Back from Sakura-con!

Well, I'm back from the con! Boy, am I tired. And my feet are swollen horribly. But I had so much fun. It was a great weekend. We arrived in Seattle on Thursday around twelve and was lucky enough to be able to check in at our hotel early. After unpacking and settling in our hotel room we quickly put our Trinity Blood costumes and went out for a photo shoot. Sadly we wound up lost, and my wig was be coming tangled and frizzy, so we gave up and went back to the hotel room. We didn't get to have any pictures done of any of our cosplays.

Our Pandora Hearts cosplays are officially retired. Not only has my dress sunk since I last washed it but Sharon's wig has become so bad it was umbeareable to wear it for more than an hour. So we left the photoshoot and hurried back to the hotel to change. We loved our Trinity Blood costumes but didn't win any awards in the contest. But it didn't matter at the end of the day. We had so much fun walking around the room, showing our costumes off and listening to the music. It was great! I can't wait for the videos and pictures to be uploaded so I can show you guys.

We decided that we enjoyed rooming with our friend so much that I'm going to make a costume to match her's next con. Instead of Sharon and Break, which we are taking a break from, we will be doing Oz and Alice.

This is the dress I will be making for Kumori-con in the fall. It will be a dark blue while her's will be white or a light blue. Not sure which outfit my fiance will be wearing for OZ, he hasn't decided yet, he's just excited he wont have to wear a long wig.


Kumori-con's list is looking like...

~Yuko and Watanuki
~Caterina and Abel
~Alice and Oz

And perhaps Trisha and Hohenheim but we are not sure yet. That cosplay would be very simple but will only be done if I have a job by then which I'm hopeful I will. If not a job then have a book published. Which is what my attention will be on for the next few months. I will post more about what happen at the con later, I'm very tired right now and think I'll go rest.

Tis the night before con.....

And all through the house was clutter and disorder, as a cosplayer rushes to get everything packed for the con, she is headed to tomorrow morning. For there is much is finished, there is still much to be done. Okay...I'm done with this. Its too hard to write that way when I'm so sleepy.

The mess I've created

I did have everything packed but then realized my travel bag stinks since my brother never cleans anything after he uses it so I had to spray the bags to freshen them. The mess to the left is mainly my normal clothing and stockings. Then in between the two big stacks are lots of wires! Gotta pack those chargers! The towel just to put on the bottom of the bag, nothing special about it. Got my magic box of cosplay ready as well as the blue box that has personal hygiene and other stuff like hairspray and first aide. Otherwise it would be in a smaller bag but since I keep the first aide and other supplies in my case its biiiiig. I almost forgot to pack the wigs too!

How the heck can a cosplayer forget the wigs!!!

Ugh....So glad I remembered them. I'm almost ready. I'll be bringing two bags (One that has shoes and snacks, might put wigs in there too) and two smaller cases, plus three garment bags, which carry the main bulk of costumes and a small case for delicate props and artsy materials. 

Besides that I'm done and ready to gooooooo!

Its supposed to be nice this whole weekend so I seriously can't wait to head out to Seattle! So, for those who are going, see you there!

Day Zero: Caterina (Short period of time for a photoshoot), Gloomy Bear

Day One:  Sharon (PH), Caterina (Short period of time for costume contest judging)

Day Two: Caterina

Day Three: Gloomy Bear

One day!!!!

Can't believe it! Time has flown by. I'm most likely not going to be able to sleep the next few nights. So much packing to do! Its crazy. I can't wait. I got my camera dusted off, so expect lots of pictures, maybe a video or two. I'll have another post later today (Its 12:03pm right now) and I should go lay down and rest.

One day til we leave!

Holy cow! Where did time go? Its crazy. I can't believe I've gotten most things done. Abel's chain has yet to arrive, hopefully it comes today so I can slave over it. If it doesn't I will be unable to put on the details. The details are as pictured below.

