Calling My Inner Ghostbuster: Holtzman

I'm really looking froward to the upcoming Ghostbusters sequel, featuring the new team of hilarious yet no-holds-barred genius ladies. As I watched the newly released trailer, I could see myself and so many of my own female friends in these characters' personalities, twisted senses of humor and overall camaraderie.  So, it was inevitable that a few of us are already planning our cosplay's based on this band of ghost-busting babes of science and fantasy.

I'm planning to create mine based on Dr. Jillian Holtzman, played by the awesomely talented SNL comedian and fellow weirdo, Kate McKinnon.
So far in my search for all the bits and pieces, I've come up with a possible option for the coveralls I could modify the hell out of, and two types of the safety glasses she seems to have various versions of.
Exhibit A: The ones in the above scene/gif look like these, but with yellow tinted lenses. That's an easy enough modification, swabbing a thick mixture of yellow Rit dye onto the plastic lenses to stain them.
Exhibit B: I also won these (below) on Ebay. They're nearly an exact match to her wire framed versions, except for clear glass lenses:

(Seller photographed them upside-down...I have no idea why)

I can spend the extra cash if I want, and have these replaced with some plastic safety lenses in a yellow shade. Based on a previous experience, the cost to do this isn't too high, and even less for frames that open (like these do, where the earpieces attach), and that are non prescription.

As always, it really depends on where you go to have it done. Some places may charge upwards of $70+, while others will run you around $45 to $50.

Still debating on the coveralls; I've found something that would be perfect to throw in a taupe khaki dye bath, add details to, and modify with new pockets. being a fabric addict and seamstress, the thing I get hung up on of course, is the damn fabric weave.
The film worn versions have an obvious vertical herringbone texture, and you can see it in many of the available stills and promo shots. I'm not finding used and vintage herringbone weave coveralls that are similar in color, or a color I could dye. Nor am I finding modern coveralls that, while have the right details and would be easy to dye/modify, do not have that herringbone weave.
I may just need to get over it...at least for this first version.
Later on, if I can find some of that fabric in white I'd dye it and make my own coveralls from scratch, but I also really like a good time-saving shortcut that has great results.
I have other more challenging things on this list if I want this done by late August, in time for Dragon Con. Like figuring out what the hell necklace/pendant thing Holtzman is wearing, and this absolute madness:

The new Proton Pack!

I hate having to wait until the middle of Summer to see this film! In the meantime, I'll just keep on with the image digging.

OXOX

So Much Dyeing, So Little Time

Sunday was a day of dyeing, sanding and painting.
I was able to get a good chunk of work done on some otherwise time-consuming tasks on my journey to complete at least three different costumes.
Surprisingly, I was able to get my Wilma Deering spandex dyed the perfect color on what I'd consider one dip! Fortunately I didn't need to constantly adjust my dye bath a billion times before I got the color I wanted, and only had to do two swatch tests before finally submerging my fabric. Of course in the below photo, it looks crazy dark and bright, but after the rinse and drying, it's a perfect flamingo coral color.

This color; it's not just pink. I call this 'Pank!'

 

 Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering

With that success, I knew it would be short lived.

I needed to also dye some of the bright white spandex a pale ivory shade, for the neckline and belt loop piping trim that matches her belt & boots. I had purchased some acid dye in 'Ivory Cream' from Dharma Trading Co. This is the same stuff as all the other dyes used on my fabrics so far with success.
Not this time.

Instead of a nice creamy ivory on my swatch test, it came out a pale butter yellow color. No matter how many times I diluted it to get a paler shade, it came out super yellow each time; not what I wanted at all. So, I turned to a trusty dye source for getting a pale ivory beige; black tea.
Since Nylon is a synthetic I was wary if it would take at all to this fabric, since tea is not an acid dye or like others made for synthetics. Then I remembered that I had tea stained a pair of satin slippers a warm ivory shade, and those were covered in a synthetic satin. So I thought to at least give this a shot, considering how colorfast this Nylon jumbo spandex fabric was proving itself to be.

So I brewed up a big sauce pot of very dark black tea on the stove, turned off the heat after it reached a simmer, then dropped in my 1/4 yard of white Nylon spandex.

After about 10 minutes of letting it sit and stirring occasionally, it turned the perfect shade of creamy bone ivory I wanted. Not too dull and still bright, but without the weird yellow tone. And still colorfast; it didn't completely wash out when rinsing, which is a big plus.

From stark white, to butter yellow and finally the bone ivory I wanted (top swatch).

Both fabrics, finally dry and ready to be turned into a costume.

I'm not showing full photos yet of one other project, since it's one I'm keeping it top secret for now. I will say that I had fun painting the prop a shiny metallic silver, then applying a frosty acrylic paint in raised areas. Onto this I dusted a iridescent white/blue glitter. This was done to make the object appear to have frosted over in some spots.
Here's a cropped sneak peek:

Aside from that, the progress on my Jessica 6 costume from Logan's Run is coming along nicely.
I was able to get the pale aqua blue metallic woven silk Georgette dyed the perfect cool pistachio green.
Using the same dye brand and process as before, I just added a smidgen of the Sunflower Yellow to very warm water, and stirred my silk in it for 5 minutes.

