For the past few years it seemed like either a few days before or a few days after this event happened we would see an advertisement for it and wonder if this is something we should try to be involved with. We always put it in the back of our thoughts with a “we need to look into this next year” note on it. Apparently someone on staff is a bit telepathic because this year they reached out to us. It took a little bit of work, but eventually we agreed to sponsor “The Hall Contest” with a new sewing machine as a prize. Then later thanks to another sponsor backing out we took the opportunity to sponsor the main stage competition as well.
The Hall Contest
The Hall Contest was described to us as being a new event that was a costume contest for more entry level cosplayers. With this knowledge we reached out to our new friends at Necchi and together we decided their Creator Series C35 was the perfect machine to help this years winner take a step forward in creating future costumes. The Necchi C35 is a simple machine, but has plenty of power to punch through some of the heaviest of fabrics, includes a variety of stretch stitches to handle the stretchy fabrics, and even includes a non stick foot to help avoid problems on leathers and vinyl where your standard foot may want to stick to the fabric. This sounded like the perfect machine for almost any cosplay need to all of us.
Being a “con” newcomer and having the name “hall contest”, we were not sure what to expect, but this contest was indeed held in a room! Just like the main stage event, there was still a little stage but this was a much more relaxed event.
The group of four judges was made up of people who had won similar events in Omaha and Kansas City. While the costumes were judged very closely inspecting everything from the overall look down to the stitches and seams this felt much more like the contestants asking their more knowledgeable friends for their opinion on their costume than stepping in front of a Simon Cowell type judge in an attempt to jump start your singing career. If you are new to this sort of event and want to get some professional feedback, this would probably be a great way to achieve that.
The Hall Contest Best Of Show
Eirys Rayne Cosplay was the Best in show winner for her portrayal of Leafeon from Pokémon winning her a new Necchi Creator Series C35 Sewing Machine!
Hall Contest Contestants:
The Main Stage Contest
A couple of weeks before the event we learned that because another sponsor had fallen through, that they were going to move our Necchi C35 Sewing Machine Prize to be the Main Stage Best Of Show prize. The only problem is that I had already mentioned to customers that we were sponsoring the Hall Contest and that they would have a chance to win the Necchi there! I reached out to our friends at Elna who agreed to help sponsor the event. The machine chosen was the Elna eXperience 560. The Elna eXperience line has been a very popular line here and in our experience (no pun intended) has proven that it is capable of doing just about anything fashion or decor related that you could ask for including costume creation!
The costume construction is judged just as closely for the Main Stage competition, but while this is where the Hall Contest ends, it’s just the beginning for the main stage. Contestants take the stage and do their best portrayal (or skit) for an auditorium full of people. This really brings the character to life in a way that the Hall Contest just can’t do.
This is also a great test of the contestants ability to make their costume durable and wearable. This is no easy task considering most of these characters were not designed for live action. What an animator can do on a page or a programmer can do in a computer can be widely different than what happens in this reality with mortal supplies.
Main Stage Judges:
At past events that we have sponsored we have been asked if we wanted to pick who our prizes went to. Anime Nebraskon did not ask us to do that, and I am so glad that they didn’t! The only thing at this event that looked like harder work than the costume creation would be deciding on the winner. I’ve been around cosplay events before this, but never as anything more than a spectator. Needless to say, I was paying more attention to the costumes this time, and I was blown away with the overall level of quality and creativity. Trying to pick a winner out of this group probably would have bankrupted us because I would have wanted to give everyone a new machine!
The Main Stage Contest Best Of Show
Crystal Brakhage Designs took home the Elna eXperience 560 Sewing Machine for her portrayal of Hild from the Vinland Saga.
Main Stage Contestants:
Beginner Level:
Intermediate Level:
Masters Level:
Walk On:
Skits
Sewing Panels
In between the Friday evening Hall Contest and the Saturday Main Stage Contest were a LOT of event options. We spent a bit of time on Saturday walking around the whole venue to take in all of the sites, but spent most of our time in the sewing related panels. The majority of these were handled by Adrienne of Quite-A-Riot Cosplay and focused on the different fabrics, stabilizers and sewing techniques needed to advance your costume making skills. I would recommend these types of panels for anyone even thinking about making their own costumes. While I was aware of a lot of the information that these panels contained, it gave me a whole new perspective when applying it to the costume world. Which in turn has created a new job opportunity here for an experience cosplayer or costumer, and has us already testing and bringing in new products for the cosplay community.
For our own panel Kristen used our Learn Your Sewing Machine class as a rough guide and focused on the uses and techniques that most peoples machines are already capable of with their standard accessories and feet. Over the years, we have learned that a lot of people who already own a sewing machine don’t realize just how capable it is unless they have had some proper instruction.
The whole event was a lot of fun, and we have to thank the entire staff for being super helpful and friendly while we were there. Tarah and Adrienne each deserve an extra big thank you for helping put everything together with us, answering our questions and taking the time to make sure we weren’t wandering around lost half of the time when they both already had plenty on their plates!
If anyone has any class, tutorial, or product suggestions please post them below. I would ask for suggestions on media to check out, but after trying to verify everyone’s names I’m already seeing plenty of suggestions!
Waiting for next years event like….
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Really like that you did this! So much time and talent goes into cosplay and it’s very appreciated that a sewing machine business got involved! Way to go, Millard Sewing!
We love all kinds of sewing here, so this is just a natural extension of that for us. Getting to go to a fun event and saying it was work was a total bonus as well! lol