Illness, Schedules, and Good Enough Lists

Man, have I been down.

Last Wednesday I was running around, checking things off my list, got home, got ready to make dinner, went to go talk to the Nerd Husband, and then stood there in the living room and said, "I feel shivery.  Are you cold?"

Thus it began - the saga of the flu.

I foolishly thought perhaps I could slug through the beginnings of my feverish state by working on the costume and fighting it with some cold meds.  I finished off the Jyn Erso gloves which was a huge accomplishment, but after I dragged myself upstairs (almost literally), I realized just how little energy I had.  And my joints had started to ache.  I took my temperature (99 at that point), took another dose of medicine and went to bed.  I woke up in the middle of the night yelling at NH because I thought he was cutting me with his toes (yay, fever-brain).  I took my temp again at that point, and it hit 101.  The Tylenol in the cold meds wasn't cutting it, so I downed some ibuprofen and water, covered up my feverish self, and tried to sleep.

I stayed home from work on Thursday.  I kept the fever.  I also kept the fever for part of Friday, so I stayed home again.  There was no costuming.  There was no moving.  There was only the couch, my pillow, my blanket, my cat, my many fluids, what food I could eat, and Netflix.  Lots of Netflix.  Saturday and Sunday were more of the same, sadly enough, though this time quite feverless which was a welcomed relief.  Sunday night, I finally allowed myself just a little bit of work time on the costume as a way to relax.  It felt so good to feel kind of human again.

Monday was a rough work day for me - all the way around.  It felt like if it could go wrong, it did, and not just with work stuff.  It just felt like it was a day of bombardment, and I was so tired by the end of it.  But I started to perk up a bit more in the evening, and I allowed myself a bit more work time on the costume.  Getting things put together on that vest just made me feel happy.  I still didn't sleep well thanks to the cough I have, but such is the way of things.

This week will be a trial to get through, but I think it's possible to get through it.  There's a lot to do - personally, work-wise, and vacation-prep-wise, but I'm moving along as best I can.  There are some things that are just going to have to be written off, and that's okay.  But my brain still has a hard time writing them off.  It tends to think, "No, you can do this!"  I think the best way to combat that is to make myself a list.  Yay, lists!

The Jyn Erso "Good Enough" Versus "Ideal" Costume List

• Boots
• Good enough: as is
• Ideal: add boot covers and buckles, add weathering
• Pants
• Good enough: Kohl's slim-cut black pants, minor work required
• Need to replace one hook/eye
• Ideal: slim down thrift store pants, add pin tucks, twill tape, buckles, etc., and add weathering
• Belt
• Good enough: reuse Lara Croft belt
• Ideal: create an accurate Jyn belt, and add weathering
• Gun
• Good enough: empty holster
• Ideal: 3D print or foam replica, and add weathering
• Shirt
• Good enough: blue-gray 3/4 sleeve shirt from Kohl's
• Ideal: create accurate shirt from scratch, and add weathering
• Scarf
• Good enough: as is
• Ideal: add weathering
• Green jacket
• Good enough: as is (minus the Rogue One patch I sewed onto the sleeve for fun)
• Ideal: paint yellow stripes down the sides of the sleeves, and add weathering
• Brown vest
• Good enough: some work required
• Sew on remaining felt pieces (2) - Tuesday night
• Sew on storm flap to left side (1) - Tuesday night
• Sew on hook to right side (1) - Tuesday night
• Attach elastic waist - Tuesday or Wednesday night
• Sew/attach buckles to tubing (4) - buckles at top and bottom - Friday night
• Sew/attach tubing to both sides (2) - Friday night
• Ideal:
• Version 1: add weathering
• Version 2: make from scratch 
• Necklace
• Good enough: as is
• Ideal: honestly, even though mine isn't accurate, I like mine
• Pocket tool
• Good enough: flashlight from Meijer
• Ideal: 2 cylinders needed
• Vest ID Badge
• Good enough: no badge
• Ideal: create badge from craft foam and attach to vest

There's one other thing that I have to remember to make, and that's a new pair of bracers for Asajj Ventress.  Honestly, they won't take me long - maybe a half hour?  For some odd reason, I threw my old ones away - I have no idea why.  But I should be able to pull something together very easily with little worry.   I'd like to do those on Friday night, too.

Originally, Wednesday night was supposed to be my Mom's birthday celebration, but Mom and Dad are both down with the crud, as well.  Mom suggested we all get together when we're well, and that makes sense to me.  So now Wednesday might be packing night.  On Thursday, NH and I are going to swing by my sister and brother-in-law's place and drop off my nephew's birthday present.

Somewhere in the middle of everything, I'll rest.  I need that, too, because I'm still not great.  This cough makes my chest wheeze like Vader's breathing apparatus.

And you know, of course our flight leaves on Sunday.  I'm not cutting it close.  Nah.  It's all good.  Well, at least it's all good enough.

If You Bleed on It, It Must Be Worth Working On

After this weekend, my fingertips hurt.  The index finger of my left hand has a bandaid on it now (which makes typing uber-weird) that covers up a neat little chunk I took out of my finger with a straight pin.  My middle finger on the left hand has a little red dot from where I poked myself with a needle.  The thumb and index finger of my right hand have similar little red dots, and I also have a neat little "stitch ripped" line where I tried to rip the stitches from my own flesh (oops).  The basement trash can is full of little blood-stained tissues.  My work space kind of looks like Seymour Krelborn's work space at Mushnik's Flower Shop (you know, before he started feeding Audrey II people).

This blog entry is taking an interesting turn...  Let's move on.

