tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49115066422540147622024-03-14T03:20:52.145-07:00Costumes and ConsAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-1669903570206710712013-06-02T11:08:00.000-07:002013-06-02T11:08:00.242-07:00Costume Breakdown: Rise KujikawaI've always been a big fan of the SMT series of games, more recently the Persona series. I had put off playing them for the longest time, but finally broke down when my friend let me borrow her copy. I really liked the game, most importantly I liked Rise the most. She was just so cute and bubbly, and I felt for her backstory, so of course I had to make her.<br />
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For the top I picked a basic twill, which works for any basic suit or uniform. The base of the top is made from <a href="http://sewing.patternreview.com/patterns/6582" target="_blank"> Simplicity 8523</a>, I wanted the V neck they had and the basic shape. But the shirt is meant to be loose, so I had to take it in to be more fitted.<br />
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Looking at her reference, she had these little seam details on the top, all I did for that was create panels and top stitched them on top. They're not really super obvious, but I wanted the detail there, so it was really for myself.<br />
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The little modesty collar with the logo on it was just painted on. I used the freezer paper method and painted it on. I sewed in a little clasp so I can open it and stick my head through. The turtleneck is actually a dickie and it was not sewn by me.<br />
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The white stitching detail was all done by hand. I used embroidery floss and a <a href="http://www.joann.com/dmc-chenille-darners-hand-needles/prd50013/" target="_blank">chenille needle</a>. A chenille needle is basically a thicker needle, something that I could use to break through the fabric with a thicker thread. I went through by hand and just stitched it in. You can take a piece of chalk and mark off the fabric by hand, but I just sort of eyed it up for the most part. The stitching goes all along the top. It surprisingly wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be.<br />
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The sailor collar is based off of <a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-6390-misses-costumes.aspx" target="_blank">Simplicity 2072</a>. Their collar goes down a bit lower then what I would need it to, so I needed to adjust it for my own top. The yellow stripe is just a piece of bias tape top stitched down onto the collar.<br />
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The fabric for the skirt was probably the toughest part. They have a rather specific color, grey on black, which I wasn't lucky enough to find. So I found a cotton print, black and white, houndstooth and I dyed it grey. After that it was rather easy to make up a pleated skirt. I used <a href="http://butterick.mccall.com/b5285-products-9619.php?page_id=367" target="_blank">Butterick 5285</a> and shortened it to the length I needed.<br />
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For the shoes all I did was paint the stitching detail on, otherwise they're basic black loafers. <br />
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The wig was bought from <a href="http://www.epiccosplay.com/" target="_blank">Epic Cosplay</a>, who was rather wonderful and got my wig to me pretty quickly. And that's the details of my Rise costume!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished Costume Shots!</td></tr>
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Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-31614671680421793442013-05-05T20:34:00.000-07:002013-05-05T20:35:08.889-07:00Monomi KigurumiI always thought that Kigurumi's were really cute, they always looked so big and comfy, but there was never one particular design that I was attached to. I've been reading <a href="http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3522115" target="_blank">Super Dangan Ronpa 2</a> and thought it would be cute to make a kigu based off of Monomi. <br />
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The nice thing about patterning a kigu is that they're meant to be really oversized. So you don't need to be exact with your measurements like you would with a normal costume. The pattern for this kigu was based off of this <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/veeery_short_kigurumi_tutorial_by_dirulicious-d3axzzu.jpg" target="_blank">tutorial</a> I found. The measurements they offered as well as how the shapes were supposed to be offered me a great guide to draft my own pattern. Drafting a pattern is completely optional of course, but I'm the kind of person that needs that kind of guide just in case I mess up.<br />
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The sleeves were made to cover my hands, so I could match her a bit more. There are slits on the wrists so I can open them and use my hands if I so need to. The bottoms have elastic to stretch and hold around my legs.<br />
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The hood's details were hand stitched on. I used the same methods I would for making plushies. The face details have just a ladder stitch detail so you can't see it. The ears were lightly stuffed so they would stand up more and then hand stitched on top. I also decided to line the hood with a light quilting material that matched the pink I had, just so it would have a more finished look and not show all of my work.<br />
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For materials I chose a basic blizzard fleece. Fleece is super comfy, warm and easy to use, but because it's made from fleece I probably wouldn't recommend wearing this during warmer weather, otherwise you might sweat to death<br />
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<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/kigu.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/kigu.jpg" width="589" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-85317962717193977452013-03-03T08:31:00.000-08:002013-03-03T08:34:41.615-08:00Costume Breakdown: God Tier Jade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This costume is fairly simple to make, I wanted something that would be easy to wear. I really liked the Witch of Space design so I decided to make it!<br />
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I’m going to go into the fabric choices. I don’t always go into that, but I felt like I should here. The skirt was made out of a grey sateen. What’s nice about sateen is that is has a good weight to it, without the glaring shine that a satin might have. The top was a stretch knit, because I wanted the top to be like a tunic, that I could just easily pull over my head. The hood is made out of the same material as the skirt.<br />
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The skirt is a basic circle skirt. The circle skirt has the basic shape and fullness that I wanted for it.
The tunic part was highly modified based off of a shirt pattern. I didn’t have a pattern on hand that was perfect, so I went with something similar. I used Simplicity 8523 with the scoop neck. I made sure to adjust the pattern so I hand the points on the front and back like she does in the design. The sleeves were from another pattern that I had laying around that I just added to the tunic.<br />
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The Space pattern I found a vector and then created a stencil. Your best bet of painting this sort of thing onto fabric is to use the freezer paper method, in this case I didn’t have any on me, so I just free handed it. I wouldn’t recommend free handing it if you’re not confident in your painting skills.<br />
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The hood wasn’t too hard to figure out, I needed to modify and adjust for the twin tail hood that she has. I created this basic pattern for what I did.<br />
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The hood is super easy to make once the pattern is figured out, hopefully this will help anyone else working on it.<br />
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The ears were not made by me, sadly I had made a pair for myself based off of this <a href="http://katsumiyo.deviantart.com/art/Animal-Ears-Tutorial-212073357">tutorial</a>, but I lost one of the ears. So the day of the con I first wore them, I bought a pair of ears made from fleece. I do not remember the booth I bought them off of, if anyone recognizes them I will gladly give them credit. But from what it looks like, it looks like fleece on a headband. I put the headband on and the hood over top so it hides the band.<br />
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The socks were purchased from <a href="https://www.sockdreams.com/_pages/index.php" target="_blank">sockdreams</a> and they’re two long thigh high socks. My only real issue on them was that they were really baggy around my feet and calves, but tight around my thighs. I pretty much needed to yank them up every so often while I was walking, even after I adjusted them. They’re a knit material so that might take into an account for how they fit. But the color and stripes are perfect for the grey on grey striped detail she has going on.<br />
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Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-10995934320209841052013-03-01T15:21:00.001-08:002013-03-02T13:19:55.158-08:00Costume Breakdown: Kanaya Maryam<div class="MsoNormal">
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Homestuck wasn’t something I thought I’d get into as much as
I have. It was one of those series that was super popular but I never really
got, until I sat down and gave the whole thing a read, and I pretty much got
hooked from there. Kanaya is my favorite troll out of the bunch; I wanted the
chance to make some of her fantastic outfits. The first on that list being the
red dress she wears.
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I’ll start this off by first saying I didn’t make the horns.
