Amber Love 23-May-2012 I had mixed feelings when Amanda Conner redesigned TERRA. On the one hand, I loved the outfit tremendously. On the other, Terra’s powers are earth-based and I prefer that to be reflected somehow in the costume. Her other costumes had brown or yellow in them. I like this black and white design the best but it still bothered me.

This construction was an utter pain in the ass. I thought it would be a simple thing to create. Every single step, I ended up doing something stupid. Every sewing session would end with me painstakingly ripping out stitches.

I had wanted to make this costume for myself but here in 2012, my whole life is rather a mess and I’m not actually cosplaying much. I had to sell off a lot of my suits to pay bills. Modeling is dead in the summer so I’m going to sell as much as possible. I don’t always do well when I take people’s measurements and then customize a costume. So my plan is to make some suits in different sizes and post them based on the patterns I already have. That’s neither here nor there about TERRA. See some of the process I went through below.

I tried to get fancy with the color blocking and use the appropriate color in the top thread and the contrast in the bobbin. It mostly worked but there are a few little spots on the white where the bottom black from the bobbin pulled through and is too visible.

Design – 1 hour

Total sewing – around 4-5 hours

Listed on etsy: 23-May-2012

	Drafted a pattern based on another pattern of this size (Women's XL/12-14). Figured out how much fabric it would take.
	Layout for the black sections. Later 2 small pieces needed to be added.
	The original white sections.
	Lining up the color blocking.
	A look at a finished sleeve with the inset white band.
	What the original pieces would look like.
	Preliminary stitching done on the color blocking. Then on to assembly.
	My pattern had a couple errors. This is one of them. The crotch came to two points in the front and back. They had to be measured & cropped.
	Fixing the crotch. Unfortunately this tightened the leg holes ever so slightly. They weren't terribly uncomfortable or bothersome, just tight.
	Showing the width of the front and the back of the pieces at the crotch intersection.
	A first look at it on a hanger and I immediately realized the top cross bar of the "T" in the white blocking didn't look right.
	I removed the stitches for the top of the "T" shape; Trimmed the white blocks and used them as pattern pieces to cut black; Installed the black pieces. The neckline got some final topstitching.
	I tried it on to judge the new lowered neckline. The "T" shape looked much better. Obviously a cropped bra would be needed by whoever is wearing it.
	It's really hard fitting leotards on a my dress form once the legs are stitched with elastic. You get the idea. I made the "T" zipper charm from spare craft foam pieces that have adhesive backs and sandwiched in an eye-hook; added 2 silver jump "O" rings and attached the charm to the zipper pull.
	I put it on one last time to make sure it's actually wearable so that I could sell it.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.