Friday, May 9, 2014

Mother Gothel Cosplay for Mother's Day

I don't know why I love Disney villains so much...they just seem so much more interesting than the princesses, although I do still have a soft spot in my heart for Belle (because she reads!). I love it when people try to come up with backstories that explain their motivation (e.g. Ursula was actually King Triton's older sister who was denied the throne simply because she was a female, hence her desire to become Queen of Atlantica). We don't get much from Disney's Tangled's Mother Gothel, other than her vain desire to stay young and beautiful, but one of my favorite fairy tale novel adaptations is Donna Jo Napoli's Zel. In this version, the evil witch is just an infertile woman who longs for a daughter, so much so that she goes to unspeakable lengths to keep her adopted daughter with her. That doesn't excuse her actions by any means, but it does make her a much more nuanced character.

Why are villain costumes always so much better, too? I'm way more into jewel tones than pastels. 

Anyway, I had some nine+ yards of this stretch panne velvet in burgundy (picked up for free from someone else's stash at school!), plus leftover gold trim from my shieldmaiden costume, so like with Ursula, I decided on a whim that the stash practically demanded another random costume. I also wanted to see if I could redeem this most abhorred of fabrics (polyester! stretch! not really velvet! so very costumey! and not in a good way!).

I had just enough trim leftover to encircle the neckline. I ended up having a 1.5" scrap left at the end. *whew* That was close!

I found this website very helpful in planning my costume; even though I wasn't interested in screen accuracy, I did still want it to be recognizable as Mother Gothel. It was pretty easy to sew up the body of the dress from my knit block (I just extended the side seams down and out to make a full skirt), but figuring out the sleeves took some doing. The problem with making costumes based on animated designs is that animators don't always consider things like, oh, seams have to go somewhere, and fabric needs to be cut on some kind of grain to get a certain drape. Mother Gothel's sleeves are very fitted at the top, then they suddenly bell out around the elbow to make that trumpet shape. There's just the one underarm seam and that's it! It took me about eight tries to get the sleeve shape more or less right (a lot of other costumes I've seen have the fullest part of the sleeve hanging from the wrong place, or the sleeves are full all the way through), but thank goodness I had plenty of (free) fabric! I think I might have used about 1.5 yards of fabric just making trial sleeves. In the end, the sleeve shape was not anything I would ever have predicted.

Wtf, amirite?

I lined the inside of the sleeve with some random black scraps I had, added the gold bias binding, and called it a day. No hemming or seam finishes -- it's a costume, after all, and I don't even have anywhere to wear it to! I just wanted to sew it up for the sake of using up as much of this fabric as possible. I finished it in time for April's Vibrant Color Stashbusting challenge, but since I didn't blog it until now, I suppose it also counts as May's Knit Stashbusting? I mean, it's stretchy, even if it's not what one typically considers a knit.

Now, my wig wardrobe is not particularly deep. I've got the short white one (mad scientist and Ursula) and then I've got my old Bellatrix one. Neither is an exact match for Mother Gothel, but obviously the Bellatrix one works better. So excuse the not-quite-right black curls, but here goes!

The lighting in my apartment also makes the fabric look more red and less burgundy.

I didn't think to look at what exactly her pose was before taking these pictures. Oops. 
I'm really in love with these sleeves. 
This is what the back looks like. You can kind of see where my underarm seam ended up. 
I'm sorry I don't have any full length pictures showing the full sweep of the gown's skirt. 
That's because once we start getting zooming out too much, inappropriate things start showing up in the frame, like this ridiculously cute (and decidedly non-villainous) elephant humidifier. 

Summary:
Fabric: 7 yards or so of 54" wide burgundy stretch panne velvet, 1/2 yard of black stretchy mesh (leftover from Ursula's skirt), a strip of burgundy sheet (leftover from Ballister's cape) for the belt.
Notions: Less than 1 yard each of gold braided trim and gold bias tape, both from the stash, and 2 yards of gold trim leftover from my Regency ballgown. That's a lot of stashbusting right there!
Hours: Maybe two for the actual sewing, but another three for the sleeve trials.
Will you make it again? I'm a sucker for vaguely-medieval swooshy maxi dresses, so I'm pretty sure I will at some point.
Total cost: I'm just going to say it was free, since it was all made from stash!
Final thoughts: I feel a little sheepish making a costume for a character from a movie I've only seen once (and don't entirely remember, TBH), but I certainly enjoyed the making and wearing of this one. It's really quite comfortable too (thanks to the stretch factor), albeit warm, but that's panne velvet for you. I just need to find an appropriate convention to swan about at!