I bought them from the lovely <a href="http://lambentworld.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">lambentworld</a>. She does amazing crafting work, you
should check out her page. </div>
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The dress itself is slightly modified from its original
design. From the way that its drawn, the collar looks similar to a mandarin
collar. But the dress pattern I wanted to use was based off of a vintage style
dress with a larger collar. I took a bit of artistic liberties and went with
that instead. I generally try and stick closer to the source material rather
then embellishing, but I loved the pattern so much I stuck with that. </div>
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The pattern I used was newlook 0110 . I thought it suited the
style that she would go for, and how the dress seems in the series. The
stripped type pattern she has was painted on. I made sure to draw the design on
first, mask it off with painters tape and then used Tulip Fabric Paint to paint
on the design. It’s not a difficult process just tedious. You need to make sure
you paint in layers, and wait for the paint to dry before moving on. But it
created a really nice result and I was happy with it. I used the same process
on the collar, cutting fabric out of the same red then painting over it, so I
could get it to match the stripped color.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dress with all accessories but makeup and tights.</td></tr>
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The belt was reused from an old waist belt I had sitting
around. The logo on it is just craft foam. Though I would probably seal and
find a way to make sure it won’t just easily crumple. It stayed on, but when I
was sitting/moving my body would constantly bump against it. </div>
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I decided rather then paint my arms I made myself some quick
armsocks. There’s a lot of really wonderful tutorials out there on how to make
them, mine are a little more simple, because I was wearing gloves already, I
didn’t need to make finger holes in mine. I took a pair of tights, matching the
ones I used on my legs, and attached each leg on an arm hole, doing a quick
stitch to keep them in place on the sleeves. Then cut off the ends so I could
pull my arms through. Super simple and it was one last thing I had to worry
about painting.</div>
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My face with painted with Ben Nye White face paint. Again,
there’s a ton of tutorials out there how to do it, but I’ll go over my own
process. Since I was going for her as a rainbow drinker I needed a very white,
clean face. Getting that shade of white with just the Ben Nye is a little
difficult. The facepaint has a habit of being a bit translucent, so you need to
paint it in layers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_5131-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_5131-1.jpg" width="383" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makeup test</td></tr>
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My first step is to prime my face like I normally would with
regular makeup, moisturizer and then primer to keep my face looking smooth and
to hold the makeup better. I take a makeup sponge and rub the first layer on my
face. From there I just keep building up. You don’t want to just rub the makeup
on your face once you start getting the layers on, other wise you’re just
pushing it around/off your face. After a while you’re going to want to work a
patting technique, so it smooth’s how the makeup looks on your face. When I was
applying the white paint I made sure to put it anywhere that might show; my
neck, under my jaw and the back of my neck. After applying the paint, I use the
Ben Nye White Powder. The powder helps set the makeup and keeps your face from
looking shiny. I went with white instead of translucent because it gives a stark
white look. The translucent works better when you have different colors on your
face, but I want a super white look. It also can help even out any makeup that
might look a bit smudged. After adding the powder I add on any little details I
want, stuff like eyeliner, eye shadow, contorting and lipstick. For this
instead of actual black lipstick I just used black eyeliner for my lips. Adding
the little details helps make your features stand out against all the white on
my face. After putting on the paint, you'll need to highlight your eyebrows as well. I just took a eyeliner pencil and filled them in over the makeup.</div>
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And that’s pretty much it! Everything I did to actually make
the costume. The shoes were a pair I already owned. The stockings for the
armsocks and my tights were bought from sockdreams. The gloves were also
purchased on a ebay.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_7421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_7421.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished Costume!</td></tr>
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Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-43732326424699624132012-09-03T19:30:00.001-07:002012-09-03T19:34:01.764-07:00Costume Breakdown: Female Protagionist I'm a big fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series and wanted to cosplay it with my friends. So we had a small group for Persona 3, since we had all played it and liked it. This was actually my first SMT costume, before <a href="http://cosplayprogressandstuff.blogspot.com/search/label/Hua%20Po" target="_blank">Hua Po</a>, worn and made a few months a head of time. <br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=P3p_art14.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="400" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/P3p_art14.jpg" width="300" /> </a><br />
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The outfit seems pretty basic. It's just a uniform shirt, skirt and blouse right? For fabric I chose a basic twill. I ended up having a good amount laying around, it wasn't extremely lightweight, but it worked well and had the right look for a uniform. The skirt wasn't really an issue. The skirt itself was just a basic box pleated skirt. For a pattern I used<a href="http://butterick.mccall.com/b5285-products-9619.php?page_id=367" target="_blank"> Butterick 5285</a> and adjusted the length to what I needed.<br />
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The jacket was a challenge in itself. It was a somewhat odd shape, it didn't have the normal lapels like a normal jacket would, it had this odd box shape around the top. So I ended up taking a normal shirt pattern (<a href="http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/patterns/sewingpatterns.pl?patternid=6582#.UEVfclQV2yw" target="_blank">simplicity 8523</a>) and modified it from there. There was a lot of modification from that and this is what I ended up with.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=P3patterns.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="620" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/P3patterns.jpg" width="640" /> </a><br />
Here's a basic pattern for the jacket and skirt. The jacket ended up being a bit large, as in not fitted after I drafted it and put it on.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2502-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2502-1.jpg" width="381" /> </a><br />
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As you can see the jacket is pretty large and a bit too long from the initial pattern. I needed to take it in a bit more and adjust it so the fit and proportions were right.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=590934418_photobucket_52612_.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="334" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/590934418_photobucket_52612_.jpg" width="400" /> </a><br />
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With the fitting, everything looked much better, and wasn't so odd and baggy. You can see a bit of a top panel, with some studs in place, that was just sew into place on the longer flap, so they don't really move or adjust. To keep the jacket closed, I added in a zipper. I wouldn't recommend doing it like I did...I ended up getting an invisible zipper and sewing it in so that the end was at the top of the jacket, so I need to pull the jacket over my head. I would not recommend doing that, it makes things just a bit more difficult.<br />
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The two lines on the jacket are just bias tape. The one is just sew on the right hand side, while the left one is sew as close as I could get it to the zipper, so it wasn't noticeable there was a zipper there.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2553-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2553-1.jpg" width="337" /> </a><br />
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The bow was just made and then a strap was added around my neck. And the blouse was just one that I had laying around. While I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, I used my own hair for this cosplay. I figured I could get it good enough to pass. This is the best I can explain how I did my hair. I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail, twisted and pulled it up, clipping it to my head with a claw clip. The hair that hung out, I teased and pooffed out a bit so it had a bit more volume. The banged were styled with a bit of product and hairspray.<br />
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The patch, and the armband were pre-bought, and the envoker was made by a friend!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=6494733641_47e7fcf98e_b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/6494733641_47e7fcf98e_b.jpg" width="426" /> </a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Here's a good shot, how my hair was styled. </span><br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=68165489eb0af98184bf2653b7cb7213.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/68165489eb0af98184bf2653b7cb7213.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">And a nice full body shot of my costume. The socks were bought from <a href="https://www.sockdreams.com/_pages/index.php" target="_blank">sockdreams</a>!</span>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-70930773882590203552012-09-02T17:59:00.000-07:002012-09-02T17:59:12.131-07:00Costume Breakdown: Fuu HououjiIt's been a while since I updated. And I'm a bit late in posting about Otakon, so I might not even make a post about that. Instead I'll just talk about some of the costumes I wore for Otakon this year. This Otakon was a rather simple costume year for me, I didn't really go all out and make something extreme, though most of my costumes have an element of simplicity to them. But with this year my friends and I decided to do a Magic Knight Rayearth group. But rather then do the default outfits, we decided to make something from one of the artbooks.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=mkray043.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/mkray043.jpg" width="496" /> </a><br />
I had wanted to cosplay Fuu for a long time now, and I just love making maid costumes, so it was a win/win situation.<br />
