Yuuko.

Yes! We just got one of the final touches for Yuuko. The obi. The obi I got with the kimonos was too small to tie properly around my waist (I don't think it would tie around anyone's waist neatly) so we had to find a new one. At first I couldn't find one that would work with the kimonos and Yuuko's personality so I thought about getting a underbust corset but all the cheap ones I found looked awesome and the nicer ones were way too much. Why should a underbust corset be as much as a full corset? That's just dumb. With a underbust corset your using less materials. It's a rip off to have them the same price.

So I finally found a great obi on a wonderful site I found a while back.

http://www.ichiroya.com/index.php

This site has everything from kimonos to obis. Some are new and some are very old. I don't think I saw anything that was in bad condition. Some have tears and stains but nothing that can't be fixed. Things on the site price range from $10 into the thousands. Most items range from $18 to $60 and that is a great deal! I wish I would have ordered a kimono from them but maybe next time. They are wonderful to work with too.


I got...

I love it! Purple and it has roses. Two bonuses for me. As I'm fond of both. It should be here in seven to fourteen days so I'll post a little something about it with pictures once it comes. It has a few tears but I can fix it.

(Update) The company just told us it shipped and oh my gosh. They are so kind. They gave us a personalized written thank you email and they are such kind, sweet people. I really can't wait to buy from them again. I've never had such friendly, caring service before. I truly love this site and those who run it.


Anyway I'll also be ordering a bunch of make-up for Yuuko. I'll be doing reviews on these as well once we order. We wont be ordering them for a while but when I do I'll do reviews on each.

Here are some products I'm going to get.

Medusa's make-up:

100% mineral theatrical foundation: geisha
Lipstick- Red square

Maybe

Lime crime: Velvetine (Red velvet)

Dolluxe lashes (Top: Harajuku Honey, Bottom: Underlash A.)

Sorry for such a short post, I'm currently writing a much larger one that is taking up a lot of my time. It's filled with sites, resources for people interested in starting to cosplay. So I'm trying my best to make it fun, detailed and filled with lots of helpful sites for those of you who want to start cosplaying but aren't sure where to start.

Coming soon!

So you wanna cosplay, tips, resources and sites.

-A post for those who are thinking about starting to cosplay. This will be a long post with lots of pictures, sites and resources to get you started.

All my props (Sounds like a drama series!)

-How I make my props, what products I use, what props I've made and what props I've bought. Sites and resources about make props, where to commission and buy your props.

All my wigs

-Guide for where to buy wigs, where not to buy wigs, what wigs I own and where I bought them, how to take care of wigs, what products can be used on them, storing info and how to restore a damage wig.

My cosplay closet.

-Showcase of my cosplay outfits, what I use with them, what I do to make sure they stay clean and last long. Costume care tips, stain removal advice and horror stories. As well as how I make my cosplays.

Make-up, the face of cosplay.

-Post about what brands I use and like, how to pick out cheap make-up that lasts, what brushes help, everything from eyelashes to fake nails, Places to buy, good indie brands.


Pandora Hearts Alice's scythe tutorial

-Coming late July/early August

Cosplay FaceBook page link? (Maybe? Maybe not.)



And much, much more. Thanks for viewing. Please check back soon for these updates.

Today's list

• I have to fix one of the sleeves. When I tired it on last night it turns out one sleeves needs to be either moved forward or back. It feels really odd when I when I wear it.

• Fix a spot on the back that I had "fixed" but made too tight and the zipper has trouble going all the way up because of that. 

• I need to hot glue the bottom of the zipper so the one strand stops coming apart when the zipper is all the way down. 

• Hem sleeves and bottom of the skirt

Most likely wont get past that today as I'm in the mood to write rather than sew. But I do want to fix some mistakes so when I'm finished the all of the above I can start on the ruffles. Which will take a good chunk of time to do. I'm not able to take pictures today. So I will do that when I have time. The camera is not charged and mine has no batteries. :(

I may start on the choker today too but I may just hold that off longer so I know if I'll have enough left over chiffon to add to that or not. Kumori-con is about three months away (not counting the week left of May.) and I'm still feeling pretty good about having enough time to finish both Alice and Oz plus the scythe for the con.

I've decided after a long and unsuccessful search for a cheap underbust corset that I'll just wear an obi for Yuuko's outfit. The obi is wonderful. It's purple with roses and its very bold and the colors fit well with the color theme of my kimonos. I'm still nervous about having the inner kimono flying open so I'm going to buy a cami to wear underneath. I might even add a snap button to the kimono so I have extra closer. Hopefully the obi is still on sale when we can buy it later tonight.

