All-Con 2011 Recap

Wow, What a weekend!  There are parts of me and my habitation that are still recovering from that whirlwind of fun.  The folks at All-Con really pulled out all the stops this year.  There was excitement and entertainment well into the early hours of the morning and somehow we all woke up mostly on time and did it all again.

This year the DFWCG participated in three panels.  I have to say they were all a success.  Thank you to Everyone who came to our panels and double thank you to those who ran those panels!  We could not have been a success if it was not for either of you.

Friday we took it easy.  Jennifer Kubenka and Coleen Swafford were at All-Con early so they got our table started while I was still at work.  Thank you Very much Crandall for getting our information together so that they were able to do that!  We saw some great costumes and talked to a lot of cool people.  And some inventive people too!  Check out this Dalek interpretation:

Once the time came to shut down the tables we all broke away and then Coleen and I came back to enjoy the Dr. Horrible Sing-a-Long Blog screening.  I opted to come in Dr. Horrible costume along with a few others, but I was the only one representing the red lab coat.

Founding Member Traci Baker glammed it up in her new PVC corset outfit on Friday night.

What a great way to kick off the first night of the con!  

Saturday we were up and at 'em early as we had our knitting panel first thing.  Last year we had a large group of people who all wanted to learn how to get started.  This year we had a smaller group learning, but over all we were of differing levels.  Regina came to be our expert again.  And as usual she was fantastic and very funny.  We had another Regina drop by to show us how she spins fibers into yarn.  She's from Rose Path Weaving in Lindale, TX.  Our instructor Regina spoke very highly of this shop's yarn selections.

One of our knitters was brave enough to try making our little Jayne Hat Pin that Laura put together for last year.  We were all so busy learning last year that we never got around to making them so I had lots of leftover supplies.  The rest of us learned or practiced our basic knitting.

Our next panel on Saturday was the Fabric and Pattern Swap.  Each year this panel has grown.  I remember the first year when there was only two of us who participated.  This year, we covered nearly every table with swap items.  How fantastic is that?

We moved a lot of fabric and patterns during that swap.  Of course we also had so much more that wasn't taken home.  Although at first I was a little overwhelmed with the amount we had left and what on earth I was going to do with it, I have since decided to donate the remaining swap items to a local theater program or school.  Now I just need to choose where to donate.

During the swap, I met two ladies who are making some interesting innovations in dress forms.  They're Epps & York Apparel & Accessories.  And they make custom dressforms to mimic soft tissue.  In layman's terms, they squish better than a Uniquely You foam form.  They didn't have any forms on hand at this con for us to look at, but I am hoping we can see a sample some time soon.

Saturday afternoon was our beaded jewelry panel.  Our Treasurer Rondinella was gracious enough to be here  from Austin after her time at Gulf Wars in Mississippi to put this panel on.  She was also gracious enough to donate the supplies for the panel so people could go home with something they made instead of just watching a demo.  So a Huge thanks goes out to Rondinella for her contribution on Saturday!  Here's a sampling of what went down in the panel.

At posting, Rondinell hadn't had a chance to sort through her photos she took of the finished products.  I hope to have her photos to showcase soon.

The Beaded Jewelry panel closed out our panel participation for the day, but over at the club table we continued to see some amazing costumes.

 This family was a major favorite walking by.  It's so great when the whole family can participate.

And this Yellow Lantern Scarecrow looked really awesome up close.

I'm not sure what costume this is, but it also looked really great up close.

We officially wrapped up Saturday's club table in the evening so we could all break for dinner.  After that some of us rested and enjoyed the vacation of the hotel.  Others of us played well into the night and early morning hours taking advantage of the extended programming All-Con provided this year.

Sunday was to be a day spent just sitting behind the table and wrapping up our connections with new people. But at the last minute we were asked to sit on a panel about Master Level Costuming as the panelist couldn't make it.  That gave me a chance to sit on a panel with Cynthia, who also was a great help lending us a dress form for costume displays.  We all had to think quickly on our feet to fill the time, but I think the panel attendees were able to come out of the room with some helpful information.

I have to say that out of the 3 years the DFWCG has participated with All-Con, this year was my favorite.  I had anticipated a great time as soon as I saw the theme and I was even more excited about it as soon as I started to see the panels fill in on the schedule.  2012 has some big shoes to fill.  But considering the theme, I think we're in for another wild ride.  See you guys next March for "The End of the World"!