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We all needed matching outfits, so we all decided on a cotton sateen, so it was a bit nicer but without a shine. We also made sure to match patterns. We decided on <a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-1942-costumes.aspx" target="_blank">Simplicity 3618</a>, since it had a lot of what we needed in one pattern.<br />
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<a href="http://images.patternreview.com/sewing/patterns/simplicity/3618/3618.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="444" src="http://images.patternreview.com/sewing/patterns/simplicity/3618/3618.jpg" width="383" /></a><br />
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For reference we went off of the pirate costume. We used the skirt, vest and the included bloomer pattern for our costume. The vest and skirt was modified, so that they were attached and one piece rather then separates, which was a really easy adjustment. The skirt itself is just a basic circle skirt pattern, I have about 2 and half panels on mine. I also added a nice fluffy peti to make it poof out a bit more. There's a zipper on the size so I can get in and out of the dress. And for the edges around the bodice I just faced them and used just a bit of glue to hold it down.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_5139.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_5139.jpg" width="403" /> </a><br />
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The blouse we decided to just make from scratch, that way we could all have the same blouse. We used <a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-6615-misses-amazing-fit-top.aspx" target="_blank">Simplicity 1941</a> and then adjusted the sleeves so that they were puff sleeves rather then the normal ones they have.<br />
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The shoes I had a bit of freedom on. Since you can't see her shoes I could pick whatever I wanted. But since I'm in actuality the shortest person in the group I needed something that would give me a bit of height. I found these really nice green heels that not only matched my dress perfectly but gave me just a bit of height so I could be taller then our Hikaru and match height with our Umi. The stockings come from <a href="http://www.welovecolors.com/" target="_blank">We Love Colors</a>. My only issue with them was that the fit was suuuuper tight, like almost impossible to keep up without rolling down. And it was the first time that sock glue didn't hold them up.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_5171.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_5171.jpg" width="334" /> </a><br />
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The ribbon around my neck is just a plain satin ribbon we bought in a spool, so we all had matching ribbons and its pinned to the collar of the shirt. And the ribbon on my head was made from leftover fabric from the dress. All together it was actually a rather simple costume to make. The work was making sure we were all coordinated, getting the same type of fabric and patterns.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_5477.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="448" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_5477.jpg" width="640" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-81489696242789777592012-05-20T16:35:00.002-07:002012-05-20T16:35:58.877-07:00Costume Breakdown: Hua PoHua Po was one of my dream costumes for a long time. A lot of the aspects of the costume are really simple but it was one, when I first started cosplaying, that seemed impossible for me to do at the time. So finally last Katsucon I decided I had the skill set to actually accomplish this and make it. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=Huapo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="400" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/Huapo.jpg" width="300" /> </a><br />
Hua Po is a demon from the Shin Megami Tensei series, she's featured in several of the games and probably one of my favorite demons, even though you get her along the lower levels. Her outfit basically breaks down into the suit, shoes and wings.<br />
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For the suit I found a pattern that was a basic jumpsuit pattern and modified it to what I needed. I ended up going with a vintage pattern:
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/78460215/vintage-60s-butterick-6015-jumpsuit" target="_blank">Butterick 6015 Vintage 60s Easy Jumpsuit Pattern</a>, though the size I ended up buying was far too large and ended up seriously sizing it down, and of course cutting down the legs to create shorts. The frog details were purchased separately and attached to the costume, the jump suit itself was closed together with a series of hook and eyes, a small piece of black fabric added behind it to keep anything from showing. The black lining was done with bias tape, the hook & eyes were hidden under the bias and lined up to match each other.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=bodysuit.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="400" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/bodysuit.jpg" width="326" /> </a><br />
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The designs on the sleeves were done with fabric paint, for this I used <a href="http://www.acmoore.com/p-87346-tulip-dimensional-fabric-paint-1-14-ounces-slick-poppin-purple.aspx" target="_blank">Tulip Fabric Paint</a>. I ended up drawing the design on the sleeve and then painting over it. The best way of doing that was taping the fabric down before sewing it (other then hemming the edges) and just painting on directly. Once it dried I attached the sleeves to the suit. When your working with the fabric paint make sure you use several layers to get an even coat. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=photobucket-1181-1325821962630.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/photobucket-1181-1325821962630.jpg" width="358" /> </a><br />
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Now for the skin tone. I wanted to try and create the red orange tone the best I could in the easiest way possible. So I decided to do a face paint, tight combo. For the face paint I went with <a href="http://www.bennye.com/" target="_blank">Ben Nye</a>, because of the variety of colors you could get and the ease of use. When I was working with it, I had to do several layers on my face to get the smooth look. I just took a small makeup sponge and applied it on my face until I got the even coat. The lips and eye details were just done with regular makeup I had sitting around. The upper lip was some eyeliner I had, while the white details were basic face paint from a Halloween store. I probably wouldn't recomend doing it again, because the details tend to rub off over time. But the Ben Nye stayed really well after using powder and sealing it properly. Make sure you get the sealing spray otherwise the makeup will get everywhere! The make up is really easy to wash up with some basic face soap and water. I kept some make up remover cloth to help take it off. There was a few places along my face, like by my ears that didn't come off right away, so be careful. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_3945.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="548" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_3945.jpg" width="640" /> </a><br />
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Rather then paint my legs I decided to go with tights. But the color was pretty unusual. So I needed to custom dye the tights to match my face. For the tights I bought a pair of white dancer tights so I wouldn't any awkward lines. For the dye I used <a href="http://www.dharmatrading.com/ad.html" target="_blank">Jacquard Acid Dye</a>, because it would take the best with the nylon material. I really lucked out with the color because it matched pretty perfectly to the face paint.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_3922.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_3922.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I wish I could say I made the wings but I didn't. I sort of lucked out and found something pretty close color wise on ebay. Maybe when I have more time or money I'll make new wings that actually have the right shape to them.<br />
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The shoes were worked off a base of an old pair of flat shoes that I never really wore. I just took yellow fabric and covered it over the shoe, gluing it down with hot glue. I probably wouldn't recommend that for any long term solution, but it worked really well for my wear at the con, since I didn't wear the costume for a long period of time.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=photobucket-16989-1326263701599.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="358" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/photobucket-16989-1326263701599.jpg" width="640" /> </a><br />
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And last but not least the small clips on my head were just make with <a href="http://www.sculpey.com/" target="_blank">sculpey</a> and attached on a small hair clip. They're fairly small and light so I didn't really have to worry about them breaking or anything.<br />
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And last but not least is the final shots of the finished costume! Hopefully I'll be able to get nicer shots in the future!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=tumblr_lzpcblcYrk1qisfak.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/tumblr_lzpcblcYrk1qisfak.png" width="463" /> </a><br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_4565copy.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_4565copy.jpg" width="426" /> </a><br />
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Also as a side note, I've been reading this cosplay blog <a href="http://cosplaybrain.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, it's pretty great for some tips and tricks on all aspects of cosplay!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-22103085135039060032012-04-28T15:52:00.002-07:002012-04-28T15:53:02.730-07:00Airi (Meru Puri): Costume BreakdownAnother long while since I posted! Life stuff getting in the way, but hopefully soon I'll get the chance to start working on stuff for Otakon! For right now I'll break down two of my more recent costumes, Airi from Meru Puri.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Airi (Meru Puri) </b></span><br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=005-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="005" border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/005-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Airi was a bit tough to start off with. Not because of the dress but the apron. She has one of the most unusual aprons I've seen in a while. I really had to decide how I wanted to break it down, since it didn't seem normally possible. She didn't have the normal straps like most do...they seemed to wrap around her neck and then just sort of hold there. <br />
