Steampunk and CosPlay

A few months ago Sun took the daughter of a friend to San-Japan – the largest Anime Convention around.  There were a lot of people in costumes, not just anime but also Steampunk.   I guess the years of theater pulled on her because she came back and stated that it would be fun to dress up and go to conventions like that once in a while.  I am an avid gamer but have never done CosPlay and thought it sounded like a grand idea. 

We went to the Austin ComicCon last month. We did dress up but due to an unforeseen vehicle repair bill we were not able to really do what we wanted with our costumes. I am proud of what we did for our first outing but I would like to do more.  I did find it fun to be someone else, even if it is for a few hours.  What I would like to do is come up with a costume that will get people to stop and want to take my picture (Yes I am still a camera whore).  

To this end I am planning on making some new costume gear. It is going to be a fun experience and I’m sure one that is filled with much cursing. What I would like to do is build up a small amount of costume ideas and things that can be used and recycled for future events. I think my first project is going to be some leather bracers.   

Is there anyone out there that has any experience with CosPlay and have any suggestions, websites, warnings?  If so please share links. I will document my progress with each project.  Who knows, depending on how good I get with it I might be able to sell things!