Today's work load.

There is so much to do! I'm currently working on my synopsis for my novel so this post will be short. Sorry about that!

Today's work

• Sewn cuffs on
• made mock up for scarf
• Cut scarf pieces out

Making a pattern or mock up is very simple. I use unbleached muslin. It's cheap and a very easy fabric to work with. This is the beginning stages for the scarf.

The scarf will be 55 inches long. There will be two pieces, sewn along the back. It will be lined with a long red, gold trimmed cross on each bottom piece of the scarf.

Here is the scarf. The fabric I'm using is Daphne poyl/cotton blend. It's sort of like the fabric hankies are made out of. Thin but very soft. The reason I chose this was became broadcloth is too firm. The scarf needed a nice flow to it. This fabric was cheap and very soft.

Plus I don't think Abel's scarf would be made out of a expressive fabric. Seeing as his clothing are always being torn or lost. So it works out in the end.

The cuffs! These were a lot of trouble. Because we changed the size they were too small for the sewing machine! Luckily the seam I was making will never be seen. It was a bit too sloppy for my liking but I had no choice. There is a part that will need to be hand sewed tomorrow but otherwise they are done.

Now I have to hem the bottom of the cassock and make the slits. I can't do that tomorrow as my fiance will be working. So that will have to wait.


It's almost done!!!!

Another thing I did today is remove the lace from my Caterina cosplay. This lace (since I have extra of this size.) will be used to make Seth's choker. I used the wider version of this lace for the underskirt for Seth. I'll use it again for her sleeves as well.

I think I have enough to start making the choker. I may wind up beading it as well. Just to add some bling to it.










Tomorrow's goals

• Finish sewing the scarf
• Start making the details on the scarf
• Finish the cuffs
• Start on the bias tape.

Lots to do. Luckily I can do all of it without help. I'm very excited to test out the new fabric glue I got and get started on Seth's choker. I am so close to finishing Abel. It's very exciting to see it all coming together. I will admit I am looking forward to making Seth. Not only because its mine but because there is so much to do. It'll be a real challenge.

I love me a good challenge.

That's it for now.

Thanks for reading!

Scarf supplies and update on progress

                                                                 Look at dat horse.


Busy bees. We have been busy, busy bees. Yet with 90 days left I feel like we haven't been busy enough. So I'm waking up earlier these next few months to get work pumped out. Now I have something to work on when my mother is away at work and cannot assist me with issues that come my way. The picture I posted above is of our awesome progress notebook that is filled with ref pictures and samples of fabric and beads and whatever else we're using. I've also listed how many yards we've used per fabric. This book will be brought to contests for the judges to look at. I always forget something when we are being judged so I thought this would be a good way for them to read over all the details in case I forgot something. It'll also have some progress pictures in it that they may not have seen yet.

The notebook has kept me really focused and organized so far so I'm really enjoying filling it up with info about our current TB project. We'll be doing this for now on for all our costumes that will be entered into contests.

So first progress pic, the cuffs. These are done a little differently than I'm used to but they are still easy and pretty straight forward. I did have to modify them a bit as we made the sleeves fitted. I have to cut a bit off one of the cuffs as it is a bit too long and not very even. Otherwise they are almost ready to be sewn onto the sleeves.

And here is a little preview of the cassock! I'm loving it so far. It looks great on my fiance and is nicely fitted to him. There isn't much more to do luckily.

• Sew on cuffs
• Create slits on the bottom of the garment.
• Hem the bottom
• Sew on the bias tape
• Create crosses on sleeves

I'm glad I'm almost done with Abel. 

We also got the supplies for the scarf today! I found a soft cotton fabirc (sort of like what hankies are made out of.) Luckily there was just enough to make the long scarf. We also got a thin gold trim and red fabric that will be used for the crosses on both Abel's cassock and the scarf.

The red fabric will also be used for the circles on Seth's train and hat. It's a very soft Kona broadcloth. I love it. I found some fabric fusion glue as well. I'm hoping this stuff will work well on the red fabric and trim as I want to use it for Seth as well to save me time. It's washable glue that is permanent so hopefully it goes okay.  

