What Not to wear ECCC 2019; I Learned How To Make A Gif today

Since there was no Doctor Who/Anglicon this December, I have slept through a lot of cosplay thinking. But better cosplay comes from planning and materials testing, so best to get a move on.

I love this coat. I really do. I am very curious as to what is going on around the neck,   "Ishtar Statement coat" from Idaretobeme.com. I'd link it but the site looks dodgy as heck, thus this screen shot. 

It wants to be a Dalek coat. It does.

However, I want to be clear: I don't always want to dress up like the villain.

Alphonse Elric, 

of FullMetal Alchemist

Alphonse is a set of armor that has...oh never mind. He's got a backstory a mile long. I love him, and he's a sweet character in a fun show, everyone will recognize him, everyone loves him.......but this costume is a long day on the floor. I've seen several cosplays of the full armor set, but never ever on the floor. You would not be able to see out of it. You could pose in the lobby, moving slowly. For an hour.

There is no un-escorted trip to the bathroom in this costume.

It needs a team.

It's an Adam Savage kind of thing. He has a team to make sure he doesn't get stuck in a doorway or fall down and be unable to get back up.

One of many many Savage builds

https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_savage_my_love_letter_to_cosplay

The thing about cosplay is you are dressing up as something you 

1) love

2) can make

3) can wear

4) can visit with other people in cosplay they love

It would be nice to be have all four.

I know there's a way to make Alphonse into a wearable item.

There are some beautiful variations on this theme

http://www.darlingarmy.com/alchemists-brother-cosplay-pinafore/

Her stuff is gorgeous, this is just a sample.

I am considering a hoodie.

One example I would not revisit.

The Dalek Onesie

 I was cuddly. No one hugged me.
Also, bathroom inconvenient 

Which reminds me......

I am not an evil robot from outer space

but I do love the Daleks of Doctor Who.

And they have a new one!

WARNING: at this point, we wander into a black hole of BBC silliness.

There's no sewing past here. Thanks for visiting.

 All these photos are screen grabs from the BBC website.
From a two minute video.
These are only a few I snatched.

Human for scale. Puny human

There's so much welding for texture

Lookit all the welds! Ooooooooh

 Also, the eyestalk is like a flower.....you don't see that?
Huh.

Fine. Be that way.

Okay, that red glow is CGI. I'm not going to get that.

Big deets: the half balls are different sizes!

 Second exciting welding sequence this year (lots of sparks). Thus all the weldy bits.

I bet I can identify which Montana shade that can is.

Scrap metal. Gun. 

Its little arms are like a t rex!

And then that black ball in the center drops back and a missile comes out of it and blows up a tank! Having a ray gun is just not enough these days.

This just made me laugh so hard, I had to make a GIF of it.

This gif is not mine, but it does explain how other girls get to be Daleks

And then she builds a shell for it. 
The new season has a lot of welding.

Dalek infected person doesn't wear goggles while welding

The Doctor wears goggles when she welds. That's how you can tell she's good.

That is a proper ray gun.

And that's how I spent my evening.

I could not be happier.

And if you need a primer on the pals, this will catch you up. Kinda Snarky about Davros, but what can you say if you're not a pepperpot?

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=a-brief-history-of-the-daleks

https://youtu.be/hVwXa4MnJDs

Am I any closer to what I'm going to make?

No.

Mending Sweaters, Mostly

Winter is sweater mending time.
"Where did you store this? How many holes?"
Not all of the mended are shown in this post

(mostly because most of them were black, and you can't see a damn thing).

Which is good. 
Photos lightened to show embarassing results

The first one is always dodgy. My duplicate stitch is not my strong suit.

 Then I lighten up the task, and it's more fun

There are many wiser folks working this topic.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/22/how-to-mend-moth-holes

Sadly, the iron-on moth patches are in short supply.
I don't have photos of the striped 'black hole' sweater but it looks like.....black holes all over. Not my choice, but I enjoyed the process, and they loved the results.

https://visiblemending.com/
has much mending goodness. And a Russian version of the Speedweve.

There is kind of a cult around the SpeedWeve.

https://tomofholland.com/category/darning/page/1/

https://tomofholland.com/2011/06/23/the-speedweve-lancashires-smallest-loom-directions-for-use/

They are not inexpensive. 

Yoinks.

I almost bought one of these at Value Village, and left it there because I was unclear on what it was. And someone else bought it with screaming glee, I am sure.

That's cool. 

I left a Rocketeer Singer there too.

I cannot own everything.

photo lightened to show actual lace tatting bit sewn onto hole.

The holes are one thing. The snags are another.

I have yet to use the Snag Nab It. It's like a really tiny drill bit that catches the snag so you can pull it through to the wrong side (no hook). 

We're going to use the tiny knit hook tool.

"A Spendid Tool For The True Craftsman"

(spelling error retained) 

I wonder how many things I've bought that hooked me with a similar line.

Snag isolated.

Poke in from wrong side. Grab snag loop.

Pull loop to wrong side. 

I know, you can't really see it. I had a lot of these to fix, so this is a compilation of Snag Greatest Hits In Green.

I've got them in red and brown as well.

Pick up some back of the stitch loops with a sharpish needle that has a largish eye. Whichever one you have, it won't be perfect but it will be good enough.

Pull snag through needle eye with threader.

Work snag into back side of knit stitches with needle

Work it back and forth to make it not stick up.

Resist the urge to cut it. That won't end well.

Repeat on the gazillion other snags on his sweaters.

Last but not least, there's just putting a rivet into a bag to repair a broken strap.

Oh no, make me go into Tandy's and buy stuff!

I figured out that I could buy two sizes of rivets, in two finishes
and one set of rivet caps in a third finish.
Which gives me three options on the finished side.

We swapped the mend for a Tiny Mars in a jar

I am leaving off the unders mending for another post as part of the 

#remakenine2019 both here and on Instagram.

The Green Violet started it! Go check it out!

https://thegreenviolet.com/