The grooves or "circle" like part of the chain is what I need to do. Its my last major thing that needs to be finished but I'm unsure if the chain will come on time. The products I use dry fairly fast but the gold paint needs time and I cannot blow dry it or it'll come out looking lumpy. Although if I do get it tomorrow I may have to.










Today I just need to finish the extra armor plates and figure out how to pack all the props up together. I have a container I have sewing supplies in so I may empty that and use that to store the rosaries and armor plates since those can't go in my bag (They'll bend.)  Besides that I'm going to clean my room and start packing little things. I already got my magical box of cosplay set up with our new make-up supplies and contacts.

Tomorrow the fun starts. Its the day before we leave. We'll go food shopping, get whatever we need and start packing. I like to pack early so I have time to go "Oh crap! I forgot so and so" which I always do. Luckily I give myself enough time so I remember and pack what I forget. Remember that check list I posted the other day? I forgot so many little items, luckily I remember now.

I'm going to write up a longer list today, not online just one that including my normal clothing and such. I will be posting one last post tomorrow but once I'm in Seattle I wont be able to. I'm blank right now, trying to think of everything I need to pack up. So I better go write up that list before I forget the little things again.

So much to do!

I guess there is more to do than I had thought and boy am I busy and stressed. Two days, not counting today. It's crunch time. So here is everything I still have to do.

~Cut and style Abel's wig
~Cut an glue the belts together 
~Finish Caterina's rosary (Apply more Mod Podge)
~Buy turtleneck sweater
~Buy ribbon for Abel's wig
~Finish Abel's rosary (Put together piece, finish middle piece, work on chain...if it ever comes)

The most challenging things are Abel's rosary since the chain hasn't come yet, I may not be able to finish all the details on the chain because of that and long drying times. Caterina's rosary is basically done. I'm letting the last coat of varnish of drying before applying the last coat of Mod Podge. My attention right now is on finishing the belts. I have glued the two belts together and they are drying, they look great!


Today I cut Abel's wig and finished the belts. We went out trying/hoping to find a black turtleneck. We were worried we wouldn't be able to find one. We looked a few thrift stores but had no luck. But today we found one at a nearby store! It was on the clearance rack and we only paid $8.00!!! 

So now I just need to finish up a few touches and we'll be done. I should have everything done on time. Except Abel's chain details. I may not be able to finish that since the chain hasn't come yet. But I'll see.

Sakura-con 2013 check list

This check list will only be for cosplay items, not food or personal items.

Wigs

~Caterina's wig

~Abel's wig

~Sharon's wig (Plus ponytail)

~Break's wig

Jessica

Sharon:

~Dress

~Back "butt" bow

~Neck bow

~Shoes (Pink low heels)

Caterina:

~Dress

~Collar

~Petticoat

~Boots

~Three armor plates

~Rosary

~Gloves

Extras:

~Hoop skirt

~Stockings

Nico

Break:

~Outfit (Shirt w/ coat, pants)

~Boots

~Cane

~Emily doll

Abel:

~Coat

~Shirt, pants

~Gloves

~Boots

~Glasses

~Hair ribbon

~Two armor plates

Magic box of cosplay:

~Make up (Everything from eye lashes to lip stick)

~Contacts, contact solution

~Hair gel (Works great on Break's wig)

~Hair spray

~Wig caps 

~Wig tape

~Hair ties

~Bobby pins

~Safety pins

~Skin lotion

~Eye lash curlers

~Eye drops

Things to get:

Abel's hair ribbon

Turtleneck shirt (Abel)

Smaller safety pins

Three days left

Three days until we leave to Seattle. I have a lot of thoughts racing through my mind. I'm in between oh-shit-oh-shit-is-everything-done and is-it-here-yet-I-want-to-go-now. Normal pre-con madness. I've been working on getting the rosary for Caterina done and so far it's turning out okay.

