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!
E-mail us at: 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
Look for a demonstration of
this pattern at our April meeting!
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 -
April 2025
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 a 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.
PhxArt‘s first major investigation into the formation of our renowned fashion collection. With more than 80 garments and accessories, Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion begins the series by tracing the evolution of the Museum’s collection from its founding in 1966 to the present day.
April
18-20, 2025 - Amazing Art Expo at
Renaissance Downtown Phoenix, 100 North 1st Street. https://www.facebook.com/AmazingArtExpo/posts/pfbid02i295LDFNioJgwYvZpZhmQ9SgyFMLE8rmeCzmZaZh438bfVsZmGRA3qM3GrnsGpdhl
April 19, 2025 - Personal
Projects* at Tasha's place (Note
change of venue). Bring something to work on while we
converse. Randall will demonstrate his smartphone pouch
pattern. You can download
the pattern from https://moirandalls.com/patterns.htm#phone.
E-mail the Webmaster for directions. southwestcostumers@gmail.com
April 29, 2025 - Verde Valley
Comic Expo at Cottonwood
Recreation Center, 150 S. 6th Street,
Cottonwood, Arizona
May 3, 2025, 10-3: Free Comic
Book Day at City of Glendale
Velma Teague Public Library. www.glendaleazlibrary.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
May 24 and 25, 2025 - King-Con
at Mohave County Fairgrounds. https://azfandom.org/cons/kingcon.html
June 6-8, 2025 - Phoenix
Fan Fusion at the
Phoenix Convention Center.
https://www.phoenixfanfusion.com/
June 14, 2025 - June
Meeting* at
Tasha's place. We may experiment a
bit the the foot castings from
April.
June 21, 2025 - Fabric War
(Location TBD). The SCA
Barony of Sundragon's annual swap
meet of costumes, costuming
supplies and other stuff of
interest to the modern
medievalist.
August 8-10, 2025 - Bisbee
Pirate Weekend
centered around City Park at 62
Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, Arizona
August 29-September 1, 2025 - Saboten
Con at Sheraton Grand
Phoenix Downtown, 340 N. 3rd
Street, Phoenix AZ https://www.sabotencon.com/
August 29-31, 2025 - Tucson
Comic Con at Tucson
Convention Center, 260 South
Church Avenue, Tucson AZ. Guests
include Author Gail Garriger,
Artist Liz Danforth and Musicians
Jeff & Maya Bonhoff. https://tucsoncomic-con.com/
November 7-9, 2025 - TusCon
52 at the DoubleTree
Suites by Hilton Hotel Tucson
Airport, 7051 S. Tucson Boulevard,
Tucson, Arizona. Guests of honor
include Gail Carriger, Liz
Danforth, Jeff & Maya Bonhoff,
Linda Addison and Madame
Askew. https://tusconscificon.com/about-tuscon/
Here is the book list for early 2025:
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
Guild Activities
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.
Meet & Greet table at LibCon West in December 2024.
Our first get-together since the pandemic - a simple diner luncheon.
Randall, Tasha and Paula at Tempe Library ComiCon in 2018
At Steampunk: An Exquisite Adventure in November, 2013.
Randall & Jean at Steampunk Street II in downtown Mesa, April, 2011.
We had a fine turnout for our Barbecue Mixer in April, 2009, with folks from SWCG, Sunacosu,
CASFS, Arizona Ghostbusters and The Rebel Legion. Photo by Mike Contos.
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 April 13, 2025 by Randall Whitlock.
Direct correspondence to:
Randall Whitlock, Webmaster
Southwest Costumers Guild
2320 West Seldon Lane
Phoenix AZ 85021