Yuuko's props are also coming along great. I'll do a whole post about those later on.

For now I need to go and get started on all these tasks for the day so I can go write. Thanks for reading! Remember to share and watch this blog! I'm almost at 5,000 views! If we can get to 5k I'll do something extra special!

Sleeves! It has sleeves!

Both, yes both sleeves are on! My mom is a genius. She came up with how to put them on and it worked. The sleeves are now sewn onto Alice's dress. Tomorrow I have to hem the bottom of the sleeves (To make the edges look nice.), start hemming the bottom of the skirt then start cutting out the ruffles.

I did I test ruffle today and it was pretty easy. Just gathering really. I just need to find out what size I want to do for each section. I'll be doing it in sections to make it easier as gathering can be very hard to do in large sections.

I'll be uploading some pictures tomorrow!

Today I broke the last needle (Stupid pins!) so we went out to buy some more (got two packages this time!) and got some more Modge Podge while we were out, my Podge levels were low. But while we were out I stopped to look at the embroidery hoops. My mom owns a bunch luckily so when I start up embroidery for Seth I'll have most of the supplies I need already. But looking at all that stuff really makes me excited to start up. I like challenges and learning new things and I've always admired embroidery and am pretty excited to make a costume which a lot of details. Alice's and Caterina's dresses have been pretty simple, detailed wise and I'm sort of longing for a more detailed project.

I'm going to do a lot more research on embroidery so I can get ready and figure out what I need so I can start practicing. I don't have the money for a embroidery machine so I'm going to do it all by hand. I think doing it this way will be a lot more fun. When someone asks about it I can say I did it by hand. Not that is something wrong with using a machine, I think using it by hand will be better for me.

But anyway! I'll talk more about that later on when I start.

Ta-ta for now. I'm tired. Time for some gaming!

Last round of hand sewing

Tonight I am finishing up the last round of hand sewing the lining onto the inside of Alice's dress. It's pretty tricky and very frustrating but has to be done otherwise I have to re-do the lining and that would mean taking apart the whole dress. So I'm sucking it up and doing it. I don't have much to do and will finish tonight. That means tomorrow I can finally get back to work on finishing the dress.

The next steps are...

• Sew the sleeves on
• Start cutting chiffon for the ruffles
• Start and maybe finish the matching necklace
• Start on sewing the ruffles onto dress (Bodice, sleeves and around the skirt.)

There is still a lot to do so I'm guessing it'll take about....a week or so to finish. Not much more time than that. It'll go quickly once I figure out the sleeves and ruffle size. The necklace I can basically finish tomorrow (I wont be adding the chiffon ruffles on that until I can buy some or buy some pre-made ruffles.)

Here are some helpful tutorials for ruffles and chokers.

http://bijouscosplay.deviantart.com/art/How-to-make-ruffles-93221433    

http://foayasha.deviantart.com/art/Ruffled-Choker-Tutorial-259346569

I'm so happy I found the link about ruffles because I was worried I didn't have enough chiffon and since the pattern I have is for large ruffles that must be cut on a fold and the fabric I have isn't even wide enough to support that pattern (Plus the ruffles would be too long) So this will work perfectly! I can start on that with confidence now. So I'm so happy and excited to get this done.  

Video game cosplays

Cosplaying is no longer just for anime/manga. Video games are huge these days as well as movie cosplays. I am a HUGE gamer. I may not look it or even seem like it but I am. My fiance who is in a game major at his college, is who I find out about most of my favorite games from. The two games that are my favorites from my childhood are The Sims and American Mcgee's Alice.

My fiance and I both would like to go to Comic-con some day or even PAX (Seattle). So here are some characters I would like to cosplay someday that belong to video games.


Guild Wars 2,  Cabalist female light armor (Left)

Freaking love this outfit. It's my favorite outfit out of all of the light armor. It's girly and fun. I love the lace and details on the bodice. It's rare to see a armor set for a female in a rpg that doesn't show off boobs or isn't overly sexualized. It sort of have a lolita feeling to it and I guess that's why I like it so much. I would love to wear this and plan on making it someday. I forgot to add this one to my future cosplay list!

American Mcgee's Alice, Madness Returns. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Liddell "Queen of Hearts"

 I loved this twist in the game. She's ghastly beautiful and I guess that's why I like this outfit. Alice's sister is a big role in Alice's life and it's mentioned throughout the game. Her character isn't shown often but within the little time she is, you can tell she is a strong person. And those hands! I love that grotesque feel of the hands. The dress is very typical for a Queen of Hearts but I like the gold and dark red together. The patterns are pretty simple. I don't quite feel ready to make it because of those hands. So maybe some day.

