If you’re a geek in Ottawa you’re probably already aware of the best cosplay Halloween party in town: Heroes and Villains. This year marks the 15th installment of Critical Miss and Retro Joad’s spectacular event and the theme is “Heroes and Villains That Came From Space”. I have been waiting patiently over the past year for this event because this year I have an extra special cosplay planned.
(Check out this sweet poster from Morgan Dunbar Design)
Until last year, I had never been able to go to a Heroes and Villains party. I was a server and predominantly worked the dinner shift. Each year I would enviously comb through Facebook posts, looking at all the fun my friends and fellow cosplayers were having at this amazing party. I had been stuck at work during each and every party since learning of its existence and was dying to go. Then, the year I was no longer a server… I was living in another city. It was only last year when I moved back to Ottawa and no longer worked late hours that I was finally able to go.
For those of you who are familiar with my cosplays, you’ll understand why I wanted to play it safe with my cosplay last year. I was entering unfamiliar territory – even though I had been to The Bourbon Room before and knew the layout, I didn’t entirely know what to expect from this party and didn’t want my face covered until I really knew what I was getting into. So, working off of the fairy tale theme I dressed as a dragon that had kidnapped (and snacked on) a princess. Pretty simple and easy by my standards, even though it still took over an hour to wash away all of the makeup and hair gel at the end of the night (that is not a fun activity at 4am when you’re worn out from partying).
So what am I planning this year?
It’s still a secret ;P
But I can tell you a little bit about how I made it. And I can give you a hint: It is an alien from a sci-fi film franchise.
The non-yarn elements are just a pair of leggings, a t-shirt that I cut up, and some foam sun visors for structure. I used a variety of circular and rectangular looms in multiple shapes and sizes in order to create the shapes I needed and then I stitched those shapes together. These are the three types of yarn I used:
- Pattons Metallic: I used this yarn to make the vest and the wrap around my waist – both are stitched into the t-shirt. This yarn is pretty shiny and has kind of a silky texture but it’s not always as fun to use as it looks. The metallic portion is the outside and there is some black yarn on the inside but that part tends to fray a bit if it catches on things. It looks pretty from a distance but not always up close. However, for this cosplay it’s ok if I look a little roughed up.
- Unknown cream coloured yarn: I honestly did not pay attention to what I bought. I just bought the biggest ball of cream coloured yarn I could find. This colour didn’t really matter as much as it is just used for the undersides of the skin. I just knew I needed a lot of it so I bought whatever was soft, cheap, and could get a lot out of.
- Loops and Threads Waterford Big: I spent so long hunting for the perfect colour and this was it. Not only is it the perfect shade of reddish-orange, but there is a variety of shades within the colour so there’s more dimension and it’ll look more like the skin tone I am trying to achieve. And it’s oh so soft and easy to work with.
For the arms and hands I used a technique that I have only tried out once before (and I think it definitely worked better this time). With the cream coloured yarn I knit normally around the whole circle but at the same time I was knitting the orange yarn back and forth across half of the circle. That way the bottom part of the arm stays pale but the top part is colourful.
For the face, I knit individual panels and have been attaching the panels to the foam visors. The body is done but the head is nowhere near complete. And I still have to make the eyes! I will probably use buttons and yarn to make them.
So these are the only hints and sneak peeks I can give for now but on Saturday those of you attending “Heroes and Villains That Came From Space” will get to see the finished product. And of course I’ll post pictures – Open Shutter Photography will be there so I’m obviously going to get some really fantastic shots of my cosplay. I can’t wait to see everyone on Saturday and I look forward to seeing what everyone else will be wearing!
