Grand Rapids Comic Con 2025

We had a great time in Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Comic Con was larger than the ones we went to in Lansing and Traverse City, with many incredible costumes. Keith looked amazing in his Rebel Fleet Trooper kit, I debuted my A New Hope Princess Leia, and Keith's R2D2 was a big hit. Our friends, Dan and Kelaine, joined us and Kelaine even wore my Endor Leia kit. Next time I need to make sure to have makeup for my eyebrows. I'm use to them being invisible, but it looks really odd with the dark brown wig. 

 

The cosplay really was amazing! There were lots of things I didn't recognize, but here are a few of my favorites:

You've got to love Waldo.

(I even saw this guy!)

Chewy was so tall!

Santa Vader gave me a big hug after I called him, "Dad."

I was glad to see a number of different Star Trek shows represented. (One of these days I will put together a Yeoman Rand kit.)

Everyone loved the Black Night from

Monty Python's Holy Grail, but

this Dalek from Dr. Who was, hands down, the coolest cosplay of the day. I'm so glad we made the trip down state - it was a great day full of good times with good friends! It sure would be fun to organize something on the island. I think it would be a hoot to have Storm Troopers garrison Fort Mackinac for an afternoon!

I Can't Resist

Let me tell you, I really appreciate being able to sew. I'm dressing up as Princess Leia for Comic Con this year. I made sure my dress had pockets, but I knew I couldn't make them big enough to carry everything I would need for a day out (glasses, phone, drink, wallet and, of course, snacks.) Even though a bag isn't part of Leia's official costume, I wanted one. Canvas and strap from Amazon, an inexpensive graphic from Etsy.com, a free Star Wars font, and an hour or two was all it took to create a bag fit for a princess.

Homemade Rebel Fleet Trooper

This year when my friend, Keith, and I head to the Grand Rapids Comic Con, he didn't want to go as Boba Fett again. He wanted to be a Rebel Fleet Trooper instead, so I got sewing. Purchasing a vest on Etsy was going to run over $300, and I knew I could do it cheaper. I've got to say - I am pretty proud of that vest. Almost every pocket on that thing, was self-drafted! I started with pictures of a vest and using - gasp - math, figured out how big they should be on the real shirt. (See kids - understanding ratios and proportions is a useful, albeit nerdy, life skill!)

Just to be safe, my first version of each pocket was made with scrap fabric. That way I could alter the pattern and not waste my actual fabric. The vest started out as two black BDU shirts. The sleeves of shirt one as well as the sleeves and back of the second shirt became the pockets. (A BDU shirt is a military style shirt, readily and cheaply available at surplus places.) I also added the placket to the front of the blue shirt to cover up the buttons. Apparently there are no buttons in the Star Wars universe...

Keith lives an hour away, so getting together to try things on can be a challenge. Fingers crossed that everything fits! If you happen to be here because you are looking to make your own Star Wars Fleet Trooper vest, shoot me a message and I will happily share my pocket patterns with you.

Capital City Comic Con

Back in February I posted about working on my Princess Leia costume, but I just realized I never posted pictures from the comic con. We had a blast! The Lansing Comic Con isn't huge, but it was a prefect con for us to start with. We had a great time. My favorite moment was getting my picture taken with a little Ghostbuster. She told me Princess Leia was her favorite Star Wars character and that she had been trying to catch up with me to get a picture. He dad was kind enough to snap a picture with my camera as well. I also got to hear Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager, speak and answer questions; which made my nerd heart happy.

I went with my good friend, Keith. He's an incredible maker! He really doesn't appreciate it when I brag about his talents, but he really is incredible (and modest.) The man can make / build pretty much anything - his Boba Fett costume for instance. While he bought the jumpsuit and helmet, he 3D printed, built, and painted the rest of it. He even made all the hard parts of my costume, including my helmet, blaster, etc. 

Now we've got to start planning for next year! The nerd in me is thinking Star Trek, but who knows...

Finish it February: Princess Leia's Accessories

A friend and I have been working on costumes for  a Comic Con we plan to attend this spring / summer. I'm going to dress up as Princess Leia in her Rebel uniform from Return of the Jedi. My friend has a resin 3D printer, so he's been making the "hard" bits while I've been working on some of the "soft" bits. He printed Leia's blaster (NOT a real gun pictured below) but I needed to make her holster. Not something I ever imagined myself sewing, truth be told. Luckily I had the little one on the right to use for reference since I couldn't find a free holster pattern anywhere on line.

I also made a strap for her coms unit, 

and a pouch for her belt. It's significantly larger than the screen accurate version; I made this one big enough to hold my phone and a small wallet. If I was looking to join the Rebel Legion the inaccurate size would be an issue, but since this is just for fun it won't be a problem. The Rebel Legion folks take Star Wars costuming very seriously!

 

I'm not sure which Comic Con we'll make it to, but getting everything together has been a lot fun.