Game On Expo, New Costumes, and Writing Updates.

Happy Sunday everyone! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am committed to at least try to keep up with my blog once a month. I've been better about scheduling my spare time so I can not only squeeze in more writing time, but more admin time for blogging, book stuff, and just much needed personal things that I want to accomplish. I want to make an exciting announcement! I will be Game On Expo in Phoenix in March 2026. I was accepted as a vendor, and have a corner table for the first time ever. I'm really excited, as this event has e-sport tournaments (including for retro games on Nintendo), pinball machines, retro arcades, modern gaming, indie gaming, retro gaming...on and on! They even have retro vintage computers! (Link to convention website listed at bottom of post.)

I have been on a sewing kick these past few weeks. It started earlier this month when one of my daughters asked me to teach her to sew. I had purchased a bunch of stretch velvet at the beginning of the summer, knowing that at one point I was going to make new renaissance costumes. Because of this, I decided this was a perfect opportunity to teach both my daughters to sew - making them a new renaissance dress. I never sewed kid's clothing before; honestly I had avoided it for many years knowing that my kids would grow out of them so quickly. I didn't have a kid's costume pattern, but I did have a woman's pattern, so I decided to modify it.

The red dress in the above picture is the result. I had my daughters help me with the cutting, pinning, and sewing. They were excellent helpers! Of course, I did the hard part of sewing on the sleeves. As for the pattern, there were supposed to be two side panels on each side for the woman's costume. Since it was for a kid/borderline teen, I decided to forego the side panels altogether. It worked out perfectly. If you notice the men's costume in the above picture next to the red dress, this costume was not done by me. But, there is an interesting story to it. My older daughter's twin brother (the one who I sewed the red dress for), he needed a new costume. Not only for the renaissance, but also for Halloween. That kid is as tall as me, and he's not even a full teen yet! As I was talking about this at work, my coworker just happened to be a renaissance faire fanatic. He mentioned that he had a costume that no longer fit him, and it's been sitting in his closet for years. My son - being a huge fan of history - definitely wanted to be something either renaissance or gothic-era (think Dracula...etc.) Well, next day at work, my coworker just GAVE me the outfit for my son! My son was thrilled. It fit him perfectly except it being a little big in the shoulders (which he will grow into very soon.) Two costumes down, now one more to go: one for my younger daughter. We already picked out a coral-color stretch velvet for her dress, all I have to do is to sew it. I will be starting hers next week.

Did I think I was done sewing yet? Oh no. One of the costumes planned was my own renaissance dress. Technically, the pattern looks a bit more medieval mixed with fantasy, but anything goes at the faire. I had been really wanting to create a costume that was different than I normally do. I have only attempted one "pretty princess" dress, and on top of that, adding appliques is completely foreign to me. Using the same pattern as my daughter's pattern (also the exact same pattern I used for my Melisandre cosplay), I started sewing away. I decided when I started this costume that I would make it a little different from the Melisandre dress, opting for a puff sleeve. Truth be told, I have sewn a puff sleeve many years ago, but I sort of made it up. This time I wanted a huge puff sleeve, and wanted to do it more accurately. YouTube was a big help, and I went to town. I still kept the draping long sleeves after the puff, creating a more 'fairy-like' princess cut. After the initial dress was done, I had to go back to the internet and see the best way to sew appliques on. I had originally purchased the darker purple flower applique, but unfortunately I didn't have enough - and they stopped selling them! I went on Amazon and had to cross my fingers to see if anything would suffice. I found a nice pale-lavender design with crystal beading which I thought might work. It changes the tone of the dress, but honestly I had my character 'Lady Elyathi' in mind when sewing this, so I went with it. Back to sewing appliques...how do I do it? What did Firefox say? Hand-sewing...YUCK. But I sucked it up and did it. I am extremely happy with the result! The only thing left is adding elastic armbands that will hide under the puff sleeve, and attaching a long draping tulle fabric to give it more of a fantasy look. I also plan on making a swirly-chain belt out of worbla, and possibly a staff.

Besides all the sewing this past month, I have been chugging away at Fragments of Time. I'm in love with this manuscript so much - I'll be sad when I'm done writing it. I also have been playing a bit of Skyrim on Sundays (guilty pleasure), and diving into 'Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father' on my retro setup during weeknights. If those of you who are wondering what's been going on with my latest Skyrim cosplay, I had put it on hold for two reasons. One: I really needed to sew my kiddos their new costumes. Two: Since I was on a sewing kick, I figured I might as well knock out my own renaissance dress, otherwise I won't want to do it for years to come. There is a third minor reason, which is sort of a reason, sort of not. I got really far on the top half of the costume; I shaped the worbla perfectly to my body, worked on the details, etc. The problem? Well, it looks good, but not like how the costume looks in game. In order for me to satisfied, it has to look like the in game model, or it's no good. So I put it aside, purchased additional material to rework it, and began stripping down what I'm not happy with. I do this a lot with cosplays, and always works out in the long run. That's where I am sitting at. Well, time to sign off and relax for the rest of the day. Hope everyone has a great week! Don't be shy leaving comments! I love reading them. Until next time! -Beth Game On Link: https://gameonexpo.com/ #gameon #convention #skyrim #book #writing #cosplay #sewing #renaissance #dress #skyrimcosplay #retrocomputer #vintagecomputer #vintagecomputing #gabrielknight #sierraonline