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I ended up breaking it down into two main parts. The dress and the apron. The dress was very simple. Just something high collared and long sleeved. It was probably the easiest part of sewing the whole thing. I think my favorite part ended up being the sleeves and how the shape turned out for them! The base of the dress, like most of these types of dresses I've had to make is based off of <a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-5394-misses-alice-in-wonderland-costumes.aspx">this</a> pattern. I like that pattern because the skirt is really full and perfect for putting something like a peticoat under it. <br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_3364.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_3364.jpg" width="396" /> </a><br />
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The apron was the most interesting to tackle. Originally I tried to make it all in one piece like they had in the image, but I had to made an adjustment which created the seam in the middle. I created the pattern myself, and broke it into three parts. The middle and then the two sides that extend towards the back. I used snaps to hold the apron together in the back, over top of that I had a bow pinned there, to make it seem as though the apron was tied in the back. The parts around the neck were all held together by snaps, and wrapped around my neck. So when I had to put the apron on I had to stick my head through what wrapped around my neck and then snap it in the back. So the snaps held it together on my body! It stayed really nicely. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_3379.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_3379.jpg" width="366" /> </a><br />
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The ruffles were all done by hand. I keep saying someday I'll invest in a ruffle foot and I have yet to do so! But I created the ruffle all around the apron and the stockings. The middle black part is just bias tape sewn to the center of the ruffle. For the stockings the ruffle on them was added later. I created the ruffle and sewed it onto the stocking while I was wearing it. It just needed a few little stitches to attach it to the material and stay on. <br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=Untitled-1copy.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="304" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/Untitled-1copy.png" width="400" /> </a><br />
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And last but not least was the headband. it was a fairly easy mod from a pre-exsisting headband. I added the ruffle and then glued the white cloth on top. The other little touch is the ribbon on the shoes. I was using a pair of shoes that I tend to use in nicer occasions and I didn't want to modify too much. So instead of attaching the ribbon to the shoe, I instead attached it to the stocking. I wrapped it around my foot and tied it around the back. To get it to stay I just created a small, easily cut away, stitch that I could remove at the end of the day. That way I didn't ruin my shoes or stockings!<br />
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And then the final product...<br />
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<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=ashley_002.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/ashley_002.jpg" width="428" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-74047046850039863942012-02-24T20:00:00.003-08:002012-02-24T20:26:18.283-08:00Katsucon 2012Another late post. This time on Katsucon. I had a lot going on, mostly that I was sick after the con, so I wasn't able to get the con report up as quickly as I liked. But here it is!<br /><br />As before with the previous report, Katsucon is in a gorgeous location. The Gaylord is a beautiful hotel, with many different backdrops and areas for photos. They have this really lovely jungle area, a water location, and all sorts of elegant looking areas. Beyond taking photos, its really just a nice area to be around. It's pretty easy to get around and find different areas to hang out in and just relax.<br /><br />This year I'm sure it's gotten bigger. Its pretty natural with any con, but you can definietly see the crowding in the Saturday crowd. Luckily the hotel and the convention area is still pretty big enough to hold the people there. They keep the programs/events pretty separate from the main areas so that people aren't crowding around them.<br /><br />I didn't really attend many panels, again the trend of many different cosplay panels were there though. More and more you'll see more pop up. It definetly show the shift towards the importance of Cosplay within the con scene. And because of that, and the location, people seemed to want to bust out their biggest and best cosplays.<br /><br />Some of my favorites from the con<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/?action=view&current=IMG_4403.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 499px; height: 783px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/IMG_4403.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/?action=view&current=IMG_4190.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 550px; height: 387px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/IMG_4190.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/?action=view&current=IMG_4153.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 820px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/IMG_4153.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/?action=view&current=IMG_3970.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 606px; height: 500px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/IMG_3970.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And the rest can be found <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Katsucon%202012/">here</a>. Don't forget to check out the subfolders for more photos!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-39485718681615179952012-02-16T11:16:00.000-08:002012-02-16T11:21:44.902-08:00KatsuconHey there! This is a pretty small post but I'll be at Katsucon this weekend! I'll hopefully have a con report up asap as well as my photos. As for what I'm cosplaying...<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=katsucon.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 613px; height: 213px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/katsucon.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Fri<br />Airi (am), Karina (pm)<br /><br />Sat<br />Karina (am), Maya (am), Hua Po (pm)<br /><br />My first big con of the year! So I'm super excited. It might be a little bit afterwards before I head to any con, due to some really exciting and important life stuff going on. I'm not too sure what my next con will be, but I'll probably still be working on cosplay inbetween. Anyway, I hope to see some of you guys there!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-11241562997569234362011-12-14T12:12:00.001-08:002011-12-14T22:10:22.190-08:00Money & Cosplay<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://alertearnings.com/money/eHomeBizWork10_files/money.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 264px;" src="http://alertearnings.com/money/eHomeBizWork10_files/money.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>One of the biggest parts of cosplay, other then making and wearing the cosplay is the cost. Cost is huge when it comes to cosplay, because without the funds you can't actually cosplay. Sadly cosplay is an expensive hobby, whether you make or buy your costume. As with any hobbies it should never come before you real life, it's for enjoyment. But here's a breakdown into spending for cosplay, and I'll use myself as an example. I'll break down what I spend for a costume.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Making Money</span><br />This is pretty basic, you need money to spend in this hobby. How do you get it? Having a job. Most cosplayers I know are still in school and work part time. The best advice I can give for that is just make sure you save just a little bit every time you do get a paycheck. If you want to spend the money on cosplay then you might not want to spend it on other things (obviously this doesn't apply to anything important like bills or payments). For myself I like to have a little bit set aside when I can. My bills and any other payments I need come first and then I set just a bit aside for cosplay.<br /><br />Another way of getting a little extra cash is selling old costumes or wigs. Anytime I have an old costume or wig I know I'll never use or wear again I'll resell it. You'll probably never get exactly what you paid for it initially. But if it's something you don't plan on using again, why let it go to waist sitting in storage? Places I've sold before is the cosplay.com <a href="http://www.cosplay.com/marketplace/index.php">marketplace</a> or possibly ebay. Sometimes selling a wig for me has basically been put and gone into another costume.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Making vs. Buying a costume</span><br />When it comes to buying a premade or used costume, you don't have to worry about getting all the supplies, setting aside the time to make the costume. What you do need to worry about is fit and cost. When you're buying a premade costume you're buying something that has very general sizes. While you can measure yourself and get a close size, it's probably not going to fit you perfectly. You might need to take the time to fit the costume to you. A used costume will be similar. The person who made it before made it to fit their own measurements, so the fit might be a bit awkward to your own. Buying a costume can get expensive depending the detail and where you go to buy a costume. <a href="http://www.hellocosplay.com/">Hellocosplay</a> has many options for buying a costume at fairly reasonable prices.<br /><br />The other side to that is instead of buying a premade you commission a costume. When you commission a costume you are hiring someone to make a costume specifically for you. That way they can make it fit your body perfectly. The downside to this is the cost. When you commission someone you are paying for more then just the materials and outfit, you're paying for the work that they put into it. Commissioning is probably going to be the most expensive route, but when it comes to buying, depending on the commissioner it'll be the best route for buying a costume. A example of a great commissioner is <a href="http://www.godsavethequeenfashions.com/">God Save the Queen Fashions</a>. An amazing commissioner that does quality work.<br /><br />Making the costume yourself has the potential of being the cheapest option. You can buy the materials yourself, you're not paying for shipping/commissioner, and you can find the cheapest options for yourself. The downside is skill set. You need to be able to make the costume for yourself. Some designs might be outside your skill set or even just impossible to make because of the design. You have to know what you can and can't do and go from there.