American Mcgee's Alice, Madness Returns. Alice

I love Alice. And I love dark characters. I love how they twisted Alice. And madness just works so well. I don't see many Alice cosplayers anymore and would love to bring her back! I want to make both outfits. Maybe use the town outfit for down time since it looks pretty simple and comfortable. Both are simple and I'm pretty sure I could easily make both.

Guild Wars 2, Twilight Arbor Female (Left)

Another favorite of mine from Guild Wars 2. It's enchanting! I'd love to make this. I can see myself working with a lot of different fabrics and trying out new techniques. It'd be a challenge that's for sure!

Those are my top choices. Soon I'll go over some of my movie/tv cosplays I want to do someday as well as a post about my 2014 goals and plans.

Thanks for viewing!

Hand sewing

Right now I have a bunch of little tasks to hand sew on Alice's dress before I can really do much more to it. The lining must be hand sewed onto the dress so there wont be any weird and random lines showing on it. There is a part on the back that must be hand sewn. That shouldn't take me too long. I'm pretty good with hand sewing as it was what I did before I learned how to use the machine. Before I start I've been working on more editing on my novel to catch up on that.


There are so many cons going on this weekend it's crazy. A part of me wishes I had one to go to but I'm glad I don't. With all this work to be done I'd rather sit at home, listening to Marina and the Diamonds and hand sew than romp around at a con that I'm not prepared to go to. Seeing as we only have one costume that is con ready right now.

As soon as I get the last few pieces of Yuuko's outfit and the make-up I'll be doing a make-up test, show you guys the props we're bringing this year, how our xxxHolic costumes will be different from most and what pieces are included in the outfits. I want to try and do this to each cosplay but it depends on when we get them ready. If it's too close to con there is no way I can do it. We'll be getting the rest of stuff for Yuuko soon as well as some of the needed items for Oz and Alice.

I really cannot wait. I'm so excited to be bringing all these new cosplays. And I'm overly excited to be cosplaying Yuuko. I love black hair (I've dyed my hair black once before) and it looks really good with my skin tone. I'll be using make-up to make me slightly more pale which I think will make the wig only look better. I really can't wait to show you guys.

So I better get going as today is flying by already and there is much to be done!

Dress update

I sewed the two panels together finally! And it's looking pretty good so far. I'm pretty pleased. There is still a lot more to do. But I am very comfortable that this pattern will work well for Seth (Trinity Blood) Today would have done more but do to my health problems flaring I couldn't do much more.

I still need to...

~Hem the skirt (Make the hem line neat)
~Sew on the sleeves
~Fix the back zipper area
~Start on ruffles
~Start on matching choker


The sleeves are quite hard. The dress is strapless since I did not add the straps because of the sleeves. The sleeves are cap sleeves so we're trying to figure out how to attach them without it looking messy. I think my mom had figured out a pretty good idea so I'll try that out tomorrow to see how it goes.

Almost there

So I finally got the back piece almost 100% done. I just need to make the zipper area neat and tidy. The sewing machine had to have issues of course. All were minor and I fixed them easily, although they happened often. I did get quite a lot done.

Yes, the pictures suck. Super sorry. I took them in the late evening and the lighting is sorely lacking in my basement. This is the front panel.


The neckline of the patter I used was more heart shaped so I had to fix that to make it a straight line as Alice's dress is not heart shaped. There will be a small row of ruffles on the top as well as around the dress. You can kind of see how it's short in front. This part will be flared out with the petticoat under.

This is the inside of the front panel. I was going to use boning but after sewing one on...it looked awful. A slight warning for those who plan on using plastic boning, don't buy it if it's curled up. This will not straighten out when you sew it on. It made the dress curled outwards and it looked really bad.

I talked it over with my twinie (My friend who's cosplaying Will of the Abyss.) and she didn't add it either so I decided not to use it.

I also sewed in the lining. I did it a little differently. As you can see I sewed it on then flipped it over. I should have done it in panels but after a little problem I am finding myself lacking fabric so I had to make do so I could work on the dress. The dress really doesn't need full lining since the lining is the same color. I only did the bodice so my under things don't show. I will have on a full petticoat so nothing else will show if a bright light hits the fabric.