The gold part shown is the "metal" plate that will be attached onto the collar of my dress. The pearl strand (which I attached a little bit ago) will be connected to the smaller cross. I've also decorated and painted that and the white middle piece on the pearl strand. Both are drying right now and may not be worked on tomorrow as the clay is getting too soft. I might just go ahead and pour resin over them but it depends on how much I still have left. The larger cross is coated in resin so it's very stable.

I've finished most of the extra (back-up) armor plates today as well. I decided to make these because my fiance isn't...well....uh...the carefullest. So between him and brats (shall I remind you all of my horror story where some kid kept taking Break's cane, a prop I worked my ass off to get it looking nice, broke it in two and didn't even bother saying sorry?) Yeah....extras are good.

Any who, the only main thing we need besides Abel's chain is the turtleneck for Abel. Hopefully we can find one. We'll have two days to search for one so hopefully my fiance's mom can help with that. This year is going to be very different and exciting. We are entered in the costume contest, this will be the first time we'll be wearing costumes I made, and we'll have a different friend with us.

I do have my worries too. If that chain doesn't come on time I wont be able to add on many details to Abel's rosary which will suck because we're in the contest. (My fiance just called and told me the lady just shipped it last night).

The next few days we'll focus on tying lose ends, finishing props, packing, buying food for the trip, and writing up check lists. One Thursday my fiance will come over about eight/nine and we'll pack everything up. Then drive over to our friend's parent's house and pick her up, help her pack and will be on our way. The drive takes about three-four hours on a good day but if there is traffic or construction like last time it could take up to six hours to drive up to Seattle.

Check in isn't until three. But I really want to go to the bay (in the years we've gone we never have gone down there) and get some salt and pepper shakers for my dad. At five that day we have a private photo shoot for our Trinity Blood costumes. I'm super excited for that. The photographer has picked a great spot for the shoot. Hopefully we get some amazing pictures. We better...I'm paying for it after all.

Before that of course we'll go pick up our badges!

Day one we'll be in our Pandora Hearts costumes and have two shoots, as well as the judging for the cosplay contest that day.

Day two is when the cosplay contest takes place. We'll be in our Trinity Blood costumes that day.


Everything else is not yet planned. But whatever comes will be fun and exciting. I'm starting on making a check list today I may post that later. To show you how I make it and what I'll be bringing.

To-do list

Gosh this list sure has become short. Today just before going out to do some chores a package arrived! I've been getting a ton of packages lately, so many that the UPS guy asked "Hey, Jessica. Another pair of shoes?" He's great and was right. Another pair of shoes. My white Victorian boots for Caterina's outfit. They are a bit snug around my caffs but the leather/fake leather whatever they are made out of is finally stretching now that I've re-laced them and have started to break them in. I'm wearing them right now as I type this to get my feet used to them. They are pretty comfortable minus the fact they are a bit snug around the caff. They'll work for now but I think once I have more money I'll just buy a better pair.

Days until con (Or day zero when we are leaving): 7

~Finish armor plates for Caterina + extras
Should be done within two-three days. Decided to make extras just in case. Foam is flexible but you can never be too careful. Especially since we are in the cosplay costume contest.

~Finish belts for Abel
Just bought the second belt today, as well as the belt for Caterina. This will be tricky as you can't use a sewing machine to sew together two thick belts together. My mother's sewing machine is old and I'm too afraid I'll break it, so I have yet to figure out how to piece them together.

~Finish rosaries
Waiting on chains to come. Seriously am pissed about how long its taking for the chain for Abel to ship. Its from Canada and shouldn't take more than a few days. This one will have the most work to be done to it and it is taking the longest. Caterina's chain was just bought, shouldn't take too long to arrive. I still have to make the smaller pieces and cross for her's as well. This is the bulk of the work that needs to be finished.

And....that's about it really. Not much to do. A lot less than I had thought I would be left with so I'm pretty pleased where I am at right now. I've been doing all this work alone, my mom luckily has been helping out with the costumes as they were my first and I needed to learn a lot. But all the props I've done myself. And they've caused me a great amount of stress. But I've made it. I can't wait to start on the next projects because boy am I bored.