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Getting Materials</span><br />So you've decided to make the costume yourself, then it comes to actually going out and getting the materials for your costume. There are a ton of fabric options out there. One of the most known and easily accessible is <a href="http://www.joann.com/joann/home/home.jsp?topnavlink=true">Joann Fabrics</a>, at least within the United States. Joann's is a large retail store that sells many general fabrics. Most of the fabrics they have there are good for most costumes and most of them are at a decent price, and Joanns are always having sales. Joann's also always has tons and tons of different coupons and they will allow you to combine coupons (as long as they have different barcodes). If you sign up for their email and mailer you'll get different coupons mailed and emailed to you. I'm not much of a coupon counter, but when it comes to fabric and cosplay, I do it for Joanns because the prices are worth it.<br /><br />Other options you have is to look for any local fabric stores or districts. If you're lucky to live near a big city, like NYC or LA you might have a whole fabric district and many different options. In my area I have a few local fabric shops I can check out. Local shops might even be willing to bargain with you on prices (Be reasonable if you intend to bargain. They're not going to cut down the price so low they won't make a profit).<br /><br />If you need something a little non conventional or a simple fabric, craft stores can be worth checking out. Many craft stores will have some really basic fabrics, and the different tools you might need to work on cosplay. A place like <a href="http://www.acmoore.com/">A.C.Moore</a> will have things on sale or different coupons to get for cheep.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What I do</span><br />From reading the rest of this blog you can tell that I sew pretty much all of my cosplay. I find that sewing it is the cheapest option for myself. I get most of my fabrics from Joann's, and I haven't really run into anything I couldn't get at Joann's or online. A lot of extra stuff like different buttons I can order online.<br /><br />My machine is a refurbished Janome. I got it online for around $60 and it's been good to me for almost 3 years now. It has several different stitch functions, allowing me to do about everything I need to for cosplay. To finish I use a zigzag stitch. It includes button hole stitches as well as a zipper foot.<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=photobucket-3197-1323927496160.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 539px; height: 401px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/photobucket-3197-1323927496160.jpg" alt="2011-12-15_00-37-48_583" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ebay is a huge source for me. Anything basic like shoes or simple shirts I find on ebay. Ebay is a cheep source, many people will undersell slightly used things for way cheaper then you can get in any store. With any online source make sure you buy with caution. Check sellers reviews and make sure you know what you're buying before you get it. I tend to use Ebay for shoes, accessories and wigs. If you're looking for a machine make sure you really search around. You can find some really good deals online used or refurbished. Look at the functions and determain what you need in a machine before you purchase one.<br /><br />Ebay is my main source of wigs, but recently I stared buying wigs on Taobao. Taobao is basically a Chinese Ebay. Many of the prices are way, way cheaper then you could find in America, the catch is that most stores you need to find a shopping service. <a href="http://shop33700042.taobao.com/">Lucaille</a> is a store that doesn't require a shopping service and you can buy straight from the store. Remember that you are importing straight from China, so shipping may be a bit high. If you order in a group the shipping will be easier to handle.<br /><br />Here's a cost rundown of my <a href="http://www.acparadise.com/acp/display.php?c=55489">Karina</a> costume that I made recently.<br />Wig: $20<br />Fabric + Pattern: $34.29<br />Necklace: $14.35<br />Stockings + Sock Glue: $16.00<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total: $84.64</span><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2979.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 385px; height: 657px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2979.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Some of the things that helped save me money...<br />- Joann's Coupons.<br />- The shoes were borrowed.<br />- Some of the notations I already had (like the zipper, and elastic for the arm parts)<br /><br />Compared to the <a href="http://www.hellocosplay.com/tiger-bunny-cosplay-karina-lyle-costume-p-3571.html">Karina</a> costume on Hellocosplay which is $98. With this you just get the dress, vest, hat, arm parts, stocking and necklace. You do not get the shoe or the wig. So over all I managed to save money compared to what is sold online.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hellocosplay.com/images/costumes/tiger-bunny-cosplay-karina-lyle-costume-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 540px; height: 405px;" src="http://www.hellocosplay.com/images/costumes/tiger-bunny-cosplay-karina-lyle-costume-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I hope this guide helped as to spending and what I do for spending on cosplay. I should have my links updated soon, it's been a while since I gathered tutorials and the link list needs to be updated as well.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-86954581143934140192011-12-07T23:17:00.000-08:002011-12-08T00:29:45.684-08:00Anime USALate AUSA post is super, super late. But it hit right around the time where I was doing a lot of traveling and then I needed to catch up with work. But here is my late AUSA con report.<br /><br />The con center itself is a fairly decent looking hotel. Though its really too bad that the hotel is getting too small for the con. I went last year and I thought it was a bit crowded, this year was pretty bad. It's been a while since I've been in a con this crowded and this was probably one of the worse. Though I heard a rumor that the con moved to a new location for next year. The hotel itself was really rather nice. And the rooms were really massive, which I guess doesn't matter any more.<br /><br />They were far more up on badge checks, near the escalator points, but I didn't notice any by the elevators. Maybe they weren't allowed to. But they had the typical ones right by the dealers and artist alley. Speaking of artist alley, I really rarely ever buy stuff from there but there was someone selling these adorable Tiger & Bunny plushies so I had to snag one up.<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/Tiger%20and%20Bunny/?action=view&current=IMG_2984.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 506px; height: 401px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/Tiger%20and%20Bunny/IMG_2984.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">I got the small one in the front. But look how cute they are! Whoever the artist is, someone link me, I want to credit you.</span><br /><br />The dealers room was alright, again, the layout was rather odd. It's almost sectioned off into two areas, and you have to weave your way around. I tend to like getting figures more then anything, so there was maybe a few booths (<a href="http://www.animesekai.com/">Anime Sekai </a>being my favorite), but otherwise I didn't end up seeing a lot that I liked. Also on Friday they didn't open until 2pm, which made no sense to me. Most dealers rooms won't open up until around noon, but I don't understand at all why they waited until 2pm.<br /><br />Unlike most cons I actually spent time going to a few of the panels. One of them was a beginners cosplay's panel, just to see what it was like. I felt rather bad for the people running it, because they had the poor luck of being next to the game room and they didn't have a mic. But otherwise it was a well run and presented panel.<br /><br />Speaking of the game room...it was probably one of the worst game rooms I've seen. And it wasn't because of the content. The location was small, the room was near impossible to navigate through, and it had tons of people crammed in it. They needed a bigger room, hopefully next year they'll do that.<br /><br />When it comes to cons, this con is more of "hangout with friends and take photos" con. In the area there isn't a lot (there is a CVS that sells booze) but other then that, once you walk around the hotel there isn't much. I wouldn't recommend coming from far away for this con, but if you live within the east coast I think this con is worth checking out. It's slowly growing into something bigger, so I'll be excited to see where they go next year.<br /><br />And of course some photo highlights from the con.<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_3006.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 550px; height: 417px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/IMG_3006.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_2706.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 549px; height: 824px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/IMG_2706.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_2694.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 551px; height: 824px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/IMG_2694.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_2683.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 552px; height: 858px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/IMG_2683.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And of course the rest can be found <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/animeusa%2011/">here</a>. Enjoy!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-47462112947729673072011-11-04T14:10:00.000-07:002011-11-04T14:55:31.399-07:00Cosplay ProgressSo it's been a while since I updated! For the most part I've been working to get ready for AUSA. I have several costumes finished, with small details that need to get done. Normally what I like to do is when I finish a costume, I like to do a page dedicated to each character. But with this update I'm going to include the progress for each one of the characters I worked on.<br /><br />AUSA Line Up<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/ausa.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 127px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/ausa.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I know. 5 costumes. How did this end up happening? The June costume isn't mine, but I'm borrowing from a friend (who was the June in the previous 999 group I was in). And Karina originally wasn't meant for AUSA but I managed to finish the costume early so I decided to bring her along as well. June I'm wearing with a few friends who are doing 999 cosplay, and Claudia is obviously already made.<br /><br />That least Wakaba and FeMC left. It's sort of funny how the two has similar looks; hair pulled up, and dark jackets. FeMC I started working on first, and I had some slight fit issues.<br /><br />I chose a pattern size that was a bit too big, so when I made it and tried it on, everything was much bigger then it should be. FemMCs jacket was a bit interesting, so I had to sort of pattern it from scratch, based off a tshirt pattern that had the same collar.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2502.