Some fabric I used to sew.

That about sums up how I feel right now. I finished the cape. One corner needs to be fixed. Otherwise it's done and looks pretty good. I cut out most of the pieces of Abel's cassock and then....ran out of fabric. Of course. I think we've spent around $100 on fabric for Abel now. It's driving me nuts! I hate running out of fabric right when your ready to sew. I miss my sewing machine. The holiday season is upon us. Which means I won't be able to buy fabric next week as stores close early, winter weather is also a big factor. Hopefully we get some fabric tomorrow. I've decided not to line Abel's outfit because of the cost so far. And I feel so badly about it. I'm beating myself up about lining.

I think I've become addicted to sewing.

I may have an issue and may seek (yeah right.) help.

There is still so much to do. I want Abel's cassock done as quick as I can make it. That's without rushing. I do better with some time to take breaks and go play Rune Factory (This game is great!). I still have a shit ton to do. Four months (almost three.) is very daunting. I have everything planned out. I just hope we stick to the plan and get everything done on time. I'm looking forward to waltzing around as Seth. It'll be a dream come true.

I'll have another post really soon with pictures and more info later on.

Thanks for reading!

Arrowhead making machine

I am tired. How about you? I'm sure those who also have a deadline for cosplays are tired too. I've been focusing on making a shit ton of arrowheads for Abel's clips as pictured below on his collar. I'm using a technique as Xaljira Cos(tumes) has used. 

The progress of making 68 of these is very time consuming. I'll be using a whole pack of 100 mini glue sticks but it'll be so worth it. I'm getting excited about finishing all these as they are looking pretty cool. I'll admit these were one of the things that made me very scared to make Abel's outfit at first but now I'm not too worried about them as everything is going pretty well. I have a lot finished but am not quite done yet.

I stopped today to make a wreath with my mom. Otherwise I've been busy working on the arrowheads. I'll be sewing a little today after I finish eating (I'm doing that while writing this.) I'm feeling much better now that I wrote up a goal per month for these costumes. I will be done with the cape by this weekend. So I can start on the cassock. 

I want the cassock, cape and all Abel's armor done this month. That's 17 days. I can do it! Hopefully. It's a lot but, hey you gotta set high goals for yourself if you want to improve.  So I better go now to finish eating.

Thanks for reading!

Monthly goals.

I've been dreading doing this but I have to in order to keep my nerves in check. This is a huge project. Now saying that can still not bring across how challenging it is. So far it's cost us...around...$200. Maybe. Normally that's for both cosplays.

So here is my goals for the next four months.


December 

• Finish The cape (Fix three corners, finish bias tape on collar.)
• Finish Abel's cassock (Patterns cut out. Fabric is next.)
• Finish Abel's armor (Not including painting.)

Maybe

• Finish Seth's armor (Three pieces.)

January 

• Finish Seth's dress 
• Finish Seth's armor (If not done this month.)
• Boot covers for Seth
• Make resin gems for Seth
• Start on Seth's hat
• Start on the trim and fabric painting on the back of the train.

I would love to be finish with all major work by the end of January. Now if that doesn't happen there will be no time to make the wings. Since we will have to construct a very complex harness for Abel's large feathered wings it will take time to figure that all out. Seth's wings will also take a lot of planning. Of course besides the wings there are things we still need to buy. Wigs, contacts, shoes, corset, make-up, ect. That is very important for both cosplays. 

If we aim to finish most of the construction by January that leaves us a lot of room to fix things. Because something always happens right before con. So by giving myself time to sit back and return to the cosplays later on, I can find and fix anything I find before con. 

The most challenging thing will be the details on Seth's train. I will be hand sewing all the gold trim as well as painting the details on both the hat and dress. It's a lot of work in a very little time period but I really want to get the more complicated sewing done soon. Which shouldn't be an issue if I work on it everyday. 

I am so excited for Sakura-con. We are most likely only going to cosplay Seth and Abel throughout the whole weekend. That's it for now. I will update later on with more progress pictures. 

