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.