A Guide to Making Your Own Tauriel Costume

I've been wanting to make a tutorial for those wanting to cosplay Tauriel for a very long time now, and yesterday I got the final push to do so when Simplicity *finally* released an actual pattern for one of Tauriel's costumes! (More on that later...)

Any and all questions are welcome (and encouraged!) in the comments, and I promise to answer them to the best of my ability! :)

So, without further ado, here's A Guide to Making Your Own Tauriel Cosplay! :D

Step 1: Choose Your Dress

Which of Tauriel's dresses do you want to make? I'm only going to feature the two main dresses (with their variations) in Desolation of Smaug here.

Costume 1 (Variation 1) - Spider Dress

This is the dress that Simplicity has a sewing pattern for.

Costume 1 (Variation 2) - Spider Dress

This simply has a different leather bodice than the first (and she threw on a scarf).

Costume 2 (Variation 1) - Archer Dress

I can give the most help on this one, as this is the dress of hers that I made.

Costume 2 (Variation 2) - Archer Dress

This is just the first dress, with the addition of a green "hoodie" type thing.

Step 2: Buy the Pattern OR Make a Mock-up

This is where it starts getting tricky, depending which route you want to go.

If you're looking for an easy out, I advise you to buy the pattern for the first variation of her "spider dress" and make that.

The pattern is Simplicity 1347:

From what I've seen of it, the pattern isn't half bad. I would advise you to keep the edge of the skirt straight instead of ripped up (what's with that, anyway? o_O), but otherwise it's quite nice, really. It also comes with patterns for the arm bracers and corset/belt.

Now, if you want to do a different dress, or simply don't like this pattern, I'd advise making a mock-up of the costume you want to make.
You can use a pattern to help you figure out sizing, sleeves, that sort of thing, as a basis -- elaborating and deviating in the places you want to change. Just keep messing around with it until you like what you see. Then you can use this mock-up as your pattern for the real costume!

Here's a couple drawings I made to help me with making my mock-up for Tauriel's archer dress (costume 2 - variation 1).

Variation 1 - Princess seam bodice.

Variation 2 - Two-piece bodice.

Split Skirt Diagram

Step 3: Buy Fabric

This can be hard. You'll probably need to do some research before finding *the* fabric. Don't be afraid to look in odd places to find it, too -- the leather I used for my bodice is upholstery (used for furniture, etc.) vinyl, and I got the material for my dress at a thrift store!

If you can't find what you're looking for in any stores near you, I recommend trying Fabric.com or Amazon.com. Both have great prices and a huge selection of fabrics! And from Fabric.com, you can even order a swatch of the material before you commit to buying several yards, in case you don't end up liking it.

Types of Fabric:

The spider dress fabric is crinkle taffeta, or something similar, with a bit of a satin finish.

After much debate from only seeing the online pictures of the archer dress, I had the opportunity to see the dress in person in New Zealand, and I discovered it actually is made of emerald suade! The second variation of the dress is hunter green, burlap-style hoodie, which extends into a split skirt. The top of the first variation is used underneath this.

For my archer dress, I used polyester, which looked nice and worked well, but isn't extremely screen-accurate. Simple cotton broadcloth would work as well, but it isn't very drape-y.

Basically, if you're going for Variation 1 of the archer dress, go with suede for the dress. If you're making Variation 2, use a thick, burlap-y material for the overdress (hoodie + skirt), then suede for the shirt underneath the leather bodice.

Amounts to Buy:

For both styles of Tauriel's dress, you'll need about 3 yards of 60 inch wide fabric, OR about 5 yards of 45 inch wide fabric. (I used 60" so I can't be sure about how much you'll need exactly of 45" fabric, but I'm sure you'd be safe with 5-6 yards.) If you're planning on putting in a lining, you'll be needing more than this, though. I skipped having a lining in my dress though, because, frankly, I hate them. xD

The bodice and bracers will require 1 yard of 60 inch wide fabric. If you go with 45 inch wide fabric, you might want to get 1.5 yards, just to be safe. I bought 2 yards of 60", and it was wayyyyy more than necessary -- but the material is really neat, so I've enjoyed using the leftovers for other projects. :)

Some quick tips about leather for the bracers and bodice:

Like I said, I used upholstery vinyl that I ordered from Amazon. (It was this stuff in case you were wondering, which I ended up darkening with black shoe polish.) I highly recommend upholstery leather for armor -- it has the same thickness as real leather at a fraction of the cost, and is 900% easier to work with.