The silver threaded silk Georgette dried post dye bath; perfect!

I have an artist via Etsy working with me now, to create the wide silver tone collar that I can add the ankh pendant to myself. I'll probably make the pendant from Fimo and paint it metallic silver. If it doesn't match the metal of the collar, it's ok. The ankh pendant in the film didn't match either, and was likely made of painted resin or something similar, too. The film-worn neck collar it was attached to, however: was made by Cartier.

I've also figured out that I can take photos to document my process as I go, then write and post about it on my breaks at work during the week. This saves me valuable sewing/building time, not spent at the computer at home. We'll see how that goes as the time ticks away toward go time.
XOXO

Dyeing Nylon Spandex - Testing Part I

1970s and early 1980s sci-fi was rife with feathered hair, flashy colors and above all; super shiny Spandex!

The costume department for Buck Rogers spared no expense when it came time to buying what I imagine was bolt upon bolt of Nylon spandex that went into the costumes for the show.

Supposedly a 2-way stretch only, the 90% Nylon with 10% Spandex gave us a mirror-like shine that made an outfit appear painted on.

Wilma Deering's outfits were some of the best examples of this, and one of the companies who made this magical fabric is still producing it to this day. It's called Jumbo Spandex.

Color choice in this material, however; can be slim. Pink is in only one or few shades; super bright or very pale...if any pink at all, and primary colors rule the stock found in my online searches. Yet it still comes in white, and Nylon is dyeable!

I suspect the costumers for Buck Rogers ran into this conundrum, too, and in their attempt to get a bright pink with dyes, ended up with that unique pink for Wilma's costume from the "Space Vampire" episode.

Another place we saw this fabric used during the same time period, in the fashion trend of disco pants. On screen and off, I've only ever seen photos and film of people wearing these, but I recently found some on Ebay. Not vintage, but reproduced by American Apparel.

It's the exact same Jumbo Spandex fabric; 90% Nylon, 10% Spandex, in the same weave.
Just like the vintage pants, the 2-way stretch across the grain, actually has a little stretch on the grain, too. Otherwise there would have been no way they could have gotten such a smooth fit across the hips, and allowed for movement without cutting off circulation.

For the most part, modern spandex like milliskin is polyester and Lycra, and not only lacks the ability to absorb dye, but doesn't have the same body and shine as classic Jumbo Spandex.

To prove the dyeable nature of Jumbo Spandex, I did a test today.

The 'spots' on the pants in the background are just caused by the light. Not dye.

I nabbed myself a pair of the red American Apparel disco pants (I not-so-secretly love them!), and snipped a small bit off the inside zipper placket.
I mixed about 1/2 teaspoon of Dharma acid dye in a Caribbean Blue I had on-hand, to about 1 1/4 cups of almost simmering water.
I let the small scrap soak for only 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After rinsing thoroughly and drying, I had a pretty burgundy scrap, still shiny, with some still-blazing red polyester stitching attached.

Again, this was just after a 5 minute soak, so you can imagine the depth of color if I'd left it in longer.

I'm going to buy a few different shades of pink, neutral base red and yellow from Dharma to mix if needed. Then I'll test scraps from white Jumbo Spandex I'm ordering from Fabrics World, until I get as close as possible to that pink shade on Wilma's ensemble.

Let's just jump right in, shall we?

Well...as I embark on my adventure in building a costume worn by Wilma Deering (Erin Gray) on the late 1970s/early 1980s TV show, Buck Rogers, I'm taking on the adventure of dyeing Nylon spandex.

I know it can be done and know what type of dye to use, I had just hoped I wouldn't need to.
At least this way I can get the exact color I need; a pretty medium, warm pink. Almost a coral.
I'm having more trouble with the wig that will go with this particular project, and I can already tell it may be more work than the costume itself.

I'm still wig hunting for this costume and I'm having a hell of a time finding a wig, that will give me Wilma's 1970s/80s color combo and style, that won't ruin me financially.
I'm also tempted to just do this to my own pale blonde hair. Maybe not nearly as dark in back as Erin Gray had on the show, but a warm golden chestnut and the lighter golden highlights blending from the top front.
My revisit to brunette tresses two years ago with temp color was really fun, and I must say I look damn good with darker hair, too ;-)
The only thing really stopping me, is that ***a wig will keep it's style in Atlanta*** My own hair, probably not so much.

This is a great description of the popular, crazy and campy Buck Rogers episode that inspired me to go with Wilma Deering's pink costume.
CULT TV FLASHBACK # 72: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: "Space Vampire" (1980)
Now if I can just get my friend Anders to be the Vorvon, muwahah!This costume Isn't as insanely specific as some might think. Google Wilma Deering and it pops up right next to the more often seen purple or blue spandex ensembles, and the white flight suit.
Stay tuned to follow the progress of this, and a few other Si-Fi related cosplays I'll be putting together for Dragon Con 2015!

Under the spell of the Vorvon...I can't stop giggling at this gif.