Since I started sewing, I've had a saying.  I don't even know where the saying started in my project-line, but over the years, I keep it in the forefront of my mind every time I work on something: if you bleed on it, it must be worth working on.  For me, this basically means that if you went through this much - this much pain and this much hurt - to get here and you're still going, then it must be worth fighting for.  Very rarely does bleeding actually help a project.  Usually you have a brief moment of panic and insert an outcry/curse (I learned how to curse when I learned how to sew - that's another blog entry for another time).  Then you assess the wound, check for bleeding and then, finally, stop the bleeding before it gets on important things like fabric.  (Unless, of course, you're working on a weathered Lara Croft costume.  In that case, wipe that wound on whatever item is closest to you and call it "accurate".)

This weekend, I spent most of my time working on the Jyn Erso vest.  This is the brown vest that I originally purchased off of eBay that I was planing on wearing "as is" and just saying "forget accuracy".  This is the vest we'll be speaking off:


So Thursday night, I happened to be starting at the vest and I thought, "Wait.  No.  I can make this cooler.  Way cooler."  (This is how all good and bad ideas start, it seems, so it's difficult to differentiate between the two upfront.)

So I sat down with my stitch ripper, turned on my Rogue One soundtrack, and went to town ripping out those stitches.  It didn't stop there.  It got way uglier and more involved than a few ripped stitches.

Below is a rundown of how this vest saga has turned out so far:

Thursday

• I ripped out stitches that held in a front zipper.  I pulled the zipper and additional zipper panels off.
• I ripped the stitches out of the collar because I knew I'd eventually have to shorten in both height and length.
• I cut off a chunk of the vest in order to shorten it, with the intent of adding an elastic waistline later.
• Since the vest was a little snug, I went ahead and ripped out the side seam stitches with the intent of stitching those back up with a smaller seam allowance.
• Since I was already staring at the inside of the vest anyway, I decided it was a little too "puffy" for Jyn.  I snipped holes into the interfacing that held the fluff batting, and I pulled out about half of it in each and every section of the vest.  I hand-stitched these holes back up because it made them lay a little flatter and neater.

  

  Vest guts in the basement

• Then, since everything was already torn apart and it made it easier for me to do any sort of decorative stitching, I decided to go ahead and start making the decorative lines that are on the front of Jyn's vest.
• I went to bed quite happy with where this was all going.
• We ended with something like this at midnight:
  

Friday

• Trip to JoAnn's to pick up some fabric for pockets, details, additional stuff, lining, etc.  
• I added the decorative stitching to the other side of the vest.
• I shortened the collar in all ways it needed to be shortened and stitched it down. 

Saturday

• Trip to JoAnn's (again) to pick up coordinating thread that I forgot to pick up on Friday.  Also picked up some stiff felt pieces to use as "webbing" because I can't find any dark brown webbing.  And this is "good enough".
• Decided the back of the vest would look "super awesome" if I actually quilted it like Jyn's in the movie.  So I ripped more stitches, pulled out more stuffing, did some research on tie quilting, and then measured and marked and quilted.  By hand.  Ouch.

  

  Learning new things - like floss tied quilting

• Then, because the torture wasn't quite exquisite enough, I decided that I could totally change the lining of the jacket from tan to the screen-accurate red.  So I got down on the floor, put a piece of tissue paper over my vest, drew out a rough pattern with seam allowances, and then cut out my two side lining pieces.  
• I hand-stitched one of the side lining pieces, and I pinned the other one in place.
• I cut up some of the stiff felt to use as the two webbing pieces on the vest front and tested placement.
• I decided to hand-stitch the yellow stitch lines that go from the shoulder to the waist band of the vest.  I completed one of four which allowed me to place the faux-webbing.
• I stitched down the faux-webbing.

Sunday

• Turned on my sewing machine to realize I'd blown the light bulb.  Cue the third trip to JoAnn's in just as many days.  Light bulb found.  Got caught in store by thunderstorm.  Looked around.  Remembered I needed elastic.  So remembered to get that.
• Decided I could do a back lining piece, too (I'm so glad I'm making this "easy" on myself).  Did the same pattern mock-up with the tissue paper, cut my fabric piece, pinned it in.
• I finished hand-stitching in all three lining pieces while watching movies with the Nerd Husband.   
• I finished hand-stitching in the last three yellow stitch lines from shoulder to waist band.
• To cut down on the bulk of the garment (because it was currently outer layer, batting, interfacing, original lining, red lining), I decided to cut out as many portions of the original tan lining as I could get to.  Some areas were hard to reach and other areas were kept to help stabilize the whole thing.
• I tried to play with a pocket pattern and drafted out two patterns that didn't work out for me.  I'm trying to figure out how to add the gusset and make it look decent.  It was late when I started, though, so I gave up and went to bed.  

After all of that, we're looking at a project that currently looks like this:

Now I'm actually sitting in the basement trying to figure out what my "next steps" are.  I received a PM from a poster on the RPF boards today in response to my inquiry about the pockets, and they were very kind to provide me with their pattern and instructions.  However, I don't have those print-outs sitting in front of me right now, and my brain is really kind of tired.  I'm not sure that's something I want to try and mess with this late at night.  Really, I wanted to try to type all of this out so I had it out there - so I could see some of my own progress and just how far along this thing has come.   Yeah, I've bled on it.  Yeah, I've taken some chunks out of my fingers, flung a few curses, and drank my weight in Diet Mt. Dew into the wee hours of the morning.  But it's been worth it.   It'll all be worth it.