If you don't want to go the upholstery leather route, you can also get apparel-grade vinyl/leather instead. If you want it to be thicker, just attach it to craft foam. I've never done this, personally, but there are tons of tutorials for it all over the internet -- a quick Google search will bring up exactly what you're looking for. :)

And then, of course, if you're really ambitious, you can go with real leather, of course. While I'm sure this would look fabulous, don't count on me for help... ;)

(sorry, couldn't resist xD)

Back to business.

Step 4: Accessorize!

Okay, yeah, not gonna lie, this is one of my favorite parts about cosplaying -- adding all the fun details that make the costume awesome. :D

Boots:

Again, time to do some shopping and Googling. It might take you some time to find the perfect shoes to compliment your Tauriel costume. Here's Tauriel's actual boots:

Two things that are a must to keep the costume as accurate as possible (without going crazy): Knee high, heel less than 1 inch, dark brown, and no prominent buckles or zippers or studs or anything like that that elves just wouldn't have on their footwear. ;)

As for where to find boots such as this, I recommend Amazon. They've got a huge boot selection, and you can find a good pair for a pretty decent price (Be prepared to pay bout $30-$35).

Here's a few possible options I found with a quick search...

Brinley Co. Women's Knee-High Stretch Riding Boots

Top Moda Women Land-57 Boots

Brinley Co. Knee High Double-buckle Riding Boots

And, in case you wondered, these are the boots I bought for my costume. They're not totally screen accurate, but I love them anyway. ;)

Necklace:

You might have missed this aspect of Tauriel's costume, but yes -- Tauriel has a gorgeous, silver necklace that you can see quite clearly in the scene in Desolation of her reporting to Thranduil.

Gorgeous, right???

You can buy the official version from WETA Workshop for $179 here.

But if you're wanting a cheaper option, you can find several versions on eBay for much cheaper. These are a few of my favorite reproductions...

By lindong2014

By Studio Seventeen

By EternalLove90

Elf Ears:

The most fun addition to this costume, in my opinion, is the pointy ears!

I HIGHLY recommend Aradani Studio's latex ear tips. Their prosthetics are high quality, durable, lightweight, and inexpensive! They even have a set now that are modeled after Tauriel's ears!

(These are the kind I bought.)

<<< Small Elf Ears

Wood Elf Ears >>>

Hairstyle:

Firstly, I have found SO many awesome tutorials for Tauriel's gorgeous braided hairstyle! I'll link some of the best YouTube tutorials here.

Braids Inspired by "The Hobbit's" Tauriel by LaDollyVita33

The Hobbit Hair - Tauriel by Silvousplaits

Tauriel Hair Tutorial | The Hobbit by Loepsie

Now, the question of a wig. Whether you want to buy one and deal with all the craziness that comes with wigs is 100% up to you. I, personally, am not a fan of wigs, mostly because I haven't the patience or the resources to afford them.

If you want to go this route, you'll want to get a high quality, lace front wig so that it will look the best it can. A wig like this will run at about $50-$90, so definitely not cheap. If you don't want to fork over that much money, just go with no wig. I promise you, this is the best way to go if you're low on cash. Don't try to get a cheap-o, non-lace front wig from China. It will look so much better to just use your own hair, and style it accordingly. :)

Bracers:

Use the same material that you made your leather bodice from, and if you're using Simplicity's pattern, then you're all set to go, as that as a pattern for the bracers. But if you're free-handing everything, this tutorial on eHow will you get you started in making your bracers... "How to Make Leather Arm Bracers."

Bow/Daggers:

If you're planning on wearing your costume to the midnight premiere of The Battle of the Five Armies, you'll probably want to skip Tauriel's weapons. With that said, if you want to make her bow, this guy on YouTube has an excellent tutorial for making her bow out of PVC pipe. (Which you can buy at Lowe's, etc, for about 5 bucks!) I actually started doing this, but never finished it. Finishing it is on my to-do list currently. ;)

If you want to buy her bow, WETA Workshop has the official licensed prop available to buy -- for $300 bucks. :P

Now her daggers.

