Another update

Hey guys! I'm really happy right now. Not only has our Wonderfelx and Freindly plastic left Utah and is on its way to Oregon, right on track. It should arrive on Friday, the eighth. But I found another cosplayer who descried how they made Abel's armor. I'm so happy I found someone who made it so nicely who's willing to answer other cosplayer's answers. As I know me and fiance will need some advice at some point. It also helps me feel more at ease with crafting the armor molds. We'll need some tracing paper before we can start on cutting out the foam pieces although I may just start tonight anyway if I have time because I'm inpatient.

The other reason I'm really excited and happy is...

Hotel reservation opened today! Sakura-con is a lot of fun. We never have a bad time. It's our break away from everything plus Seattle is amazing. Its a fun trip, everything from the car ride to checking in. We have so much fun. Last year was the first year we brought our friend and we're doing so again this year. The three of us had so much fun it would be dumb to pass up the chance to have more fun again.

We did book our hotel today. We're staying at a hotel we have not stayed at before. The hotel we stayed at the first year was way too far of a walk. I was wearing heels, a hoop skirt and a large dress and a wig with a heavy clip on ponytail. Up and down a hill. It was not fun.  When we stayed the second year the elevator was so bad and shaky we were afraid to ride it. Which sucked because we were on the 15th floor I think. It was not good for my anxiety.

This year we stayed at the Renaissance. It was a really nice place. The staff didn't all know what was going on so there was some communication which was super annoying. But the worst part was the fact the fridge was locked. Luckily we brought our large cooler and ice was free. The room was really nice. A bit small but not bad. But for the price it really was not worth it. So this year we chose a different hotel that is only a block away. You turn down, cross the street and your there. I won't post where we are staying yet. Not until after con most likely. For personal reasons. 

But the hotel is booked, tickets paid for and I am feeling very excited about con. Now to get our cosplays finished. I feel very confident our Trinity Blood cosplays be finished on time. I'm more worried about the wings and how I'm going to make Abel's harness for his large wings (Not to mention how we're going to get them into the car.) Modifying the costumes has been going great. If we don't get the wings done on time we will wear our normal versions instead of the Crusnik versions. Which means we most likely will not do the contest. But I'm okay with that. 

If everything goes well we'll get the armor, costumes and accessories, wings and wigs styled for our Trinity Blood cosplays done two months before con. That way I can make Don't Starve cosplays!  I can't wait. Kumori-con 2013 wasn't the best for us so I'm looking forward to Sakura-con a lot. 


I can't wait!

But right now I need to go bead and write. Speaking of beading....

Here is a picture of some of the beading so far on Seth's inner train which is attached to the back of her underskirt. 

I finally got the hang of beading it. I'm loving how well they stand out against the lace. It's very regal. I think it'll look great on stage.

For every costume I make I add my own personal touch and this was mine for Seth. :)



Any who.... Time to write!

Thank you for reading!

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Small update

Not much news as I am waiting for things to ship. We ordered Wonderflex and Friendly Plastic just yesterday and we just got an email saying they have shipped it and it will come on the 8th. That's crazy. Its free shipping too. If you guys want some seriously good deals, order from CosplaySupplies.com. This is our first order and I'm very pleased. We did not pay over $60 for the two items we bought and I'm very pleased with this company so far.

Our bias tape maker has also just shipped. I'm not when it will arrive. But I am hopefully it will either be by the end of this week or early next week. I cannot work on sewing together Abel's cassock until that arrives. I'm trying to make the trim look professional and not messy like normal. I'm not doing short cuts this time around.

I am itching to sew again! I have a lot too modify with Abel's cassock and cape so I'll wills tart playing with the patterns soon. I do have some muslin fabric and some scrap fabric I'm going to use to make a mock up to help me figure things out.

That's it for now.

Thanks for reading!

Seth's underskirt finished

It's done! Not 100% but the construction is finished. I got a lot done today. Sewed the two layers of the lining finished with the lace trim. I am so proud of myself of how my skills have improved. I'm not taking any short cuts with these costumes and so far I'm really happy with how it has turned out. I hope Abel's cassock will go as smoothly.

The train! The train is just how I wanted it.  A lot went into making it and I'm very pleased with its outcome.

Close up on the edge.  Every time I work on a costume I try to make a goal for it. And this time with these Trinity Blood cosplays is clean edges.

The full view of the skirt.















Over all I am very pleased with it. It was tough and had its challenges but I'm more focused on well I've improved since my first hand made cosplay. I can't wait to start working on Abel's cassock. We just ordered the Bias Tape maker machine. I will cut out the fabric and modify the patterns but I cannot start sewing until I have the machine and the fabric that will be used for the trim.

So that's it for now. I have lots of beading to do!

The inner train

First off...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I had a blast today.  It was so much fun. And gave me an excuse to wear full lolita. Any time I have an excuse to wear my rocking horse shoes I am happy. We carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds and got all dressed up to hand candy out to kids. It was great.

We also got more lace for the train so I can finish it tomorrow! I'm thrilled. The train is the first piece I have made a pattern by myself for. I'm really loving how it has turned out. I plan to finish it tomorrow, sew the lace on and sew on the pearls. I can't wait. I love beading. Once the train is sewn onto the skirt it will be finished. Then I can move onto Abel's cassock.

The reason I won't be making Seth's dress or hat is because I had planned on making Abel's outfit first but we round up finding satin on sale for the skirt so we went ahead and bought it. So once I finish Abel's cassock and cape I will start on Seth's dress and hat. I'm hoping to keep going at the speed I am so I can finish a few months before con to work on our Don't Starve outfits and props. Of course after the outfits I do have two sets of wings to make as well. So that won't happen in less everything needed for our Trinity Blood cosplays is done. As they are first priority. And I would love to have them both 100% finished by Sakura-con in April.

