Over the last few days I've been out doing creative fieldwork…observing the
joy that comes from making one's own design.
Over the weekend Denver had
our own StarFest, which is the galactic Sci-Fi version of ComicCon. For 3 days
the convention was overrun with geeks…er… people in Star Trek and Star
Wars costumes, DIY Klingon and Dr Who Costumes, and other character costumes
ranging from Captain
Jack Sparrow…to Wonder
Woman. The vast majority of the costumes worn were obviously made by the
wearer, who clearly spent hundreds of hours bringing their ideas to
manifestation.
It was good to go and see all that raw, crazy,
over-the-top creativity and ingenuity. Sometimes we crafters think we have the
corner on the DIY market, but there were some serious costume designers who have
regular dayjobs but spend their nights and weekends dreaming up highly detailed
costumes and accessories. Whoa, some of those big guys who not only dress as
Klingons, but also speak the Klingon language, wax poetic when they talk about
how they sourced their Klingon "uniform" details.
On the other end of
that scale, today I taught my first 5th grade quilting class. We spent our first
session designing quilt blocks, cutting out templates, choosing fabrics, and
pinning paper templates to the fabric. The kids were TOTALLY into it – both boys
and girls. We are creating a Civil
War inspired quilt, and our goal is to present it to a veteran before the
end of the school year.
What really struck me is how the pure joy of
making something, was just as strong with both the Klingons and the 5th graders.
If you follow me on Facebook, you
already saw that I was posting from Klingon and Steampunk
costume seminars. Mason's comment about StarFest was "I've never seen so many corsets
in one place in my life!" Yes how true. Our mothers burned their bras and
girdles in the 60's and 70's, so our daughters could wear laced corsets
in the new millennium.
Tomorrow I am flying down to Santa Fe to attend
the SAQA annual conference. Hope to see some
of you there!
The image above is the winner of the SciFi category of the
costume contest. Check out my other
photos from Starfest!
* Tickets for Hover Home
Fundraiser * –
Storytelling by Luana to support a Victorian
estate.
* SAQA & Andover
Fabrics Call for Entries *
