My two friends -- supposed to dress as Blade and Hannibal King -- backed out of the con at the last minute. That meant that my Abigail had to fly solo. It didn't bother me so much, I guess...though I do think there might have been a little more recognition with the two other heroes alongside.

For the jacket, I opted for cordura instead of leather, and modified a McCall's pattern to get the seams and colors in the right places. I still need to add snaps at the collar and at the waist, but I've been fairly pleased with the way it turned out -- especially for someone who hasn't sewn in almost a decade. I also need to rework the quiver, as I discovered too late that it was too short to do its job properly. The rest -- store-bought and modified: The holster rig was a modified climbing harness, with a hip holster and Blackhawk thigh pouch. The belt I got at Boot Town, on clearance, and I was lucky it was just the right design; the belt buckle was probably the easiest part to match.

I did vary from canon a bit for the bow. In the movie, Abby carries a modified Archery Research AR-31. Rather than spend the money for an extremely customized bow (the AR-31, for example, doesn't come in my draw weight and would need new limbs and cams to accommodate), I went with what I had -- a black Hoyt Trykon Sport. The arrows are also a bit different, designed to work with my 30 - 50# draw weight.

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to rework things and try again next year, or if I want to do something completely different. In the running right now? Alice from Resident Evil: Extinction and Hawkgirl/Shayera Hol from "Justice League." This is provided I can get off this last 10 lbs...

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

(Sorry for the pic quality. Still working on cleaning a few more up. Unfortunately, most of them didn't come out as well as I would have liked!)

Great job on the Abby costume, Mrs.B! Thanks for sharing the info and the photos Makes me want to build a Reference guide for it

I love costumes where the women get some cool weapons! Nice costume, the jacket looks great!

I think so too, nice work with the costume, and cool weapons always add that little something to a female hero costume. As for Abby Whistler, I was not totally satisfied with her armament, I have a real dislike for compound bows. (I use a traditional recurve bow, and compounds are just too "machine-like" for me).

@Mrs. B: Did you run into trouble with the bow? I've read about those anti-toygun freaks at conventions ... I suppose somebody carrying a real life bow could really make those people go nuts.

I never saw the costume, but I general work 3rd security in the Hyatt at dragon con.

but as long as she didnt have an arrow nocked, I wouldnt have had a problem with, but somebody may have put a zip tie on one of the wheels/cam to keep if from being drawn..but thats just me.

by the way. the costume looks great

Sorry for the delay in responding; it was one busy winter season...

...I did have some issues with both the bow and the quiver. As everyone knows, working your way through the Hyatt on Masquerade night is anything but easy. My quiver wasn't laying right to begin with, and so I needed just a shade more real estate than normal to try and move. But, being in costume, I got stopped a time or two to get my picture taken. The second time, as I was trying to work my way to the escalator, one of the D*Con staff pulled me aside and told me I needed to find a wall somewhere. Needless to say, I told her I was trying to get out!

Later, in the Marriott, we headed up to the bar, I got stopped by security up there, asking if my bow was peace-tied. Considering the arrows I had with me didn't even have points on them, I didn't figure the bow would be a problem. Instead, I had to wait about twenty minutes while someone came down from the Hyatt with some zip strips to peace-bond the bow. I understand their concern, but as an actual archer, there's no way I was going to nock an arrow outside of the range, much less in a crowded room. You just don't do that.

The experience left me wondering if I'm going to try to do the Abigail thing again this year, or if I should try something else. If I do, I think I'll be spending more of my time in the Marriott and the Hilton, where there's a little more room to spread out. The balcony in the lobby of the Hilton provided a good vantage point, too...