Props

Feeling a bit down today so I'm going to make this a short post. Now that the costumes are almost 100% done I've been working on the props, trying to quickly get them done. The main props are the armor plates and rosaries.

Theses are (Well some are) extra armor plates just in case anything goes wrong with the finished pieces. Since we're in the contest I don't want us to be left in the dust if something goes wrong so I'm making one set of extra for each pair of plates. 

Made out of:

~Craft foam

~Mod Podge

~Acrylic paint

~Steel pin back

The finished armor plates. The longer ones are for Abel's cuffs and the shorter ones are for Abel's collar. I was going to sew these on but realized that I couldn't wash the costumes with them on. And since they are white, they will most likely need to be washed after the con so I remembered I bought these a while back and just hot glued them on. They work nicely. 

The two rosaries. Abel's is the golden one, which is flipped over on its back to dry. It's a bit thick but it'll do for now. I'm not that great at making jewelry, its something I want to learn more about. The silver one is for Caterina. Both will be attached by chains and will be a big piece of our cosplays. 

 Abel's is made out of:
~Craft foam
~Model Magic clay
~Wire armature
~Thick floral wire
~Mode Podge
~Acrylic paint

Caterina's is made out of:
~Model Magic clay
~Wire armature
~Varnish
~ Acrylic paint
~Resin
~Pearls and gems (Fake)

12 days

I am in high spirits. So excited yet nervous. The dress and coat are basically done. I have a few details to do but besides that I'm mainly focusing on props. I'm very nervous about finding the right types of belts for Abel's outfit and the two rosaries make me nervous as hell. I'm not good with working with jewelry its something I want to learn more about, but have little experience with working on. I have the main pieces almost done, just touching them up a bit.

The chains should be coming soon, hopefully I have enough time to work on them. That really is the only thing I'm worried about besides my boots. We haven't ordered them. I don't even know if they'll come on time when we do. For my birthday my mom is taking me to the mall to get a few things I badly need and while I'm out I'll be looking for boots. Hopefully I can find some just in case.

I'm feel good about the con. I wish I could bring our xxxHolic cosplays so badly! I was so excited to play sexy Yuuko. But I just don't have the money for the corset I needed to replace the short obi. As well as the tights and shoes I needed for her. I'm very disappointed but I can't do anything about it just like I can't do anything about my JSK not coming on time but oh well. I'll focus on the two cosplays we do have.

Caterina's dress and Abel's wig

That title sounds like some sort of a soap opera. Anyway I got a ton of work done today. And I'm dead tired after all it. But with only 13 days left I'm glad so much has been accomplished. I thought this dress would be a lot tougher but its wound up being fairly easy. Maybe that is because my skills are improving and I'm finally comfortable with sewing on my own. The only issue is when I start I can't stop. Its very calming for me. 

  The dress is just about done. I ran out of pearl buttons and have to buy another pack later this week for the four buttons that go on the cuffs. Today I sewed on all the buttons, expect the ones on the bodice those I did last night. I did the trim on the skirt and across the bottom of the bodice. The trim on the front was fairly easy but takes forever. I can tell already I messed up a bit on the bottom but I can redo that later. 

The bottom is hemmed nicely so all the lace shows. The trim on the bottom was super easy because I could remove the dress from the dress form and put it on the ironing board. I did it within ten minutes. The skirt is slightly longer in the front and short in the back. I did this because of the bow in the back. With the bow it appears it holds up the skirt, lifting it nicely. 

The bow I added on in order to gather the extra fabric so it is more form fitting around my waist. Otherwise it looks like a nightgown. I guess I lost more weight than I was aware of. Awesome! I added a larger version of the pearl button that I have on front and sewed it onto the middle of the bow. It may not seem like much but it sure does look good. Gives you something to look at on the back. The bottom of the ribbon tails have lace, the same lace that is on the cuffs. I always add my own personal touches to my cosplays and adding the extra lace and bow is my own touch and it really brings it together. 

