually have two other sewing projects in process, too: hand-sewing/quilting the print from an old tshirt onto the back of a hoodie for Jack (slow going but getting close to done), and a surprise birthday gift for a family member. I'll post pictures of each once they're done, but probably won't post about the surprise project until the gift has been given.

After that, I have plans to start making some layering pieces to put over (and under) the fleece dress. I have some scrap fabric from older projects I'd like to turn into wearable things, and that bolt of cotton herringbone fabric I got a good deal on on Ebay arrived the other day, and needs to be washed and ironed and such before I start figuring out what I want to do with it.

I'm hoping to continue my streak of 2023 sewing into 2024, with that focus on more practical, everyday wearable items, rather than on cosplay. I don't know yet if I'm going to have any cosplay events to attend this year, and even if I do, I'd be quite happy bringing older projects, including those I finished in 2023, out to play again. As much as I love making those big show pieces for conventions, and pushing myself with new-to-me fabric types like silk and sequins, I'll get a lot more use out of everyday pieces, and feel better about my day to day wardrobe at the same time.

Thank you to everyone who liked and commented on my sewing posts throughout the year! I mostly post about my projects here as a way to document them for myself, but it's always so wonderful to hear that other people like my work, too. I hope 2024 treats all of us well, and to any of you out there with sewing projects you're working on, may your thread stay untangled and your scissors sharp!

[sheliesshattered]

Dragon Con 2023 cosplay lineup!

Thursday: Trillian from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, for the Bunny Hutch party -- I'll have an Arthur Dent with me, too

Friday: Rhaenyra Targaryen from House of the Dragon, I'll be attending the World Of Ice And Fire photo meetup

Friday evening: punk Rhaenyra Targaryen, for general evening shenanigans

Saturday: Harley Quinn Swiftie mashup, for the Harley Quinn photo meetup and the Swifties photo meetup, and on into the evening parties

Sunday: Oswin Oswald from Doctor Who

Sunday evening: Clara Oswald from the Mummy On The Orient Express episode of Doctor Who, and I hope to attend the Doctor Who Ball that evening

If you see me at Dragon Con, please do say hi!

[sheliesshattered]

ah yiss

it's happening

[sheliesshattered]

Dragon Con 2023 Retrospective

We've been home from Dragon Con for two weeks as of today -- but we've spent most of that time recovering from a particularly nasty Con Crud™. I tested negative for covid, but Jack tested positive and we had the same symptoms, so eh I figure I finally actually caught it, after several rounds of head colds that tested negative.

I always get some level of Con Crud and/or spoonie post-event exhaustion, so I was prepared to feel pretty awful for a week or two at least. The fever and sinus headache was a bit novel this year, but as I'm getting over this infection I'm actually feeling okay-ish. Hopefully my energy will continue to return over the next few weeks (I've got a big day of walking planned for the end of October!) but otherwise I might actually be feeling better now than I have two weeks post Dragon Con (or post Wasteland Weekend) in previous years.

And unlike previous years, I got through the whole con and the trip home without feeling sick at all. A little dehydrated at times (the wait for airport security at ATL was the worst honestly), and my body taking the trouble to remind me how much stretching in the evening helps me, but nothing worse than that.

I've had Dragon Cons in past years when I was too wiped out to even leave the hotel room by Sunday evening, but this year I spent Sunday evening standing around and socializing at the Doctor Who Ball, and didn't hate myself for it later. A combination of being in better physical condition now in general, and pacing myself (and Jack needing to pace too), and staying on top of vitamins and electrolytes and water all really seemed to help.

We got home on the Monday of Labor Day weekend, and then Tuesday morning I was feeling well enough to go grocery shopping on my own and make corn chowder from scratch when I got back. I was tired, but not too bad, honestly. Buuut by that evening I had a sore throat, then by Wednesday morning both Jack and I woke up with a fever. The rest of the week continued more or less like that, with a lot of lying around on the couch and watching movies and tv shows, lol.

Despite feeling like death, we did spend some time talking about what went well at Dragon Con 2023, what we'd want to do again and what we'd want to do differently. I really enjoyed the House of the Dragon photo meetup on Saturday, and wearing my Rhaenyra cosplay in general. I even ended up wishing that I'd carved out time to go to the Game of Thrones/ASOIAF photo meetup in the same costume, just to have more time in that dress and hanging out with that fandom.