You can buy officially licensed versions of these also from WETA, for $179.

Or the officially licensed pair made by United Cutlery from BUDK.com for $219.

And then, of course, there's always the option of making these. I, unfortunately, haven't found any good tutorials for this, but if you do, let me know in the comments so I can link it here! :)

A Bit More Help...

I hope I was able to help you out in your journey of making a Tauriel costume! Again, any and all questions are more than welcome in the comments, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

You can check out my Tauriel Cosplay Pinterest board which has loads of helpful reference pictures, tips, and inspiration!

Follow Beth P.'s board To Be An Elf - Tauriel Cosplay on Pinterest.

You can also get some inspiration from my journal of making my Tauriel cosplay, where I've ordered everything in chronological order for your viewing convenience. :D

Welp -- I suppose this is the end. I hope I could be of help, and best of luck to you in making your costume!

Namárië!

Beth - An Elven Princess

A Journey Out West

The past week-ish has been very busy for me. Why, you ask? Because (most of) my family and I flew out West for our summer vacation! :D

No, not the cowboys-and-ranches type of West. Noo, I'm talking about the right-next-to-Canada type West. Like, the North-West, not the South-West... maybe? You get what I'm saying. ;)

To put it simply, I'm in Washington {state} currently. And this is where I shall be for the next 2 months of the summer! :)

The view from my room of the lake in our backyard. (:

I must be honest with you -- I'm not 100% completely thrilled to leave behind my Southern life for 2 months. But I'm also not stupid enough to wallow in homesickness and self-pity for the entire time and miss an opportunity to do some neat stuff and enjoy a very neat place.

So, here we go -- "I think I'm quite ready for another adventure!" ;)  Allow me to tell ya 'bout the place.

A loooong time ago, we used to live up here, actually, due to my dad's job. (He works for Delta Airlines, btw, which is how we can afford to fly -- we get free flights, basically. xD) We ended up keeping the house we had bought, and rent it out during the times we're gone. But we still come up here every so often. This was actually where I made the mock-ups for my Tauriel cosplay last year! :D

We live on a lake (which connects to a river that we like to take our rowboat down), and are across the street from the ocean. Literally:

Panorama from our 2nd floor porch.

Now, about the travelling...

The flight out here was actually pretty decent. We were able to get on without too much stress because of over-sold flights or anything, so that was great. "We" being my mom, my little sister Danielle, and moi. Our dad would join us the next day due to work. My two older sisters, Alissa and Crystal, are staying in the South most of the summer because of teaching and an internship -- in case you wondered. ;)

The flight to WA is 5 hours, so to keep busy I listened to music while I re-read Soul Surfer for the third time -- yes, it's that good. ;) (The movie adaption of Bethany Hamilton's story is amazing as well!! She is so awesome and inspirational:)

P.S. that funny looking square electronic is my phone, btw. ;D I think it's adorable. xD

Now, don't get me started on the plane's archaic entertainment system, but they happened to show Muppets: Most Wanted as the in-flight movie, so Danielle and I ended up watching.  I had two reason for doing so:

1) Tom Hiddleston's cameo. Which ended up being a total of 5 seconds. *face palm.* ;D
2) And the fact that 5 hour flights get long. ;D

Oh. And one last thing. Selfies courtesy of Danielle's ipod. xD

Aren't we precious? ;)

So attractive. Be jealous.

So, Saturday was the plane trip... Sunday we decided to skip church and try to recuperate and sleep off the jet lag a bit. My mom went to pick up my dad at the airport... Monday I did some major unpacking, and we went grocery shopping and to get le wi-fi set up... Tuesday we got our holds in from the amazing library here. Hehe. :D

Check out my book selections. ;D

While the library here is quite small, it's in a huge system with other libraries, so we can basically order any book or movie we want rom the other libraries and get it within a week.