Thanks for reading!

update and Rune Factory 4.

 First off there is four months 127 days. I'm freaking out over that but I am on my way. The cape is almost done, thank goodness as it normally takes me about two months to finish a major costume. That's the sewing part. I've never done fabric painting or a shit ton of hand sewing trim. So this is going to be a big challenge but if I have to hand sew trim while in the car I am okay with that. Although I'd much rather not. So tomorrow after we get a few supplies (Mainly new fabric scissors.) I'll start cutting out the pieces for Abel's cassock. I finally figured out how I am going to shut the front of the cassock so there will not be any big challenges with this outfit. No custom patterns or modifications. Which is a huge relief after making this cape. 

The cape still needs...

• The collar trimmed 
• To figure out how to tact down the collar to get it to stay up and firm.
• Clean some of the edges (Some were cut too short and I need ot use my iron on stuff to make them neater.)

The cassock involves:

• Rounded high collar (Very short, easy to make.)
• Long sleeves with large cuffs
• Modified to be a bit shorter.
• Three slits added to the bottom (Sides and back)
• Hidden panel with eye and hook closures.

Pretty simple. The bias tape may kill me but that's okay. I can deal with that....hopefully. I have learned quite a bit from the mistake I've made with the cape. So I'll just need to try really hard not to remake those mistake when working with the cassock. The cape will be finished within a day or two. I am going all out on making Abel's cassock. I cannot have two months to make it. I'll have to get my butt in gear to get it done. The design is easy so if I work on it every day it may be done in a month. Which would be my goal.

 Then...starts work on Seth. But that's another story. We'll save that for a later post. I promise it will be a long one.

Onto Rune Factory. Ermahgerd. Just got it today and I am in love~ I'm still figuring it out but I really am enjoying the game. It's very interesting. I have played the first one but for some reason stopped playing. This one has a very strong plot that runs the game. Which I personally like in a game, even if its a "casual" game. I'm used to playing computer games so it's a nice break from the more serious games I play. I'm enjoying it so far. 

The female character is okay...I wish we could customize the characters. The hair is too...childish for me. I like more mature characters that are a bit stronger. Strong females are always better in video games than cutesy and helpless maidens. Yuck! So she isn't my favorite. The top....of my god. 

It's hard to see on this picture but there are two strips RIGHT ON HER NIPPLES! Come on! This is just plain stupid. Girls are most likely going to be playing the female character. Why would you ever put strange thingies on the boobs? Where is all the pretty lace and girly things? That's what girls like characters to look like in these fantasy type games.

Not a good idea guys. 

Ruins the character. I'm sorry. I'm guessing a guy designed the character. Sorry for being sexist but I have to. It's just tacky. If it's supposed to be a breastplate or chest armor there would be no loop to attach things. That doesn't make sense. Armor should cover the full stomach to protect the major organs not just the breasts. 

However I do have hope for her. There supposedly more outfits you can buy. Either that or I'm just going to wear the wedding outfit all the time. 

Over all I'm not a fan of the main character girl version.

However, the rest of the characters are pretty nice looking. Although one or two of them appear to be based off well known anime characters, such as Armstrong from FMA. Once you play the game you'll know who I'm talking about. Another issue I have is the design for Leon. I haven't gotten him unlocked in the game yet but I've watched videos of his character online (He's the second to the last on the right.) 

Is he Egyptian or Japanese? Mixing a Jackle and Kitsune does not work. Those two cultures are so different it's like night and day. Jackles are more like dogs. Kitsunes are foxes. He looks like a wolf. Come on. Enough with the lazy designs and lack of research. Pick one or the other. And what the hell is with the fan? Could you please not have them hold anything ALL THE DAMN TIME?

Alright. I'm done ranting over the flaws. This game is pretty good minus what I mentioned. But no game is perfect. I do enjoy it very much. In fact we may cosplay from it.

I'm thinking about Dolce.

