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
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 -
February 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.
February 1- March 30, 2025 (Weekends plus Presidents' Day) - Arizona Renaissance Festival near Gold Canyon, Arizona. https://arizona.renfestinfo.com/
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 will
demonstrate 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/
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:
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
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 February 16, 2025 by
Randall Whitlock.
Direct correspondence to:
Randall Whitlock, Webmaster
Southwest Costumers Guild
2320 West Seldon Lane
Phoenix AZ 85021