 The cuff and lace. The pearl buttons are so cute. I love how they add a girly-ness to it. The trim is the same I used for Abel's coat. Since we are mainly basing our costumes off the artbook version which I will post at the very end, the trim was a darker color so I skipped doing the blue as seen on the manga version of the dress. I love black and white. Simple and clean, plus with the pearls and lace it really looks quite mature and innocent. 

The back of the dress has two strips of velcro that closes off the back. Originally the pattern had it opened with a drawstring on the top (As seen in the picture) and around the bottom of the bodice but my mom and talked it over and saw no reason to have the bottom drawstring (Now we know it would  have made the waist thinner, oh well! I wound up cutting the seam too short anyway.) So I hand sewed the velcro in so it would show my undershirt and bra. 

Overall I'm very pleased with the dress. It feel great while wearing it and I can't wait to see how it feels with the wig and contacts...all put together. It'll be great. We have a private photo shoot for these costumes so I should have a ton of great pictures to show you guys later on.

While I was working my bum off on the dress package after package came. We got four packages today. My fiance's Watanuki costume, Abel's boots and Abel's wig and glasses all arrived today. I was super excited about it all. I love tearing into a package. We still have the contacts, chains for the rosaries and my boots to come.

The wig is amazing! So soft and the color is perfect. Not white and not dark gray. Spot on. The wig we were going to buy was out of stock so I found this one and it works much better. Very glad with the site, I think we'll be buying from them again and again for our cosplay wig needs. 

 

And the glasses! Oh gosh. We had a cow with these. So dorky. We love them. I put them on and warned my fiance that I will be stealing these from him during the con. They are too much fun! Perfectly awesome.

2014 cosplay ideas

2014 will be a year full of had made cosplays and rare, unseen cosplays. I am still thinking about if I want to do new outfits for our Pandora Hearts characters or not. I may wind up picking one of these if I have a job and the money to create one. These are my main three cosplays I want to try to do for the year 2014.

Ozma from Return To Oz.

My favorite movie and favorite character from the Oz series. The dress would be fairly simple with two layers of soft green. The front details would be the hardest to do as well as the long flow shoulder sleeves. Otherwise it'll be a very simple cosplay. I've tried talking my fiance into doing his own cosplay from something he wants to do but I think he'll make a great Jack the Pumpkin king.

How cool would that look!

Dinah and Vincent from Bizenghast. One of my favorite American mangas. I've always wanted to do these cosplays but it will take a lot of time and effort to create these masterpieces.

I may use Dinah's dress to get married in as well. Why not, right?

Most likely our only bought costumes for 2014. I'll be Undertaker (My first crossplay) and my fiance will be Grell. A fair more simpler cosplay for us to enjoy during fall.

Plus I'm pretty sure I'll need a break from all these big dresses.












Maybe (Wishful thinking)

Seth (Trinity Blood) will take a long time. Perhaps a full year to finish. This is the outfit I want to create. It's very detailed. Luckily I'm getting really good at working with details. I have my secret weapon, iron on stuff for appliques.

The details and props would be hard and would take lots of time and patience. Lots of details....lots and lots....of details.....If the Trinity Blood cosplays I'm working on has taken about four-five months. This one will take a full year and will be super challenging.

Update

We are currently trying to find a way for us to go on our trip as planned. We may have to downgrade our hotel room and stay at a hotel that is farther away. We also decided that we might just skip bringing Yuuko and Watanuki for now since I still need a few items for Yuuko's outfit. Hopefully we can find a way. I'm not giving up. I'm going to be determined. And I keep trying to tell myself if we can't go we have three/four more cons to look forward to. (Not all we will be going to but we do have choices.) Kumori-con just seems so far away right now. Its killing me thinking how long I have to wait if we do have to change plans but it wont kill me.

I suppose if we do have to wait I can focus all my attention on writing and trying to find a job.


I hate real life. It sucks. There is no fun in this world today.

