Some of y'all may be familiar with a certain special day for comic book fans--Free Comic Book Day. Even though I've read comics for years and years and years and years, I had never attended a Free Comic Book Day event, a fact I wanted to change in 2016. It helps to know lots of other comic-reading peeps, and a handful of us decided to not only attend, but cosplay.
Friends, I'd also never cosplayed. In high school and college, I particularly doted on Sailor Moon, and man, I would have loved to cosplay as Sailor Saturn, but I had no idea how to even break into that sort of thing. If you look at some of those cosplayers, they are intense. Immaculate detail. Perfectly sewn costumes. At the time, I knew very little about sewing. And even now, for a girl like me who has only a bit of apparel sewing under her belt, the idea was a little intimidating. But I wanted to try. The worst case scenario was that I would spend a bit of money on fabric, ruin it all, and attend the event without costume. Not really a huge deal.
I sewed up my red knit top using this pattern by Nap-Time Creations. Full disclosure--I was on serious time crunch and did not finish the bottom hem or the sleeve hems. I may get around to doing that...some day. (Or not.)
Then I moved on to the blue tunic, which includes a gold lightning bolt. I used the same pattern as my red shirt for the blue tunic, but I lengthened it four inches and neglected to add the sleeves. I free handed the lightning bolt using painter's tape marks, then sewed slightly away from them. After that, I cut along the outside of the sewn lines, dabbed the seriously fraying gold fabric with fray check, and moved on. (I did finish the bottom hem on the blue tunic.)
I had intended to make red leggings as well, and I would've had an almost complete Ms. Marvel outfit. But like I said, serious time crunch, and the red leggings will have to wait, and an almost almost complete outfit worked just fine. I cut out a red scarf, and the morning of, I made a blue face mask, which was super uncomfortable, but worked. I also made a gold cuff, but I miscut fabric, and I made it too tight to wrap around my wrist, so it got left at home.
Friends, this was super fun. My pals and I went to two local comic book stores, and I was so happy every time someone recognized and appreciated my outfit. (My friends went as Darth Vader and a Jedi Knight, and they were also super cool.) Of course, there were lots of free comics, and I took the opportunity to stock up on some Ms. Marvel that I was missing. I almost caved and bought a cute Black Widow doll, but I resisted.
BUT, the best part was on Wednesday when I visited my local comic book store to check on when #7 of the latest run of Ms. Marvel will release, and the owner said, "Oh, you're here for your prize." MY PRIZE??? I had entered a costume contest, but seriously didn't expect to win. My Ms. Marvel costume was one of three winners in the adult category, and I got to take home a super cute Captain America figurine and an Iron Man issue. (I LOVE THEM BOTH, I CAN'T HELP IT.)
And that is the story of my Ms. Marvel cosplay. I'm hoping to maybe go as Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim for next year...but that costume will take a lot more planning and involve a complicated bag and potentially a giant hammer...we'll see.