Tomorrow I will finally sew the two panels together, sew on the sleeves and cut the fabric for the ruffles and it I do all that in a timely manor and if the sewing machine decides it wants to work with me, I will start on sewing on the ruffles as well as the matching necklace.

Then all I will need to do is start on the leg wear and start on Oz's coat and waistcoat. Then finally I can settle down and work on Alice's scythe. I plan on going big for this scythe so hopefully I have some time to work on it. I'm really happy with how quickly I'm able to make these (Especially with all these issues.) and am hopeful that I can finish all pieces in time by the end of August. And I'm very eager to start on Seth. Although the amount of details on her piece will most likely take a lot longer to make than this piece. I will be using the same pattern though! So I will know not to make the same mistakes next time.

So in all I do like this pattern but wish they would have explained a  bit more in depth about certain steps. It is easy to follow and use though. It's hard to find the right pattern for big in the back, short in the front dresses so I'm glad I found it in time.

Kumori-con + What is to come

My entire focus (Besides writing and editing a novel and finding a job) is on Kumori-con and the new costumes I'm bringing. I love Kumori-con. It's a smaller con with more of a family feel. You will find all types of ages ranging from infant to elder. It's overall a very kind con with lots of nice people. It's been held at two hotels for the last few years with a nearby park to go to. It seems to be focused mainly in the park. Most people are hanging out there during the day. We, however go inside a lot due to my health issues so we enjoy shopping and sitting inside, but do hang out at the park throughout the day for short periods of time.

This year we will be bringing three new cosplays. And are leaving behind our very first cosplays which debuted at Kumori-con. Sharon and Break are retired as of now. They will only be brought if something goes wrong with Alice and Oz, which are replacing them.

                                                 Taken during out very first PH meet up!

This year we have...

1. xxxHolic

• Yuuko      (Kimono outfit)
• Watanuki  (School uniform)

2. Trinity Blood

• Caterina (Young artbook version)
• Abel       (Artbook version)

3. Pandora Hearts

• Alice (Artbook version)
• Oz (Artbook version)

These will all be new to Kumori-con. Our Trinity Blood costumes will be worn for short periods of time. They are entered in the costume "Walk on" contest so we will be wearing a lot more around that time of day.  Due to Caterina's wig I can't wear her costume for long. Plus it will be hot. It will be replaced by Seth and (Whoever my fiance decides to be) next year.

We only need two things for our xxxHolic cosplay (Heels and a corset for Yuuko.) and we will be able to wear those. We were going to bring them to Sakura-con but were unable to buy the items. Since the obi the site I bought the kimonos from was too small and didn't wrap well around me I couldn't wear the outfit. I freaking am in love with the outer kimono. It's so soft and comfortable I just cannot wait to wear it! The wig will be a pain but I'm planning on pinning it up when I walk around so it should be okay.

Our Pandora Hearts cosplays and xxxHolic cosplays will be out main cosplays as they haven't been worn before and are great for summer. If the PH panel goes though I will be Alice in the panel so I'll be wearing the outfit quite often because of that. The dress has been stressful to make so far but I love it.


We don't yet know what days we will be wearing the cosplays but here is a rough idea.

Day zero: Lolita/Yuuko

Short drive up from Oregon, check in to the hotel. So I will be driving up wearing my new Angelic Pretty dress and may change into Yuuko later on just for fun. IT'll be a hang out day, nothing much going on. May go to a lolita meet up, may not.

Day One: Yuuko/Alice

Depends on when the panel may be (If it's accepted) I have a feeling I'll want to wear one of these. We normally have the PH photoshoot during day one so I might just wear Alice all day. Maybe change into Yuuko during the evening since that is more comfortable.

Day Two: Yuuko/Alice/Caterina

Guessing this is the day of the contest so we'll most likely whip out our TB costumes just before the contest and wear them a bit afterwards. Depending one photo shoots we will either wear xxxHolic or Pandora Hearts most of the day. Most likely will be wearing xxxHolic.

Day Three: ?

The day we leave home. Barely anything happens this day so I use my day three cosplay for day zero instead. I may wear Yuuko or wear my lolita and have her outer kimono on just for fun. I'm not sure what we will wear this day but it wont be anything big or a complete costume since we do have a bit of a drive back to where we live. It's really not worth wearing a full outfit since the day is so short and barely anything is going on. I might just wear lolita or casual street clothing.

Drama, drama!

