Convention – Page 9 – AJ Mullican, Author

Doors Wide Open

It’s amazing what a little bit of ingenuity will get you.

Thanks to my job at Talk Nerdy With Us, I’ve had a lot of doors opened…various things that come along with working for a media website, along with things that I never expected.

One of the most recent opportunities that this job has brought to me is quite unexpected to say the least, but I am ecstatic for the chance to do something new. Can’t reveal what it is yet because it’s not a certain thing, but it’s exciting…and all thanks to my original idea for a weekly post.

That’s all the teaser I can give for now. More to come (possibly?) later!

Cosplay for all

Convention, Cosplay, Diversity, Fandom, Geek, Social Media

I’ve noticed a slight bad pattern to my cosplay interviews for Talk Nerdy With Us. They’ve almost all been women!

Men are cosplayers just as much as women are. My solution? To the Interwebs! (Or rather, to a Facebook page for male cosplayers.) So far I have three new interviews lined up that feature male cosplayers. I’m hoping that this leads to more diverse interviews and features.

I’ve had women of color and plus-size women (neither of which seem to be prominently featured in the media, though they absolutely should be), but not many men at all. I hope to remedy this in the future, as well as seek out cosplayers of all types. I don’t want only hot women for my interviews. Yeah, they may get more views for the site, but that’s not what these segments are about. They’re about featuring cosplayers who love what they do and helping new cosplayers learn a little something about what you might need to make your own cosplays.

It’s not about equal opportunity or token races/genders. It’s about showing the diversity that’s in the cosplay world. Diversity: it’s not just for the Oscars.

Sew here I go again

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Sewing

It’s that time again! Back to the cosplay sewing.

This morning I cut out the pieces for the tunic that my husband will wear. I’m hoping to be done with that this weekend so I can get started on drafting the pattern (aka making shit up) for the cloak. I have a pattern for the hood, but for the rest I’ll have to sketch most of it and come up with a way to put it together.

I may or may not have to line it, which will make it quite hot to wear, but I don’t know if I can pull off the bottom part with the contrast blocking without lining it. Maybe something lightweight? We’ll see.

I’m feeling much more confident in my sewing skills the further I go with this project. I don’t feel as skittish about following the patterns and I’m almost certain I can pull off the cloak.

This is going to be an amazing convention year for me and my husband. If I can finish these cosplays, I may try to convince him to have professional photos taken at one of the cons we go to.

Obi-wan Sith Lord

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Okay, sounds weird, I know, but hear me out: A Sith Time Lord.

As I’ve mentioned before, my husband has decided to be a Sith Time Lord to compliment my mashup cosplay of a Jedi TARDIS. This morning, I finished an obi for his costume, made out of a red fabric with a TARDIS/Dalek pattern on it. I’m really proud of how well I’m doing with the sewing stuff (considering I’ve only owned a sewing machine for 4 months and have next to no experience working with patterns before this).

There’s my hubby modeling the pants and obi for me, along with some images of the finished obi with the almost-finished pants laid out underneath it.

My sewing skills keep growing, and I’m excited to see if I’ll be able to recreate the cloak as my husband wants it. The hood will have the red fabric as the lining and the cloak itself will have the red Doctor Who pattern along the bottom as shown here:

Custom Sith Style Outfit Front and Back

It’s going to be exciting to walk around Phoenix Comicon and Dragon Con as a husband-and-wife cosplay couple. I hope in years to come we can devise even more unique cosplays to do together!