A Mixture of Things and Stuff

Just a little lunchtime update - because I need to share the awesome.

The baby shower (which was the second column on my massive to do list that I've been keeping for weeks now) was yesterday, and it went off without a hitch!  It was so awesome to have everyone come together for the planning, set-up, and clean-up of the whole event.  Our whole bunch worked together so well, and it made things so super easy.  I think everyone had a great time.

So now, that column on the to do list will get hidden, and we focus on only two columns - "Personal" and "Celebration" (as in Star Wars Celebration).  It's so satisfying to see the time dwindling down toward vacation, and yet I'm also slightly panicky on occasion.  However - just like the baby shower - I think this will all come together and be a pretty awesome event.

Costume-wise, I didn't do anything over the weekend because I was working on baby shower planning and whatnot.  But I did have some fun little costuming things that popped up last week at various times.  I did do some work Thursday and Friday nights, so we can talk a little bit about that, at least.

Thursday night I decided to take some time to work on yet another Asajj Ventress make-up test.  This one went really well, and I'm thrilled with the new make-up style that I'm testing out.  I managed to find some great matte eyeshadows for shading and defining, too.  I'll have to write-up a more detailed post on this later when I have time, but I think it'll work out really well.

Friday was St. Patrick's Day, so I wanted to follow tradition and wear some green but with a nerdy twist.  I pulled out my Her Universe Death Star Plans dress (because it has green in it), my almost-complete Jyn jacket, a Rogue One patch that I quickly stitched onto the jacket sleeve, and some shamrock socks.  I put it all together for a pretty nifty outfit, if I do say so myself.   Not one person noticed.  I so felt like a Rebel spy.  It was awesome.  Also, a little part of me was sad that no one noticed, but the other part of me felt cool for being such an expert undercover operative.  So points for me on the Imaginary Scoreboard of Life.

I also finished up the Kyber Crystal necklace on Friday night by adding the findings onto the leather cord and adding a dab of glue to keep it all secure.  I'm kind of proud of this little project for a few reasons.  First of all, it allowed me to use some items I already had sitting around the house (leather cording, wire, jewelry findings and jump rings).  The only things I purchased for this particular part of the costume was some E6000 glue (which I have never used before in my life and really need more practice with) and a little quartz crystal from a fun little local shop called Accent on Nature.  Secondly, I got to visit this awesome little store I otherwise might not have run into, and I actually ended up spending way more time looking around than I intended.  I found the employee working that evening was so engaging and willing to help out.  He wanted to see the image from the movie, and then he walked around to help me find ways to replicate the project.  It was extremely helpful for a person like me who has little to no experience in jewelry-making.  They also had shop kitties that roamed around and helped you out with your shopping experience.  It was pretty excellent.

Friday was also a test of some fabric paint for the Jyn jacket.  I tried a mixture of yellow acrylic and white Tulip "puffy paint" again to get that screen printed puff quality, but I'm either not mixing it at the correct ratio or the puffy paint properties just get lost when you mix in the acrylic.  I can't really mix too much more white in, though, because then my yellow starts to turn to a pastel, and Jyn is not an Easter egg.  I've been playing with mixing up some colors along with the yellow acrylic I have, too - just to see if another shade needs to be used.  But I can't find anything I like.  The black made it green.  The tan did almost the same thing as the white and turned it pastel yellow again.  And honestly, I kind of like how the yellow looks on its own.  So I might just go with that.  We'll see.

Finally - today - I decided to throw a bit more costume stuff together.  I grabbed the Kyber crystal necklace and the almost-complete Jyn jacket on my way out the door for work.  The Kyber crystal held up fantastically.  No issues.  However, the second run of the Jyn jacket actually caused some popped stitches in the back area.  I had created a little shoulder vent by using a blind hem stitch because I thought it looked better than an actual seam would down the back shoulders of the jacket.  However, two of the stitches popped when I tried to throw it over my shoulder this morning and pull it into place.  It tugged at the fibers of the fabric weave, too, and it kind of messed them up.  Not a big deal, really, but definitely one I'm going to have to revisit (do I care to add a seam or simply leave "as is").

Despite all of this, I think my next stop on this little project is working on the gloves.  I need to shorten those, add the wrist strap, and then those should be done and ready to go.  Once those are done, I'll figure out the next step and then the next, until - finally - we'll have something that's "close enough" and hopefully still looks pretty darned fun.

Jyn Costume Update - Shirt & Pants

I take back all of the mean, nasty things I uttered about Kohl's when I left there on Monday night.  On Tuesday, they were redeemed.  I ended up finding the "good enough" Jyn shirt online with free shipping to store.  Plus, they were having a two day sale, which knocked it down about half-price.  I ordered it and went to pick it up Tuesday night before I got home.

The moment I walked into Kohl's, it started pouring down rain, so I figured I might as well waste some time and let it die down.  I started looking through clearance racks for the fun of it, and I ran across a pair of black pants which would be excellent for Jyn.  They aren't perfect by any means, but they had the right shape.  I could use them as a template (if I have time), or I can use them as a costume piece.  I went to try them on, and I loved them.  One of the little hook/eyes was broken, though, but I held onto them anyway.

I went to pick up my shirt, double-checked the size and color, and then went up to the front of the store to check out with my new-found pants.  I was mulling the situation over about the broken hook/eye.  Technically, the item is damaged, so I kind of thought I had a good chance on asking for an additional discount.  After all, it worked at JoAnn Fabrics with the vest fabric I bought.  But they were also on super-clearance, so I really wasn't sure.

