GNFCC Business Expo: May the Force Be with Us!

Ribbon Cutting with Senator Brandon Beach

I am happy to report that Stephanie and I managed to successfully finish all three costumes, and that we were a hit at the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Business Expo today.  Thank you Libby, Hans, and Mom for letting us dress you up, and thank you Kendra Plotkin for being so welcoming to us and for the lovely mention in the Expo program.

This wasn’t my first GNFCC Business Expo, but I think it was my favorite of all the years so far.  I really enjoyed getting to talk to so many wonderful people about the costumes we worked so hard to finish; I even enjoyed promoting my own website.  I’m really proud of what we managed to accomplish and it’s always a great feeling to get to show off my hard work.

Normally when we make costumes, we exhibit them at conventions among other cosplayers.  Needless to say, my audience today was a little different than my norm.  Many of the people I spoke to had never put much thought into costuming and were really impressed by what we could do.  I talked to people whose friends were cosplayers, who had helped their kids make costumes before, who had been the one to single handedly make ballet costumes for their child’s dance troupe for years.  I even met a man who sympathized with all the work we did because his wife is a high school drama teacher.  Normally she’s the one making the costumes!

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I know I promised to put up progress photos before the event, but the past two weeks were full of so many major hiccups that I didn’t manage it.  So, over the next few days, I’m going to be posting some progress shots to show the different pieces we made, how they were constructed, and why we decided to construct them in the way we did.  I might even tell you the secret of what I used to make the outer panel of the Mon Mothma costume (it’s a weird one…I recycled!).

Please, if you get a chance, check out Elder Panda Cosplay to see some of Stephanie’s other work!  Don’t forget to like her on Facebook!

The Force is with Us!

Exciting (yet strange) news everyone!  The Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo this year is Star Wars themed.  In a fit of enthusiasm, I sort of volunteered Stephanie-Elder Panda Cosplay-and myself to make three costumes to appear at the Business Expo ribbon cutting at 10 am on March 11.   Now there are a few kickers: #1, neither one of us can actually attend the ribbon cutting, #2 that’s less than two weeks away.

It doesn’t matter though, because as any good cosplayer knows, you can plan to do things ahead of time as much as you want, but when it comes down to it you end up struggling to finish pretty much everything the very last few weeks before a con.  This seemed like a perfect opportunity to document a little about cosplaying for those that have never made their own costumes before, or for those that have always considered yet never done it.  It is doable.  If we can manage three costumes in two weeks, then you can absolutely do one if you give yourself enough time to plan it out, buy good materials, and then piece it all together. (And if we manage to fail (We won’t!  I’m feeling good about this) you can still do it.  Just make sure you give yourself a bit more than two weeks time!)

The three costumes we have planned:

  • Mon Mothma—A Senator who opposed Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and helped to form the Rebel Alliance. This costume will be worn by my Mom, Pam Santoro, of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices of GA.
  • Obi Wan Kenobi—You know who he is. Do I need to tell you?  This one will be worn by Hans Meier of Alpha Office Products.
  • Rey—The heroine of the new “The Force Awakens” movie. This one will be worn by Libby, a friend of Stephanie’s who has so kindly allowed us to dress her up and send her to the expo in our place.

I hope you follow us through our crazy/speedy cosplay journey.  I know I’m excited to get started!  So far we have our patterns sorted out and fabric bought.  In my next update I’ll go into a little bit about combining sewing patterns, which, I know, sounds utterly terrifying if you’ve never done it before.

If you’re interested in the Expo, register here for this excellent event!