We were lucky to catch up with Allison Carswell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Allison, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I have always been creative and eager to learn. As a child, my father would take me to the local library and I’d check out all the “how to draw” books I could get my hands on. I took a sewing class when I was in middle school in which I learned many of the foundational skills I still use today. Little did I know that skills such as threading a sewing machine, cutting fabric patterns on the correct grain and making sure your raw fabric edges were finished would help me in the future to create high-quality costumes! In high school, I attended my first anime convention and was inspired by all the cosplayers I saw, many of which had made their own costumes. Before that, I had only dressed up for Halloween and the odd school project or play. At first, I purchased costumes online, but quickly became unsatisfied with the fit and quality. After drawing on what I learned from that sewing class I took long ago, I decided to buy a sewing machine and start making my own.
Ever since then, I have acquired new costuming skills through YouTube, searching through Google, and bouncing ideas off other cosplay friends. There is so much you can learn just by sitting at your computer, but also from experimenting and taking risks. What also helps me is having the same discerning eye for detail I’ve kept since the early days when I was unsatisfied with the costumes I had purchased to wear.
Looking back, I am amazed at the progress I’ve made over 10+ years of costuming. If I could, I would tell my past self to not be afraid of failure. I remember many times where I was so afraid to fail that I hesitated and took more time than if I had just messed up and tried again with a new perspective. It is scary to make mistakes, but those who have mastered their craft have made the most mistakes out of everyone while learning from their experiences.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a hobby seamstress who creates costumes to wear for fun. I also judge cosplay competitions at anime conventions from time to time, and I am just now dipping my toes into coordinating contests from behind the scenes. I was first inspired to cosplay when I attended my first anime convention, Anime USA, in 2003.I first debuted my first purchased costume at T-Mode 2010, Alice Elliot from the Shadow Hearts game series. I was terrified because I didn’t know how people would react to me wearing my costume, but it turned out to be a very positive and affirming experience. Right after that convention, I decided to start creating my own costumes from scratch, so the next year, I crafted my very first costume: Princess Hilda from the Legend of Zelda game series. I actually won a craftsmanship award for it at T-Mode 2011! Since then I was bitten by the cosplay crafting bug and as of now have over 30 costumes and 14 craftsmanship and performance awards.
As a black cosplayer, I know I face challenges due to how others perceive me based on my skin color. I decided to get into cosplay competitions because when I watch them, even now I see very few competitors of color win awards. My goal is excellence in costuming, and to show everyone that black cosplayers are just as talented, skilled and beautiful as everyone else. If nothing else, I would like my legacy to be known as someone who inspired others to cosplay and be proud of their appearance despite what others might think or say.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

One of the costumes I am most proud of is Agitha, the bug princess from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It was one of my earlier costumes, so I spent about a year researching materials and crafting techniques to pull it together. I learned so many different skills while creating Agitha, and it was one of my first multimedia projects combining fabric sewing techniques, wig styling, painting, basket weaving and resin casting. Since I had done so much work on this costume, a friend encouraged me to compete with it in a cosplay competition. When Agitha was done enough to wear, I tried entering the competition at Zenkaikon in Lancaster, PA. However, I misjudged how popular the competition was and couldn’t even get waitlisted. I was very disappointed, but I was allowed to walk on the stage and show it off.
Next, I tried a competition at AwesomeCon in Washington, DC. Between trying to get an entry form, walking long distances in uncomfortable shoes and being given mixed instructions from different staff members, I had a negative experience. This time, I was able to go before judges and talk about how I created my costume. However, I didn’t win anything, and it all culminated in another disappointment for me. This time, I was able to speak with a fellow competitor and she had some encouraging words for me.
In between these competitions, I kept improving my costume by fixing parts that had been damaged through wear and tear and redoing parts that I had previously done in haste. My last shot was Anime Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, VA. The whole time, I was more nervous than usual since I wasn’t expecting to win anything, but I was able to again talk through my crafting process with the judges. When they called my name as the winner of “Best of Weekend,” I could hardly believe it! I think I cried! I had gone from two discouraging results to winning a top prize.
One of the major lessons I learned through this experience was that winning a cosplay competition really depends on who else shows up to compete with you. Through it all, I am glad I didn’t let my failures stop me from improving my craft and trying again and again to reach my goal.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Since I was a child, I have been highly creative, and I have my parents to thank for nurturing my talents and skills. My day job is a graphic designer, but it can be very “corporate” with little room for interpretation. My cosplay hobby is the perfect outlet for my creativity. From resin casting to painting to fabric manipulation, cosplay is an opportunity to explore and refine different skills and learn from experimentation. I also enjoy talking with others about the hobby and seeing how they tackle various creative problems. Judging competitions is a great way to learn how others solve these problems when competitors go before the panel to discuss how they created their costumes.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mythril_arts/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MythrilArts/

Image Credits
In the Long Run Designs Notsoprophoto Photography Jessica Koers John Jiao Photography Jeremy Ziegler