I'm hoping that Abel and his scarf will be done before the end of January so I can start on Seth. That would give me two full months to get Seth done which is perfect. I'm sure I can finish her within that time range. Maybe even make Abel's wings too! 

Remember to check out our Fb page for more updates! Thanks for reading.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Equus-Cosplay/169389529916223?ref=hl

Updated to-buy list

Our updated list of what else we need to buy for our Trinity Blood cosplays.


Abel

• Black skinny jeans 
• Two wide belts
• Combat boots (Maybe. I have a pair. We just have to see if they fit.)
• Acrylic tubes (For the back piece and dangles on the belts.)
•  White fabric + red for Abel's scarf
• New contacts
• Silver beads

Seth

• White fabric, dark green fabric and gold fabric.
• Shoe supplies (Ribbon, dye, soft pointe shoes, lace.)
• Gold trim, lace. (Lace for both sleeves and choker.)
• Red tights/stockings
• Supplies for the hat
• Resin for gems (plus molds)
• Wig
• Contacts

Maybes

• Black feathers
• Supplies for wing harness
• Second wig for Abel 

So that's it.

All the cosplays!

A question I often hear people ask is do you think it is better to cosplay a lot of characters or just one very rarely cosplayed character?

Since this is such a good question I couldn't help but to want to write a post about it. I am quite torn on this question. We normally cosplay at least two-three cosplays per con. This way we have a cosplay for everyday. Since we rarely cosplay on day zero (The day before the con starts.) we will wear one cosplay one day then a new one the next. Again, we do not cosplay on day three as we have to check out hotels and drive home. So two is normally enough.

Last con we brought three outfits. It was fun but very bothersome.  One of them we wore for a total of thirty minutes and tore it off as soon as we got in our room. Although it was fun it was a ton of work and we found ourselves in our hotel room more than around the con. It wasn't very fun. Of course we didn't have a connection to the characters like we normally do.

Our very first con we only had one cosplay. Break and Sharon from Pandora Hearts. We had such a great time. Having only one character to cosplay meant we had more focus to put into getting into the role of being that character. We don't have to worry about changing into another cosplay. That means one make-up look, one wig, one set of accessories and one pair of shoes to get used to.

Here is a short list of good and bad things I've noticed about cosplaying numerous characters and just one. These are based off of my experiences and may not be the same for you.

One, unique character to cosplay.

Pros

• There is a few or none cosplaying the same character as you. (You literary feel like you ARE that character.)
• You stand out
• Makes group shoots a lot more fun
• Less to pack
• Makes taking a break easier (Will discuss below.)
• More picture taken of you

Cons

• Sweat (You will sweat and sometimes it shows. If you have one costume, you can't change and wash it out without having to wait hours for the fabric to dry. This happened to me the first time I cosplayed.)
• Your costume may become dirty/stained or damaged.
• No one may know your character (Been there, done that. Not much fun.)

The pros are very easy. And they over rule the cons. When I talk about taking a break I mean going into your hotel room to eat or just wind down and rest your feet for an hour or two. For my fiance, friend and I we like to remove our wigs, kick off our shoes and costumes and lounge for a bit. When you have only one costume it's very easy to remove our outer pieces and relax. We don't have to worry about changing our make-up or contacts. 

Now for the bad side. Our first time cosplaying we had to walk quite a while from our hotel to the con site and I wore a long ballgown that came un-stitched so it dragged on the ground. It became so dirty I was really upset. I spent the entire evening scrubbing dust and grim off the pink trim. I did get most of it off and somehow managed to get the fabric dry (this fabric is horrible to get dry.) But when I found myself in the hot summer heat and started to sweat I found hiding that very hard. We didn't stop at the hotel often because of how far away it was so I just kept my arms down but it was horrible and I felt very gross. The fabric is not breathable.

When I cosplayed more than one character I found it easier to avoid all that but didn't feel as connected to the character. We wound up changing from character to character a lot because we were bored. It wasn't much fun. Sakura-con we only bringing one cosplay for each of us. And at first I was nervous. The train of the dress is white. What if it gets dirty? I decided I'll just sew on a clear strip of elastic or plastic and use that to wrap around my wrist so the fabric is lifted while I walk outside or in a crowded room like the dealer's hall. Of course we'll be bringing along some Tide pens too. Instead of wearing the cosplay when we are in our hotel room I'll remove it so there is less of a chance of it getting dirty.