I've also noticed that my skill has improved a lot. I'm really proud of myself. I'm sticking to my goals and am not taking any short cuts. And I'm noticing a difference. I really hope I can keep up and do as great as I have so far with the skirt.

We do have to order our Bias tape maker and some Wonderflex in the next few weeks so we can start making armor as well.

Thank you reading!

Five hours later...

And it's done!

I'm so happy! I've never made something like this but I really am proud of myself how much I've improved my skills. I hope everything else will go as soothingly as this skirt did. It took five hours to hand stitch the outer skirt upwards onto the lining. It was very time consuming and overly annoying but I'm glad I took my mom's advice and did it. Hand sewing a big area is very annoying but it worked really well for this skirt. It bubbles perfectly.

You can see the bubbling a lot better here. The skirt fits very nicely. It's comfortable and stops mid thigh just as it should. Now I am starting on the train that will be sewn onto the back. The train won't be finished until this weekend when I can get interfacing (To help make the train stiff.) and more lace because I miscounted and got a yard short of lace.

The lace I got is a Venice lace. It's very soft and delicate with roses. I also decided that I will use pearls instead of seed beads to add onto the lace. This will add a little shine to the inner train.

I always like to add my own touch to my cosplays and this is that little something that I've decided to add to this one.

 The inside of the skirt. This shows how I sewed the outer skirt up onto the lining to make it bubble. It worked really well. You can't see the stitches.

I was very wary of hand sewing it and dreaded but it worked out perfectly and I love how it looks.

This is of when I cut the first piece for the train. I will be lining it so I can sew in the lace in between the layers so it will look clean.

The lace shown above is the lace that will be lining the train.

The other piece. I made this pattern myself. I hope it works out. Before I will sew it all together I will double check with Alice's dress to see if the piece still will fit inside the outer train.

This is how the train will look behind the skirt. I had only pinned it on so it's drooping a bit. It won't be that way once sewn on. The train will have interfacing inside so it will be stiff.

This will be to make it flair outwards instead of being limp and have the risk of tangling in my legs during contests. The outer train will not have interfacing so this will also help the outer train flair out more.

A skirt for a Empress

Seth's skirt is almost done. I've started the dreaded task of hand sewing the bottom upwards onto the lining. I'm trying to make it as neat as possible so I can brag about it later. Normally I would have just sewn it on and not cared but I'm trying my best to make it neat and clean for contests. I want to make this as I had always seen it in my mind. So it doesn't matter that this will be for a contest or two, it's my dream cosplay. I want to make it so I never want to take it off. And having it have neat edges and seams is the first step.


Since hand sewing this is time consuming and annoying I may not be finished until tomorrow. I need to finish my synopsis for my new novel for National Novel Writing Month for next month. Today I went went to a group job interview and I am beat. But I really want to get this skirt done so I can start on the train and finished this piece. The cassock is my main goal. I want it done as soon as I can. As well as the matching cape. I want it done because that means we are almost half way finished. I'd have to make Seth's dress then start on all the details. While I do that hopefully my fiance will start on the armor. We are getting Wonderflex for all armor pieces. It'll be our first time using Wonderflex and I'm pretty excited about it. I've done a lot of research and it seems like the best material to make armor out of.

We should be getting that in a week or two. Depending on when my fiance is ready to get it. Of course he'll need to make the molds first but there'll be lots of time while we wait for the Wonderflex to ship.  So that's it for now. I'll update once I work more on the skirt. No pictures tonight. I'm by far too lazy to put the camera together.

Thanks for reading!

The next two years + my goals

Wow. I don't think I have ever been this organized for our cosplays. Normally we just pick as we go but since patterns were on sale we sort of planned ahead of time this year. I've really been motivated to do my best which includes being serious about my goals but before I get to those Here is our line up for the next two cons.

Sakura-con

Our whole line up is pretty firm. If our main cosplays, Seth and Abel from Trinity Blood are finished before a month or two before con we will be adding on Willow and Wilson from Don't starve and hopefully Chester to wheel behind us.

Firm
Seth and Abel- Trinity Blood

Maybe
Will and Wilson- Don't starve
Yuuko and Watanuki- xxxHolic
Alice and Oz- Pandora Hearts

PH will only be brought if we do not get our TB cosplays done on time. xxxHolic cosplays will only be brought if we are not doing Willow and Wilson.

Kumori-con 2014 will be four days long. We're taking advantage of the extra day to bring....four different series of cosplays. Which I'm thrilled about. Besides Seth and Abel and Willow and Wilson we will be bringing...

Grell and Madam Red from Black Butler.

And Muk (Nicolas) and Grimer (Me) Cowslip's Pokemon Gijinka.

Our main cosplay is unknown. We will be entering one into the cosplay contest which will be our hidden cosplay until that day. Willow and Wilson will most likely be our day zero and down time cosplays.

Which cosplay for which day depends on the contest so we won't know until next year. For now I'm just excited to have such a wide range of cosplays for once.




2014 is going to be blast for cosplay cons. I have been very motivated lately, not only because of these huge cosplays I'm making but because I have a interview this Monday. So it's kicked me into gear. My goals have been refreshed. So besides getting everything done on time I want to focus on myself a bit more. Losing weight for one thing. We pay the gym for nothing so its time for us to go back and work our butts off to get into shape for Sakura-con. I want to get Seth's outfit done then try it on and realize I have to go back and take it in. I'd love that. So I'm going to try my best to improve myself not just my skills.

I'm excited for a new year. This year hadn't been the best, I won't lie. but next sure will be even better. It can only get better from here.