For once drama doesn't have to do with people. Alice's dress is becoming way too dramatic as issue after issue keeps popping up. At first we couldn't find the zipper foot for the sewing machine so we had to run around town like chickens with our heads cut off as store after store gave us the run around. Who would have known finding a zipper foot (I mean come on! Zippers are so common on clothing!) would be so hard! At the first place (We called in and they said they had one.) told us they were out and didn't bother trying any other pieces. We wound up going to their main store just a few streets down and they were super helpful and found one that did work and even showed us how to use it.

So after we got that the last needle broke! Then guess what? When we bought more they weren't fitting in right and I dropped one into a hole in the sewing machine and the other broke. So we only have one needle again. Then this afternoon my mom spilled pop all over the back piece which of course had just had the zipper sewn in all the way and I was ready to start on the lining.

So today instead of sewing I had to soak the fabric to remove the stain. Luckily soaking it in cold water with a little laundry soap took care of any stains left. Then I put it in the dryer on air fluff and was able to smooth out most of the wrinkles so overall I avioded having to re-do that piece and the zipper.

It's been stressful but I am still determined to get this piece done. So I should be able to work on it tomorrow. And I will be taking a butt load of new pictures so check back soon for those!

Sewing troubles +Commissions

Today has been very stressful. One thing after another. First we went out to the nearby art and fabric stores to find a zipper foot for the sewing machine so I could finally finish sewing that damn zipper on (Who would have know how much work goes into sewing a zipper on? Crazy.) The first two stores came up empty so we went home and called a few places. Luckily a store within the big fabric store said they had one so we jetted off but came to find out they didn't have (Let's be honest, they weren't that helpful and didn't even bother looking hard.) 

So we went to that store's main hub just a bit down the street and they were out too! But they were so much kinder and were willing to dig a little deeper and found a zipper foot that fit the machine. They were super helpful and taught us how to use it and everything. So excited that I could sew again we trailed back home only for me to break the needle.

THE LAST NEEDLE!

It hit one of the pins and cracked. ( *$*%$*#*@ ) so my fiance and I rushed out to the nearby fabric store and got there right before they closed (They were closed or were closing, it was like...a minute before their closing time.) But they let us in and we hurried to get some needles. When we came home I couldn't get the needle in and lost on (It slipped down a hole in the sewing machine) then my mom broke the second. Oh my gosh at this point I was going to rip my hair out so I gave up and sat on the couch to give myself some time to chill. 

I'm pretty sure this sewing machine wont last much longer and it's annoying, even through it is over 20 years old! Because I want to start doing commissions. As soon as I finish the new Pandora Hearts cosplays I'll have enough time to start some. Next year would be perfect because I would be making only two cosplays instead of four. Hopefully I can find a job soon. 

The FOOT!

The dress for Alice is going great! I have front panel (made out of three different pattern pieces) done. I had to re-start because I had forgotten to cut the length. So the dress had turned out a lot longer. I messed up on some of the pieces so I had to re-do it all.

All I need to do is....

• Sew boning
• Sew lining
• Cut and sew ruffles

Annnnd sew that darn zipper in. The zipper is giving me the most trouble. In fact I couldn't sew at all yesterday because of it. I guess you need a zipper foot. My mom thought we had one but I guess with moving and all that it got lost. So I can't finish the zipper until we go out today and see how much they are. Hopefully they are cheap!


When the zipper issue is dealt with I'll finish the back panels and start sewing in the boning then the lining before sewing the two panels together. Once that is done I'm in the clear and can work on the ruffles and matching necklace. Then start on the props. It shouldn't take too much longer at this point. I'm very positive it will be done before Kumori-con. Once this is done I have to start on Oz's coat and waistcoat.


Hopefully we start getting wigs, contacts and everything before the very last minute like last time. That was awful! Luckily we don't need too much. Besides Yuuko's heels and corset we don't' need anything for our other cosplays.

So here is what we'll need for the PH ones.

• White pants (OZ)
• Red flats (Alice)
• Supplies for Alice's leg wear
• Alice and Oz' wigs
• Green and Purple contacts
• Supplies for a mini hat
• Supplies for Alice's scythe

Busy day

I started off getting straight into sewing today. I normally do it later in the evening so I can write all morning but since my mom had the day off today and I needed some advice I went straight to work. And boy have I been busy. I made a ton of mistakes and had a bunch of distractions. So I had to restart twice but in the end I have the front panels of the dress done. All I have to do tomorrow is sew in the zipper on the back panel and sew the rest together. By this point the dress will be all together. I have to do boning inside and some lining so I'm guessing it'll be done within two more days. Then I have to work on the ruffles which I think will be fun. I love chiffon. I also have a matching choker that I will have to make when the dress is done. I'm not really sure how to make one so I'm going to researching some tutorials online before I start on that.