Needless to say, it. is. HEAVEN. xD

So far, I've finished The Selection, and I'm now reading Left Behind, which is seriously so intriguing! I had read the teen versions a few years ago and liked them, so now I wanted to read the "adult" versions, of course. It is definitely what I call good Christian fiction. :D

Any book recommendations?? I'd love to get some from ya'll. Let me know in le comments! :D

And that's what's been going on lately! :D I had better end this blog post before it gets too incredibly long... but you can expect some more updates soon about my life out here in Washington! (:

OH -- and also the low-down on my cosplay plans for The Battle of the Five Armies. It's coming. :D

The First Anniversary of My Adventures

I can hardly believe it's been exactly 1 year to the day that I began this blog. In some ways, it feels like just yesterday -- in others, it feels like a lifetime. And it's just crazy to think how much has happened in those 12 months...

This blog, The Adventures of An Elven Princess, has grown so much over the past year. The stats are currently as follows...

~ 19,356 pageviews ~

~ 29 followers ~

~ 281 comments ~

~ (and this makes) 53 posts ~

But those are just the numbers. They don't measure the joy I have received from this blog/blogging -- from sharing my adventures and thoughts, to meeting other bloggers (and a few non-bloggers as well!) through our similar interests. And yes, I count you internet peeps as my friends.

Skeptics, don't even try to tell me "but they're not real" -- they are oh so real. You wouldn't be saying that if you knew the people I do. ;)

But really, guys; you all have been such an incredible blessing to me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your friendship and sweet support in my little ventures. :)

Here's to many more years sharing my adventures with all you lovely people! ^_^

~ Beth - An Elven Princess ~

Music Spotlight: 5 Happy {Christian} Songs

A few days ago I was going through my (rather extensive) "Christian" playlist on Spotify, and re-discovered a bunch of songs that I love that never fail to make me happy. So, I figured I would share some of those with y'all!

So here's my top 5 happiness-inducing Christian songs. ;)

Francesca Battistelli - Write Your Story

The Afters - Every Good Thing

Jamie Grace - Hold Me

Plumb - One Drop

Jason Gray - Remind Me Who I Am

The Sleeping Beauty Retelling: "Maleficent"

You've probably heard of the Disney retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent. Welp, last Friday, the day it came out, a group of friends and I went to see it just for fun!

(I'll keep my thoughts here spoiler-free, in case you haven't seen it yet. ;) )

Firstly, it was a great movie. I really enjoyed it. The plot was intriguing and a great twist on the Sleeping Beauty storyline, while still staying true in the main respects to the original.

It had a nice balance of drama, action, and humor -- though, I must admit, from the trailers I was expecting it to be much darker than it actually was. The levity of it took me a bit by surprise; but, I mean, I shouldn't have expected it to be LOTR-esque, considering it is only rated PG...

Which leads me to my last point: it was 100% free of anything "bad," except for some non-gory violence, of course.

Now, as for the characters...

I loved Maleficent. She had a really great depth to her character, and I adore how Disney twisted her past to explain her actions. And Angelina Jolie portrayed her magnificently (heh). ;)

Aurora was plain ditsy. I'm sorry. xD Ok, she had a few good moments, but in general... yeah. She got on my nerves. ;D

Prince Philip... I won't say much but... after the movie, another girl from the group, Emily, and I both said he reminded us of "One Direction."  No joke. xD

Maleficent's crow, whose name in the movie is Diaval, was awesome. He was one of my favorite characters, if not my favorite. I won't say anything else, because -- spoilers, duh. ;)

King Stefan -- I can't say anything. You'll have to just see the movie. Too many spoilers there... xD

Oh, and "the three good fairies" were extremely silly, odd, even annoying at times... but not too awful, and it makes sense in regard to the story, so I can forgive that. ;)

All in all, great movie. I will definitely want to own it on DVD when it comes out. It's not, like, a must-see, but it's still a great movie that I can definitely recommend. :D

So if you've seen it, tell me whatcha thought of it... favorite character, any thing you didn't like, thoughts on the retold story, etc. Oh, and whether you really liked Diaval as well...? ;D

Where My Cosplaying All Began - Arwen

Ok, it's about time I write this cosplay up. I've been meaning to do it ever since I started this blog almost a year ago. So, here it is.