I got up to the counter, showed the cashier the issue, and asked, "This might be a dumb question, but could you give me a little extra discount on these?"

She responded with, "Not a dumb question at all.  I can do 15%."

Sold.  And more proof that it never hurts to ask politely.

So I walked out the door with a Jyn shirt and Jyn pants.  My Jyn might be looking a little pristine with all of this new clothing - lol.  Not exactly what I was aiming for, but it'll work in a pinch.  And we are definitely in a pinch.  I'm keeping track of my To Do list in a spreadsheet, day-by-day, trying to make all of this work.  It's satisfying to see the things get crossed off, so I've gotta stick with that mentality.  If things get bumped to different days, I can't let that deter me.  I'll get there as best I can.

Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I'm a Big Ol' Mope.

Mope.  That was the word of the day yesterday.  Mope mope mope.  Which is kind of a funny word when you think of it.

Last night was another discouraging night in the land of costumes.  It was a bad brain day, and those days tend to be plaguing me more often than not lately.  I let my pessimistic person out to play a bit, and a few people got the brunt of it at work.  I'm thankful for their patience, but it can't be easy when someone responds to your "things will get better" with "no, they won't - they never do."  Yep.  Cringe-worthy pessimistic response of despair right there.  Really, I should have just said "thank you" and taken their words to be encouraging.  Instead, I sank further into my personal mope until the mopery clouded every other single thing I did that night.

I went shopping for some supplies for a baby shower that we're throwing for a friend, and I then questioned everything I purchased when I got home.  I also went shopping for a couple of costume items - a "good enough" shirt and pants for Jyn Erso and a necklace for a Once Upon a Time Disney Bounding project that another friend of mine and I are working on for April (that's another post).  I found a necklace, but it wasn't what I had originally intended to purchase; it just looked cool.  I didn't find pants.  I found a shirt that was perfect - but it wasn't in my size and it wasn't on sale.  I did manage to find a couple of cool t-shirts for my Nerd Husband and my bro-in-law, but I still kind of left feeling let down.  I then hit a thrift store nearby (which I shouldn't have; I never have luck at this particular one), and then decided - since I'm out - I might as well try Marshall's because they're right across the street.

Nothing.  Nothing nothing nothing.  Grr.

I got home and saw that all of my fun eBay purchases had arrived today (3 of them) - a baby shower item, a Jyn vest, and the Disney Bound shirt.  The baby shower item was a vintage book in great condition.  Check.  The Jyn vest was...awful.  The wrong color (tan - my fault, should have read better - but the pictures made it look less tan that it is which is...pretty darned tan).  It fit funky.  It was just ugh.  Which - unfortunately - that disappointment carried over into the Disney Bound shirt (which I really think will be pretty cool despite it not being 100% my style).

So I sat on the couch, clicked through eBay, and moped.  I texted a friend with a mope that consisted of something along the lines of "I give up - meh".  I moped on Facebook about the Kohl's shirt.  I even flat-out admitted to the Nerd Husband I was moping.

NH:  Are you tired?
Me:  No.  But if you're tired, you should go lie down.
NH:  I don't want to leave you down here by yourself.
Me:  I'm okay.
NH:  What are you going to do?
Me:  Mope.

Yep.  It kind of went like that.

In the middle of all of my moping, I had some people who reached out.  I kind of shut out the light they were shedding on the situation last night, but this morning I want to thank them.  All of them.  My sister-in-law for offering to look for the shirt at another Kohl's.  My friend on Facebook who gave me the info about getting free shipping if you order a different size of the same item from a Kohl's kiosk.  My friend who listened and responded to my moping texts with encouragement.  My NH for putting up with my sorry butt.

You all must have done your job well, because - in the middle of my moping - I made a snap-decision to purchase a new brown vest on eBay.  It's on it's way.  I figure if it doesn't work, then at least it's in nice enough condition that I can wear it in "real" life.  I went to bed and laid there for what felt like forever, trying to sleep, until finally I drifted off into weird dreams.

This morning, I woke up with a renewed s sense of Lara Croft-ness - that is to say, "Eff you, world.  I got this.  You tell me I can't do something?  Watch me."  So today was spent with me trying to sort through some crafting items this morning, organize in my brain what I'd like to try to work on, and figure out where I can get some pieces to make this new brown vest look at least a little like Jyn.  I reached out to another friend of mine who I knew recently put in a drip-line irrigation system for his outdoor garden.  He has spare black tubing, and I asked if I could steal a length of it.  Done - and free for me (thank you, friend!).  I've got plans to go through my "bits and bobbles" box and see what I can pull out to make some greeblies.  And a new text from the friend I moped to last night gave me encouragement to make sure this project doesn't feel like "work" to me - let it be my thing that isn't work in the midst of all of this other crap.  Enjoy it.  (Thank you, friend - I'm going to try.)

So to all of you - my Obi-Wan Kenobis in my time of need - I sincerely thank you for the hope you gave to this mope.  May the Force be with you always, my friends.

P.S. - And I ordered the shirt from Kohl's today.  In my size.  And it was on sale with free shipping to the store.  Boom, baby.  I win this round.

Costumes are Built on Hope

More times than not, that title sitting up there sums up how I feel about my little hobby.  Sometimes I just sit back and hope that I'm doing the right thing, buying the right fabric, creating the right pattern, and putting things together the right way.  It usually all turns out.  Of course, there are other times when your lightsabers fall apart before you even make it into the convention center.  But you know, you can still hope that it's all good.  Sometimes you run out of time and you just can't make things as awesome as you envisioned them.  Or sometimes you run out of knowledge about how to make something, and you just say, "Good enough with what I can do right now."  You do those things, and you hope that it will be okay.

