The costume you just wore is the best research you will get this year. You now know where it pulled, where it sat, and what you wished you had packed. The next one starts this week — not in October, when the fabric is still on a truck. Dragon Con opens Thursday. Fabric ordered today will not make Atlanta. New York Comic Con is October 8–11. Halloween is October 31. Those sewing windows are still open.
If you are going to Dragon Con
Do not wait on a yardage order that cannot arrive. Pack the kit from Pack a Convention Repair Kit: needle and thread, a covered seam ripper or mini scissors, the adhesive that matches the fiber, shine for latex not vinyl, a body tape, and a pouch. That is the Atlanta deadline. The October deadline is a different order.
Take measurements in the hotel if the current piece almost fits. Write the numbers in your phone. That is the start of a custom-fit pattern, not a guess on a size chart written for nobody in particular. We already covered why one-size fails in The Biggest Lie About “One Size Fits All” Costumes.
If you are home this week
Labor Day weekend is a sewing weekend, not a browsing weekend. Lock the silhouette before you lock the lore. A jacket, a circle skirt, a vest, or a two-piece set from stretch PVC or foil spandex still finishes before Halloween if the cloth is in the house. A brand-new custom-fit catsuit needs the muslin now, not after NYCC.
Use the cutoffs from How Late Is Too Late to Start a Halloween Costume? as a working list, not a guilt trip. NYCC is tighter than Halloween. If New York is the actual event, treat this week as the last comfortable fabric-order window.
What to order this week
Order three things together so you are not waiting on a second shipment in mid-September:
- The cloth. 4-way stretch PVC for anything that has to move like skin. 2-way PVC for skirts, capes, and structured panels. Foil spandex when you need speed and you already sew knits. Stretch faux leather for jackets and vests.
- The pattern. Digital copies do not wait on a truck. Printed copies ship. Order it the same day as the fabric if the garment has to fit your body.
- A swatch if you have never sewn that finish. A couple of dollars is cheaper than a wrong five yards. Stretch PVC and 2-way PVC both ship as swatches.
Fabrics we have in depth right now
These are the colors with yardage. Several are already on sale. Hot pink stretch PVC, black stretch faux leather, and snakeskin foil spandex are full price; we are not pretending they are marked down.
- Stretch PVC · Purple — 4-way, on sale. Bodysuits, sleeves, linings that need to move.
- Stretch PVC · Sky blue — on sale. Fitted sleeves, panels, a color you chose on purpose.
- Stretch PVC · Hot pink — full price. The Halloween color people actually photograph.
- Faux leather · Stretch black — full price. Jackets and vests that still look expensive at 1 a.m.
- Foil spandex · Silver — on sale. Fastest shine for a knit sewer.
- Foil spandex · Snakeskin — full price. Print does the costuming so you are not appliqueing at midnight.
- PVC · Baby pink — steep sale. Skirts, panels, gloss without 4-way stretch.
- Snakeskin · Pink — on sale. Accents, bags, a second-skin print over a simple block.
A sane week if you start today
- This week: lock the silhouette. Order fabric, a swatch if you are new to the finish, and the pattern. Do not add a second character idea.
- Labor Day weekend: muslin or a cheap knit mockup. Change the pattern now, not in vinyl.
- Mid-September: cut the real cloth. Sew main seams. Leave closures until you can try it on.
- Late September: finish edges, add hardware, shine or press as the fabric allows. Wear it around the house for an hour.
- October: repairs only. If NYCC is on the calendar, this block moves up two weeks.
For sitting, heat, and all-day vinyl, we already wrote What Nobody Is Saying About Convention Costume Comfort. More sewing walkthroughs live on Articles and tutorials.
The con is a costume you already finished. The next one is a fabric order. Place it this week.
No Comments