There's something that I really enjoy about working hard for months on end to make something screen-accurate from a fandom that is active but also fairly focused. I recognized every costume worn at the HotD meetup, knew which character wore it in which episode, etc. Everyone I talked with at that meetup knew exactly which dress I was wearing, which character I was, and noticed the details I spent so much time working on -- just as I did theirs. There's a wonderful camaraderie and bonding in appreciating each other's hard work to achieve screen accurate reproductions of well-known and visually compelling costumes.

Between that meetup and late night drinking shenanigans while wearing my Rhaenyra cosplay, I really felt like I achieved my peak Dragon Con experience this year while wearing that costume.

By contrast, while I did have fun wearing my Harley Quinn Taylor Swift mashup cosplay, I didn't have nearly as much fun as I did as Rhaenyra. I got some nice compliments from complete strangers who saw the shirt and got the mashup concept, and I had one funny in-character interaction with a Joker cosplayer, but by the evening I was ready to switch back to being Rhaenyra.

The Harley mashup was clever, but not people-stopping-to-take-pictures clever, and honestly there are just a lot of Harleys running around the con. And her canon is a lot more scattered than HotD/GoT canon, and costumes are much more commercially available, so there wasn't nearly the same level of bonding over hand-making the costumes.

The Swifties meetup was fun, and exchanging the beaded friendship bracelets I made was a good experience -- but honestly I had more fun handing out the few Rhaenyra ones I made than I did exchanging the Swiftie ones. I don't regret making the Harley Quinn Taylor Swift mashup, but it did really help clarify my priorities for future Dragon Cons.

So Harley Quinn was fun, but won't be repeated, I don't think. But because I'd worn Rhaenyra's red dress so late into the evening on Friday, I hadn't had a chance to wear my punk!Rhaenyra original concept yet, so on Saturday night when I wanted to switch back to Rhaenyra for awhile, I got to break that one out for late night parties and shenanigans (and also Dairy Queen).

Sunday was lower-key by comparison. Quite a few Doctor Who cosplayers looked right at my Oswin and didn't seem to recognize it, which seems to be par for the course for mainstream Whovians when it comes to Clara's era. That said, just when I was starting to get snarky about that (quietly, only to Jack), a Sixth Doctor cosplayer complimented my Oswin, which made the whole thing feel worth it.

And then when I switched to my MOTOE Clara cosplay for the evening hours, there were a few more people who clearly recognized the costume -- including one woman who gasped and yelled 'Clara!!' at me as we were passing each other in heavy Marriott crowds. I didn't get a chance to do more than gasp in surprise at her excitement, but the cycling of the Marriott crowd being what it is, we eventually passed each other again, and I ran off through the crowd to catch her that time. We chatted for a bit and I gave her the beaded bracelet reading 'Don't Stop Me Now' that I made for exactly that situation, lol. We ended up hanging out at the Doctor Who Ball, but her excitement over the MOTOE cosplay really made my night.

The Doctor Who Ball had a costume contest (that wasn't real well organized, but sounds like it will be a more official thing in future years, because it was such a popular event) that I entered on a lark. The announcement of the winners in particular wasn't well done, I missed it completely because I was talking with people, but I went and asked afterwards and found out that I'd done well and (according to the woman running the contest, who immediately asked to take a picture with me) apparently I only lost the Companion category to a Wilf cosplayer who was spot-on, and tugging on everyone's heartstrings. I don't know how close the vote really was, but her enthusiasm for my cosplay felt like such a gift.

I haven't felt like going to GallifreyOne in recent years, since I've felt so much on the outside of the Doctor Who fandom (between the hate focused on Clara's era and my own dislike of the most recent era), but the Doctor Who Ball was a great time to talk with like-minded Whovians, and to remember why I love this corner of the fandom in general.

I think MOTOE Clara will probably make an appearance at future Dragon Cons, and Oswin met the original purpose of being a comfortable easy-to-wear cosplay for during the day, so in all likelihood that one will come back too (after just a little bit of repair work on the belt).