I have to say I am very excited to cosplay only one character. Now if only I could hurry up and finish Abel so I can start on Seth and get everything done on time so we can cosplay. I have quite a lot of time so I'm pretty sure we'll be able to get everything done. We're going fabric shopping for the white fabric for Seth later this week. I might look at trim too and see what they have for Seth.

In the end I don't it matters if you cosplay a lot of characters or one. As long as you are having fun and enjoying your time, I don't see how it would matter. Some people can only afford one cosplay per con. So what. Enjoy your cosplay to the fullest. I hope you have fun.


Thanks for reading.

Feeling inspired

Although today has started off in a rather heart retching start I am finding myself feeling very inspired to finish up Abel today. That's one of the reasons I love having a FB page for cosplay. I watch all the cosplayers I like and admire and today someone posted a picture of their award winning Trinity Blood cosplay. She made it so nicely I always feel so inspired after seeing her work.

Abel's cassock is almost finished. Yesterday I finished putting in the zipper. I hate zippers. But it looks pretty good. It was my first time doing an invisible zipper which it turns out is just as hard (if not more.) than sewing in a normal zipper. The reason it had to be hidden is because you cannot tell what is closing Abel's cassock. It's just closed. So I had to come up a way that the zipper will not be seen. The zipper was the best way to have it close and still be able to have it hidden away under two small flaps of fabric. It worked. But the flaps are very small. I may not be able to sew on the bias tape as I wanted to. So I have to play around and see if my iron on tape will work under the bias tape. Just in case.

                                                      It's closed by sexy Crusnik magic


Besides the bias tape I am now working on the sleeves. There are three pieces. Upper sleeves, lower and cuffs. I love sleeves! They are so basic and easy to do. Why aren't I doing them right now? I don't know! They are very easy. So I'm pretty sure both sleeves will be on today.

When the sleeves are done I will have to hem the outfit and cut the slits on the bottom of the cassock. There are three openings besides the one on the front. But, again those are very easy to do. Then I will be ready to do the bias tape. I need to figure out to make the corners a lot nicer so I better go research that now.

Then in a few days we'll be heading out (with coupons armed.) to go find the perfect white fabric for Seth. I am very eager to get started on Seth since I have a matching hat to make for her and fabric painting and hand sewing to do for the dress. So there is ten times more work to be done on her dress. Luckily I have worked with the pattern before and am used to it. We will be adding two other patterns to the dress pattern to modify it. I will be making the pattern for the sleeves myself.


Thanks for reading!

Frozen cosplays

Yes, they are super popular right now. But I sort of fell in love with the movie. And the characters are so amazing. How can I not love them? I've been thinking about what other cosplays we'll be doing for this year since our summer con is now four days we'll need at least four-five cosplays. Since we already have two planned (Trinity Blood and Pandora Hearts) that are firm we'll need at least two or three. The reason being the con is long and I want to take a break from sewing next year so my fiance and I can finally get our first tattoos and update my computer. Since those are costly we'll take most of the year off and enjoy the cosplays I'm making this year. We may add a more casual cosplay later next year but for the most part will not be doing any big sewing projects.

I love sewing but am so stressed (mainly because of my love for big and complex cosplays.) so taking a small break by bringing our new cosplays for Kumori-con to Sakura-con will give us a nice break and will allow us to do other things. We will still being going to con. I don't think we can stop at this point. We love them too much. Kumori-con next year we may add on a few new cosplays but not for our spring con since we'll have new cosplays that have not been worn there.

Plus we won't be dropping Seth and Abel from our list for a very long time as we both love those characters too much as well as Sharon and Break, so we'll have our hands full for Sakura-con next year.

But for this summer we do need to figure out what we'll be doing. This is my year to pick out the series so I'm trying to figure out what we're going to cosplay. I think we'll leave Black Butler off our list for now since our friends may cosplay it next year. So instead I'm thinking of replacing it with Frozen.