It's a lot of work and stress but this pattern is pretty easy. The instructions are easy to read and understand. Since I wasn't able to finish the back panels today I'll take pictures tomorrow and upload those. I already put everything away so I'll make sure to do that tomorrow. 

A  few days ago my mom made one of the best suggestions she's ever made to me. For those who know I've been searching nonstop for a job so I can get married and move out, start my life as an adult. But the jobs around here are very tight and there are rarely any non-seasonal jobs. So she told me to be more creative about finding a job. And ever since she's said that I've been thinking over some ideas. One would be to self-publish a e-book if I cannot get the novel I'm working on now published by an agent and another is starting commissions. 

I'm not the best at big props like swords and such (There are so many people doing those types of commissions anyway.) I'm thinking doing costumes and accessories, maybe even jewelry down the road. I'm also thinking about starting making plus sized lolita dresses. Because I don't think there are enough people making those in my area.  I'm not too sure how to start. Maybe doing a fund raiser on Indiegogo. But I'm really nervous about it. I need to find out how much I'd need and all that. So I need to figure it all out. If you have done something like this please PLEASE offer me advice I need it and want it. 

I think between writing and doing this I could make a living. I can do this! That is giving me so much more hope and I feel much better about my situation. I just hope that everything will go smoothly and I can either do a fund raiser for my projects or get published. It'll be a lot of work so with lots of coffee and Marina and the Diamonds to guild me through it I may be able to follow my dreams after all. 

One step at a time. I'm going to do some planning tonight with my fiance and see what he thinks of my plan. I really would love to start up a commissions shop on ESTY or online for those in the area and in other states. It'd be a lot of fun. I just have to see if my heart is in it 100%. So wish me luck and please don't be afraid to offer your advice.  

Alice update

I just finished cutting out the fabric today for Alice's dress. The only issue I'm having is figuring out about lining. The top part of the dress (Bodice and skirt) does need lining but the longer part may not. I had about only five yards and had to use some of that for one of the pieces so I have less than five now. I talked it over with my mom and figured out the skirts don't need to be lined since the fabric isn't as thin as Satin or see through. So instead I'm only going to be lining the top bodice and maybe the shorter skirt. I'm going to start working on researching how to make a collar necklace tonight as well as cut out the chiffon for the ruffles. Lots to do tomorrow! That's for sure.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow if I have time.

Tomorrow's plan.

Oh boy. I am beat. Been playing a lot of Sims City (The new one) and been playing lots of badminton out back. I'm really tired but ready to sew again. Tomorrow since my fiance works I'll be starting to sew Alice's dress. I have the fabric and chiffon for ruffles. I have five yards of lining and need about three more. But I have enough to start. After all sleeves don't need lining. The main focus is so the top part isn't too thin so I think I have enough.

I am in love with the chiffon I got for the ruffles. It's soft and moves like water. It feels great on my skin. It will be used on the sleeves, the bottom of the skirts and on the top of the bodice. As well as the matching necklace. I'll be sewing most of the day while taking breaks to start writing my novel.

Like many I'm super excited about this up-coming con in August. Since it'll just be me and my fiance we'll be planning a lot of photo shoots to keep us busy. Hopefully the panel for Pandora Hearts goes through alright. I have a feeling if we don't have many photo shoots and the panel doesn't go through (which I doubt. It's the only one of its kind.) we might be a tad bit bored. So hopefully we can find a third activity to do. If my camera is up and working and I get an arse load of batteries I may do free shoots but until then I don't know. I most likely wont be able to do offer free shoots because of how fickle my camera has been lately.

I'll post some picture tomorrow if I can steal my dad's camera.

Sewing plan

I'll be starting on Alice's dress this weekend after I get lining for the dress. I forgot to get it at the time when I first got the fabric for the dress. I'm also going to get chiffon for the bottom ruffles and stuff for the matching necklace. The chiffon will be used for the necklace ruffles, the bodice ruffles and the ruffles around the shorter part of the skirt as well as the longer part, and the bottom of the sleeves.


I won't be making the bunnies like I wanted to. It turns out making bunnies are a lot harder than I had thought. So in less I find a great and easy pattern I wont be making them. Instead I'll be making Alice's scythe since that will do much better in the contest for Sakura-con.

I'm hoping it will go soothingly and quickly but I am not used to sewing boning so it may be a bit tricky at first. I'll be posting a lot more pictures of this process later on. Sorry for such a short post but I'm busy trying to figure out an issues with my novel.