The red silk Rhaenyra gown held up well, much better than I feared it would. I maaay need to handwash it, but I washed the fabric with shampoo before I sewed it, so theoretically it can be handwashed again, if it really needs it. I need to replace the shoes, but that's already in progress. At this point I'm planning to bring Rhaenyra's Red Dress back to Dragon Con 2024 (and maybe even to something else in between, like Wonder Con?). Quite possibly punk!Rhaenyra too.

I think season 2 of HotD will air before next Dragon Con, or at least start before the end of August. There's every possibility that there will be new costumes from s2 that I'll want to make -- but either way, I know now that I want to lean into cosplay from fandoms like HotD/GoT, and focus less on fandoms like Harley Quinn.

I've already started thinking about and planning cosplays for next year, but this is already way too long, so I'll post an update about that tomorrow...

[sheliesshattered]

I don't know the last time I posted about my cosplay progress but I figured it was time for an update. I've been buzzing along on my to-do list, and I'm getting close to being ready to do all the last minute try-ons and then packing.

My House of the Dragon Rhaenyra cosplay is completely finished, including the wig styling that I put off for months and months. I might make a little scroll prop if I end up having extra time, but at this point the costume is finished to the point that I imagined all those months ago, beading along the neckline and everything! Here's a progress shot from a couple weeks back:

With Rhaenyra done, I've gotten a lot done on the Harley Quinn Taylor Swift mashup costume I was hoping to get to. As it turns out there will be a Harley Quinn photo meetup on Saturday at Dragon Con, and immediately afterwards a Taylor Swift meetup in the exact same location (as planned by a very kind fellow Swiftie who heard about my mashup and decided to be incredibly sweet and scheduled the Swiftie meetup so it would be easiest for me ❤️).

I finished styling the Harley wig yesterday (after painstakingly separating all the red strands of hair from the black strands).

The sequin shorts are done except for hand-sewing a few sequins into the areas where they fell off because the threads unraveled. And I'm adding some hand-stitched areas to the tshirt, both to make it fit slightly less boxy and to mimic the style of Harley's shirt in the first Suicide Squad movie.

After this, my to-do list will be down to helping Jack with a few of his things, brushing out the wigs from cosplays I've worn in the past, and the final try-ons for everything. There are a few silly things, like the little scroll, that I would love to make if I have time, but with 10 days left we'll see how much I get to.

The other major thing that's changed since the last time I updated is that Jack and I have changed our plans for Thursday night! Instead of 80s-themed outfits for the 80s Prom, we've decided to tweak our Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Trillian and Arthur Dent to fit with the Bunny Hutch party theme. There are still a few things left to do on those, but really all just detail work.

I'm planning to take pictures of each costume when I do the final try-ons, and from that put together a line up showing my costumes for each day. That might be my next update, and shortly after that I'll have actual photos from Dragon Con to post! 10 days to go, woo!

[sheliesshattered]

about to unleash the sequin apocalypse on my house

[sheliesshattered]

oh yeah

it's happening

[sheliesshattered]

The sequin fabric for my I-am-determined-to-make-this-happen cosplay arrived the other day, and since I am still up to my eyeballs in handsewing for my Rhaenyra dress, all I did was open the plastic bag the fabric shipped in so I could check the red color against a few other pieces of the costume. Didn’t even take it out of the bag, just unfolded it a tiny bit so I could see the front of the fabric.

And yet somehow there are already sequins all over my house.

[sheliesshattered]

oh yeah

this

is

happening

[sheliesshattered]

I had three tiny things left to buy for my Rhaenyra cosplay -- jump rings in the appropriate antique gold/bronze color, lacing points that wouldn’t be ridiculously too big for the 2mm cord I’m using, and round flat filigree beads for the cuffs of the sleeves. And I managed to find one Etsy seller with workable options for all three! And they’re in the US! Woot! 

The very first thing I ordered for this project was way back on December 29th, even before I drafted the pattern or sewed the mock-up. It was the wide trim for the neckline, since I’d found the one I wanted but it was vintage and I didn’t want to run the risk of it selling out. Nearly six months later the very last little piece has been ordered, and the dress is really starting to look like the screen-used dress, even if I do have a lot of handsewing still ahead of me. But hey all the shopping is done. End of an era, I suppose.

