Take Five

I have decided to put all of CostumeU operations on hold. This is not an easy decision because I really enjoy the work I have been doing, however, I feel it is the right thing to do.
I will be completing my current orders. I have a few holsters, a steampunk outfit for Nettie , a cute little bunny, a codex staff, and a Little Sister costume that are still on my production schedule.
Once finished with these, I will be done. I do not know how long this break is for or if I will ever begin again.
I did have several prospective commissions that I had to decline. This was not easy and I apologize to you all. As I mentioned in my notice, I truly hope you find a gifted costumer to complete your orders.
Thank you to everyone who helped, encouraged and supported me in this endeavor.
Until next time,
-Shep

Update - Steampunk gun holster

Here are a few images of the tooling on the gun holster from my previous blog post.

Steampunk Leather Gun Holster

This is the current progress on my custom order for a steampunk gun holster. It's being designed for an 1858 Remington Army revolver.
Gun holster to be added with custom stamping/tooling of clockwork design.

My Babydoll

I finished my first Babydoll costume complete with holster. It will ship tomorrow and hopefully make my client super happy. Ironically, today I received a request to make another Babydoll holster/harness for another Etsy client. Business is good and I am enjoying all the creative people on Etsy who continue to support my efforts to create quality custom costumes.
On the way :
Original Steampunk costume - for nettieP
Mao - for thegoingmerry
Steampunk gun holster - for EtsyRed
and more...stay tuned.

Here are a few images of the completed Babydoll costume.

Recent Custom Leather Work

Back view of Uncharted holster

I recently completed two custom holster replicas. The first is for the character Nathan Drake from the video game series Uncharted. I made it for an Etsy client wanting to trade for credits on a new web series he is working on. The second is from the character Babydoll in the upcoming movie Suckerpunch. Each of the harnesses are designed for the Colt 1911 pistol.

The Uncharted holster is for sale for only $55 now on my Etsy shop CostumeU. It can be custom  made to fit any size and dyed in a variety of colors.

Front view of Uncharted holster

I also have a pattern for sale for those with a bit more crafting skill. For only $5 you could create your own from whatever materials you may have available.

The Babydoll shoulder holster from the upcoming movie Suckerpunch is also for sale for $55 at my Etsy store. I am really looking forward to this movie since I have done quite a bit of reading about it for the creation of the shoulder holster. This too can be created to fit any size and dyed in a variety of colors.

Back view of Babydoll holster

For only $5 you can also get the Babydoll holster pattern to make this beautiful harness yourself. This is especially useful to those making their own Cosplay of Babydoll.

Front view of Babydoll holster

Busy Little Bee

The last few weeks have been very busy to say the least. With our script finalized at work my responsibilities in costuming have really ramped up so work is full-speed. I am finalizing two Etsy sales for shipment this week. The first is a the Babydoll costume based on the movie Suckerpunch. The second is a custom holster patterned after the character Nathan Drake from the video game series Uncharted. I have also been contacted about two new pieces for clients on Etsy. First, a holster for a steampunk costume and second to create a costume based on a comic character. Both of these should be a blast to make.

As work ramps up and my seamstresses are cranking out costumes for the March 20th film date, I'm sure February-March will be quite busy at work. As I finish my current orders and begin new ones for my Etsy clients, I should have no problem using up my freetime.

Bamboo...FUN!

Today, I got my graphics tablet from Wacom. It's the Bamboo Fun model. It lists on their site @ $199. I got it for only $188 (including tax+shipping) from WalMart.com. It comes bundles with: Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 7.0 Win/6.0 Mac, Corel® Painter™ Essentials 4.0 & Nik® Color Efex Pro™ 3.0 WE3


I wanted to try out my hand at sketching so, I drew up something I'm working on for a client. Here is my first effort on my new tablet along with my previous pencil sketches I scanned/photographed.

First sketch on my new Bamboo tablet.

Pen sketch of the bolero jacket.

Original ink drawing of the design.