I wish the main character look more like this. I really do. I hate it when I'm wishing to play a random character more than the main character. I love the look of Dolce. She's a bit darker but the outfit is very cute and mature. Plus Pico is just darling. 

I may or may not cosplay her, depending on our what we pick for the end of the year. We may have to carry some of our already planned cosplays over to 2015 depending on how quickly I can finish up some of the planned cosplays for Kumori-con.

So that's it for now. I was going to talk about armor and stuff but I've made this post long enough for now. I have a bit more writing to do tonight. My novel is almost to 60k and is coming to an end so I have to kick it into high gear to get that done as well as our cosplays. I'm sorry I was ranting so much but it bothers me a lot when characters who should be girly and sweet look so....ugh. It's just annoying. Luckily the game's graphics are tiny so I don't have to stare at those ugly details all the time. If you like to share your thoughts on Rune Factory 4 and how the characters look, act, ect please do. I'd love to hear what you guys think. 

Thanks for reading!

Progress

The collar is sewn on! I am so happy I did not give up on it. It was a really hard and challenging process of creating a pattern (made two.), fixing the flaws, making a inner cover to make the edges neat. There has been way too much time spent on this cape and I'm glad the construction is done. I have already started re-pinning the bias tape on the edges. It looks amazing with the silver satin lining the black broadcloth. It's really taking on the Trinity Blood look. Which is great because if it didn't I have to tear it all apart again. Which I am not willing to do at this point.

I will sew the bias tape on tomorrow and hopefully get it all done tomorrow. So I can start cutting out fabric for Abel's cassock. I have five months to finish both Seth's dress, hat, Abel's cassock and the wings. It's a lot. But I'm loving making them. Even if it is stressful. My fiance is helping out a lot more this time around. He did pick out these costumes (I chose Seth, we always take turns picking series but chose our own characters.) that he needs to help me and pull his weight more. So he's doing great with making his armor pieces and even with making bias tape with our bias tape machine. It's so nice to have him helping out.

Once Abel's outfit is finished it will be ten times more challenging. Seth's dress will be fairly easy. I have all three patterns ready to go but after they are sewn together comes the real challenge. Between hand sewing yards and yards of trim and painting on fabric, I'll have no time to do anything. So I'm hoping my novel will be done by then. It's going to be a ton of work but I'm very excited for it. I love hand sewing. But am nervous about the painting since I have never done it on fabric before. I want the details to be exact. So it'll take some time. Hopefully I can finished Abel's outfits before the end of the month so I can get Seth's dress done as soon as possible.

If I can find fabric...

Did you know finding green fabric is hard? Not lime. You can find that everywhere. There are two typical shades in the fabric stores around my area. Lime and forest green. It's so hard to find a sage green. Something that isn't too light or doesn't have cheap looking sparkles on it. I may have a good lead but it depends if they have enough when we go back. I wish I could find some online but...none. It'll be worth it in the end I'm sure. I said before that we were only going to enter the contest at our next con if we get the wings done on time but now, with all this work and planning, I think we'll do it either way.


Anyway, I doubt anyone will read all this. Let's be honest, you guys only read my posts if I have pretty pictures. I don't blame you. I like pictures too. So I'll forgive you. There will be pictures very soon. My camera sucks the life out of batteries so I will have to borrow my parents' camera. My dad uses it a lot so I have to wait. Since we are taking pictures of some stuff we're selling I'll also take pictures of...

• Abel's cape
• The progress of the arrowhead clips so far
• The armor pieces 

Thanks for reading!

Moving forward

Finally. A day where I got a lot finished. Thanks to my mom for helping me with Abel's collar. Without her support and advice I would have easily given up and switched from Abel's normal manga version to his Empire uniform. Which in the end would have been more work. Luckily with her help I figured out how to sew on the collar of the cape. I will take pictures tomorrow when I take pictures of some stuff we're going to be selling.

