National Costume Finishing Month

Do you have a project that has stalled? Have you run out of creative steam and feel like you can't make yourself sew? Are you in desperate need of new clothes or just plain wanna sew something to completion? National Costume Finishing Month is for those of us who need a kick in the pants, a boot to the head, or just a fun excuse to finish a costume or three.

Your mission, should you chose to accept, is to complete a costume down to the last stitch within 30 days. It can be of any era, for any reason, be it con, cosplay, faire or SCA, or even *gasp* modern clothing. Work through your stash, buy that fabulous fabric you've been lusting after, or pick up that stalled project and just sew!

What happens if I don't finish within 30 days?

There is no penalty for not finishing... NaCoFiMo is all about jump starting your creativity and letting loose the costuming muse.

What if I finish my project way ahead of time?

That's up to you. You can stop while you're ahead, or if you're like many sufferers of CADD (Costume Attention Deficit Disorder) and you have another costume or three that needs to be realized, you may decide to start another costume. Sew until you can't sew no more!

What's in it for me?

New clothes, for one! Everyone loves new clothes. But just because simply participating in a community effort such as this isn't always enough incentive, we're going to give out made up awards! For being a finalist, you will get one of three lovely banner icons that you can display on your website or LJ info page.

Finalists with one completed costume will recieve a bronze icon banner.
Finalists with two completed costumes will recieve a silver icon banner.
Finalists with three or more completed costumes will recieve a gold icon banner. Bragging rights are included at no extra cost.

Will there be a showcase after all is said and done?

Of course! It's just not up and running yet, but it will be! We also want to encourage you to post pictures of your projects in progress, because everyone loves pictures.

You are going to give National Novel Writing Month credit for this idea, right?

Yep. We totally ganked their idea and decided the costume community needed a similar outlet for pent-up creativity. Thanks NaNoWriMo!

When does it start?

Dec 15 2006 - Jan 15 2007

Why Then?

Most people have some amount of time off of school/work in that block of time, for those of us in the SCA there are few (if any) events.

But that time doesn't work for me!

So come up with your own time period and do it!

Should I wait until Dec 15th to start finishing projects?:

Dude, no. That's what's gotten us all in to this mess in the first place. If you have the time to work on something, do it. It just won't count towards your NaCoFiMo "score" unless it's finished on or after Dec 15th. But YOU will know that you got something done, and won't that feel great? Besides, the more unfinished things you get finished before then, the more space you'll have in your sewing room for other NaCoFiMo projects!

How big does my unfinished costume project have to be?

It doesn't matter. It can be a hem that you've been putting off for two years, or a complete dress that you got cut out but never started sewing. Sure, the latter is going to be pretty impressive when we're all done and put up the spiffy website, but you'll still get your icon/banner/bragging rights.

Now get crackin'!

Dreams of German fashion...

And I dreamt... lol. Oh, how I want a dress like this. In coral or deep red/burgundy silk, black velvet, and a gold-embroidered cream silk inset. ~sigh~ Actually I have no clue what I really want to do with the bust inset. I could make it slashed, as shown in one part of the sketch, or I could embroider it. But I have really no embroidery ideas. Embroidery is something I don't have a whole lot of imagination at...

Now, to figure out how much it would cost to make.