My first ever cosplay project: an elven dress to be worn to the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

It was the year 2012, and I had just gotten into The Lord of the Rings. About 6 months before An Unexpected Journey was to be released in theaters, I caught wind of the fact that Peter Jackson was turning The Hobbit into a movie -- 3 movies, in fact.

Playing Lord of the Rings music of course. ;)

At first, I was very skeptical. I wasn't sure whether this was a good idea, or if I would even want to see the movies. I hadn't even read The Hobbit yet, having heard from my older sister, Alissa, that it was just a prequel to LOTR and wasn't that great anyway. (Since then I have learned not to fully trust her judgement completely when it comes to movies and books -- we have very different tastes, needless to say. ;D)

And besides, I'd never been to a movie theater for a movie I was really looking forward to seeing -- and I could count the times I'd even been to a theater on one hand. It just wasn't something my family or friends were in to, so I just kinda went along with that.

However, after seeing the trailers and promotional material, and then finally reading the book and absolutely loving it (EXCEPT FOR THE ENDING), I became very excited to see An Unexpected Journey. VERY excited. ;D

And then eventually I came up with the idea of sewing a medieval dress, based on Arwen's "blood red" dress (from The Two Towers), and going to the midnight premiere of AUJ dressed up as an elf -- complete with the ears, of course. :D

Looking back, and even at the time, it was a rather hair-brained idea, really. I'd barely sewn anything in my entire life, let alone a medieval dress, complete with a corset back and pretty intense sleeves. However, I'm pretty crafty, and knew that if I really put my mind to it, I could do it. My older sister Alissa also offered her help if I got stuck (though she wasn't much more experienced than myself ;D).

I documented the "making of" the costume on notebook paper, drawing designs, jotting down measurements -- writing down all the developments pertaining to the cosplay's making, basically. :) And I'm so glad I did, 'cause now I have something more {than just the dress and pictures} to look back on -- especially since it was my first cosplay! ;)

So, after months of "work," I and several friends went to see An Unexpected Journey -- though not the midnight premiere. xD Due to scheduling, we ended up going to a matinee the day after it came out (Saturday) -- but we still dressed up! xD Yes, we got more than a few odd looks, as I recall. ;) We even walked through the mall in costume afterwards. It was so great. ;D

Oh, and of course, we all loved the movie. ^_^

The same peeps I went to see Desolation of Smaug with. :D (minus one) Yes, I know. The guy's wigs are hilarious xD

Then in February, for my 14th birthday, I had a LOTR themed party, and had all le friends dress up and do a little photoshoot, which is where I got most of the pictures you see here from. :)

So yes. My first cosplay was so much fun, and a great learning experience to be sure. Yes, there's alot of things I would change about the costume looking back now, but for my first cosplay it wasn't too terrible, right? ;)

And voila! That was the adventure of my first ever cosplay project, Arwen.

I feel so much better now that I finally got it posted... ;)

The Question of Standards (answered with gifs)

What is a standard anyway? What does that even mean? Why do they matter?

(I'm not sure I understand the answer to this question completely. I suppose that's why I'm writing this post. Jotting down my thoughts is usually helpful for gaining insight, with God's help. Follow them, if you can...)

Well, for starters...

What can we know for sure about standards?

1) The definition of "standards." Merriam Webster's dictionary definies it as thus:

1. Ideas about morally correct and acceptable behavior. 
2. Something that is very good and that is used to make judgments about the quality of other things.

2) The origin of the word "standard:"

Middle English, from Anglo-French estandard banner, standard, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English standan to stand and probably to Old High German hart hard.

3) And finally, that, as Christians, we're called to a "higher" standard than the world. Ideally, a standard as high as Christ's.

And this is where everyone takes off in their own airplane.

"Huh? Why are we flying airplanes?"