This is the dress I've fallen in love with. It's so cute and has sleeves. I hate sleeveless tops otherwise I'd make her other green dress. But it is kind of cool that not a lot of people have made this dress yet. It's from the ending scenes and I love it.

Since my fiance has already decided he wants to cosplay Kristoff I have to cosplay Anna. Which is great because I love her personality.

Here is another screenshot I took of the dress. It's just so freaking cute and simple. It'd be great for the summer con since the fabric for the sleeves appears thin. Although I like her winter outfit it would be too warm for Kumori-con so this is perfect. Plus it is pretty simple. The bottom detailing would be very easy to paint on.

So I've decided on this dress, although I may make the cloak just for the fun of it since it's so cute and I would love to wear it for winter.

 
So Frozen is added to our summer list! Both outfits are fairly easy and look super comfortable which will be awesome since our cosplays that are already planned will be huge.

This is the cloak I will make. I just love cloaks okay? It's too cute....and those little ball tassels...I can't help myself. If I have time I'm making it!









So as of right now I think all the cosplays I will be making this year are...


Trinity Blood (Seth and Abel) Firm
Pandora Hearts (Sharon and Break) Firm
Frozen (Anna and Kristoff)
Don't Starve (Willow and Wilson.)
Pokemon (Cowslip Gijinka)

Hopefully we can do all those but the most important to get done is Break and Sharon since those will be in a panel. When those are done (we'll start a month or two after Sakura-con.) we'll see if we can add on anymore. I'm hoping to at least have three cosplays so we can wear one for one full day each.

I'm very excited to start on these as all of them are very different from each other and challenge me which I think is one of the most important things as it will help me grow as a seamstress and cosplayer.


Thanks for reading!

Shoes

Ugh, the dreaded shoes. Obviously you need shoes for a cosplay. It's against the rules otherwise. Normally I find shoes pretty easily by using Walmart and Amazon. Both sites have good prices and normally fairly cheap shipping (Walmart has free to store shipping.) But finding shoes for Seth has been challenging. Of course finding her green fabric had been too. I like a good challenge but I want to cut some corners with shoes this time around so I can focus more on the outfits.

The shoes shown with the outfit I'm making are knee high white boots with gold details. My first idea was to make boot covers since white boots are ridiculously high priced and often look like cheap Halloween go-go boots.

But stretch fabric is so much money! $10.99 for fabric? No thank you. The over all price if bought everything at my local store would turn out to be around $45.39.

There is also the risk of the boot covers not working out. Or not enough time to finish them. So it's a risk. I've never made boot covers before. They seem both time consuming and tricky.





So I started looking at other pictures of Seth to see what other footwear I could make. And I found a few choices that would be both fun to make and would be very comfortable to wear throughout the con. And decided that Ballerina shoes would be the cheapest way to go. Luckily for me, Seth wears them.

Since the outfit so similar to the one I'm making it couldn't be better. The ballerina type shoes have straps that reach the ankle. I'm glad for this because I find it hard to keep the ribbon up when it go higher. My rocking horse shoes for example go to my ankle and are both comfortable and stay up.

My plan is not only cheaper (It's about $30 not including lace.) but wearing shoes without heels is going to be so much more comfortable. So I'm very excited to go all out with these shoes.

My plan is to dye a pair of ballerina shoes (They are pink.). I want to try and dye them an apple green but if it doesn't work out I'll make them dark like the trim that will go on the train. Then either us ribbon (And dye those.) for the straps. Or make my own ribbon out of the white satin fabric I have and dye that, then sew elastic on the back of the fabric strips. Then add lace to spice up the shoes and make them look more like an Empress would wear.

Close up of the shoes. There is some sort of lace detail on the rim of the shoe and on the straps. Hopefully I can figure out what I'm going to do lace wise. Maybe I'll get a 50% off coupon to use on it.

Here is another outfit in which Seth wears a ballerina type shoe. These are a darker green with no lace detailing. When I think of Seth I think of lace. So I will be adding some. Again the length of the ribbon stops below the knee.