Which brings me to the next topic. Today I also cleaned up our very first cosplays in order to sell. We're hoping to sell Break and Sharon (Pandora Hearts) to fund the rest of our Trinity Blood cosplays. This will help us a ton. So we can go out and buy all the supplies we need right away. We'll also be selling Alice and Oz's wigs that have only been worn once. I'm hoping all these items go to people who love them just as much if not more than we did. It's hard selling our very first cosplays but I will be making new outfits for Sharon and Break and I need the money and closet space. So it's their time to find new homes.

                                                                      Good times!

Tomorrow I'll iron them, take pictures, set up prices and post them online. As I'm taking pictures I'll make sure to take some pictures of all the progress I've made with the cape. And hopefully I have time to get the bias tape remade. Some strips were uneven which messed up the bias tape when I was pinning it on. I want the collar to be finished tomorrow so I can get busy on sewing the bias tape on. Then the cape will finally be finished and I can FINALLY move onto the cassock.

While my mom and I were planning out the collar I asked her about how I should shut Abel's cassock.As you can see in the picture below Abel's cassock is normally shown as being shut but shows no signs of a zipper, buttons or anything else really. It's rather annoying as it makes planning hard for cosplays. And since I couldn't find a Abel cosplayer who was willing to give advice, my mom and I came up with two ideas.

Her idea was that it didn't shut. It was held together by the belts. But that didn't make much sense to me because gravity would pull the top open and you would see more skin peeking through. It isn't like that. Although it was a good try.

My idea is to add a hidden panel (My mom later agreed that this was a good idea.) and have hook and eyes down the front of the cassock. Either that or buttons with ribbon loops. So I don't have to sewn on hundreds of button holes. Which my mom and I could not figure out with our sewing machine. It's very old and isn't good with that sort of stuff. So it will either be closed with hook and eyes or buttons with ribbon loops. That solves one of the issues I had.

I am so glad my mom helped me out today. I was ready to throw in the gloves. It was so nice having someone to help talk things over and discuss ideas. It helps me get all that stress and doubt out. So I feel so much better about being slightly behind. There is five months to the mark. I'm very excited about Sakura-con. But there is still a ton of work ahead of us. 

So I hope everything goes okay and I am able to make these on time. I can't wait to show you guys what I've done so far. Thanks for reading!

Stress

The collar on Abel's cape is going to be the death of me. It's horrible. I have it cut out, the interfacing on and it is all sewn together. But now I have to get sewn on neatly. It's very challenging. It just seem off somehow but I can't figure it out. It is taking too much time. So I'm going to try and finish up the bias tape. I have one row ready to be sewn on right now. Once the bias tape trim is on I will put away the cape and focus on Abel's cassock. Because if the cape is not finished it will be okay. We'll just have to make sure to make the wings instead. I hope the issue solves itself with time to think it over.

The main pieces are Abel's cassock and Seth's dress and hat. So I have to get things into gear and start working harder. I may start waking up earlier to help kick myself into shape. We have five months on the spot. I don't want to waste any time. The details on Seth are going to be a lot of work. Hand sewing and painting, it's going to need a lot of time to focus on it. So I hope I can have a month to do that all. So the main pieces must be finished soon.

I hope by keeping myself inspired I can do this. Once I get new batteries I'll update with some pictures.

The arrowhead clips

Arrowhead clips. No idea what the real term of these are but that's what I'm calling them for now. These are a very important iconic piece to the cosplay. We are going off of the manga which means these are even more important. They are on the cape (the collar) and the cassock (collar and cuffs). 

First step is creating a mold. The master will be made out of Model Magic air dry clay. If that does not work we'll be getting a air dry clay. Hopefully the Model Magic works. I'll be making the master tonight but will make two or three differently to see which will work best. 

Second step, once the master is dry and coated with Mod Podge to smooth out any flaws, I will mix Mold Putty and make the mold by surrounding the master with this molding putty. Curing will take about twenty minutes. Once it is finished drying I'll remove the master and see how the molds turns out. Hopefully it will be smooth. 