Every Christian will derive their own opinions and values based on their own feelings and the Bible concerning the grey areas in our modern society, and make those beliefs their "standard" in those areas. And then take off with them. Each in their own personal "belief plane."
Because, of course, there's no way every single Christian can agree 100% on what is right and what is wrong in this day and age filled with so many grey areas that God never directly addressed in the Bible. Like, you'll never find "Thou shalt not watch Twilight" anywhere in the Bible -- unfortunately. ;)

We instead must learn what the Bible teaches, and then apply those key teachings to the particular circumstances we find ourselves facing.

However, in the midst of these varying beliefs, we can not judge.

Convictions are different for different people. Heck, me saying "heck" might bother someone because they could say it's kind of a curse word. But I'm not bothered by it, because it really isn't a cuss word.

While one person could be bothered by movies with violence in them, and thus say don't watch them because it's people harming/killing each other, another could say those movies are fine because it's all fake, and that it doesn't bother them.

The list of examples could go on and on, but I think you get what I'm saying, and I know you've experienced the collision of standards at some point in your life. It's not pleasant, to be sure. But really, it's just a part of being a Christian. There's really nothing we can do about it, but to love people and not judge them for their differing convictions.

(This doesn't mean you can't confront them about it, if you believe it is actually wrong, and you're in a position to do this. This still must be done very carefully and with love.)

In conclusion...

A standard is basically our thoughts about moral actions which we "stand hard" in. And if that is so, let us all be sure to stand very hard in them. Don't let the world pull you away from what you know to be true.

Psalm 19:14 --

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

Titus 2:11-12 --

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age..."

Jeremiah 17:9 --

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

P.S. Hope you liked the GIFs. ;)

Music Spotlight: "Shatter Me"

And here is my second "Music Spotlight" post, featuring Lindsey Stirling's second instrumental dubstep violin album, which released April 29th:

After stumbling across Lindsey's insanely awesome music videos on YouTube, I became completely obsessed with her music. In case you've never heard of her, she is awesome. ;) And her new album is just as good (if not better) than the first!

I just adore the up-beat...ness (don't laugh at me) of her music -- it totally makes you want to get up and show off your dancing skillz. Or, if you're me, your non-existent dancing skillz. ;D

Actually, my piece for my Spring piano recital this semester was actually an arrangement of a song from her self-titled first album, called "Electric Daisy Violin." I posted a video of my performance in this blog post, if you'd care to hear it. ;)

Anyway...

Like I said, Lindsey also makes seriously awesome music videos. She's done all the songs from her first album, and two from her second so far. This is the playlist of all le videos. Like I said, they are seriously awesome. Go watch. ;D

In the meantime, here is the music video for the title song "Shatter Me":

While her debut album was only instrumental music, this time around she collaborated with singers to make two songs with lyrics. I definitely think it was a good idea. ;)

And voila! That is a rundown of Lindsey Stirling's new CD. Super awesome, and I highly recommend. If you've listened to it, let me know in the comments which tracks are your favorite!

A couple of my favs...

3 - V-Pop

4 - Shatter Me (feat Lzzy Hale)

5 - Heist

8 - Take Flight

9 - Ascendance

Twenty Things That Make Me Happy

1. Those simply perfect days in Spring. 
2. Laughing so hard you can barely breathe. 
3. Seeing a movie for the first time. 
4. The unbroken silence before dawn. 
5. Discovering new music that you love. 
6. Wearing a new outfit for the first time. 
7. When the church band messes up and laughs about it. 
8. Getting new fabric. 
9. Waking up too early and realizing you still have time to sleep. 
10. Getting unexpected text messages. 
11. Hearing news concerning your fandoms. 
12. Being complimented on something that you thought was awful. 
13. When a seam comes out perfect. 
14. Getting a revelation during devotions. 
15. The smell of EOS lip balms. 
16. That feeling of excitement in the pit of your stomach. 
17. Starting a new project. 
18. Great hair days. 
19. Looking forward to awesome things. 
20. Apples from New Zealand:

"Electric Daisy Violin" - A Performance

The Final Truth - A Quote and A Snippet

(Here's my first post concerning this story of mine, in case you don't know about it yet.)

Quick rundown of the novel: It's called "The Final Truth," and is a mystery romance. It's set in London, England, and the two main characters are Tom Devries and Julie Rease. Tom is an investigator/detective for the L.I.D.A., and Julie is a writer for a newspaper.

