The Southwest
Costumers Guild
is a loose and informal
educational society of persons interested in all
facets of historical, cultural, science fiction,
fantasy, and humor costume and cosplay. Members are
often seen on stage and behind the scenes at Science
Fiction Convention masquerades, historical
reenactment events, street fairs and theatre. SWCG
is central Arizona's chapter of the International Costume
Guild.
Our Website is now hosted by Costume.org!
Please note that
info@southwestcostumersguild.org and our other
former "southwestcostumersguild.org" e-mail
addresses are not currently active.
Please contact us via our new e-mail: southwestcostumers@gmail.com.
Index
Newsletter
Costumers Calendar
SWCG Activities
Links
- Web Sites of Interest to the Costumer
Hints and other "How To"
Articles
Randwulf's
Smartphone Pouch - Free sewing pattern from
SWCG VP Randall
Join the
Southwest Costumers Guild
Recruiting and PR Materials:
"Renaissance Faire"
Foldover Flyer
(Featuring a practical belt pouch pattern)
Quarter-Page Flyer
Bookmark
SWCG
Bylaws
SWCG members receive our
newsletter, "Cactus Needles" by
e-mail.
A few weeks after its initial publication, we
post Cactus Needles to this website for all to
enjoy.
Current Issue -
December 2024
Back
Issues (All the way back to the
Cactus Needles premiere in 1994)
Cactus Needles is released under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please
print the newsletter and give it to your friends,
but print the entire newsletter and don't make any
changes or charge any money. Go to www.creativecommons.org
to view the license. Individual articles and
pictures belong to their authors. If you'd like to
reprint an individual article or picture, please
e-mail southwestcostumers@gmail.com
for appropriate permission.
The
Southwest Costumers Guild usually meets one
Saturday afternoon per month at members' homes or a
public venue like a restaurant or museum
in the
greater
Here are some upcoming
guild meetings and costume-related public
events. Red Text
and an asterisk* indicate an SWCG
activity. Unless otherwise noted, SWCG Meetings
begin at 1:00 PM.
E-mail the Webmaster
if you know an Arizona costumed event
that should be on the calendar.
February 1- March 30, 2025 (Weekends plus Presidents' Day) - Arizona Renaissance Festival near Gold Canyon, Arizona. https://arizona.renfestinfo.com/
February
11-17, 2025 - Kingdom of Atenveldt, Society for Creative
Anachronism War of the Phoenix at Phoenix
International Raceway, 7602 Jimmie Johnson Drive,
Avondale, Arizona
https://www.atenveldt.org/phoenix/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIH1hNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXY-IVT6XXDngjgLM7YTD25p6zaJF_UbANdkSPKECy5yv_qubmoRsk797A_aem_tn5Xugo0pzucHx7RgGFcAQ
February
15, 2025, 10AM-1PM - LibraryCon @
Peoria Main Library 8463 West
Monroe Street, Peoria AZ. LibraryCon
is back! It's nerdy fun for the whole
family: crafts, performances, a costume
contest - and so much more! Join us in
celebrating all things comics and manga.
https://peoria.polarislibrary.com/polaris/custom/teen_programs.aspx
February
15, 2025 1PM - Conversations
Over Lunch* Meet us at New
Hong Kong Restaurant, 2328 East Indian School Road in
Phoenix, for conversation over food. Maybe visit the
nearby SAS fabric store afterward.
February
22-23, 2025 - Arizona Matsuri Festival (Festival
of Japan) at Steele Indian School Park, 300 East
Indian School Road in Phoenix. https://azmatsuri.org/
February 24-March 2, 2025 - End of
Trail at Arizona Game & Fish Ben
Avery Shooting Facility. The Single-Action
Shooting Society's annual tournament of cowboy
action shooting.The event features a sutler's row
of merchants for filling out your wild
west/victorian/steampunk costume. https://endoftrail.org/
March 7-9, 2025 - Kikori Con at
Little America Hotels, 2515 E. Butler Avenue, Flagstaff
AZ https://www.kikoricon.com/
March 15-16, 2025 - Tucson Festival of Books
on the University of Arizona Mall. https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/
March 15, 2025, 10-4 - Tucson Japanese Festival
at Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 West River Road,
Tucson. More events at http://www.southernazjapan.org/
March 20-23, 2025 - Wild Wild West Steampunk
Convention at Casino del Sol, Tucson,
Arizona. https://www.wildwestcon.com/
March 22, 2025 - Photo
Shoot* and Personal Projects at
Tasha's place. Bring a favorite costume and/or a camera.
Tasha's yard has a variety of interesting backgrounds.
E-mail the Webmaster for directions. southwestcostumers@gmail.com
March 29-30, 2025 - Asian Festival at
Mesa Community College, 1833 West Southern Avenue, Mesa.
https://asianfestivalaz.com/
April 4-5, 2025 - Arizona Fan Fest in
Safford, Arizona. https://gilavalleycentral.net/arizona-fan-fest/
April 19, 2025 - Personal
Projects* at Mahala's place. Bring
something to work on while we converse. Randall
willdemonstrate his smartphone pouch pattern. E-mail the Webmaster for
directions. southwestcostumers@gmail.com
May 24, 2024 - Plaster of
Perils* at Tasha's place. We'll
experiment with doing foot and leg casts using plaster
gauze to help design fitted shoes and stockings. E-mail the Webmaster
for directions. southwestcostumers@gmail.com
June 6-8, 2025 - Phoenix
Fan Fusion at the
Phoenix Convention Center.
https://www.phoenixfanfusion.com/
Here is the book list for early 2025:
February 18, 2025 – A Case Of Conscience by James Blish
March 18, 2025 – A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson
April 25, 2025 – I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
May 20, 2025 – The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
June 17, 2025 – The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovich
SWCG hosted Costume-Con
30 on May 11-14, 2012 at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel.
Click the link to see some pictures from the "Sick Pups"
archive.
At the Arizona Renaissance Festival, February 2008.
Walking about the Glendale Glitters street fair in December, 2007.
A Duct Tape Mannequin is a
useful tool for patterning custom-fitted garments.
Mucking about in Victorian attire at CopperCon 25. A little image magic by Mike Cassidy shifts us to a more appropriate setting - a table setting.
Updated February 9, 2025 by Randall Whitlock.
Direct correspondence to:
Randall Whitlock, Webmaster
Southwest Costumers Guild
2320 West Seldon Lane
Phoenix AZ 85021