Third step is filling these molds with hot glue. Once all of them are made it will be time to draw on the arrowhead clip body on Wonderflex and start cutting those out. They will be heated and molded over a pen to give it a upright bend. Then the hot glue sculpt will be glued onto the clip base.

How many of these am I making? 

I just did the math. (These are the full count including the back pieces)

Cape:

• Cape sides :16 (32)
• Cape collar: 9 (18)

Cassock:

• Collar: 9 (18)
• Cuffs: 5 (10)

Grand total:

Without counting cassock collar (back pieces): 68

With cassock collar backs: 78

I may not add back pieces to the cassock collar because it may become bothersome to my fiance since they will be surrounding his neck. But it depends on what he wants so right now I have two grand totals. 

I got the idea from Xaljira Cos(tumes) 

Thanks for reading!

Five months

There is so much to do. And I feel as if I don't have done nothing. I keep finding issues and I am going crazy! I have five months until the con. And my list is just growing. I got the cape made but now I need to fix the front and make the high collar but I have no idea how to make the collar. Which is slowing me down. I posted a thread for help on Cosplay.com, hopefully someone replies and helps me out. Otherwise sewing the bias tape on is proving to be pretty simple and won't cause me any problems.

My to-do list is as of right is...

• Finish the cape 

The circled part is the front corner that I need to cut out. I have the full cape finished but can't do this until I make the collar to make sure the length is correct before cutting the cape.

If you have made this cape before please comment on my thread and help me out!

http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?p=4793267#post4793267

• Start on the cassock + Scarf

This should be pretty easy. The pattern looks just like it. The only issue is figuring out how to get it to shut without buttons showing. I may make a hidden panel underneath so it hides the closures. 

This will include finding the following...

• Two wide belts
• Combat styled boots
• Gold trim for the scarf
• Red fabric (For the cross details.)

• Seth's dress and matching hat

Again, not too worried about making Seth's dress. I have patterns for her upper sleeves and dress. I'll be making the longer sleeves myself as well as make short bloomers to wear under the skirt. I'm making those without a pattern by using online tutorials. 

I'll need...

• Boot covers (I'm making them.)
• Gold trim, lace, resin gems, fabric paint, green and white fabric.

• Make armor

We have made two of Abel's armor pieces. The collar piece and the long piece that goes under that. Those are being painted and will be attached by Velcro or metal clips. We still must make...

* Four small plates (These will go on Abel's cassock's sleeves.)

*Two plates for Abel's cuffs

* Shoulder pauldron for Abel

*Plate that goes under the pauldron with red lining underneath

*New rosary (if we have time.)

*Shoulder plate with raised bars (Abel)

*Large back piece with four tubes

*Boot armor plates (Maybe.)

*Seth's breastplate 

*Seth's shoulder armor x2

*Armor crown piece for hat

*A shit ton of the arrows for Abel's outfit

I also need to make...

*Resin gems for Seth (Red,blue, green)

*Silicone mold for the arrow clips for Abel

Seth needs a wig and Abel will need another if we make everything and are doing his crusnik wig. My head is spinning. I'll have to start waking up early to sew my butt off. If I can't figure out the cape and no one helps I might just finish up the bias tape and move on to the cassock until I come up with something. I'm still searching for the perfect shade of green fabric for Seth. I might have found some and will get it if I cannot find anything else which I doubt I will be able to do. I'm going to make bloomers for Seth with the extra fabric from the skirt. I may make a cami or slip with it too if I have enough just for comfort during down time in our hotel room. 

So much to do. I'm going insane. I feel like I am doing nothing even through I've been writing a novel and planning and out lining. It's just stressful. Hopefully my fiance gets his butt in gear and starts making more armor pieces. That'll help keep the stress away. That's it for now. I need to go write and paint the two armor pieces we do have. 

Thank you for reading. Please comment on my thread if you have made a Abel cosplay. Thank you!