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 595px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2502.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As you can see with the original fit, everything is far too long, to big/bulky. The bow was made from scraps of fabric that I had sitting around, probably the easiest to make. Now onto the refitting...<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2553.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 362px; height: 684px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2553.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As you can see the fit is far better. The jacket sits where its supposed to, and the jacket isn't so long and baggy. There's also a different, better fitting blouse underneath. The stripes on the front are bias tape that's sewn on top of the jacket. And the closure for the jacket is an invisible zipper, most of which is hidden by the bias tape. Only thing left now is the socks and I'll be good to go!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Karina</span></span><br />This was probably my favorite to work on. The dress was super simple to make, it was just a basic dress pattern that I adjusted to fit what I needed. I ended up using Kona Cotton for the fabric, which made ma little nervous at first, but once it was lined, everything was perfect. The fabric is super soft and breathable, and Kona had the colors I needed.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=590934418_photobucket_64884_.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 547px; height: 307px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/590934418_photobucket_64884_.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The ruffles were all done by hand, which I really wouldn't recommend if you have a lot to do, because it's a really tedious process. But the end result was really nice. The triangle parts were all done by sewing individual pieces together, nothing complicated.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2604.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 430px; height: 770px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2604.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The vest has a bit of fuzz/sheep's fur in the collar. The wig was my first Taobao order, which was amazing. Probably one of the best wigs that I have right now. The arm parts have bits of elastic in them to create the poofed out look and holds to my arms better. Also the stockings are from <a href="http://www.sockdreams.com/_pages/index.php">sockdreams</a>. I wish I would have started ordering from them sooner. I've never had a better order and faster shipping before.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wakaba</span></span><br />This was a last minute choice because a friend of mine asked if I would cosplay from Utena with her. So I excitedly agreed. The jacket and pants were really simple. The pants I bought and adjusted. It was surprisingly difficult to find waist high, white pants that weren't denim.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2558.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 427px; height: 497px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2558.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The last bit was the jacket. The jacket was fairly easy to make, I found a pattern that fit really well and I adjusted from there. Thanks to the amount of bias I've had to sew, I've gotten pretty good at it. I havea friend working on her sword for me, and once I finish a few details, and the wig, I'll be all done!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_2557.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 423px; height: 767px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_2557.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The last thing I want to mention is my friend <a href="http://electricbarbarellacosplay">Electricbarbarella</a> has a cosplay blog up now. I think you all should go and check her out!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-53602731852910914802011-09-13T21:26:00.000-07:002011-09-27T00:41:35.486-07:00Sissel WigI hadn't done an update in a bit, not since quickly recapping Otakon, I figure I can go into detail as to how the wig was made and the process I went into it. This was the first time I ever took on a project as big as this. Most of the wig stuff I've had to do were pretty minor. Even for my costume in this group I only had to trim the wig. But I wanted a group so as long as our Sissel paid for the supplies I would make the wig for him. I'll go into as much detail as I can on the process I went through for this wig.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Supplies</span><br />Bristol Paper<br />Tape<br />Plaster<br />Paint<br />2 Blond Wigs<br />Wig Heads<br />Spray Mount<br />Mod Podge<br />Wig Combs<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_57684_.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 465px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_57684_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The first step was building the base. The base was the Bristol Paper, which is basically a thicker stock of paper. It's a few pieces tapped together. The bottom part is one piece, and then to get the strange, curled up shape that's several pieces stacked and tapped on top. It's a bit hard to explain, but you basically want to make a cone shape. When you build up as much as you can on the base so you have more for the hair to stick to. The tape is black but we don't have to worry about that, all of that stuff will be covered.<br /><br />Once I got the shape that I wanted, I took strips of plaster and covered it. You want to be careful not to use too much, because you don't want to make it too heavy, it will be resting on the top of the head. I just wanted it wrapped up so it could cover the tape. You really don't need to worry about sanding it or anything, since it'll be covered.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_57683_.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 465px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_57683_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Once it was plastered, matched a paint to the hair as close as I could and painted it. This is just in case any sort of stray hair opens up and the base is shown. It basically helps everything look nice and consistent. Once the base was dried, I could begin the progress of fitting it to the wig.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />When you're fitting the base of the wig to the head, you want to make sure you have a way of securing it. I ended up hot gluing it to the top of the wig, so it would hold there while I could work the hair along the base. This is a bit more complicated to explain, but I'll through the process I went to attach the hair to the base.<br /><br />First thing I did was take a clump of hair and spray it down with hair spray to make it stiff. Then taking the spray mount, I would spray it onto the base and then press the hair to it. Taking a brush, I would paint the mod podge along the hair to help make it more stiff, as well as stick it to base better. I would repeat this process until the base was completely covered in hair. In the end it looked something like this...<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=590934418_photobucket_57685_.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 405px; height: 535px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_57685_.jpg" alt="2011-06-22_00-13-46_499.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Not...incredibly nice. But it will look better! This is where the second wig came into play. I harvested the second wig for wefts and attached the wefts in the same way I attached the hair from the wig.<br /><br />I didn't really do much differently from the last part. The ends of the hair was painted with mod podge to make them stiff, so I could create a hairline for the wig.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=590934418_photobucket_60853_.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 493px; height: 276px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_60853_.jpg" alt="2011-07-02_23-42-42_467.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Slowly but surely the wig was starting to look more even, less like a mess of hair around the base.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=590934418_photobucket_60854_.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 388px; height: 692px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/590934418_photobucket_60854_.jpg" alt="2011-06-22_23-40-26_119.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And the final result was this!<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=IMG_2335copy.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 461px; height: 692px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_2335copy.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Worn by <a href="http://hayabusa72.deviantart.com/">Hayabusa72</a>.</span><br /><br />This was probably the biggest wig project ever. It was tough...but I was glad for the experience.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-27656325248782513522011-08-24T22:56:00.001-07:002011-08-24T23:40:50.905-07:00Otakon and Post con updatesWow, so it's been nearly a month since I updated. Normally what I do is write up a quick con report after a convention, but this year things were a bit unsual. I didn't get to go to Otakon for the full weekend like I planned. I had the chance to spend a week in Mexico, so I took that and spent only a day at Otakon. I was happy for the day that I got to spend there, it was so much fun. I can't really write too much about the con itself. Most of my time was spent catching up with my friends.
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<br />Otakon was SUPER hot. I mean hotter then any year I've ever been to. Even in the super light costume I was wearing, I felt like death standing outside for the few moments from when I had to go between hotel to con center. I felt bad for anyone in thick or massive costumes, you guys are all champs for making it through. Every year feels like more and more people are going.
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<br />My cosplay for the con...I went as Kamila from Ghost Trick.
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<br />I had a wonderful, fantastic group with me. Everyone did such a fantastic job on their costumes.
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<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://bearpigman.tumblr.com/">Jowd</a>, <a href="http://leesers.tumblr.com/">Lynne</a> & <a href="http://hayabusaknight72.tumblr.com/">Sissile</a>. </span>
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<br />And of course I'm going to post some of the highlights from Friday that I snapped.
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<br />And of course, the rest of my photos are <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Otakon%202011/">here</a>.
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<br />It looks like I'll be making it to AUSA again this year, which I'm excited about. I've got two new cosplays in the works, so I best be working on them.