I've even got a convenient dagger in my costume trunk. I got it over a decade ago in Taiwan, managed to get it back through customs, never used it for anything, but still somehow managed to save it until now. 
I'm all ready to go after Rapunzel for her hair!
Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away...
Okay, let's get serious about killing our adopted daughter, like in this screenshot

Now, I don't know if you noticed this in these pictures, but the last time I made a magenta maxi dress, I was quite a bit leaner. Now, I could say that it's just because the velvet adds a bit of thickness, or that this dress is cut looser, or even that I've been indulging too much in the start of summer berry season...but it's really because my Mother Gothel is, well, going to actually be a mother.

Is this the world's weirdest bump pic or what? Oh well, it's not like I'm exactly conventional in my "normal" clothing either.
Is it wrong to dress up as a notoriously un-maternal character when one is preparing to be a mother? Let's just say I enjoyed the irony of it.

I'm so thrilled to be able to finally share this with you all (and to be able to finally reveal my biggest excuse for the lack of blogging this spring!). Our SHB is due at the end of September, and I'm both excited and petrified that I'm already more than halfway there! And for those of you are thinking it's been a while since we saw Walnut on the blog, this was what we used as our announcement photo:

He's been super affectionate lately, following me around and sitting very close in the evenings, but I can't say he was a fan of taking the announcement photo. He seems to find ultrasound picture paper extremely tasty, so he kept trying the chew on the corner! 

Wanna see a really creepy ultrasound shot? I went in for the 20 week anatomy scan and the tech snapped this picture of SHB's head:

I added a skull diagram in case you're having a hard time identifying the eye socket and jaw. When I showed this picture to my students, one kid asked, "Wait, does your baby have any skin?!?" Yes, it does, child. At least I certainly hope so!


Anyway, happy Mother's Day to all the amazing sewing mamas that I've had the pleasure to "meet" through blogging! You ladies are seriously inspiring to me as I see how you sew with, around, and for your SHBs. Here's to hoping I can do the same!

68 comments:

  1. Wow!!!! Congratulations! Love the dress and the birth announcement. Best wishes!!!

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  2. Congrats! And I just wanted to say I adore your birth announcement!

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  3. Congratulations Cindy! I suppose I should have been suspicious of this from your blogging absence, as you once pointed out you often are of others, but I guess I just think everyone who doesn't blog is just lazy like me...
    Your SHB will obviously be awesome with you as its mom! And while I must confess I'm slightly sad that your next many makes will be of the maternity variety and therefore less useful to me to rip off, I can't wait to see all the fantastic costumes you will create for the small one when it comes!

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    1. Oh, PS, your bump pic reminded me of when I worked on a production of Macbeth, and the actress playing Lady M was about this pregnant - and her costume looked very, very much like this. We joked that in the future, when her daughter was studying the play in high school, the story she would not want anyone in her class to ever know was that she was inside a murderous Scottish queen for 7 shows a week for a month... So just revel in the fact that these photos will someday totally embarrass your SHB!

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  4. Congrats! I can't wait to see what you will sew for and with your SHB! You are going to be a great parent!

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  5. aahhhhh congrats! you are just 3 days earlier than me! :) i love this costume, if you have a girl she can dress up as Rapunzel!!

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  6. Congratulations on the SHB! Most exciting.

    BEFORE I got to that part of the post, I was going to say that I was excited to see a villain costume post because I'm supposed to go to a villian-themed costume gala in June and have been trolling the internet for ideas. This dress is very cool. Something about the panne velvet just screams "up to no good"...

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  7. What a super sneaky way to make the blog announcement, I love it!

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  8. Congratulations! This is definitely going to be the best dressed baby! As for the costumes .......!

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    1. Yeah, can't wait for "Baby's 1st Halloween/Comicon", right?
      Congrats Cindy!!!

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  9. Congratulations Cindy! What wonderful news!

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  10. Many congrats on the imminent small human being!

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  11. Congratulations! I hope everything goes well and you'll be able to enjoy the whole process.

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  12. what amazing news, congrats!!! wishing you have an uneventful pregnancy! and i love how the costume turned out, those sleeves are perfect!

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  13. Congratulations :) awesome birth announcement too!

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  14. congratulations and announced with such style, too.

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  15. Great cosplay and congratulations! I bet you could use that sleeve shape on a normal T-shirt for extra awesomeness.

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  16. Oh this is just lovely! Your sleeve drafting was inspirational! I need something similar for this summer, and this will be a great springboard to my getting it right, despite my usual all thumbs attack on pattern drafting...

