I WANT TO BE A COSTUMER

(Costuming basics for the Beginner)

So you want to get into costuming.  Well, there are a few things you'll need to get started (besides money --- costuming can get quite expensive).  The basics are: a sewing machine, sewing kit (thread, pins, needles, tape measure, sharp fabric scissors and pinking shears, seamstress' chalk, tracing paper and a tracing wheel).  Depending upon what sort of fabrics you're planning to work with you should ensure you have a ''sturdy'' sewing machine.  All it really needs to do is stitch forwards, reverse, zig-zag, and perhaps button-hole.  If you have the money, a Serger is handy, but there are reasons to stick to the old-fashion machine.  More on that later.

So let's get down to the nitty gritty.

Design:  Decide what you want to be.  Keep it simple, especially if you're not particularly accomplished at sewing your own clothes.  Otherwise, find someone who knows how to sew.  I've been fortunate in making friends with three ladies who owned and operated a Dance Shop in Victoria.  Judy, in particular, has been great help in fashioning the costume for Haru, my persona among other things.  Before you settle on a design please keep in mind your shape.  Ladies, if you can ''pinch an inch'' and you want to wear Princess Leia's slave girl outfit, you should either start doing your sit-ups, push-ups and leg lifts to tighten and tone, or look for something else.  It can be frustrating, yes.  I've had to retire several costumes over the years because child-bearing and age have done a number on my figure.  So I accommodate what I have and play up my assets rather than revealing my flaws.  Be honest with yourself.  It's hard but you'll be a lot happier.  Trust me.  There was this NorWesCon in Seattle back in 1997---but that's another story.

Patterns  It's not necessary to build a costume pattern from scratch.  If you hunt through pattern books you'll undoubtedly find something which can easily be adapted to what you require.  I recommend you steer clear of Vogue however.  Their patterns tend to be half a size smaller than the average North American pattern (as I've found to my grief).  Keep in mind it''s always safer to start large because you can always ''subtract excess'', whereas attempting to add on if you've cut too small is next to impossible.  This is where a Serger sewing machine is a problem.  It literally strips away the excess material in the seam leaving you with nothing left over to ''let out'' at a later date.

Simplicity has turned out an entire line of ''Period'' costume and fantasy patterns.  Stock up at the next sale.  If you live in Canada, get a Fabricland card.  As a member you can take advantage of their discounts on discounts!

Fabric:  Take care that the fabric you purchase for your costume is applicable.  Sometimes the fabric won't lie right, will drape incorrectly or is too light, flimsy or heavy for the design.  Check with the clerks.  And no matter how pressed for time you feel you are, don''t rush into a purchase.  If you can't find the right fabric, put the project on hold (this is experience speaking).  It's better to wait and get it right, rather than find you have to repeat the exercise down the line and spend twice or three times as much as you would have if you had waited.

Now that you've made up your mind what you're going to do and have settled on the fabric there's something else you should know.  You need to decide what your costume is for.  Costumes are broken down into two official categories, with one subsidiary category.

Hall Costumes (Street costumes).  Hall costumes, or street costumes (worn to movie openings, Halloween parties, etc) are durable, washable and, above all else, comfortable.  They should fit well and stand up under close scrutiny since you will be mingling with the public at close quarters.

Competition Costumes.  Worn for competition only, these costumes can be as elaborate as you wish since your presentation must ''project beyond the footlights" to the audience (which can sometimes number over 2500 depending upon the convention).  It must be sufficiently durable to stand up to several run-throughs plus the actual presentation night.  I've seen some costumes come to grief immediately before going on stage simply because the competitor(s) and/or designer(s) failed to take into account the wear and tear it might encounter backstage.

Cross-over Costumes.  Initially worn for competition, Cross-over Costumes are fairly new and not often seen since they are also as durable and comfortable as Hall Costumes.  I generally aim for something of this nature.  It's not easy, because of the requirement to project while on stage, and then be able to mingle in the halls at some later date.  I'll admit that, although Elemental Masquerade is sufficiently durable to withstand being tested as a Hall Costume, it is NOT manoeuvrable in tight quarters nor particularly comfortable.

You've got all of this in mind, but there's something else.  Remember that your costume starts at the floor and goes to the top of your head.  You can create the most incredible outfit and have it fall flat because your forgot to include some sort of headdress or wig in your creation or footwear applicable to the character you''ve created.

Vacu-forming/Leather Tooling:  This is a subject in which I am a complete tyro.  If you want a Darth Vader costume, Stormtrooper (or Red Guard) outfit, or Klingon or Cardassian leathers, check out applicable websites.  The 501st, Rebel Legion and connections to the various STAR TREK fan clubs can be found under my web links.

Workmanship:  No matter how anxious you are to show off your costume, please don't wear it if the seams are fraying, the hem is unfinished, or you''re missing some integral item.  A lot of people these days believe in serging seams.  It's quick and simple with the right sewing machine.  However, for my part I keep in mind the adage:  if it''s there, you can use it. If it's not, you can't.  Therefore, if you serge a seam, you cut away approximately half of the excess.  This means, if you put on a little weight or some inches you can''t let the costume out.  That''s why I recommend ''frenching'' a seam instead.  ''Frenching'' refers to sewing your 5/8 inch seam.  Press it flat, then turn half of the seam under and sew it using a zig-zag stitch.  Now if you've made a mistake everything isn't a complete loss.  On cloaks you can even sew the ''frenched'' seam flat against the interior of the cloak (do this for the hood regardless).  This prevents fraying of any kind and makes for a neat and tidy finish, especially on unlined cloaks.

