Overdue Ghostbusters Update

I haven't felt well since Halloween, so I've put off an update, but here are a few pictures of the pack build and some pictures of our Halloween party held at my sister's house. My husband went as Ray Stantz, I was a lady ghost, the kids were ghosts, my sister was Dana, her husband was Peter Venkman, their 3 kids were ghosts, my brother was Egon Spengler and his wife was Janine (their kids were various non-Ghostbusters related things).

My husband's pack wasn't 100% finished by the party, but I'd say it was 90% if not more. My brother, who was making the pack for my brother-in-law also, didn't get his packs finished in time. We all still had a lot of fun. The food even matched the theme. We had "proton stream" spaghetti, green Jell-O "slime", Twinkies, and Stay Puft Marshmallow man dessert (Mississippi mud pie cake), along with an awesome veggie pizza my sister Becky made to look like the no ghost symbol!

"Peter", "Egon", and "Ray"

Ready to believe you!

My brother-in-law Dan as Peter, my sister Becky as Dana, and their kids as ghosts.

My husband Jason as Ray, me as a lady ghost, and our kids as ghosts.

I had wanted to wear a Padme gown under the tulle ghost over gown, but I was rushing too fast and making mistakes, so I put it aside and wore a regular dress underneath. It wasn't as nice, but it worked.

My brother Dean as Egon (wearing Jason's pack) and my sister-in-law Lisa as Janine.

The "No-Ghost" logo veggie pizza that my sister made.

The bibs I made for the kids.

One of the key fobs I made.


Various boxes in the build process.

Download this mp3 from Beemp3.com

Halloween

I haven't felt very well lately, so I only have one picture downloaded, but I thought I better put at least it up. I hope to have more up later.

Here are the kids, my husband & I on Halloween at my sister Becky's house. We ran out of time and didn't get the Proton pack 100% complete, though it was nearly so. I had to give up on my under gown, since I was just making mistakes in the rush to finish it on time. I want it to be nice for when I wear it as a Padme gown, so I decided to wait on it and wear a regular dress under the ghost over gown instead. It wasn't as nice, but it worked ok. I opted to make the kids' ghost costumes colorful, because I figured their cousins would be in white ghost costumes. Most of the ghosts seen in the movies aren't white but colorful anyway.

Ghostbuster Update

Another update on the Ghostbuster costume progress. To anyone who doesn't know much about Ghostbusters costumes or props, this won't mean much to you. For anyone who is familiar with it, you'll recognize this as the circuit board in one of the belt do-dads. I finished my husband's circuit board today. Nothing on it started out as anything having to do with circuitry at all, the closest thing is the phone wire I used. This is a collection of found materials I had around the house, nothing was specially purchased. Some of the things include: styrene (left over from R2-D2), Sculpey (I always try to have it around), clear tubes (left over from X-wing flak vests), phone wire (some scraps my husband had), electrical tape, clear plastic (from a hinge container), labels I made myself, aluminum foil, paint, and a lot of imagination!

This will go into a tape measure holder and hang from the belt. I still need to pick up a coiled black cord and attach it to a smaller circuit board before it will be 100% complete.

Ghostbusters Update!

Halloween is getting closer and closer (18 days away!!) so I thought I'd give a follow-up to my previous post on the Ghostbuster costume for my husband.

I have started to sew the "no ghost" patch onto the sleeve by hand (I still need to stitch down the ghost's hands and head). I have the STANTZ name patch pinned in place, ready for me to sew it on as well. I need to sew two belts together to get a belt large enough to fit my husband comfortably (they were small sized, but cheap priced!).

Here are the costume stats so far:

Uniform: Tru-Spec
No Ghost patch: eBay seller CapAmerica
Elbow Pads: Made by myself
Name Patch: Made by my sister, Becky (she did an awesome job, she just used a zig zag stitch on a regular sewing machine!!)
Belt: Amazon.com

Lady Ghost

(I finished my lady ghost "over gown" quite some time ago, but never posted a progress on it.)

I used some left-over satin material (shiny side in) from a previous Halloween costume for the bodice and sleeve "cuffs". I even had some left-over trim that I used on the bodice as well. I actually used the patterns my Mom & I picked up for the bridesmaids gowns for my wedding! I had purchased some tulle netting from JoAnn's while they were having a 2 yards for $1 sale, so I wasn't afraid to tear into it. So, after I got the bodice done, and attached the tulle sleeves that were cut out using the pattern, I tore my tulle into several pieces. It felt horrible and strangely wonderful all at the same time!