So it's with that same hope that I'm embarking on a journey to create Jyn Erso's costume from Rogue One: A Story Wars Story.  I've been lurking in the RPF thread about Jyn's costume, but I haven't really said much.  Mostly I'm just information gathering and silently sending jealous waves of awe across the internet to people whose work I admire.  I know that my time is now limited because every time I wanted to start costuming, something else in real life would happen.  So now I'm sitting here with a little over a month to put something together and a lot of weekends which are filling up with family and friend stuff.  I'm kind of to the point mentally where if I focus on just one thing beyond what it is I'm doing, it compounds into a hundred things, and I freak out.  

So - since my hobby should be fun and not cause me too much stress - we're going with a goal of "good enough" accuracy.  That being said, there are things I want to try to incorporate, and if I can, I will.  I also decided that - with my time constraints - my best bet would be to create costume pieces from existing items found in the great Thrift Store of Awesome and the eBay Galaxy of Gloriousness.  I'll run through what I have, where I am with it, and what my plan is.  If you can call it a "plan".

Green Jacket
Located at the Thrift Store of Awesome.  The first thing I bought and the first thing I started working one.  Plus, it's probably one of my favorite parts of this entire costume.  Jyn's green Rebellion jacket that she wears as part of her outfit on Jedha just really felt like "me".  You don't even get to see this jacket at the end of the movie, but I absolutely love it.  Not sure why because there's really nothing special about an army green jacket with blood stripes down the sleeves, but I'm weird like that.

I picked up a green military-esque jacket that was a little big for me, and I set to work ripping off the pockets, pinning up the back shoulders to bring it in a bit, and pinning the collar to get a stand-up effect.  Finding thread to match this fabric was more difficult than it should have been, but I have thread now and things that need stitching back up.  Once the stitching is complete on these items, I plan to figure out where to hem the length (if at all), add the decorative top-stitching to the collar and lower band, and maybe add a zipper - for kicks.  Because I'm cruel to myself like that.

Lastly, I really want to put those stripes up the side.  The actual garment appears to have stripes that are screen printed with puff paint.  I know nothing of screen printing, and the only puff paint I have a history with is the kind that I used to make a fan t-shirt for a Backstreet Boys concert (yes, you can make fun of me; I won't cry).  So after some research online and determining that I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on real screen printing stuff, I took my trusty coupons to JoAnn's and picked up three colors of acrylic paint and a big ol' tube of white "Puffy" paint.  I have no idea what this will make.  The correct answer is probably "a mess".  The answer I'm hoping for is "awesome stripes".

Jacket: maybe $3.50
Thread: $1.07
Zippers: $6.90 (because I couldn't decide and bought 2 with the intention of using them in the future)
Paint: $6.83 (with definite re-usability on the acrylic colors, but maybe not so much on the $2 Puffy paint)

Pants
Located at the Thrift Store of Awesome.  I picked up a slightly-too-large-in-the-waist pair of stretch twill black pants (with the widest legs you've ever seen).  This might not have been my best choice because when I sat down with the intention on trying to figure out how to taper the legs, add front seams and back seams to both legs, and figure out how to add pin tuck details to the lower leg, I freaked out.  I just kept pinning things and unpinning them and telling myself I was horrible and no good at this.  Until finally, I ended up sitting in my basement with my legs out in front of me, donning the in-side out confusedly pinned pants, and thinking, "What the hell do I think I'm doing?  And how do I get up off the floor now?"

In the meantime, I have given up on the pants, and I set those aside so I could think.  I've watched some tutorials on tailoring pants now, and I have a rough sketch in mind of how I'd like to proceed.  But I'm waiting for a better brain day so we don't have a repeat episode of last time.

I did pick up some "good enough" buckles when I was at Hobby Lobby this week because all of their sewing notions were half-off.  Woohoo for sales!

Pants: maybe $2.50
Buckles: maybe $1.50

Gloves
I didn't want to spend $50+ on screen accurate gloves that would have required additional work and leather dyeing (things I haven't done before), so I took to the eBay Galaxy of Gloriousness.  Considering I have what seem like grotesquely sized hands when you're shopping for women's gloves, I finally landed on a pair of vintage brown leather gloves, well-worn, made in Italy, size 8.  Some stains on the gloves, but hey - that's what I want, right!  They had a "best offer" deal going on, so I threw in an offer and was accepted by the seller.

These things are awesome.  They fit, which is great.  The leather is thin but definitely seems to hold up, so it won't feel as bulky to me as the screen accurate gloves.  I felt awful at first about cutting up vintage Italian leather gloves, but I justified my actions to myself by saying that they were well-worn already and smelled of old lady perfume.  So I started cutting off the finger tips, and then I took a seam ripper to rip out the vintage silk lining.  It took some time and patient cutting to get the gloves down to the acceptable "height" in the fingers for me, and then I used one gloves as a pattern to match the other.

I'm currently in the process of restitching the seams so that they don't fall apart at the fingers.  I have two fingers left to go, and then I can move on to shortening the gloves and using that extra leather to add the wrist strap.  I'm so happy with these, and they aren't even done.

