Operation Orchid (or How Shada Intends To Become A Princess)

I have a lot of crazy ideas that never come to fruition - this is true.  I have more fabric in my stash to make random costumes of craziness that come to me on a whim.  I currently have enough fabric to make Leia's ceremonial gown probably twice, as well as a fabric for a costume for Morrigan from video game "Dragon Age".  I even have parts of these costumes that are completed!  Shoes for Leia, a skirt for Morrigan that's been drafted and cut and sewn together and looks awesome.

But they sit.  Leia has sat for years - I can't even begin to tell you how long.  It's embarrassing, really, when I think about it because it makes me sound like I'm unable to complete any projects.  I know this isn't true; I finished a Leia Endor gown in about a month or two before Star Wars Celebration the last time.  So I'm capable of working and completing an outfit.  I guess I just get sidetracked by real life.

Which leads me to where I am now - with grand ideas and pretty fabric but sidetracked by life.

We've been dealing with a lot going on, honestly.  It all hovers around the not-so-great things in life like hospitals and sickness and death and medical tests and recovery.  I shudder when I think about it.  So since this blog was created as a positive outlet for me, I'm going to try and set that aside right now and focus on the really cool ideas and things that have happened lately.

The best is Operation Orchid.

I didn't even know this project was going to have a cool behind-the-scenes spy-mission type name, but now it just makes it even better.  I have a good friend of mine to thank for that, and us both being Once Upon a Time fans just made it that much cooler (if you can say this is cool).  So some backstory before I get ahead of myself here...

Utilizing the Annual Passes of Awesome, the Nerd Husband and I have a trip to Walt Disney World planned for October.  We'll be attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) while we're there, and it's the one chance that adults have to actually go to the Magic Kingdom in a costume.  I love any excuse to pull out a costume, so this just made me horribly happy.  The Nerd Husband and I had some conversations about possible costumes, but I recognize that cosplay is not the NH's "thing".  He's good enough to go along with my crazy hobby and let's me suck him into it now and then, sure.  But he really lets me lead on these adventures.

I spouted off a few ideas, but nothing huge:

• Rey in her Resistance Outfit and Poe Dameron (or maybe just his jacket because that's cool-looking)
• River Song and the 11th Doctor (really, we already have these costumes, but I would have wanted to make a new River dress - the green one - the impossible one)
• Rey and BB-8! (he made a face at this one - an "are you crazy?" kind of face, so I dropped it)
• Random Jedi (both of us)
• Leia dress and Random Jedi
• Marian Ravenwood and Indiana Jones
• Regina the Evil Queen and Robin Hood

I probably had a flurry of other ideas, and I couldn't settle on a darned thing.  Once Star Wars Celebration was announced for April 2017 (I guess that's something else I have to talk about), that kind of pushed my Rey costume plans forward for that con.  I could completed River Song, I think, but that wasn't really Disney.  I wanted something else.

The Once Upon a Time idea was good, but I wanted to try and stick to the easier side of the Disney costume rules which "discourages" floor length gowns.  I could put Regina and Robin in normal clothing, sure, but what's the fun in that?  So that went out the window.  Heck, if I was trying to stick to that rule, it kind of knocked quite a few things of my list, even when I started going through the lists of the princesses.

Until I ran into Rapunzel.  Whose skirt does not reach the floor.  And I went OMGFANGIRLSQUEE.

For the most part, I am not a Disney princess fangirl.  Not that there's anything wrong with the Disney princesses, but I didn't connect with any of them, really.  However, Tangled quickly became a favorite of mine, and on some weird note, I connected with Rapunzel as a character.  Here was a girl who was naive and knew it, but she wanted to change it as best she could.  She was scared to do so, but she did it anyway.  She waffled back and forth about whether or not she was right or wrong, and she fought for the things she believed in.  She took the good with the bad and hurt and cried and suffered, and then finds where she belongs.  I guess I liked that.

So my brain went, "Hey, why not Rapunzel?"

I responded, "But I don't want to wear a ginormous blonde wig in Florida in October."

My brain said, "Hey, she gets her hair cut at the end of the movie.  It's cute and it's brown and it's short."

I thought about it, and I gave into my brain.  That was how the Rapunzel dress came to be the next project of choice.

With any costume, you spend more time in research and search-for-resources mode than you do in the actual construction - I swear to you.  I've looked at more blogs, random Deviant Art pages, screen cap sites, and message boards than I can found.  I searched the dark corners of the internet for fabric stores.  I downloaded pictures on my tablet, my phone, employed my mother-in-law accidentally to help me out, and this project just sort of blew up and took over.  Granted, I let it - because it's exciting to work on something pretty for a change.

However, my research turned up kind of a bust when it came to the fabric arena.  I ended up purchasing a quilting cotton that I liked color-wise for the bodice, but it's cotton - I'm not sure how that will look, honestly.  So it's not even really officially a start.  The colors on this costume are just insanely impossible to match because you don't know if they're pinks or purples.  They're neither and they're both, and it's as frustrating as herding banthas (I imagine).

After searching JoAnn Fabric's, two local thrift stores, and a hole-in-the-wall sewing shop I found, I was still empty-handed on fabric.  I'd done numerous online searches to see if other bloggers or cosplayers had mentioned where they'd purchased their fabric or what color or anything.  Nothing.  Sigh.  Until one day...I did a search on a whim.  I was tired and was giving up.  And there it was: Writer, Cosplayer, and Digital Artist - Julie Hall.

I have no idea who Julie is, but I want to make sure this lady gets credit because boy, did she ever help me!  Thank you, Julie - from the bottom of my geeky heart.  She pointed me in the direction of Hobby Lobby which had the exact color of poly satin I had been looking for - Radiant Orchid.  My nearest Hobby Lobby is a bit of a way from me, and with everything going on I knew I wouldn't have a chance to get there for weeks.  I could purchase it online, sure, but I really hate not being able to see the fabric sometimes.

So I employed my friend M.  We'll call him M because it's safe, and it makes him sound sort of mysterious - like he should be in a James Bond movie or something.  M lives on the side of town maybe 2 minutes from the Hobby Lobby, so I thought about it a bit and then I sent him a message.

Me: Question for you.  Do you have plans to visit your Hobby Lobby anytime soon?  *insert long search explanation here*
M (without hesitation): I can totally go tomorrow morning.  What color are you looking for?

My friends are awesome.  They just are.

The next day, I get a text message at 9:02 in the morning from M: "I'm on my way to the Lobby.  Operation Orchid is now in effect!!"  M later sent me pictures - with flash, without flash, described the fabric as best he could, and even searched in the clearance bins for matching thread (though there was none).  He even brought a coupon to cut down on the already pretty cheap price of $4.99 a yard.

I bought 4 yards - grand total of $12.88.  That's some good shoppin', in my opinion, and Operation Orchid was a success.  I haven't figured out if just that part of it should be called Operation Orchid or if this whole project should be - I think I'm going to make that the title of the whole costume, though.  I just absolutely love it, and it feel so Once Upon A Timey.

I won't get to dig into that fabric for a while, and I won't be able to go out and search for any coordinating fabric for a while, either.  Again, real life (and not the good kind) is creeping in on me, and I just have to face it for a while.  But hopefully this good stuff will be waiting on me when I get back.

I just realized I used the name Shada in the title.  Do you remember who Shada is?  It's Me!  I haven't explained where that nickname came from, but that's another post for another time.  Until then...you just get a little reminder of a little something I posted ages ago.  And now back to your regularly scheduled program...