But before I go I have one other thing to talk about and I will write a longer post covering the topic later on. Besides my new Sporadic Sunday, I'll do a Topics Tuesday which I'll start next week.

Petticoat

Today I finished the petticoat for Alice's outfit. IT turned out very fluffy, perfect for the dress. I did mess up on the waist band a bit but my mom came up with the great idea of buying wide ribbon to sew over my booboos. So I'll be sewing that on later.

As you can see it's huge! It's tulle monster. It fits very nicely I may have to tighten it a bit but for now its fine. As shown on the second picture, I put it on under my Angelic Pretty JSK so show just how fluffy it is. It's huge! I wont be wearing it with my AP dress but I'm glad it gives a heavy dress (AP dress has two layers) this much volume. It'll work perfectly.

I'm going to start cutting fabric tonight for Alice's dress and start on that tomorrow or the next day depending if it's cooled down or not. It's been very hot and humid lately (even though its only May!) and I get very sick from heat so I can only work on my sewing little by little each day since the sewing machine is upstairs on the table.

I'll update that more tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Sporadic Sunday

What? What's Sporadic Sunday? It's basically a random post with a random topic. Most likely nothing to do with cosplay. But fun all the least. Most topics will be random, pulled off the internet or about other hobbies I like. So for the very first Sporadic Sunday the topic will be....



MOVIES!

My top three favorite movies are....

Listed in no order.

                                                              MirrorMask 

"In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home."

2005

I first watched this movie when I was around fifteenth and it instantly became my favorite. The plot, the characters, it all is wonderfully crafted. Even the music is beautiful. It's one of a kind. There is nothing out there like this movie. It is very inspiring. I've watched this movie at least ten times. It never gets old.

The Secret of Moonacre

"When 13 year old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her luxurious London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, an eccentric uncle she didn't know she had, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Soon Maria finds herself in a crumbling moonlit world torn apart by the hatred of an ancient feud with the dark and sinister De Noir family. Maria discovers that she is the last Moon Princess and, guided by an unlikely mix of allies, she must overcome her family's pride in order to unearth the secrets of the past before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre disappears into the sea forever."

2008

Another one of a kind movie with heart. This movie like MirrorMask inspires me over and over again. The costumes, the characters, the plot. Everything is like a dream. And it's very enchanting. It's just a shame people aren't making more fantasy movies like these.  I've watched this movie at least three times. And now I want to watch it again.

Return to Oz

"Dorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, is somehow called back to Oz when a vain witch and the Nome King destroy everything that makes the magical land beautiful."

1985

My all time favorite movie. I've loved this movie since I was young and it has never left my memory. When I was older I found it again and fell back in love with it. This is how OZ should be. It's goes off the books (expect the ruby slippers, though are supposed to be silver.) A lot of people complain about the darker side of this movie and yes, that is how the books were. There is this depression hidden throughout it. And they did a great job mixing both fantasy and darkness. I love it. Plus it is the ONLY Oz movie that has Oz's true royal heir, Ozma. My favorite character. I have to say Dorthy is perfect too. She was never supposed to be a older teen/early adult.  And Tick tock. How could you not love Tick Tock?

Next Sunday's topic will be...

My top three most played video games.

Yuuko's hair pieces

I've been working on a small project trying to make a hair piece for my Yuuko cosplay that will be debuted at Kumori-con 2013, this August. Since I wasn't able to bring her to Sakura-con I'm trying to add a few pieces to the costume to really make it something special  I'm also going to work my arse off on finding good photographers so I finally get some updated pictures on this blog and my DA.  Last time I wasn't able to meet up with any of them so I didn't get a single picture. Which I'm okay with. Sharon's dress was just....ugh.


Any who.


I'm still trying to decide which (Water lily VS Butterfly wing) I'm going to use so I'm going to make both. The other night I started on the butterfly wing. At first I was going to just make two separate wings then I was going to make one big butterfly and then I finally did this...

I added both pieces together making a 3D effect. I'm still trimming, painting and figuring out how I'm going to put the hair pin on it, although I'm pretty sure I'll add it onto the point which is shown on the left side. Then just hid that under the hair of the wig.

Template made by LINK

I started by using this template that I found on DA, I posted the link for you to use as well. I traced it by taping tracing paper onto my computer screen then carefully tracing the template with pencil.

This wasn't my original, I made a smaller version that I have yet to use. Once traced I taped it onto a piece of craft foam and cut that out. I tried many things and some (most) failed so I decided to go ahead and do it a different way in order to get those details. So I took the tracing paper, cut the little pieces out and came up with this.