<br />Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-21095408210554572812011-07-12T13:22:00.000-07:002011-07-12T14:41:47.568-07:00Connecticon 2011<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/?action=view&current=ConnectiConHeader2011.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/ConnectiConHeader2011.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Connecticut Convention Center; Hartford, CT<br />July 8-10th<br /><a href="http://connecticon.org/">Website</a><br /><br />This was another one of those conventions where I was surprised at the last moment that I could go (literally, I found out 2 days before the con I could make it). I've heard of the con before but never really experienced it until now. The con itself is one of those big mix cons, it's not just anime, but video-games, sci-fi and everything else. They do a pretty good job of mixing everything, and there was a ton of different people. If I had to compare the size it reminds me of <a href="http://www.ohayocon.org/">Ohayocon</a>.<br /><br />This was one of the few times I actually got the chance to really check out the panels, and I'm glad I got to. About all the panels I went to were really great. One of the more different panels I went to was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour">Parkour</a> panel (which a lot of Assassin Creed cosplayers showed up to, no surprise there). While not really fitting too much into the whole con, it was an interesting panel to go to, to hear about what Parkour was really about.<br /><br />Out of the main events, I saw the Dating Game, Masquerade and the Death Match (also a very small bit of the chess game). What I want to start off with, and what I didn't know, is that a lot of these have these main skits that the people running them do. I don't think the idea is bad, but they ran WAY too long. The best example is the Masquerade. It was supposed to end at 10:00pm so the Geek Comedy could begin. We left by 11:00pm and they were still doing their skits. The Dating Game was run the same way, everything was pre-decided and was just made to be a skit. Which is fine, if that's what they want to do. But something like this shouldn't be done for the Masquerade. The Masq is for the people who entered, who made costumes and skits for it. It really shouldn't be overrun by the people running it. The skits ran on FAR too long. I think if they need to do something like that, they need to make sure they run far shorter, they'd be far more enjoyable.<br /><br />But moving on, I caught the end of most of the skits, and they looked pretty good. They placed the winning AMVs at the end and ALL of them were amazing. My favorite was "Captain Jack Sparrow" one...I wish I could find it online just to post. The Death Match was amazing. The MC was great and I loved to be able to cheer for the characters I wanted to win. I sadly didn't get to see the end of that, but I think the events where the audience can participate are the best.<br /><br />The dealers room was pretty fantastic. Lots of space and a lot of really good booths. There was one in particular though that was selling nothing but knock off figures. The prices were super tempting, extremely low, but every single figure there was a knock off. I know some people don't really care either way, I'm particular about the figures I buy. If I'm buying a figure I want it to be authentic. But my favorite booth <a href="http://www.animesekai.com/">Anime Seikai</a> was there. If you're going to buy a figure Anime Seikai is the best place to do it. They have a ton of figures, all authentic and range in pretty decent prices. I love seeing their booth at cons because they always have new figures. (Okay I think I've pumped up Anime Seikai enough). Another great thing was the Artist Alley set up. The room was pretty big and there was a lot of different types of artists there.<br /><br />I really loved the layout of the whole convention. There was a lot of space, and it was pretty easy to get from one place to another. I think it worked out well because the amount of people there. I have a feeling once the convention gets larger this will be more difficult to fit everyone, that's pretty normal for any con. But the size and the center was perfect. I had a really good time overall, I would definitely come back to this con.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Photos</span><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_2238.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 698px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/IMG_2238.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/IMG_2172.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 698px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/IMG_2172.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_2133.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 418px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/IMG_2133.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/IMG_2121.png" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 418px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/IMG_2121.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And of course the rest of the photos are <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/CTcon%2011/">here</a>. Enjoy!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-81813053725785761032011-06-23T10:29:00.000-07:002011-06-23T12:18:12.924-07:00Claudia AuditoreI'm pretty much basically finished with <a href="http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Claudia_Auditore_da_Firenze">Claudia</a>, enough to take as test run, there's a few details I need to fix up a bit but I thought I'd show you all the test run I did. So I thought I could break it down a bit more then I did in my <a href="http://cosplayprogressandstuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/claudia-progress.html">previous post</a> where I spoke more about the progress.<br /><br />I wanted to cosplay Claudia after I saw her in Brotherhood, she was fine in AC2 but she became SO much better in Brotherhood. I was a bit anxious to start on that <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/Char_claudia.png">dress</a> that she wears, I really never made anything like that before. But then I saw her new outfit near the end of the game...and fell in love. She got really bad ass and started fighting alongside her brother at the end sequence. I think I loved her character as soon as she stabbed those guards early one and took on a brothel herself just to help the brotherhood.<br /><br />What was interesting about this outfit is how it was based off of <a href="http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Maria_Thorpe">Maria Thorpe's</a> outfit from Bloodlines and the end of AC2.<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=Mariaparting.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 530px; height: 313px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/Mariaparting.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/1291143371208.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 530px; height: 299px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/1291143371208.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Pretty interesting, just a few minor changes, obviously the color, choice of fabrics and the boots are pretty different. But overall the design is still the same and references her outfit.<br /><br />The first part was her tunic. The tunic was based off of dress pattern I had laying around, the same dress pattern I used for <a href="http://www.cosplay.com/costume/204544/">Trucy</a>. The pattern had to be modified a bit, because the top part was separate from the bottom, but it had the same panels I needed for her tunic. The panels go between a brocade and a satin. And in between there's bias made from the satin.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0784.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 400px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0784.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The front was probably supposed to come together with hooks or latches, but I went with ease for myself, not entierly period accurate but I'm wearing a cape so that little detail wouldn't be noticed. I added a zipper in the back and the front is sewn together with a <a href="http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/stitches/ladder.html">ladder stitch</a>, to give it that look that her tunic had. The inside is lined with a super light lining material. It's pretty near sheer, but the point was to keep the brocade from fraying. The brocade frays SO easily, I sort of wish I had fray check to keep it from being so annoying. I did end up using a zigzag stitch on my machine to help it, but it goes to show that a serger would really help. But you make do with what you have! And a zigzag stitch is a decent substitute if you can't afford a serger.<br /><br />The shirt part was based of a blouse pattern I had laying around, but it's not a full blouse. I made it enough to where it met the tunic and then sewed them together. I mostly did it to avoid the amount of layers I had to wear, because I knew how hot I'd be in the costume. There's still the cape I had to wear.<br /><br />The cape itself was drafted from my own patterns. I had a hood pattern laying around that I modified and used, the caplet parts were part drafted on my own and the rest I found something I could modify. I lucked out and had JUST enough fabric to make the actual cape part and line it. That wasn't too difficult, the difficult part was to use the bias around the caplets.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0852.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 550px; height: 601px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0852.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Bias itself is never too bad, it's the corners that can get you. I had never sew corners before.I found this amazing <a href="http://ryuuraigeki.livejournal.com/358924.html">tutorial</a> online on how to do it, and it really helped out a lot. What is missing and what I still haven't done is the design she has painted on the back of her cape. I still really need to get around to doing that.<br /><br />The rest are bought. I was able to use my own hair for her since she just has it pulled back. The boots, bracers and belt are all bought and thanks to a <a href="http://hayabusa72.deviantart.com/">friend</a> I had a small knife to carry!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Finished</span><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_1545.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 676px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_1545.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_1559.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 751px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_1559.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_1542.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 550px; height: 366px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_1542.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Also thanks to this Ezio for posing with me! He was fantastic. </span><br /><br />With the finished photos from the test run I really need to fix up a few minor details. But overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I'm even more excited to wear it to Otakon!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-41555263307839428472011-06-13T12:05:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:26:34.537-07:00AnimeNEXT<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=Screenshot2011-06-13at31021PM.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/Screenshot2011-06-13at31021PM.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />AnimeNEXT<br />Garden State Exhibit Center Somerset, New Jersey<br />June 10-12<br /><br />This was my first time going to AnimeNEXT, but it wasn't far away and for the price it was a really great opportunity. The con itself was split between three buildings, which isn't too unusual for some cons, some can split between several buildings near the same complex. They aren't too far away from each other, two of the buildings are connected. But the third building was across the street, with no real crosswalk to get there. So there was people watching the street and running across. It was really dangerous, as far as I know there wasn't really any other way to cross. I never have a problem with walking around the convention center or even having it spread out, but it was really too dangerous to have it across the street like that. There had to be a better way to do that, or another room within the two hotels that were there. The hotel I stayed in was just next door (across a bridge) would have been a much safer choice.<br /><br />The only thing to see across the street was the game-room, which sadly was a nice game-room. Not as big as Magfest (though I doubt many other cons I'll go to will have a gameroom that big or nice) but it was good for an anime convention.<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1383.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1383.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">All very important rules.