Marie Porter, Spandex & Cosplay Costumer

19/02/2024

As promised, I'm getting ready to work on a new tutorial for Spandex Simplified!
.. Any guesses as to what it'll be?

16/12/2023

Wow, it's been over a year since I last posted, guess it's time for an update.

Recovery from Cipro destroying my tendons is still coming along, just slowly. Two steps forward, one back.

It's been almost 4 years since just 4 antibiotic pills crippled me, definitely would have hoped to ... you know ... be able to open jars or twist the lid off my water bottles by now.

At this point, I'm not convinced I'll be able to go back to Spandex costuming professionally.

So, that said...

In the new year, I'm hoping to be able to spend a bit more time working on the Spandex Simplified blog.

I have enough good days here and there, that I can do little projects and tutorials, as mobility allows

Figure if I can't "do", I can at least teach!

So - what kind of spandex costuming tutorials do you want to see?

Any specific techniques, basic projects, etc?

Any famous outfits you'd like to see re-created, in a "how to make that" sense?

(Swifties... I'm looking at you!)

Let me know what you'd like to learn, and I'll try to make it happen when I can!

05/12/2022

Here's your seasonal reminder that this ... ~Gloriousness~ (??)... exists.

Bryan Adams Christmas EP: https://BryanAdams.lnk.to/ChristmasEPVD Adams shot this video at the original MTV studios in NYC, NY in 1984. Written by Bryan Adam...

27/11/2022

I've now been out of the USA long enough that I had to look at a map to remember which Twin Cities JoAnn's location was THE WOOOOOOORST.

That feels like some kind of milestone.

Anyway, checking in.

No progress on the tendons in my right hand/elbow/shoulder.

In some ways it's gotten worse since the last time I posted here, so that's frustrating. I haven't been able to sew at all, some days it's hard to just hold my water bottle.

My feet are doing much better, so I've got to think that the arm is going to come along, I'm just really not used to injuries taking so long to heal.

Stay away from fluoroquinolones, kids!

Hope all is well with you guys!

25/10/2022

After months of no sewing at all, I offered to make a dress for a friend.

It was a fun challenge, as it involved some traditional dressmaking techniques that I don’t often use in spandex costuming.

Here’s how I made it!

https://spandexsimplified.com/how-i-made-that-art-deco-skating-dress/

13/10/2022

Well, good and bad news.

The good: most of my tendons held up fine, so far. (Not declaring that as a done deal until I see how they are tomorrow).

Unfortunately, my right thumb REALLY didn't hold up, and my right elbow is fussing.

So I guess it's back to rest and therapy for a while, will try sewing again in a month or two.

UGH.

Cipro really sucks, this is ridiculous.

13/10/2022

Well, here I am, working on my first Spandex project in... a very long time.

For the first project back, it's a weird one.

Looks simple, but has me leaning in on traditional dressmaking / pattern drafting techniques I don't usually have a chance to flex, while working with Spandex.

This is the back of the dress, done by redistributing the curved center back seam in the way you would a double pointed dart.

Curved edges are then sewn together to make straight lines across the back, so the dress will fit snugly in the curve of the back.

It's a nice bit of engineering, but something that most will never notice, LOL.

My tendons seem to be holding up well, so far.

01/10/2022

Me: Well, the tendons seem to be holding up well, I should go downstairs and make a skating dress for a friend, see where I'm at with being able to sew Spandex.

My work table had other ideas.

It's weird to go to my sewing room after months of recovery. Like walking *into* a time capsule.

Working on soakers was what I was doing last time I tried to figure out how far along my tendons were in recovering.

The answer was "not far enough!", and I had to abandon it all, mid session.

So, guess I've got some soakers to work on today - just to get them all to the same step - before attempting Spandex.

Tots and pears!

09/07/2022

I'm glad to see that the dangers of Cipro are finally being covered in relatively mainstream media.

4 Cipro pills just over 2 years ago completely destroyed the tendons in my feet, and royally messed up tendons in my shoulder, elbows, and wrists.

I spent the better part of the last two years painfully crippled... Over FOUR ANTIBIOTIC PILLS.

(And frankly? I got off easy, compared to many others!!)

If I'd known the risk, I never would have accepted the prescription. There were other options, I never should have been prescribed it as a first line treatment.

Recovery is an ongoing, looong, obnoxious, and drawn-out process, but I'm getting there. It's been a LOT of work, and incredibly frustrating.

More people need to know about this. I know it's not spandex related, but if I can prevent just one person from going through the hell I've been dealing with... I'm going to share.

Since the 1980s, more than 60,000 patients have reported hundreds of thousands of serious events linked to fluoroquinolones to the FDA, including 6,575 reports of deaths.