Sorry for the mess, this piece has been used. Once it was cut I taped it on and carefully cut into the foam. This took a long time since I had re-sized the wings and made them smaller. I had to re-do this piece to make it smaller as well. Once that was done I started playing around with the pieces and came up with the 3D model. Yuuko wears something similar shown here....

                                        I may add chains later. Just cause I love how they look.


For the water lily I'm still not sure how I'm going to make it or get the petals to curve upwards but I wont start on that until I'm done with the butterfly wings. I may use the butterfly wing and not the water lily but I sort of want to test my skills and try new things with craft foam so I may just do it for fun and to keep my hands busy at night.


So that's about it for now. I'm going to go write my novel for a bit then start working on my petticoat which is almost done! I will be coming up with on more post today. It'll be something new and fun that I'll be starting and doing every weekend.

What is it?

Sporadic Sunday!

Petticoat and Yuuko's hair piece

The petticoat is coming along great! I have the first layer of tulle gathered and ready to be sewn onto the yoke (waistband) and am waking up early to work on it tomorrow. I'm hoping to get it done or almost done by tomorrow. We got a ton more coupons to the local fabric store so we'll be picking up more fabric later on the following weeks.


Last night I was being a dork and was trying on my kimonos for my Yuuko cosplay and the more I see the outfit and think about cosplaying her this summer, I find myself wanting to make a hair piece for her. I've searched all over online and just can't see to find something I like that would suit her character. So I'm thinking of making one out of craft foam.

I've been doing some research on what pieces she wears and I've seen three symbols used over and over again so here are the three main ones that I'm thinking about making.


                                                          Butterfly wing/ full butterfly

Water Lilly 

Roses

I've been thinking about doing both the water lilly and a full butterfly. I'll be making them out of craft foam and will start tonight. It may take a while but it'll be fun to do. I'll post pictures when I start and they are looking like what I'm trying to make.

The plan for Alice and Kumori-con

The plan for Alice

I started on the petticoat for Alice's dress today. Although Alice's dress is only my third cosplay to be made by hand I'm finding the petticoat really easy to make. I had the yoke (Waist band) sewn together already, the first eight pieces of tulle sewn together in a huge circle of tulle (That was really hard to do. Tulle doesn't like to stay in place.) but I got it done! The first layer of tulle is made out of eight pieces, I had sixteen pieces in total.

Once I'm done with gathering the top part of the first layer of tulle (I have the first line of gathering done.) I have to sew it onto the yoke and start on the second layer of tulle. That's basically repeating what I did for the first one. That step wont take long so once that is done I have only the inner layer of lining to do and then all I need to do is put in the elastic band in the yoke. I'm pretty sure I can finish it within two more days. I'm really proud of myself because I've done it all on my own so far. Last time my mom helped a ton but I'm really trying to do it myself to prove to myself I can sew and read patterns without much help.

This way I'll have more confidence when I start on our big project next year. The only thing I'm really nervous about on the dress are the sleeves, lining and corset boning. The sleeves are from another pattern. I'll be making them a bit longer for my comfort. I still need a lot for this outfit luckily we have a bunch of coupons. Hopefully the dress goes as smoothly as the petticoat.

 For the dress I still need...

~Lining (Either going with taffeta or silk which ever is cheaper/ on sale)
~Chiffon for ruffles
~Hook and eye set

I'll post pictures when I can. Sadly my camera is having issues. It likes to think it all batteries are dead and isn't letting me upload my pictures to my computer. Sadly I can't get a new one and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do free shoots at Kumori-con like I wanted to. It's depressing but not much I can do. We just recently booked our room for Kumori-con and will be buying the tickets soon as well. I love the hotel we're staying at but am sort of sad we wont have roomies but oh well. More room for our cosplay stuff I guess. I have to say I've learned a lot the last few cons and made some huge mistakes, friend wise. I've realized cosplay is a lot more fun with friends to hang out with and when your alone it's...well. Lonely. I'm glad I have my fiance but I will miss having friends with us 24/7. Especially at night. Oh the laughs we had. Great fun.

I am still very excited for this con. I'm trying to focus on the good, the panel (hopefully it gets accepted) and our new costumes. I'm really looking forward to Yuuko's costume. It's going to be very comfy. I'm going to get a clip so I can just clip the wig up when I'm walking around so it wont tangle. Hopefully I have fun and enjoy the con to the fullest. I can't wait to see my friend and walk around in our matching outfits. It'll be a lot of fun.