I'll be using these are my reference pictures for the contest. I'm very excited to start making the shoes as I've always wanted a pair of ballerina shoes.

I'll post pictures when I start working on them. We won't be buying the materials until later on.

Thanks for reading!

Green fabric, molds and another long title.

 Today has been a great day. A wonderful thing happened while at the fabric store looking for the main green fabric for Seth. We thought since we are super close to starting Seth's outfit that we needed to find the hard to find green fabric soon. I've been having issues finding the perfect shade (I'll post a picture below of what the shade of green I was hunting for.) But it turns out green fabric that is not dark nor lime is very hard to find in my area. And online. So I was very worried.

But today we found the perfect fabric. It is a shade darker than in the picture but that means it won't be washed out when on stage and under harsh lighting. So in the end it's alright. It's a wonderful candy apple green fabric with a slight gold shimmer satin. Before I explain the awesomeness behind the fabric here is a picture of the fabric I got. I'm sorry for the poor lighting (Makes everything look orange). It was late when we got back from the store and my house has poor lighting.

Isn't it pretty? I was so happy when I saw it as it wasn't there last time I looked, or I just overlooked it. I did want the fabric next to it that was cheaper but had very little. The fabric I was looking at was darker than this one. After seeing them next to each other I turned my focus on the one I got.

Now for the story behind the fabric.

I wanted 12 yards since every time we go to this store we wind up needing more fabric and can never find the same fabric twice. I swear they play fabric shuffle every night. They move things around way too often. So I thought we'd be smart this time around. But the lady at the cutting counter said it was unlikely there was enough so she told us she'd ask if they had more and we agreed. But when the guy came holding a very dark fabric and asked "Is this for you?" I said no since the fabric was so dark. But when the lady helping us came over and said it was I was stunned.

I guess the company had changed the dye and now this shade was darker. It looked like mossy-forest green, very dark and nothing like the one we wanted. This was it. The last of this fabric. It's one of a kind. The new shade was brought to the store three months ago. They no longer sell this shade. I was so excited when I learned this fabric was truly unique and no one else would ever have it. So I insisted she measure it out and told her we had wanted at least two or three extra yards since we can never find the same fabric again when buying from this store but we are willing to buy it if there was ten yards. I watched with baited breath as she counted.

Three yards.

Six yards.

Eight yards.

TEN! Ten and 1/8 yards. Oh my god yes! I can use this. I can make Seth's dress and hat with this. Thank goodness the dress is mainly white. Because there was no way I could pass up on a one of a kind fabric. It just screamed SETH. I couldn't ignore it. In the end my long wait for green fabric ends in a fabric no one else will ever have. The wait was well worth it. My dream cosplay will be even more amazing now that the fabric behind it has such an awesome story.


That was a long story. Sorry about that. I am just so excited that I found the perfect fabric. But on to the next subject! Molds. I've been searching for molds for the resin to make gems for Seth. I would make my own molds but sadly I have so many to make we don't have to time to do one at a time, so I'm trying to find a good mold sheet. But besides the main resin gems there will be smaller ones that will go on the hat. I just found the perfect gems and just made some molds. Since there will be less of these smaller gems I can make the molds. I love making molds. It's a lot of fun. I use Amazing mold putty which is very easy to use and doesn't take long to cure. Plus like I said making the molds is very fun.

The two smaller gems are the ones pictured on top. There are two styles. A small circle and an oval. I'm in love with the round ones not sure if I will use the ovals but I have the molds made just in case.







The larger mold on the bottom is the right size (the gem on the left anyway.) for the gems on Seth's dress but I'm still on edge of using my own molds since there is so many to make but if I can't find a good mold tray I will make my own since I did find the right size gem. Hopefully I can figure things out soon. The plan is to stop buying things for these cosplays by March so we can save for the con.


I'm going to do some sample gems tonight using hot glue since I do not have resin yet. We decided that we will not be buying dye for the resin (the gems will be red and green and I think blue.) so instead we'll be using nail polish which is a cheaper trick used by a lot of cosplayers. I have a really nice red nail polish and want to see how it works on a gem so I'll be doing some tests tonight to get ready to work with the resin.