Sequins, Beads and Ornate Trim/Braid .  Should your project require a lot of sequins and beads (both Elemental Masquerade and the butterfly wings required vast quantities of both) I suggest you seek out a store, preferably on-line where you can order in bulk.  Ensure you know what size, shape and colour you require.  Start with locating a small sample in a local bead shop or craft store so you can send them to the company.  For braid or trim, I have two sites under my web links where you can view and order what you desire.  One final word.  Strands of sequins or beads are quick and easy to sew onto a costume.  Unfortunately, if the thread should snap (and it does), you will lose everything.  I prefer to sew mine by hand, using short lengths of thread.  Ensure your thread is tough (not thick) and double it since beads are sharp and will frequently chew through the thread over time.  Also, using seed beads to hold sequins in place is really neat --- literally.  The thread doesn''t show and the bead enhances the centre of the sequin.  This is entirely up to you, though.

Embroidery.  Ah, now here's a tricky subject.  With all those fancy sewing machines out there most people rely upon them to produce.  Again, I prefer to do it by hand.  If the thread breaks, it's simple to fix the design, unlike machine stitching which just keeps unravelling until the entire design is destroyed.  Oh, and those tricky Celtic knotwork designs?  Trace them onto thin onion skin paper, pin the paper to your costume, stitch around the design with a line of cotton thread the colour of the embroidery floss you're planning to use, then carefully tear away the paper.

Boots/Footwear.  It's not always necessary to spend terrific sums of money on creating boots to match what you see on the screen.  In some instances your eyes are being tricked.  Qui-Gon and Obi-wan's boots were actually shoes with spats overtop (which weren''t attached to the shoes)---yes, yes.  I have my nay-sayers out there but I have the pictures.  While Han Solo's boots were second-hand German jackboots, Luke's black JEDI boots were riding boots.  Both were relatively expensive, Luke's moreso.  You can achieve the same effect for Luke''s boots by purchasing rubber stable boots.  To create elaborate shoes for gowns, consider fabric spats.  These can be glued and/or sewn onto existing shoes (bought at a second and store).  This also applies to other footwear.  In Denver in 1981 I met Master Costumer (now friend) Carol Salemi for the first time.  She had paid out a large sum of money to have a boot maker generate the EMPIRE Rebel issue boots for herself (as Leia) and Paul, her boyfriend of that time (as Luke).  When we met, my companion and I were also wearing Rebel issue boots, but I had made ours using cotton gabardine for spats (the uppers and shoe covers) and deck shoes (tongues and laces removed) for the base.  A cobbler had sewn the spats to the shoes.  Carol was astonished.   She was a Master Costumer even then, while I was a neo-costumer.  It just goes to show that even someone new to costuming can come up with innovative ideas for recreating costumes.

Intricate HeadDresses.  If you take a look at Investiture of the Naboo Ambassador and Elemental Masquerade, you'll observe the headdresses I'm wearing.  They are designed to carry the weight of large numbers of sequins, beads and lace.  For lighter weight pieces you can use heavy-duty cardboard, while paper-mache over chicken wire works for heavier pieces.  Cardboard is maleable but is prone to collapsing under the weight of what you add to the fabric you stitch around it, or simply through age.  Paper-mache over chicken wire is uncomfortable and, once again, will deteriorate over time.  I'm fortunate in that I can utilise the technicians in my Squadron's metal shop.  Using a medium-weight aluminum, we cut the necessary shape, round off the edges so it don''t cut into me, and shape it to fit my head.  Something else to keep in mind.  You may have to add something to counterbalance the headpiece, otherwise it may tip forwards, backwards or slide sideways off your head.  I used bead strands on ''Investiture'', while a full wig kept ''Masquerade''s'' headdress in place.

Weapons.  You can purchase practically any type of accoutrement to augment your costume.  Check out the internet for Medieval weapons, blasters, phasers, etc.  However, if you''re planning to take some ''nifty'' gadget to a convention, check out their policy first.  Every Science Fiction Convention I've attended has adhered to the "Peacebonding" policy instigated back around 1980.  Sorry.  You will not be allowed to walk the halls with a sword, knife, axe, mace, blaster or phaser pistol on your hip or in hand.  Nor will you be allowed to walk around with a blade in your lightsabre.  All of these are considered dangerous items.  Some convention committees will even insist Jedi peacebond (zip-tie) their lightsabre hilts to their belts.  Before you laugh, I'll tell you a little story I heard in Chicago in 1982 which, according to the person who narrated it, happened at Denver's WorldCon the previous year.  Denver was my first WorldCon, by the way and I was NOT involved in the incident below.

Several fans (between ten and twenty) dressed as rebels and Imperials decided to stage a mock, running battle at night.  They took their altercation outside into the hotel grounds.  A passing mundane (non-fan) caught sight of someone creeping through the bushes with a ''gun'' and called the police.  S.W.A.T was summoned.  Once on scene they began tracking down the ''gunman''.  Unaware the police had been called a fan leapt out from behind a bush and levelled his ''weapon'' at an officer.  Fortunately for the fan the policeman recognised the costume the kid was wearing, realised the weapon was a blaster and the situation was resolved without anyone getting hurt.  You can see, however, how it might have turned out if things had gone very wrong.

Special Effects/Pyrotechnics.  These are seldom if ever permitted anymore.  The insurance premiums are simply too high for any SF convention to cover should there be a mishap.  On rare occasions you can get permission to use something on stage but you should always check first with the Convention Committee before you spend the money on that "neat item that'll really blow their minds".  It may not be allowed.

So there you have it.  Most of the opinions voiced herein are my own.  However, some of it, such as Rostler's Rules for Costumers (coined by Bjo Trimble who helped create the International Costumers' Guild) are well known throughout fandom.  Have fun.