I've got over 12,500 words now, compared to 2k last time I posted about it. Needless to say, I'm not a very fast writer... xD I've gotten stuck a couple times with ideas for it, so that has definitely slowed progress. But it is getting longer, slowly but surely. ;)

Anyway -- now to get to the new material from it! :D

My favorite quote from the story so far...

And a quick snippet...

~     ~     ~

     Tom’s head snapped forward and hit the air bag that blew up as he was jerked to a halt amidst the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass. Only slightly stunned by the bash to his head, Tom slid over to the passenger seat and quickly exited the damaged car, grabbing his briefcase and pistol from the center divider on his way out.

     Tom could hear his enemy pursuers after him as he ran down the street in the opposite direction. Bullets whizzed past him, just barely missing their target as he ducked behind a car parked on the side of the street. Tom crouched down while loading his gun amidst the sound of bullets hitting the car in front of him. He fired a few shots back at the pursuers as they began to close in.

    Tom knew he couldn’t hold them off by himself for long. He needed back up. Tom pulled out his cellphone and quickly dialed the special enforcement department of the L.I.D.A. The men continued to approach the vehicle which Tom hid behind while keeping a steady line of fire towards him.

     An automated voice came on the line as Tom fired another round at the approaching men.

     “Agent 104 requires immediate dispatch of reinforcement groups to the intersection of 7th and Landings Street!” Tom shouted over the gun shots. “Hostiles firing after attempted abduction and car chase. I repeat – send reinforcements immediately!”

     “Request denied. This number does not have authorization for L.I.D.A. commands.” The line went dead.

~     ~     ~

Avengers: Age of Ultron Cosplay Beginnings

It was a rainy afternoon in April when I entered of one of our local thrift stores. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but I was eager to shop anyway.

I slowly browsed through the books, dresses, shoes, and skirts before meandering over to the sewing section. I perused through the vintage patterns, sewing notions, and yarns, before finally stepping over to the large bookshelf filled with fabrics, each length carefully rolled up and tied with a piece of twine.

My eyes eagerly scanned the shelves before I began the task of scrounging through the fabrics. Some unknown treasure lurked there, hidden, cast away, in the recesses of those worn shelves, just waiting to be discovered.

My hunt didn't last long before I was rewarded.

Squatting down to search the lower shelves, a large, blue-hued bundle immediately caught my eye. I quickly pulled the fabric out from under the others and examined it closer.

Perfect.

~           ~           ~

And that is the story of how I found the fabric for my cosplay for "The Avengers: Age of Ultron."

Captain America.

That's right ya'll. I'm making a fem Captain America costume to wear to the midnight premiere of Age of Ultron. And I am beyond excited. :D :D

This cosplay is so different from anything I've done before, and it will most definitely be a challenge for me, testing both my sewing and creative abilities. But hey -- I'm always up for a challenge! ;D

So anyway, this fabric I found is crazy perfect for fem Captain America. Perfect color, perfect texture, perfect weight, and the perfect amount! 103 inches long and 60 wide -- all for 3 stinkin' bucks. Needless to say, I was beyond stoked when I found it. :D

(This is the most accurate representation  of its color.)

Another fabric also caught my eye during my little thrift store search: a similar type of fabric, but red, and only about a yard in length. For 80 cents. :O I knew it'd be great for the red accents of the bodice, since it won't require much anyway.

(they're both in major need of ironing. xD and the red really isn't that bright... o.O)

There were several other fabrics there that would work really well for my costume (for various accents and such), but I decided to hold off and only buy the two, since I do have a year until the costume has to be finished, and about 6 months before I allow myself to officially start working on it... xD

So yes. That is my not next, but second-to-next cosplay that I have planned. :D My next cosplay will be for the third Hobbit film. (which they recently renamed "The Battle of the Five Armies" -- yes, I like the new title. Kill me, but I do. ;D) I'll let you know what my costume will be for that soon, most likely when the first trailer for it comes out. (hyperventilates just thinking about the trailer coming out... xD)

Anyway! That's my cosplay happenings lately. :D

P.S. Here's my board on Pinterest for the cosplay... because you know I always do that. ;)