Close Up on Suit Up! Wonder Woman

For a solid three weeks in a sweaty end-of-summer, our entire apartment was bathed in a heady mix of novelty fabric, fusible, scraps of gold covered bits, and all manner of paint fumes. And as those heatwave prep days for Suit Up! grew shorter, so did my Wonder Woman skirt. 

Not so much because of the heat, but because I was OBSESSED with getting the angles perfect. That leather just kept getting a haircut! "she's short" I would whisper scream every few hours or so, glancing wide-eyed over at my dressform, where the teeny leather dress chilled while I banged out scuba capes and S shields and bat ears. I've worn my share of miniskirts, but only onstage, and said several years ago with GREAT FINALITY that I was done with them. However, this recent marriage of acting & sewing has apparently brought it back full circle. I went super short for the first ep of Re:Fashion, and I don't think you can even deem this here jammie a mini. 

BUT I MEAN. I'm supposed to be freaking Wonder Woman, right?! That's what the leather belt with gold taped accents says!! Wonder Woman has to have room to kick them gams and knock out villains!

Of course, her footwear is a bit more kickable than mine. Hey, you know what's hard to find? RED WEDGE BOOTS. Even flat red boots. At least, any that come with a price tag of less than a couple hundred bucks. What I DID find was some pretty glorious, thigh high white pleather boots that, with such great height, could double as knee armor as well. All they needed was a little floral spray paint and some more gold tape! 

By the way, y'all: floral spray paint is a great adhesive for changing up any pleather action. And a great way to scare your neighbors, too! One early morning during the slamsewing fest, I donned a heavy duty ventilator mask, took my boots out into our trusty alleyway, and painted the town red. Literally. Could see small clouds of red wafting up into the atmosphere, no matter what angle I used. A lightbulb clicked, and I grabbed a giant cardboard box from the recycling area, stuck the boot in, and contained most of the red menace. 

But New Yorkers heading to work looked down on me like I was Armageddon. Probably had something to do with the mask. And the crazyeyes. However, if you're looking to change up the hue of your footwear, this stuff is the way to go. Though I would suggest starting with, say, a sensible pair of low heeled pumps, if you're faint of heart and want a test run.

I finished her off with some jewelry cuffs that I found at the eleventh hour--and I do mean eleventh. I had them shipped to LA where we shot these episodes. Rob, ever the voice of reason, placed dinner next to my sewing machine one night near the end of the line, and noted my wild stare as I wrangled EVA foam and gold tape into an armband and tiara. Can you use your gold bracelets for her cuffs? My pant was a sufficient negatory answer. How 'bout you eat, and we just find some silver cuffs online, hoss? We want some items "from the closet" in the mix, right?

I think I actually sat down on the floor in response. I had fully lost my grasp of English at that point and could only speak in Sew. He smiled, moved my dinner plate to my lap, and pulled up Ye Olde Amazon.

I LOVE THAT MAN.

I hope you enjoyed looking at this hero in static form, I know that sewists hit the pause button when they want to ogle a garment in action, so hopefully this does the trick if you'd like a closer peek! Next time I'll remember to ask for some back shots (our AWESOME photographer Dylan was, of course, not thinking about the back angle). This last snap shows me inserting the gold exposed zipper, which you can see in action in the trailer here, or of course in the ep if you already get your "Sewing TV" through Bluprint. You can peep the making of Wonder Woman here--and I'll highlight that dark hero this weekend ;)

Speaking of WEEKEND! If you're working on some cosplay or Halloween fun of your own, here are some of the things that I used and loved for this look. (They're amazon links, so let your fingers do the typing if you're not into that!)

Gold mylar film tape -- excellent stick without damaging the materials. And repositionable!

Silver cuffs -- Thank you Rob ❤️

Sky high white boots -- nuff said.

Design Master Floral Spray paint -- this brand is awesome and comes in ALL the colors.

(...and if you're gonna paint the town red, please do it with one of these!)

Happy creating, sewing superheroes! Holler if you're stitching something for the season 💃🏽