    Many happy returns for your SHB. Such a cute announcement, and s/he is a very lucky kid!
    Nancy N

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  17. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!1!!!!!1!!!! So excited for you! I may have just squee'd. A lot.

    Also the dress is crazy awesome and reminds me of my fave dress c. 1994. Panne velour scoop necks for the win.

    Ok, I'm gonna go squee quietly to myself now...

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  18. well WAY TO BURY THE LEAD AND BLOW OUR MINDS RIGHT AT THE VERY END!! i had stuff to say about the awesome everything else but you know, skulls n babies n kittehs. congratulations!!!

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  19. Congrats!!!! So exciting!
    Hoping I can see your bump before taking off for NorthWestern pastures.

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  20. Congratulations!! Thanks for sharing the good news :) And cool costume, of course. ;)

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  21. Congratulations on the impending wee one! Also, I love this costume. You make the best costumes!! ,

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  22. WHOA! I don't even remember what the beginning of this post was about anymore... congratulations!!!!!

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  23. Fun unnecessary costume!

    And congratulations on your growing family! I have to say I suspected you were pregnant by some of the loose fitting IG clothing pics (some of clothes I don't remember you blogging about), so I wasn't terribly shocked by the news. (Plus, I have a really weird ability to sense when women I know are pregnant - it kind of creeps me out sometimes.)

    ~ Brooke

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  24. Yay!!!!! I'm so terribly excited for you! You're going to have the most adorable baby, and I suspect we're all going to be very entertained by the outfits/scenarios you create for him or her!

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  25. Congratulations on your small human being on the way! What wonderful news. :)

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  26. Congratulations! You will have the cutest mama/baby cosplays ever. :)

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  27. Cool dress, this type of fabric is worst than a nightmare to sew. I used a similar one for my baby's carneval costume, has to clean so much after.
    Congrats btw :))))- I new something was different from the first picture and as I scrolled down I thought - you must be pregnant, not because of the weight gain but your waist is disappearing.
    You'll have soo much fun sewing for the baby, I love to do it and hope the day will never come when my little one says - Mum, stop sewing for me, no more unique clothes please. I want to go with the crowd.

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  28. Congrats!!! Such great news :) I hope Walnut will like his sibling :) Wishing you a stressfree and joyful pregnancy!

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  29. Oh wow, congratulations! Please tell me you're already planning cosplays involving a baby...

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  30. Congratulations on your forthcoming Small Human Being! Even if Mother Goethel didn't have everything together as a mother, the costume still makes the announcement that much cuter. :)

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  31. Congratulations! What a great day to make your announcement!

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  32. Congratulations! September babies are awesome. My son's birthday is 9/24.

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  33. Congrats! And your student asking if it had skin literally had me laughing out loud. The things kids (and sometimes teens/adults) say is often very amusing isn't it? And your birth announcement was too cute! I'm sure Walnut will be great with the baby.

    Anyway, cool costume, and a great use for the velvet. The sleeves are awesome, I kind of want to figure out which way they go so that I can try them out myself. ;-)

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  34. congratulations! babies are very exciting news :)

    and dang, those are some weird sleeves!

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  35. Congratulations! both on the baby and the sleeves!

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  36. Eee! I'm so glad the cat's out of the bag in blogland! Congratulations again!

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  37. Congratulations on the beginning of your parenthood journey!

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  38. Aaawww congratulations! I also wondered if that might be the case - like you have said before if a previously prolific blogger stops posting so much it's often a sign of pregnancy! Hope all is going well (and love the dress - tangled is one of my SHB' s favourites and mother gothel is Def a good villan! )

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  39. Oh, congratulations! ... and fingers crossed, I guess...
    Congratulations on getting the sleeve shape, too.
    And by the way, thank you for hooking me up on Nimona, she said ironically. And not ironically...

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  40. Congratulations! Very happy for you, love your posts and the costumes you sew!

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  41. Congratulations! I was wondering why you'd been so quiet lately, and chalked it up to end of the school year. Very exciting!

    Love the costume, too. Especially those crazy sleeves. Hey, if you have a girl, you could always make her a little Rapunzel costume to go with....

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  42. Congratulations! I love it! Great way to announce a SHB.

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  43. Congratulations from Germany. I wish you all the best.
    Your cosplay dress is wonderful - you should find occations to wear it.