Everything can go bad so quickly

Its amazing how thing can go badly so fast. My fiance has been cut back another day. Now works two days.  Like my mom and another woman, they are trying to get all three of them to quit so the manager can have more of her friends and family work there. Its ruining our lives. Their greed is the downfall of so many people...well three people's happiness. They hired another person and gave the excuse "We had to hire another person because of your trip" Yet last year they didn't hire another person when we went or the year before. So why now? Because they want him to quit but he wont until he has another job.

He can't buy my my dream dress now. All because of this stupid con. We're torn. Do we just give up on all this hard work and say fuck it. Or do we go with barely any money. I suppose I shouldn't have gotten excited about that dress. I know good things never happen to me. My last few birthdays have been a failure. Why wouldn't the biggest birthday a person can have be good for me too? 

I don't know what to do at this point. Whether just give up and or sit here and cry. I feel so pathetic. Crying over a damn dress is like crying over spilled milk. I've worked so hard on these costumes and waited so long to get into the contest. Now I just want to stop everything and quit. I never quit. 

I just don't understand how everything can go so good then suddenly crumble apart within a few hours. At this point the stress is so bad I feel so guilty. I can't pay for anything. I'm still waiting to hear back from that job. Which I doubt I got. I don't know what to do. This trip was supposed to be fun, a break from all this drama in our lives. A way to disappear and let go of reality. What else could go wrong this year? 

I don't know why I'm even bothering writing all this when no one ever comments or even follows this blog. But I suppose I don't have anyone else to tell this stuff to and I can't keep it bottled up or I might explode. I want advice, I want help but I have none. So whining to this blog will have to do. I just wish I could do more. So my fiance doesn't have to deal with all this alone. I want to work and make money to support our hobby too. I feel so useless. I suppose I always have been.

Today's to do~ 15 days left

Wow. 15 days left. Its crazy how quickly this month has gone by. We bought most of the needed supplies last night.

~Glass for Watanuki

~Contacts

~Last two wigs (Watanuki, Abel)

~Gloves

~One necklace strand for the rosaries

I'm hoping everything comes by next week. Most things we got fast shipping and luckily the others are being shipped from the states so they should be here soon. Of course it makes me nervous. The gloves I have to sew/iron on the crosses and the necklaces I have to do a lot of work in order to make the rosaries stay on. But hopefully it turns out well. 

Today I have a lot to do to Caterina's dress. When I tried it on the other day I realized it is...HUGE on me. The extra panels made it huge around the waist. It looks like a nightgown. So I came up with the idea of adding a bow on the back to bunch the extra fabric together so it will be more fitted  My mom thought it might work so I have to start on making a bow. I also have to fix the collar. The top part is too high on my throat and makes me have no neck. So I have to figure out what to do with that. The back of the dress I have another row of velcro to sew in, which I'm glad about because it will close the gap so no one can see my undershirt and bra. 

The dress still needs to be hemmed and once I'm done with everything listed above I can finally start on ironing on the trim! Which is my favorite part. I don't know why, it goes quickly but takes lots of focus. Adding the details, and the massive amount of buttons will really make the dress become Caterina's. I love that finishing moment where I can just stand back and smile at all my hard work. 

It will be done very soon. A few more days at most. It will be done by next week hopefully so I don't have to work on it on my birthday and so I can focus on props and the rosaries. Last night while looking at the ref pics I realized how to do Abel's two belts. I just need one more belt and instead of making a lot of custom parts I'm going to sew the two parts together like some other cosplayers did to their Caterina and Abel cosplays. It'll cut down on a lot of stress for me. 

Over all I'm very pleased with how these are turning out. I want to keep working on making my own cosplays but may not get a new dress for Sharon or make the Mad Hatter outfit for Break until I have a job. I don't want to go through some of the stresses and deal with guilt like this again. I do enjoy sewing and I think it will be a forever hobby. 

Cosplay contest +Caterina's dress

Guess what?!?

