Superhero Party Photos!

And after a long hiatus, I'm going to try this again.

First up:
Pics of the costume I was working on when last I left you. It was all finished in time for the party, complete with boots (well, sock things, anyway) gloves, and a cape! Woo-hoo!
For most of it, I just used old fabric I had lying around, plus a blue prom dress, and a lot of iridescent aquamarine fabric paint:

The costume in its entirety.

Detail of cape and skirt train. Awesome!

Sorta detail on the fins coming off my cape and gloves.

And now! You get to see how crafty my pals are with photos from the Superhero Party. Quite spectacular and amazing! (Since this was over a year ago, I'll do my best to remember who/what everyone was!)

HEROES!

ROBIN

NEO - you know, from the Matrix? (I was going to be all cool and photoshop all of these, but it was REALLY time consuming.)

INVISIBLE MAN!

SUPER LAURA

ELEKTRA

MR. & MRS. INCREDIBLE

crap! I can't remember!

THE GREAT AMERICAN HERO

TIN HAT MAN

PAPER GIRL
Okay, so this is the coolest freakin' costume, EVER! Michelle creates splendiferous things with paper, as this costume is evidence. The entire thing, except for the boots, is made of paper.

Detail of the Paper Girl costume. It's held together with staples.


VILLAINS!

The GARDENER!
Sandy's was particularly cool, since she put the entire thing together at the party using supplies I left out on the table!

BARON VonEVIL (or something like that.)

GROUCHY DUDE (okay, I made that one up)

PONTIUS PUPAE (like a moth - get it? There's a furry "P" on his chest)

AQUA VELVA (yours truly)

So, a good time was had by all...

... that is, until things got a little out of hand.

How to be a SUPERHERO! (or a villian...)

In honor of one of the greatest comic books ever written being turned into a film this spring, I thought I'd return to my costuming roots of yore.

		How does one become a superhero? First, you have to develop a character, and then create a fantastic look. Naturally, you can always be an established super hero, such as Wonder Woman or Superman. These are pretty easy to pull off, so long as you don't mind a lot of spandex. There are, however, a handful of super heroes and villians that actually wear normal clothes, such as Rorschach or Wonder Girl.
1980's Supergirl (right) and Contemporary Supergirl (left)

American vs. International Superheroes
Generally speaking, American superheroes tend to follow a tried and true formula: SPANDEX. ... and usually bright colors, unless you're going for a more contemporary, film-loosely-based-on-comic book look, as in the more recent X-Men movies.

The latter, however, would probably involve a lot more molded plastic. Additionally, female characters tend to have low-cut necklines and (generally) bare or tightly wrapped thighs. Men, by contrast, have their entire body covered and wear boots, more often than not.

Note the tight spandex and difference in clothing style between men and women.

Shaktimaan (India) wears a more "futuristic" costume.

With international superheroes, the field is a little broader. Costumes range from traditional folk clothing to a crazy, 1950's era "future look" (think Ultraman). Despite the wider range of options (and the fact that these characters tend to wear less revealing outfits), there are some drawbacks. Namely, few people will know who you are portraying. Also, straying to far from the traditional unitard/bathing suit look might make you a less convincing SUPERHERO/VILLIAN. More Information on International Superheroes

Captain Canuck (Canada)

Ultraman family (Japan)

Costume How-to
Now that you've decided on who you will portray, you need to build a costume. Generally, your persona will have one or more of the following boots, a utility belt, cape, and bizarre makeup. For guidance on quick and easy ways to create all these goodies, please refer to the links provided.

Boot covers

Mel's Boot Cover Tutorial (if you have boots to cover)	Boot Covers by Love Meeko (You can use any shoes for this one. On the menu, click "Tutorials" and scroll down to "Boot Covers")

Capes

Circle cape	Square cape

Etc.

Utility belt pouches by Kazumi Kurosaki	Scary Makeup by Martha Stewart (or one of her minions...)

Additional tips...
How to Make a Super Hero Costume by indymogul

Distracted - Kumihimo

With all this i-cord stuff, I've been wanting to do some kumihimo as well.

Kumihimo is Japanese cord-weaving, usually out of fine silk thread, like that featured at the Hirai Kumihimo House. They even feature a series of videos showing the ages-old process of spinning, dyeing, and weaving the silk. Very cool.

First of all, you need a loom. For the basic round braid, I found a couple of nice tutorials with slightly different approaches:

Unikatissima (offering a printable template)	Joanna at Friend Sheep

Both offer detailed instructions and simple patterns for your basic braid. provides a nice little pattern to make your own out of cardboard. Here's a nice little introduction to the basic braid, with more links for inspiration.

Braids by Uniktissima

Once you've figured out the basics, you're ready to move on to other shapes, like the flat braid. For this, I found an awesome tutorial by The Satin Cord Store. I haven't yet tried this one, but it looks very cool.

Flat braid by The Satin Cord Store.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the number of colors you use, and the order they are braided in dictates what the braid will look like. There are many more variations out there. These are just what I was able to find with a simple web search (and after looking through some less inspiring and much more lackluster tutorials.)


And finally, here are some kumihimo from my own collection. I got them at a thrift store in Japan:


The top two and fourth (black/white and pink) are two seperate cords that have been sewn up along one side to make two flat braids that are twice as wide, and then they were joined with a knot to make a single, two-tone (or three-) cord. It looks very pretty when it's tied.

The third cord is a simple flat weave, done around three fat cords to give it shape. It's pink, blue, and white.

The bottom cord is also flat. It's blue on one side and pink on the other.

Fun felting finds

Here are some cool fiber arts projects from around the web. Please check these people out.

Cute pincushions by Felt Like Knitting

Awesome awesome awesome felted cats and dogs from Kay's K-9s



Wow. Crochet by Mitsuko Tonouchi

Wings

Argh! I'm going to a cookie/ornament party this weekend, and I STILL haven't figured out what kind of ornament I'm making for this year. I knew this would happen, as it does every year, that I would wait until the last minute.
Normally I wouldn't have this much trouble, but there's a theme for the first time ever this year: “Wings.” What the hell am I supposed to do with that? I'm not going to do an angel or something so, I'm sorry, so banal...

I'm trolling the blogs for inspiration, and here's a sampling of some possible ideas:quilling paper leaves, tutorial by Craft Leftovers


and more quilling: This time gift tags by Estefâia Cabeça de Papel


Gold-winged bird ornament made of recycled aluminum by

by Jong Jong Boutique

fabric owl ornaments by Zemphira


bottle cap fairy by Wisp of Whimsy

Dillilah the Pickle Angel from A Little Character

eyeball on a wing - Knot by Gran'ma


peppermint fairy wings by Tiara's Boutique
(okay, it's not really an ornament, but it's still very cool)

"the reader" by CoriD

sheet music bird garland - Dove Grey


Feathered dinosaurs would make awesome Christmas ornaments. Perhaps out of felt? All of these are by Peter Shouten, and you can see more at his website or in his awesome book (that I want). Ingenia yanshini, above.

	Bambiraptor feinbergi	Conchoraptor gracilis