After I got the tulle shredded and torn the way I liked, I sewed gathering stitches in each piece and I put them onto the bodice at the empire waist line and sewed them in place. After I had them sewn onto the bodice, I placed the "gown" onto my dress form and tore the netting some more to make it look "ghostly" and old.


Here are pictures of my lady ghost over gown. It will be worn over my Padme Amidala [Skywalker] Episode 3 "Aqua Georgette" gown, when I finish it.

To see the original post on this gown visit: Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Who ya gonna call...?

Yeah, I know, between the commissions I have on my list and the Senator Amidala costume I'm working on, the last thing I need is another costume let alone set of costumes to make, right?!

Well, every year my husband & I, sister & brother-in-law, and brother & sister-in-law all have a Halloween party. My husband & I were watching Ghostbusters the other day and it made me think how cool it would be if my husband, brother, and brother-in-law were Ghostbusters for the party!

Left to right: Ray (my husband), Egon (my brother), and Peter (my brother-in-law)

(Many thanks to Ghostbusters Fans for the images)

To go along with the men dressed as Ghostbusters, my sister will be Dana, my sister-in-law will probably be Janine the secretary, and I will be a lady ghost similar to this:
Our kids (10 in all come Halloween time) will all be ghosts. My husband & I have two kids, a boy (3 yrs) and a girl (2 yrs by Halloween).

Someone on Ghostbusters Fans community board had posted a link to a place that sells coveralls very similar to the ones used in the movie at a great price: Army Surplus My brother found a place on eBay that sells A.L.I.C.E. frames that were used to secure the proton packs to the backs of the Ghostbusters. While we wait for the coveralls and frames to come, my brother has been working on figuring out the details for the proton packs.

I am turning my focus on figuring out how to create a lady ghost and cute child ghost costumes. I have a large piece of satin blue/aqua fabric my mom had given me that my aunt didn't want. I am going to use it to make a Cinderella gown for my daughter's birthday party but I still have about 5 yards left. So, I began thinking about how I could use it as the under gown for my lady ghost costume. Yet, all the while, the Star Wars costuming freak in me kept nagging at the back of my head how wonderful it would be as the undergown to Padme's Episode 3 "Aqua Georgette" gown.

Now, the wheels in my head are spinning wondering how I can make both! I am wondering if I make the basic form for the Padme gown and then make a sheer white jacket or overdress that would go over the gown, probably with jagged hems to look more ghostlike. That way, after Halloween, I can remove the sheer overdress/jacket, add the arm gauntlets, headband, and back waterfall drape and I'll be Padme. I know I'd get more use out of the gown if it was a Padme gown, but our budget is pretty tight...making just the lady ghost would be easier and cheaper. But, how many times would I use it???

*Goes off to ponder some more*


Update: 6-4-08

I've contemplated this some more, and come to the conclusion that a duel purpose gown would be awesome, as well as more practical use-wise, so I have set about making the Padme gown with the idea of adding a tulle overgown sort of thing to it to make it a lady ghost. JoAnn's had a sale for Memorial day and their tulle was 50 cents a yard plus 10% off of that, so I got my tulle then! I was also able to find the perfect georgette fabric for the Padme aqua georgette gown at Field's fabric on sale, so now it is just a matter of getting the pattern figured out. I've started a pattern for the yoke out of paper and I've modified it several times. I think I may have finally tweeked my pattern to the final version now. I just need to try on the mock-up and see how it fits.

For my husband's Ghostbuster costume, the flightsuit came as well as the A.L.I.C.E. pack! My brother got the motherboard (i.e. the base) for the Proton Packs cut out yesterday, so we are well on our way!

This flightsuit will be the basis for my husband's Ray Stantz costume.

The A.L.I.C.E. frame (found used, on eBay, by my brother) will be the framework that holds the Proton Pack to my husband's back. It will need to have all the straps and kidney pad removed to be spray painted black and then the straps & pad can be reattached (after washing everything up really nice).

Now, back to work!

For an update to the Lady Ghost gown, see my posts: Lady Ghost and Aqua Georgette.