On the other hand, in discussion with Jack this morning we decided that there’s no reason for me not to start ordering pieces for my Harley-Quinn-in-a-Taylor-Swift-tshirt cosplay, so I’ll be diving into all my bookmarks I gathered while sourcing and starting to order some of that soon. There is one piece for that cosplay that I want to sew if I have enough time once Rhaenyra is all done (sequin shorts like the ones she wears in Suicide Squad, but in classic black and red instead of the movie’s blue and red) but I have already sourced an easily purchased alternative if I just completely run out of time. 

My plan is to order everything except the sequin fabric and those backup shorts, just so I can start putting it together and figuring out if there are any other detail pieces I want to add to really make the crossover concept work. Then once I’m all done sewing RRD (and styling the wig and making a little bag to carry my essentials in), I’ll decide if I have time to try to tackle the sequin shorts, and if not I’ll just buy the pretty-good alternative instead.

11 weeks to go, and I’m really hoping to get both of these finished to my perfectionist standards. I should probably get back to handsewing.

[sheliesshattered]

cosplay ideas that are highly amusing to me but that I will probably not have time to make before Dragon Con this year:

Harley Quinn wearing Taylor Swift’s WE ARE NEVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER. LIKE EVER. tshirt from the Eras tour

[sheliesshattered]

♦️ Harley Quinn Sequin Apocalypse ♦️

[sheliesshattered]

Never Ever Getting Back Together Harley Quinn cosplay is a go

[sheliesshattered]

Grommets in progress!

Grommets in armscyes!

Grommets all completed!

Grommets all laced up!

Grommets!

Stabbing holes in a nearly-completed project you've been working on for seven months is always nerve wracking, and even more with this delicate silk brocade. And even more while trying to pattern-match at center back. But I did a test run of setting the grommets in scrap of fabric, I measured and marked the placement carefully, I took my time setting them, and I'm really happy with how they came out.

The lacing is the rayon cording I posted about dyeing the other day, and I'm still just so pleased with the color match I was able to achieve by mixing colors of Rit dye and only keeping it in the boiling pot for about 5 minutes. (My first attempt I actually dyed far too dark by thinking I needed to boil it for 20 minutes, but thankfully I have 144 yards to work with and won't need anywhere near that much.)

Since I decided not to try to hide a zipper in this and keep it as screen-accurate as possible, the back lacing will actually be the way I get in and out of the dress. So to make lacing it up a lot easier I handsewed a lacing point to each end of the cord -- actually just 3mm spiked beads that are meant for jewelry making, but are perfect for threading through the 5mm inner diameter of my grommets. They have just enough weight to move nicely too, so I'm going to use them in the front semi-decorative lacings too.

My goal for this weekend was to get through all the pounding of setting the grommets during non-work hours, and even taking my time and taking breaks as needed, I got through that no problem. Next weekend I want to be able to have everything ready so Jack can help me mark out where the hem needs to go, so all my next steps are going to be focused on preparing for the hem:

I think having the sleeves laced on and the dragon claw lacing at the front waist may change the way the dress falls, so I want to get those done next up. I need to fiddle with my (very well broken in) shoes so they're ready to wear for the fitting. I need to cut ~100" of silk organza to face the hem with, and there's one little fit adjustment at center front I would like to do if I have time, but probably won't affect the hem at all.

If I get all the way through that with time to spare before Saturday morning, I'll spend the rest of the time finishing all the raw edges of the organza underdress. It's in an okay state to wear for fitting the hem, but getting those raw edges handled will make it a lot more comfortable to wear. And hey, it needs to be done eventually anyhow.

The hem is the last big must-be-done for this cosplay to be wearable, and then I'll be able to shift gears into things like the wig, a little bag to carry my con essentials in, finishing the underdress, and the beading the neckline trim. And working on my Swiftie Harley Quinn! Getting that one into a wearable state will probably come before the beading for this cosplay.

I have 44 days left to work on all my cosplays before it's time to pack for Dragon Con, but now that I've actually been able to try this on with the back fully laced up, my to-do list feels a lot more achievable. I've got to keep up this pace, especially if I want to do detail work like beading, but I'm hopeful I can get it all done.