I just got an email telling me someone dropped out and that we are in the contest! Our Trinity Blood cosplays will be judged in the cosplay costume contest at Sakura-con. It'll be our first cosplay contest and we're very excited. I feel that all my hard work will be paid off because of this. It'll be fun as hell and I can't wait.

I've been working hard at improving myself and my sewing. And I'm learning a lot! I used to leave messed up seams alone but now I tear them out and start over. Improving and learning is the best part about sewing. I feel great when I can step back and just stare at what I had just completed. I'm becoming picky about little things but that's okay.


This con will be awesome. Maybe the best so far! Especially if I get that job I interviewed for the other day. That would be awesome!

The dress is in one piece! I tucked the hem up. It wont look this way but it'll give an idea of how the dress will be hemmed up so the lace peeks out.


The collar is still being worked on. So it looks slightly strange right now. Once it has the trim on it and is finished (With interfacing) it will look so much better.

I'm very eager to start the detail work on it. I have the red fabric for the crosses and gold trim for those. I need to buy more black trim.






The fabric has a soft sheen to it. I feel in love with it when I found it. The lace on the sleeves was my idea and personal touch which I try to add to each cosplay I own. (Sharon-beading. Yuuko-Corset obi)

I was nervous about trying this on but it wound up being a bit too big! I'm so happy I lost weight. This dress will be super comfortable to wear around the con. I think it might be the most comfortable. So I may wind up wearing wearing it more than the others.








Left to do:

~Hem the collar
~Finish the back of the collar
~Hem the bottom of the dress
~Sew in an extra panel for the velcro on the back of the dress
~Sew on button on Abel's sleeves (Armor plates too)
~Sew the massive amount of buttons onto the dress
~Trim!

19 days + update

With only 19 days until the con I have to say I'm nervous. The dress is almost finished! The other day I realized the skirt of the dress did not fit over the hoop skirt and petticoat so I had to take out the seams and add two more panels and it worked! The skirt is full and big enough to fit over the hoop skirt perfectly. It took a lot of work but I'm glad with the outcome. Today I have to put in the bottom drawstring, start work on trim and work on the red cross appliques. For Abel's coat I still need to sew the back of the collar and sew on the armor plates. Not much to do. I've leaned a lot and am getting pretty comfortable with sewing. The best thing is how much I'm enjoying it.


The other day I was called in for a job interview! Not a seasonal job this time either. The last few days have been going great and I can only hope the rest of the month goes just as smoothly. I'm very pleased with how these costumes are going along so far. I just need to work harder on the props after they are finished. Abel's rosary needs some major work if I want it done by the set date. We do still have a few things to buy but we'll just be paying for express shipping so we aren't too worried. Of course that worry is there, its just buried by pure happiness at the moment.

There isn't much left to do before I'm finished and I'm very happy. I just learned that COSPLAY IN AMERICA is returning to Sakura-con this year! And he's taking pictures for his new book. I'm hoping we'll be able to find him so he can take a picture of our new costumes and so I can finally meet him. He seems like a pretty cool dude.

I better go now. Lots of work to do!

24 days update

Ha! When I wrote 24 I switched and wrote 42. I wish! Okay...not really.....I'm quite glad that its so close to the con. I've done so much work and I really can't wait for it all to be able to wear the finished piece. Right now there is still a bit to do, mainly detail work and props which I'm going to try to get my fiance to help finish some today.

To do:
Find a second belt for Abel
Buy round "Harry potter" glasses
Buy last two wigs (Abel and Watanuki)
Finish armor plates/belt/rosaries
Buy more interfacing and drawstring for Caterina's dress (Today's chore)
Buy red fabric and make crosses for both cosplays
Buy underbust corest for Yuuko


It may seem like there is a lot but really its just a lot of buying. Luckily I have some money coming to me to help. Once the costumes are done and the props are done we'll be int eh clear. Of course buying and getting everything ordered on time too.