Gloves: $8.75

Vest
This is a hard one for me to count costs on because I bought material to make a vest.  Jyn's vest is cotton in the back and nylon in the front, so I ended up with some quilting cotton and two different types of nylon.  But then time started slipping away and the calendar started filling up, and I freaked out  So I'm not going to include that cost in my analysis right now

After my freak out session, I took a trip to the eBay Galaxy of Gloriousness which made it all better once again.  I ended up finding a vest that looked about right to me, not too puffy, and a "best offer" deal on it.  It had some stitching that was coming undone, but the seller was honest about it.  Otherwise, the thing looks pretty darned good.  And since I'd like to replace the stitching, that's fine by me.  Plus, I can pass it off as "battle damaged", so who cares about defects?!  The only thing that might cause me issue is that it's listed as "tan".  I didn't really realize that until after I put in my offers, so we'll see what happens.  Apparently, you can dye nylon; I did some research on it at lunch today.  But then again, I might decide "good enough" and just go with it.

I would like to add new pockets, webbing, and maybe some of the contrast stitching.  Maybe even add the little floss tied quilting puffs in the back (which would be something new I've never done).  But again, if this stuff doesn't get done, I'm not going to be sad.

Vest: $7.00

Belt
While it's no where near accurate, I'm actually thinking about using my gun belt from my Lara Croft costume.  It has the same leg wrap, and it's brown.  Good enough!  If I have time or patience, maybe I'll dig into something else later.

Belt: free

Boots
I think I'm going to reuse the Lara Croft boots for this as well.  They're the perfect height and color.  I doubt that I'll have time or resources to make the boot cover patches, though.  But in the meantime, I'm going to consider this one done.

Boots: free

Scarf
This is another one of those pieces that you don't see later on in the movie, but she does wear the item on Jedha.  And honestly, I just love scarves, so I really want to make this piece.  I've been searching for fabric for a couple of weeks now, though, with no luck.  So this is still up in the air.

Shirt
I really would love to create the shirt with the little collar flap that Jyn wears, but again, I'm having a hard time color-matching fabric.  I might end up going with a gray "good enough" 3/4 sleeve shirt, but I haven't located a possible one just yet.

Gun
This one I'm stuck on.  I've done so much research that my head is spinning.  I could build one, but I need a model Luger airsoft gun.  Plus, it's a matter of "con safe", and I want to be as mindful of that as possible.  I could buy a 3D printed one, but I'd more than likely have to paint it and assemble it.  The next money step up is buying one that's printed, assembled, and painted.  I'm weighing my options.  Part of me kind of just wants to mix my fandoms and carry a banana.

As of right now, that's the big stuff I can come up with.  There are other little pieces and parts (comlink, ID tag, etc.), but I'm not really in a mind to think of that right now.  Plus now I'm just laughing because River Song is pointing a banana at the Doctor.  Life is ridiculous like that.

Until next time, stay shiny!

Non-Spoilery Reaction to Rogue One

Since last night around 10:40pm or so, I've been mulling over my ideas surrounding a little movie I'd just seen called Rogue One.  I had a small discussion with the couple of friends who attended with us.  I discussed a bit with my husband on the way to the store and then on the way home.  Then I went to bed with no further discussion until someone asked me at work this morning, "So did you go last night?"

That's when I smiled and said, "Yes.  Yes, I did."

I realized it was the first time I burst into a big smile, but it was also then that I realized I'd sort of been smiling since I walked out of the theater last night.  Not a really big smile, mind you, but a little teeny one at the corners of my mouth.  Or in the back of my mind, working its way forward.  Like a little bit of light trying to push its way through darkness.

So after I had my brief nerdy discussion (which included no spoilers because this person will not see the movie until Monday), I pulled up a couple of reviews on the internet because I was curious what critics were saying.  I made a point to read the mediocre reviews, just to get a clear and honest opinion aside from "OMG IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING!!!!1!!".  While there were some points that I agreed with in these articles, I also found that I could argue lightly against some of them.  Some of them are founded grievances, yes, but I also find that in my heart I can forgive these things simply because of what this movie is.

This movie was never marketed as a "saga" movie.  This is not in the same line as 4, 5, and 6.  Or even 1, 2, and 3.  Even 7 has a completely different feel from what we're offered in Rogue One.  In this film, we were presented a stand-alone story with stand-alone characters in a war movie like setting.  I personally think it delivered on what it promised - with enough tie-ins to the saga to let you know what universe you were playing in and enough division from the typical "feel" we get in a standard Star Wars movie.  I don't feel let down in that aspect at all.

I'm going to make an effort here to not post anything spoilerish just yet, but I will be working on a post in the background to try and sort through everything in my mind.  Once I see the movie a second time (or a third...or fourth), then I'll go back over my writing and finally get the post out there to share.

But here's my advice - go see it.  Go see it.  Know that what you're seeing isn't a Star Wars "Saga" movie, and then decide for yourself how you feel about that.

As for me, I'm sporting my Rogue One shirt from Publix today.  Thank you, Florida.

"It's Rogue. Rogue One."

Today is the day that I have long-awaited.  From the moment that I scraped my knuckles on the low ceiling of the Celebration Anaheim auditorium when Gareth Edwards showed us the "first trailer" for the film Rogue One.  It wasn't even a trailer, he said.  It was just some stock footage from the Lucasfilm archives that they spliced together.  But it was perfect.  So epic and so perfect that I cheered and pumped my fists in the air and then - of course - punched the ceiling and scraped myself all up.

But it was worth it.

That TIE fighter flying through the trees.  The overlay of Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice talking about the Death Star.  The music swelling until finally the TIE breaks from tree cover.  Then there it is.  What is that?  Looming on the horizon...  OMG IT'S THE DEATH STAR.  That's pretty much how it went.  And I don't think I've seen that clip since that first day, but I can remember it.