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  44. I disagree about Mother Gothel being shallow in Tangled. I thought it wasn't so much about being young and beautiful (although that was definitely there) as it was about being immortal, and woman's fear of losing what they think defines them (beauty, health enough to do things). But I think, while she was epically dysfunctional, part of the reason she hated Flynn, and stabbed him and all, was that she really did love Rapunzel, in her own messed up way. But she could only relate to her like a little kid (even when they make up, I'll make you your favorite soup, etc, she talks to her like a kid). Just as she wants to be healthy and strong and beautiful, frozen in time (not accepting the aging and falling apart and dying) she wants Rapunzel to be the cute loving trusting child, frozen in time. And she can't bear to watch Rapunzel grow up and become independent, and worse yet, become dissillusioned with her.
    Because note how she tries to get Rapunzel back. She goes through elaborate means and risks (using and then double crossing the stabbington brothers, etc) to convince Rapunzel that she is the real hero-mommy, and Flynn can't be trusted etc. And hence why she hates Flynn, he takes Rapunzel's heart from her, as well as her immortality and the little fairytale frozen in time life she wants...and while she's such a villain, you realize how she got there was just never wanting to let go of what was hers once.

    ok um. That was a lot.
    Your dress is pretty!

    If you liked Zel's mom, you really should read "Till We Have Faces" which is narrated by Psyche's adopted mother/sister (from the myth). I think Zel borrowed heavily from there, and its a very thought provoking book.

    And congrats on the baby :)

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    1. Wow. I never would have made that connection, but I wholeheartedly second that recommendation. :-)

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  45. Congratulations on your news :-) and a great dress too!

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  46. The sleeves scream early 14th c to me. Those trumpet-shaped sleeves are thought to have ultimately morphed into tippets. Take a look at the Luttrell Psalter ( http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/luttrell/luttrell_broadband.htm ), http://groteskology.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-grotesques-of-luttrell-psalter.html (2nd image), http://users.skynet.be/bister/Passion/Fichiers/14thcClothing.pdf (fig 21).

    And congrats on your SHB :-)

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  47. Oh my goodness, congrats on your SHB!

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  48. Congratulations! I laughed and laughed at your birth announce photo, cause it is the best thing ever. I'm sure Walnut will be a good sibling as long as he gets the empty boxes.

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  49. Egads! Congratulations!

    Exciting exciting exciting!

    Babies and dresses and birth announcements and cats eating ultra sound pictures, the SHB is going to have super cool parents and an adoring cat!

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  50. I am right there with you - villains are MUCH more interesting than princesses - and have better costumes, for sure!! :) Totally awesome, as always, and seriously cool that this is your baby bump reveal costume - I mean, how much more YOU could it get? :D You are gonna make the bestest mum EVER - and Walnut is going to be an amazing sibling!! Huge congratulations!! :D

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  51. CONGRATULATIONS! Best baby bump picture ever!! (and I love the announcement photo too....)

    Cheers,
    Eileen

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  52. Welcome to the club of Sewing Mamas! Congrats!

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  53. I was sighing adoration over your villainous cosplay and thinking of all the things I was going to say and then WHAM. All forgotten!!! Congratulations to you and Mr Cation and Walnut on your new SHB! They're going to know very young that they have the most awesomest mum!

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  54. I missed the announcement because my blog reader is so full that I actually recently just marked all posts as read! Congratulations! (Again ;) !!) That due date happens to be near and dear to my heart because it's my actual birth date! I learned that only 8% of babies actually arrive on their due date though when I gave birth to baby girl because she happened to hit her due date perfectly. Labor started just after midnight on the day that she was due, and she arrived just after 6 pm. Perfectly punctual!

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  55. Congratulations. Your little person will be delighted to have a mom who loves to play dress-up!

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  56. This is such an awesome post!!! Love the baby bump pic in the mother Gothel costume! CONGRATS!!!! :)

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  57. OMG CONGRATULATIONS! I'm so thrilled for you!!!!!

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  58. YIPPPEEEEE!!!! so HAPPY for both of you!!! Will have to get to making some hobbit onesies for your upcoming little one :-)
    xoxoxo

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  59. congrats, how did I miss this post in my feed ! what exciting news and now you will have another little one to create fabulous costumes for :)

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  60. How did I miss this until now! Congrats! Fun dress and fun news ahead for you!

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  61. Congratulations! Exciting times ahead!!! So happy for you both! Xxx

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  62. Congrats!! The birth announcement with Walnut is too funny!

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  63. Im so happy for you!!! Many congratulations, dearest :)

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  64. Congratulations!! Long time blog stalker, but I rarely comment... this time I had to! We're due with our first in mid-September. It'll be fun watching your progress alongside mine!

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