Claudia Progress

So for a while now I've been saying that I'd be working on Claudia from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I finally have all the materials I need and I can finally start working on her. My biggest issue before was that I was waiting on the materials to come in, basically trying to deal with the Holiday shipping nightmare. Which was fine, because it gave more more time to get other things done (like Merryweather). But now I decided that it would be a grand idea to sweat like mad at Otakon with this outfit.



As a reminder that's the outfit I'm doing. Luckily for me there's no real render of it and everything I rely on is by screen-cap. Which was fun hunting for but I managed to get a nice collection.

I really had to fuss with the patter of the "tunic" part she has. I ended up modifying a strapless dress pattern. The way it was shown I had to alternate between the two fabrics. I really lucked out and got this really beautiful brocade. It's so soft, but it frays so badly.



I ended up adding a zipper in the back. I'm pretty sure the way everything is done with clasps but for my own purposes I went with a zipper in the back.



The belt and shoes are stand ins for the photo, but that's the tunic put together. The shirt is sewn in, mostly so I could avoid massive amounts of layers, at least as many as I could. And the last thing I finished off was the cloak. At least the sewing portion.



The shoulder part was pretty difficult. I've really never had to make a caplet or an odd collar thing. The collar part was modified from my Red Hood Miku pattern as the hood. The caplet part was a modified pattern I had. That's about all I have for Claudia now. I still need to get the boots and bracers and fix up a few little details.

Also some bonus progress for a wig and plushy. Working on Kamila from Ghost Trick.

Wig Collection

I did a little thing recently where I posted all the wigs I owned so I thought I'd share here.

Two of my wigs aren't pictured. One is a really super thin wig that isn't wearable, one that I'm scrapping for wefts. And the other is the wig I used for Maya Fey, which sadly isn't so great looking, I really need to go try and salvage that wig.

Also I updated the Resources section, a TON of new tutorials were added and a few new links as well. I'm still slowly working through Claudia right now, bias tape is a pain.

Con Survival Tips

I've seen a few threads on these before, but I figured I'd post my own sort of "survival" tips that have always worked for myself in the past. These of course aren't anything that are solid. Different things work for different people. But this has what's worked for me in the past so I figured I'd share!

Packing
Lists are your friends.
I have a pretty terrible memory so I'd rather just write everything down and make sure I got everything I wanted. I can't tell you the number of times I've forgotten my contacts. It's really easy to over pack and under-pack.
Fold everything.
One thing that really helps save space is making sure all your clothes/costumes are folded. It allows you to pack more things if you need to.
Wear your shoes.
This sounds sort of silly, but if you're running out of space you could wear a pair of shoes to the convention. I wouldn't recommend this if you have some oddly shaped or really modified shoes. But if you have something basic like sneakers or a pair of boots, it can save a ton of space.
Travel sized containers
For stuff like shampoo and soap you can buy little containers to put all that stuff in. Rather then dragging a giant bottle of shampoo or using whatever the hotel might have.
Bags, one or many.
Luggage can depend on your travel means. Are you in a car? Are you driving with several other people? It might be best to pack light so you can fit everyone's stuff. If not then get one of those larger suitcases. I have a large roller suitcase I prefer to stick everything. If I'm strapped for car space I tend to take a large dufflebag.

Travel
A lot of travel stuff is pretty obvious. You cans save money if you split gas and tolls. I've always found it cheaper to drive and split costs but obviously that's not always possible. Bring snacks that you can eat in the car and at the hotel room.

Room
It's super easy to just let yourself throw your things everywhere. What I like to do is just pick a spot and try and keep all my things there. Even if I don't repack it right afterwards, as long as it's all there I don't have to hunt around the hotel room to find it. And more then likely, you'll be sharing that room with several people. If you don't then you're lucky to have the extra space!

Con
Carrying stuff
Carry only what you really need. That much is obvious enough, but like packing it's pretty easy to take what you don't need. Assuming you're cosplaying you probably won't have any pockets, you'll probably have to carry a purse or a bag. I used to carry a nice big bag to carry everything but lately I've been downsizing and carrying small clutches. They have a handle to keep around my wrist and it's easier to hide for photos or keep with me. Some rooms (dealers room, artist alley, game rooms, etc) have bag policies, and won't let you take in bags that are bigger then a certain size. So it's whatever is easier for you. Generally what I carry is...
- Cards (creditcards, ID)
- Cash
- Chap-stick
And that's about it. I have my camera on hand.
Badges
This is a minor thing but I always hate whenever I have my badge, forget to move it and someone takes a photo and it's there. It can distract from a really amazing costume. What I like to do is attach my badge to my bag. That way I always have it with me, I never worry about loosing it and I never worry about it in photos.
Water
A lot of cons have little coolers they post around, but during the summer it gets really hot. I like to carry a water-bottle with me. Whenever I can I just refill it and be on my way. Saves money on drinking and its a lifesaver during summer cons.
Asking for photos
I think most people know how to be polite, or ask politely for a photo. For the most part people will say yes. I've only ever had one person tell me no when I asked for a photo. If they say no, it's not a big deal. Whatever their reasons are, reasonable or not, it's their own. And in the end it's only a photo.

For now that's all I have or can really think of. If you have any feel free to comment.

I promised I'd post the nicer photos of Fastener, here they are.

The patterns were a bit more tough to construct. The first set of patterns were way too small. That and he's such an odd shape, so there really isn't anything online where you can get it easily. The zipper clasp parts are made from scuply and painted.

Also working on Claudia from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Probably the most intricate that I've had to do in a while. The brocade that I got is really beautiful. I really lucked into it, and got a good amount online to really play with.



The main part was sort of modeled off a dress pattern that I had and modified. And then the shirt part is sewn in together.



For the photo, the boots and belt are a stand in. Now that I have the time to really work on her, I can take my time and find some nice boots, or a decent belt. I still need to make the bracers she wears and the cloak. The cloak isn't to difficult, I've made a hooded cloak before. I've never made bracers, so it'll be interesting to see how they turn out. I can't say they'd be the best, but I've got the time to work it out. I think I'm really sort of avoiding having to make them at this point because I've never worked with the material and I've already messed up when I tried to the first time. So we'll see.

Also we'll see how this will fare during the summer, because with all this brocade and nice fabric I will be sweating like mad.