So that's it for tonight. Thank you for reading!

Update on TB cosplays

Hello my lovelies. It's been quite a while but I've been very busy with editing my now finished novel and getting ready to enter it in a contest, as well as sewing. I'm hoping to get this blog back to life and post a lot more on it. Sakura-con in Seattle is coming up very fast. It's almost down to the double digits. I would say I'm worried but today I got a lot done and am feeling much better about where we're at. 

For Abel's cassock I need to finish...

~Collar (Next step)
~Sleeves and cuffs
~Bias tape trim
~Closures on the front (Was going to do hook and eyes but now I'm going to do snaps.)

BAM! Not much left to do. The last steps are VERY easy. I'll be done very quickly. I do, however need to practice on making my edges cleaner when using bias tape for trim though. So I'll practice with that as I go. Hopefully the edges will be better this time around. 

I'm hoping it takes me less than two weeks to finish it all. It may only be one week to finish it which would be awesome! Tomorrow (hopefully) we're going out to get the fabric we need for Seth. I can finally look at fabric for her without being guilty that I am not done with Abel. Seth will be a huge learning experience. If you remove the details, it's pretty basic. The plan is to get the dress finished by the first few weeks of February or sooner and spend the rest of the time working on the details, trim, painting, hat and whatever else needs to be done. 

I'm no longer worried all this will get done before Sakura-con. The wings however will not be done on time for Sak. But that's okay. It'll give us more time to figure out the wings. If we do have time we'll only be making Abel's wings as my fiance really wanted to cosplay Crusnik Abel. So if we have time and extra money without chipping into the funds we need for the trip, I will make the big fluffy wings for Abel. Seth, however will not be happening any time soon. It may not happen at all at this point. 

Right after Sakura-con we have to focus on making Sharon and Break for Kumori-con in the fall. Since we will be apart of a Pandora Hearts panel (maybe two.) those are first priority. Then we will figure out what else we'll be cosplayings. K-con will be FOUR DAYS! So we'll need at least three cosplays. 

The cosplays that we are thinking about doing are as such...

Grell and Madam Red- Black Butler  
Willow and Wilson- Don't Starve
Pokemon Gijinka


Not sure which we'll do. We may change our plans or not. I really don't know. It's too soon to plan K-con right now. My focus is on Sakura-con. Although I am wanting to do one of Seth's casual's outfits for down time just for the fun of it. Maybe her cute, red tea dress or something. I'm not sure. 

Right now I am just so excited to be caught up. I'll update more later on. I'll be taking lots of progress pictures as the contest should be opening soon. 

Thanks for reading!

A new year and new game plan.

I'm sick. Again. So not a lot has gotten done. I'm very upset about it and next time my fiance decides to get sick, he's staying home-far from me, until he's better. In less he learns to sew (and quickly) I can't afford to get sick anymore. There is three months (105 days.) and Abel's cassock is not done yet. Sewing while sick is not fun. I can't focus at all. It's horrid. I still have Seth's dress, hat and boot covers to make. That also means a ton of hand sewing trim. I'm freaking out.

There is a ton to do but since I am feeling better I did get a few parts done today. I did not take pictures as I am still sick and didn't have enough time to stop every few minutes and snap a pic. I will soon. But not today.


Any who...

It's a new year! A hopefully a better year for cosplay. Last year started off really good. We headed out to Sakura-con, bringing our friend for the first time. She had a blast. We all shared a lot of fun memories and it really helped us get to know one another and help our friendship grow. Kumori-con was a let down. The contest was so much fun. They really did a great job with it. We didn't win but that didn't stop us from having a great time. We also was apart of our friend's Pandora hearts panel and we both really enjoyed that. Those good moments helped us get over the bad. But overall it wasn't the best year for us.

Our new plan is kick it into gear. Get as much done as quickly as we can with still trying to make things nice. This month we will try and get most of the armor made (not including painting.) Get Abel's cassock finished and start and maybe finish Seth's dress and or hat.

 I'm very stressed but I'm sure it'll be okay. I'll update on here more often even if no one really checks my blogs. It's a good stress relief.

So that's it for now. I need to rest.

Thank you for reading.