Lolita, into a world of frills

Note: Just because this blog has COSPLAY in the title doesn't mean every post is about cosplay. Lolita is not cosplay. I'm not referring it as. Lolita is a street fashion that came from Japan but has grown popular is most countries. Remember....NOT A COSPLAY.



I first started becoming interested in lolita when I was back in high school. I was busy writing a novel and was doing some research, getting some inspiration online when I came upon my first lolita. She was wearing pink rocking horse shoes with a fluffy pink and white dress, a matching bonnet covering her light brown hair. I started doing more research and found out the girl was a model for one of the big brands (I can't remember which now.) I started researching more and more about this culture. I had just gotten out of my goth phase and was looking for a new style. This one was right up my alley, with lace and all sorts of styles and themes. It spoke to me.

I wasn't able to get a brand dress or even a dress at all until my first year out of high school. My boyfriend bought me a offbrand dress for our first con up in Seattle to wear since our cosplays had yet to show up. But it was horrid. I wont even go there. Not suitable for a lolita dress at all. And it was too short on me! Me!! I'm 5'2 1/2 I'm short as heck. But during the con I saw real lolitas. And boy, they were all so beautiful and elegant looking.

I wanted to be one.

So when I got my first job I started looking for a dream dress to buy. That was when I found this...

BABY's Starlit Sky

I fell in love with it. I had bought a FanPluFriend pink JSK for my last birthday and have grown sick of pink. So I'm selling it. I wanted to buy my first brand whether it was used or not. That was when I checked BABY's site and saw this. It was perfect. I didn't want anything too sweet, no pink. Yet mature enough for someone my age. With lots of lace of course, but not too much.

Starlit Sky in navy had become my dream dress. With its soft stripped fabric and tiny little stars I knew I just had to have it. But drama arose at work and because of a mistake that was the managers's fault, I was not given the full amount I was owed for my first paycheck. Then I was let go from that job due to being seasonal. I lost my chance at getting my dream dress....

But then it went on sale.

I sat watching it day after day. Soon I came into some money but the navy had sold out. Then the black ones. All that was left was the white. I thought about buying it. But my fiance asked me "Are you just settling?" And he was right. I was. Just because I wanted this dress so much. White wouldn't  work for me. I wanted to be able to wear this dress outside of cons. With a white dress I would be too afraid to. Too nervous it would get dirty and stain. I'm very nervous when I wear white so I don't own much that is white.

We I waited. Soon everything was sold out.

I gave up hope until a few days ago when I checked back and the blackxpink was in! I was so excited! All that waiting paid off. Sure it had pink but it was only on the stars. That would be okay. We researched how to pay BABY since it would be going overseas and emailed them. The person/s who said to email didn't explain that wasn't for sales items. So we were told we had to put it in the cart and they would email us from there but...suddenly something happened on the site and it wasn't loading right. None of the in or sold out buttons were working. Nothing entered the cart. We freaked out. My fiance had offered to get my jsk for my twenty first birthday which is coming up in nineteen day. I was so excited! That is the best gift ever! I would always be thankful for such a wonderful gift I can use again and again.

We finally found out over BABY's facebook that they were preforming maintenance on the site for the cart and other stuff. Now it all made since. So we waited. Then at seven that night we checked again and there it was. Navy was in. I almost dropped onto the floor I was so excited. NAVY WAS IN! My dream dress in the color I wanted was in! When does good things happen to me? Rarely. 

He quickly scooped it up and placed it in the cart. When I went back to site later I realized we had bought the LAST one. With the sale ending on the fourth I couldn't feel more blessed. My first brand dress. I can't believe its mine. We just have to wait for the email and to pay them and it should be here within a week. Thank goodness they have fast shipping.

So now I can step into that world of frills and lace become one of those girls. I'm now working on finding things to go with this JSK and make a cord. So far I already have a blouse, bloomers, white stockings, rocking horse shoes and a petticoat. 

I'll post pictures of what I'm getting once I know.

It should be enjoyable.