(There are only fan-shot videos of this trailer online.  I can't find any sort of official release for it, which makes me so, so sad.  This is the best video I can find of the trailer: Rogue One Celebration Teaser Trailer.)

And now - so many awful days of 2015 and 2016 later (seriously, these last two years have sucked beyond measure) - I am sitting here waiting for my 8:00 PM EST showing of Rogue One.  I've been through the death of a beloved pet, illness close to home, assisting friends and family with personal trauma and loss, cancer and a loss of a grandparent-in-law due to said cancer, and most recently my mother (56 years old) suffered a stroke and is in the hospital.  None of this mentions my own inner-workings of my mind, which is not always a pretty place.  And this also doesn't mention all of the other crap that's going on in this world that makes you feel like you're carrying it all on your shoulders.  I'm almost too tired to even cry anymore when I feel depressed.  Mostly, my eyelids just twitch (speaking of which, it just happened - just now - twitching buggers).

None of that stuff I listed above really has a place in a "blog of happy" like I want this one to be, but this blog can't ignore the crappy stuff.  I've said that before.  Star Wars deals with the crappy stuff, and I have a feeling Rogue One is about to show me a lot of crappy circumstances that a lot of really normal people are going to have to step up the awesome and overcome.  But see, that's the thing - they overcome it.  The situation might stay crappy, but they don't let it determine what they can and cannot do.  I hope to be like that.  I hope to be a rebel against this world and its efforts to continuously bring me - and the people that I love - down.

I like to say that I go into these movies with "no expectations", but I know that's not true.  I'm expecting a lot of this movie, even though I actually say otherwise when I'm talking to someone verbally.  This movie...feels like it's being made for me.  I realize that's selfish and really unfounded.  Gareth Edwards knows nothing about me.  I sat in a room with him once - well, an auditorium.  I punched a ceiling for him, sure, but he doesn't know that.  But the thing is that this film goes back to what made me a Star Wars fan - overcoming the odds that are stacked against you and doing what you feel is "right" for you and the people around you.  It goes back to the Rebellion and overcoming evil and just trying to make sure that people aren't being oppressed or hurt by others.  It's going back to the twin sunsets - to knowing that your destiny lies out there waiting for you, but you don't know exactly how to reach out and grab it.

That's why I hold this movie in high regard - higher than I held The Force Awakens.  Higher than I hold Episode VIII.  This movie feels different because it is different.  And I believe that to be a very good thing.

#gorogue on Force Friday

Against my better judgement, last night I ventured out to my local 24-hour Meijer store for Force Friday.  Rogue Friday?  Does this thing even have an official name now?  If you don't know what Force Friday is just take a gander at this link here to learn a bit about it on Wikipedia.  But basically, it's a merchandising event where all of the new Star Wars toys of a particular wave are released at 12:01 on a certain day.  Sometimes big parties have been held, lines have formed, things sell out, freebees are given away.  And sometimes no one shows up but a handful of nerds at a small Meijer store to politely sort through the new toys and pass things around.

Apparently, events of this nature have been around for quite a while, but I never truly participated in them when the prequels were around (yay for age limitations and parents - love you, Mom!).  I guess back then, though, we didn't have a name for them.  But after speaking with a couple of fellow Star Wars fans at last night's Force Friday unveiling, I learned that folks had attended similar toyapalooza's during the Attack of the Clones (AOTC) and The Phantom Menace (TPM) releases.  When one gentleman told me he had been there for TPM unveiling, I think my eyes got pretty wide.  I audibly said, "Dude, that's crazy."  Because it had to have been.  I remember the merchandising that went into that movie - it's still joked about today in some circles.  I cannot imagine Toys R' Us putting out huge bins of figures so you could "dive in and get what you wanted".  That's just insane to me!  Insane!  (I would have loved it, but - alas - age limitations and parents - love you, Mom!  ;p).

So when this type of thing because official before The Force Awakens (TFA) was released, then of course I had to be there.  I have a 24-hour Meijer and a 24-hour Wal-Mart nearby.  Frankly, I prefer Meijer, so I selected that as my "home" store to attend the event.  I think there were a dozen or so of us for TFA, and there was an entire aisle of things.  Then they wheeled out displays with more and more things.  It was insane.  I walked away with so much loot (plus the only Rey action figure I have ever been able to find on the shelves).

Last night, I didn't expect an event quite as large as TFA because the movie seems a bit off the beaten path of Star Wars.  I expected a handful of people, a smaller display area, just something low-key.

I did not expect 4 people picking over a little 5x5x5 rolling, 4-sided display of toys.  Another fan who got there much earlier than the others had already spoken with an employee about what had been received in their shipment.  The employee let them know that - unfortunately - the entire shipment had not been received by the store.  So they were going to put out whatever they had received, and they apologized.  It was kind of sad, to be honest.  However, I picked up the two figures that I truly wanted to get my hands on - Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) and K-2SO.

After that, I figured I'd pop into Wal-Mart just to see if they had anything else.  I went inside, walked all the way to the back to the toy section...and found nothing.  Absolutely nothing new.  Everything that they had was the old TFA toy selection that they were slowly marking down on clearance.  No one had bothered to put out any new merchandise at all.  I walked away pretty sad.  There was such a build-up in my mind, and then here I am with two figures.  That's it.

I do understand that this isn't a "main-stream" movie in terms of how it fits in with our standard Star Wars timeline.  This movie is new.  Fresh.  Different.  That makes me so, so excited for it.  I hope that excitement spreads to others, as well.

