Oh, disaster, oh, disaster! Putting together the suit.

Equipment Uniforms
1

So, after all of these years, I’ve decided to start on my suit…just before Halloween.

Why so late? I was looking into getting on of those rubie’s costumes but the larger sizes were only available online, apparently for the stores I went to and all of the bigger sizes were pretty much gone. And the glowing reviews from some of you guys helped me make up mind and just bite the bullet.

Step 1 - Order flightsuit Done

I got a Tru-spec which is about as accurate as I’ll get for now, I can always turn it into an RGB version later. It fit great and arrived in 3 days. :cool: I was expecting it to take a week, the shipping was murder though. Remember, Venkman’s Girl is cheap. :sigh:

Steps 2a & b - Patches

I had some help looking for patches and that person wasn’t as attentive as I was. I have one of those patches with the messed up eye. (Seriously, why would you even list that?!) And so I have a patch on the way that may or may not make it for Halloween. Even if it doesn’t, I’ve got something to wear to cons now and the messed up logo can be replaced once it arrives.

The name tag - Again, I didn’t buy this myself or get to see the pic for purchase. I’s one of those that are way off so I’ll be replacing it after Halloween. In a comparison, the spacing, font and type size were off. The font was half GB1 and GB2. The letters M and A were the real giveaway. I’d add pics but my camera sucks at taking actual pictures. The name was sized too small and left a really big margin on all sides. Maybe I’ll mount it or something but it’s not uniform worthy.

Step 3 - The Belt

I actually ordered 2, one for my current GB1 uniform and the other for GB2 since it was there. I have no idea when they’ll arrive since they’re coming from NYC and it took me the longest time to find just the right type of pistol belt. I’m not going through the trouble of dying it. Later on, I’ll toss it in the wash with some black stuff and hope it doesn’t rust in the dryer. :whatever:

So the biggest lesson learned is…when there is an army surplus store 3-5 blocks up from your house, go check it out! Mine closed so hindsight is 20/20. :eyeroll:

I’m not going to go all out on this suit though, I can do that later. I just want to get the basic non equipped look down and plus I’ll probably be sitting outside half of the night anyways.

2

Here’s what I used for my GB1 belt: Amazon.com Dyed gray with half a packet of Rit Pearl Gray - NO salt, and immediately hand-washed and put in the dryer. Even wrapped in a few towels it still sounded like WWIII was going on in there…but no rust issues so far!

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3

That’s also the style of belt I got, but the one I ordered goes up to 50-52. The sizes were selectable. I usually never wear belts because I can never seem to find one that fits. I’m expecting them to arrive in a few more days.

I think our Walmart may have tons of dye but I think it’s mostly bottled, I’ll have to look again. It’ll save me come elbow pad time. :cool:

4

Normally, I see both kinds of dye at Walmart… check your local groceries too…

5

Our grocery store doesn’t carry dyes, in fact, neither did the other one before it closed.

BTW - I loved the uniforms you put together for your family.

6

If memory serves, my Wal-Mart didn’t have ANY Pearl Gray, I had to get it at Ingles (supermarket). I can’t remember if Wal-Mart had the powder or not, I do know they had a lot of the liquid.

7

Thanks! It’s a lot of fun!

8

I live in one of those Walmart towns, you know, the ones where Walmart is the biggest store in town. lol

If they don’t have any, I can always check my mom in law’s place. RIT should have white & black dyes so if need be, I can always go that route or the lazy way.

Thanks a lot for your input guys.

All said and done, this project, although more expensive, is a lot easier than making Janine’s wardrobe for my Barbies. cough I got stuck at the tank top. Thank you relatives who sewed clothing and home ec for basic sewing skills. I’m using Coats & Clark transparent thread on the patches, especially since I’ll be sewing along the near inside of the patch.

Amending this post for an update:

The local Walmart no longer carries RIT but did carry a different type and brand of powder dye. It must be dying season in state or the store is horribly understocked. They had black, blue and red. :whatever: Anyone think I could probably just use dye from tie-dying sets? I’ll check out the more obscure places like the craft/paper aisle in Family Dollar and Dollar General. As long as the belts get here soon, I still have the option of just washing it with something black.

Amending again to add that my belts just arrived yesterday afternoon and no luck on the dye search.

Even if I don’t have all of the right stuff now, I’m ready for Halloween and have a good start on my uniform for next month’s con. :cool:

9

The temp version of my uniform is done. The belt is still white for now but I still have time to fix that. I attached velcro to the name tag and stabbed my finger with the needle. :stuck_out_tongue: (Insert Doctor Smith clip here). I think the logo is still small though, it’s supposed to be 3 inches, I’ve read. Isn’t 3 1/2 to 4 a happy medium?

Happy Halloween!

10

Many years ago, Rite-Aid used to carry Rit dye by shoes/crafts. But I haven’t been in one in a LONG time. It was next to shoe laces, etc. I’m not sure what you might have locally, but it might be worth a stop.

11

I didn’t have any luck finding any dye but tie dye and since I couldn’t drive to any other towns, I couldn’t check there. But, on the plus side, I was able to get my gloves from one of the local farm supply stores. :cool: I was hoping to get them from Dollar Tree but it seems that they happened to be a really popular item, just like wire rimmed sunglasses.

I have 2 new name tags which are supposed to be GB1 style and a newer logo patch. I’m nearly set for this weekend.

12

hey vgirl this is totally off topic but ur name isn’t amanda is it?

13

I have 2 extra boxes of pearl gray. If you want them they are yours.

14

Nope, sorry, not an Amanda.

Thanks Ryan, that would make things easier. PM me and we can work out the details.

In other news, the con was great but it wasn’t until after I was all suited up that I noticed my patch was a little lower than the one I took off, so, I’ll be sewing again soon. Oddly enough, the extra belt that I ordered ended up being longer than the 1st, for some reason. Other adjustments I’m considering making is adding more velcro to both sides of the velcro that came on the suit since it’s pretty short. that way, the ends of the tags will be covered and not have space under them like they do now.

15

sorry, i had a long time penpal (who was into starwars,ghostbusters, bttf, and props) and she went by the same screenname as your back then

glad your con went well

16

That’s funny because after I opted to shorten Venkman’s Girl to Vgirl, we did have someone who registered here under my old name, I had never though to ask if there were a way to keep it from being registered here or to have it used as a screenname without having to type it in as a login ID. I’ve been going by Venkman’s Girl since the mid to late 90’s, back when I first found Bill’s GB message board.