Fandom Blurbs: Rogue One

I feel like I should be writing here, but there hasn't been much going on that I want to write about thoroughly.  I could always pop by with a new geeky moment, but the moments are in short little bursts these days - not big, long, rambling, blog posts.  But maybe that's ok.  Maybe I can do a bunch of short little blurbs into one big, long, rambling, blog post.  Hey!  That's an idea!

I've been wanting to talk a lot about the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  But I haven't touched the topic because there's so much out there.  I stay away from spoilers and speculation, but I do love some of the news that's been coming out about this movie.  I'm really excited about what we're going to see.

So let's just blurb about it a bit:

• This movie now has a new composer, and I couldn't be happier!  It's not that I don't love the original composer who was signed on for the production.  Alexandre Desplat is quite the talent, and I do adore his work.  I wasn't 100% sold that his style would fit this production, but I had to remember that we were going for something different here.  So I was encouraged by that thought.  I wanted to hear what he would come up with.  However, when Rogue One had to revise its schedule due to reshoots, that affected the final scoring schedule.  Desplat was no longer available.
  
  Then steps in my latest hero - Michael Giacchino.  I have seriously fallen in love with this man's line of work, and I adore his musical ear.  It's the closest thing to John Williams that I've found in the "modern" film world, and I love to hear what he comes up with next.  I said a long time ago that if - God forbid - we ever lost John Williams before the Star Wars movies were complete, I believe the baton should be passed to Michael.
  
  It seems Michael is getting his chance now to spread his wings and fling his notes across the page of a Star Wars score.  And I am thrilled.  Thrilled, I have to tell you.  Like, bouncing off the walls, I want to flail and hit people with my nerdy flails because I'm happy thrilled.  I can't wait for this movie.  I really can't.
  

• I'm intrigued that Jyn Erso (the main character) has both a mom and a dad that we will actually see in the movie.  Granted, we might be dealing primarily with flash backs (which I also find interesting), but I think it will be fun to see how her character is shaped by her family.  We don't usually get to see that, I feel.  I want to see how this one plays out.
  
  I'm giving Jyn the benefit of a doubt here.  The first trailer I saw her in, I wasn't thrilled with her character.  I didn't connect with her.  She was brash and tough and - maybe - a little arrogant.  And - ok - a character.  "Reckless, aggressive, and undisciplined."  That's quite all right; it just didn't feel like me.  I guess I wanted to connect or something on a personal level.  (Silly, I know).  I don't need to see myself in a main character to follow them.  There are going to be so many characters in this movie, I think any of us are bound to find someone we connect with.
  
  But there are other trailers I've seen make me like her more and more.  I'm curious to see who her character is, why she is the way she is, and what makes her work and move and fight.
  

• Speaking of trailers - who in the world is writing this music?!  Because if this is Alexandre Desplat, then I'm just sad because this is beautiful stuff!  I know it's just trailer music, but c'mon.  Listen!  Seriously.  Just sit back and listen.  When I listen to the music in the 2nd trailer that I linked to above, I just get goosebumps.  It has been known to bring me to tears just by listening to it (and I'm listening now and fighting them back - gah).  It's powerful stuff.  I think this whole movie will be powerful stuff.
  

• *Kermit flail*

A General Update on Things and Stuff

There's just so much going on right now that I don't even really know where to start.  I know I've been quiet for a while because - surprise! - I've been sick again.  Yep.  Last Monday, my body decided to quit on me and gave me a fun little cold/mini sinus infection.  So far I haven't required a trip to the doctor; I've just been taking my cold meds on a regular basis and hoping again hope that it will go away soon.

But - surprise - it put us behind on training.  Again.  I'm going to try and readjust it as best I can, but I think from here on out, we're just going to have to do our best.  I think we'll be okay, but it will be a little harder because we won't be quite as prepared as we were hoping.  We're going to keep up with our schedule as best we can from now until race day, and I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed for no more illnesses!

In regards to the running costume, I got together with a couple of good friends the weekend before I got sick and had a "Sewing Weekend".  We all worked on various projects, and I brought along my Asajj running costume.  The only part I really managed to complete was the belt (and it's not really complete).  I ran into a snag with the belt buckle - didn't like my original idea.  I think that's going to get scrapped for another idea that's still in the making.  I was originally going to go back to JoAnn Fabrics on Monday night to pick up what I needed, and then - wham - sickness.  So that will probably be a weekend project for me.

In other fun news, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has a Blu-ray release date.  I'm seeing it all over my blog feed, with lots of news about deleted scenes, different covers released at different retailers, as well as who has what exclusives and whatnot.  It's insane.  I'm going to have to do research just to figure out where I want to go buy my copy so I can maximize my features.  (Which is funny because - despite my good intentions - I really only ever watch deleted scenes and that's it.) 

I remember the good old days when I just took my money down to the local Media Play (anyone else remember those?) and bought my VHS Star Wars Trilogy.  Yep.  Those were the days.

I'm seeing a lot of Episode VIII pictures and "spoilers" pop up on my blog feed, too.  They're little things that don't really matter much in terms of spoiling plot lines, but I think they're pretty fun.  They're definitely fueling my little brain.  I'm excited for the return of Mark Hamill, and I really can't wait to see what he has in store for us.  He's always been one of my favorites.

The other major thing I'm waiting on is Rogue One news.  A trailer.  Something!  It sounds like some "footage" was shown to Disney Shareholders as a recent meeting, but it really didn't sound like much more than we've already seen here and there on the internet.  Maybe we'll get something soon...

Until the next time, may the Force be with you!