</span><br /><br />Other then that I really didn't mind the layout. This con really had some amazing places to take photos. Right outside the doubletree was probably the best. There was this nice little bridge and outdoor area, as well as a walkway between the two hotels. The weather was a bit of touch and go. It rained on Saturday a bit, a sort bit in the middle of the day and right around the end, but not really bad enough to affect any gatherings or cosplays from what I could tell.<br /><br />The dealers room was really nice and expansive, there was a ton of stuff there, but not a lot of my favorite booths sadly. But there was a lot of options for others. This was probably the first con I didn't get a figure.<br /><br />The con had a rather large stage area for some of the musical guests they had (that doesn't really fit what I tend to like at a con but it was really nice and massive for the people who wanted to see that. While you're walking into the dealers room you could peak in and see. What I really liked was how nice and seperated the Artist Alley was from the Dealer's Room. They had their own space to sell their work, and they were able to keep it open longer for people who wanted to buy things from them. I tend to prefer them separate like that, there's less crowding and people in the dealers room when they're shopping tend to shop for two different things. I always like to think it's at least two different mind sets, and the prices work much differently.<br /><br />They had a small food area, that sold pizza, sandwiches, all that good stuff, and it was so nice to have in the con center. The food was a bit pricy, between $5-6 for just one sandwich but that really can't be helped, the hotel will charge more. My one real complaint is that they were cash only, it would have been much easier if their machines took credit cards. There was a few ATMs around though for people to pull cash.<br /><br />Overall it's a fairly smaller con. It's not utterly massive like Otakon would be, it's smaller but there was plenty of people around. It seems to be one of those cons that are just getting bigger with every year, which is probably why they have such an awkward spacing issue. I think this con is fantastic if you have a group of friends that you want to hang out with and get lots of really nice photos. None of the panels were really terribly interesting to me to check out, but I'm not exactly the person to ask about panels. But I adored the outdoor locations and taking photos and exploring the dealers room. I would go again next year, definitely.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Photo Highlights</span><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1670.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 674px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1670.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1579.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 674px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1579.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1575.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 597px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1575.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1394.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 632px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1394.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1381.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 675px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1381.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/?action=view&current=IMG_1360.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 450px; height: 675px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/IMG_1360.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And the rest of the photos are <a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/AnimeNEXT%2011/">here</a>. Don't forget to check out the subfolders!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-12938117063707834582011-06-04T23:07:00.000-07:002011-06-05T12:40:11.623-07:00Remaking: UkraineI originally made Ukraine in 2009. It was an early costume and it was the first time I ever made pants. That was an adventure in itself. I really only got to wear the costume to one con before I ripped them taking them off. This time I've learned from my mistakes and was ready to remake and re-wear this costume.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=2298561.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/2298561.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Old version. </span><br /><br />The previous pair were really flimsy. I chose a really cheep thin material, and then I decided not to line it. So not only was it thing and flimsy, but it ripped easily because of that. The pants were too low, sitting on my hips when I needed it closer to my waste. Though at the time, there was only a few images of the character, so it wasn't terribly inaccurate. Now that more images and material have come out, I can make it a bit more accurate.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/?action=view&current=IMG_1355.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 373px; height: 699px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Cosplay/IMG_1355.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">New version. My room has changed. Slightly.</span><br /><br />The pants were really the only part I remade. The rest was still pretty alright to keep (though if I really wanted to, there's some minor stuff I could fix with the blouse, but it's pretty fine for now). So I chose a much better material, something with a slight stretch to it, for movement. The color is also slightly different. It's not as saturated as before, but I'm much more pleased with this color then before. I actually thought to make them baggy enough and long enough, I used a different pattern and I'm glad I did. Before the pants were near skin tight, and they hit just at the knee. With the new ones they are able to tuck under my boots like they're supposed to. I also added lining, and the thickness was worth it for the pants.<br /><br />Sadly I still don't have a prop like I'd like to. Maybe another time I can!<br /><br />Also I found out that I got a chance to go to <a href="http://www.animenext.org/">AnimeNEXT</a>. So I should have photos and a con report of that as well!<br /><br />Also for sake of self promotion, I have Honekoneko plushes for sale on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/75057656/honekoneko-plush?ref=af_shop_favitem">Etsy</a>. You should go and buy one.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-79852218190611233152011-05-28T11:07:00.000-07:002011-05-28T13:26:35.247-07:00My ProcessHaven't posted in a while, but I haven't had a costume I'm working on. I'm pretty much ready for Otakon and just been making plushies over at my <a href="http://cutsomplushblog.blogspot.com/">other blog</a>.<br /><br />Even though it's early I like to think of the next thing I want to cosplay. I tend to like to pick something out early so I can plan ahead for it. So for this post I'll go through my process and how I plan and start making a costume. For this example, I'm going through what I did when I cosplayed <a href="http://cosplayprogressandstuff.blogspot.com/2011/01/clover-999.html">Clover</a> from 999.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Decision </span><br />The first and most obvious thing is to pick what character you want to cosplay. Shouldn't be difficult, right? It can be if you're one of those people (like myself) who have a million things they want to cosplay. Narrowing it down comes down to a few factors; skill, money, and if there's anyone else who wants to cosplay with me. Not that I need a group to cosplay but sometimes a group can make it more fun. In this case I had several people who wanted to cosplay from the game with me, and I had plenty of time to make it, so I decided on Clover.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">References</span><br />A very important part in making the costume, I need good references so I can get it as accurate as possible. It's good to try and collect as much as you can, the more the better, that way it's easier to make the costume. 999 has a small fandom but a really dedicated one, so I had a few good references to go off of, for colors, shapes, etc.<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=999.png" target="_blank"><img style="width: 530px; height: 366px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/999.png" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=sample-39f7a5da42ef986cab6effcf9c0619ae.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 326px; height: 489px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/sample-39f7a5da42ef986cab6effcf9c0619ae.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />I had a lot of really decent references to go off of, so I knew how everything was supposed to look. Sometimes you might have the issue of color variation, like between the illustration and the height chart they show there. The top image is more true to the in-game, so I tried to base everything more off that. Which meant her sweatshirt was baggier, a bit looser fitting, and the colors were brighter. Though for my wig, it ended up being closer in color to the illustration.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fabric/Patterns</span><br />I try and hunt for patterns first before I worry about getting fabric. It's always nice to have the extra fabric, but if you can't afford it, it's better to know how much you actually need. Most of my patterns I get online from <a href="http://sewingpatterns.com/">sewingpatterns.com</a>. It's great because you can download and print what parts you need and it's super cheep to download it. Another option is to wait until <a href="http://www.joann.com/joann/">Joannes</a> (or any local fabric store) has a sale. Joannes has a ton of amazing coupons and they have $1 pattern sales.<br />For Clover I used Butterick 5285 for the skirt and shortened it to match the length I needed. And for the sweatshirt I used See&Sew B4331, though sadly I got a size too big, and had to size it down a bit. The slight oversize I had ended up working out in the end because I needed it to be a bit baggy.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>The leggings I ended up patterning myself, it's a basic sort of triangle shape and then the bottom part has elastic in it so I can stick the boot through and get the right shape that she has. I looked up some stuff online for the right shape, you can find a lot of free patterns online if you search.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wig</span><br />Most of my wigs I get through ebay. A lot of Chinese sellers have wigs for cheep and don't have shipping, but they take a long time to ship. There are plenty of decent US companies who sell wigs targeted towards cosplays, like <a href="http://arda-wigs.com/">Arda-Wigs</a>. It all depends on what you need. For Clover I found a curly burgundy wig on ebay.<br />Styling all depends on your character. For Clover I needed a fluffy pigtailed look, luckily I had this tutorial I could base it off of:<br /><a href="http://s956.photobucket.com/albums/ae50/nekogonya/Wigs/?action=view&current=poofingpigtails.png" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 938px;" src="http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae50/nekogonya/Wigs/poofingpigtails.png" alt="Poofing Pigtails" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=IMG_0308.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 505px; height: 500px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0308.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />And then the near final result, before I trimmed the bangs.<br /><br />Wig styling is a tricky thing, because if you mess up it can sometimes be irreversible. You just have to experiment, that's the only way you can get better at it. I can't really claim to be an expert, I've only really had to do minor trimming and styling, but it's the best advice I can give. Try and get yourself some decent tools. Get yourself a pair of scissors that you'll only use to cut wigs for. And also a pair of <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P0412&categoryId=B70">thinning sheers</a>, which will allow the cuts to look less blunt and more natural.<br />As for when I get the wig, I try and order it as soon as I want to do the character, so sometimes it could come before I start sewing and sometimes it comes after. I can't say when's the best time to start working on the wig, I guess the best is when you feel comfortable doing it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sewing</span><br />I guess most of this is sort of covered in the fabric part, but the actual sewing part is sort of a big thing in making a costume. Getting yourself a decent sewing machine is a plus. For basics you need a machine that has several stitching functions. It's really helpful if you can get a <a href="http://sewing.about.com/od/sergersoverlock/ss/serger.htm">serger</a>, so you can hem everything. But they are expensive. A cheaper alternative is to get a machine with a zigzag stitch. It doesn't completely replace a serger but it's a decent alternative. Also a good thing to keep at your side is <a href="http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat2864&PRODID=prd2992">fray check</a>, to keep the fabric from fraying too much.<br />For Clover, I used my Janome machine. It has several stitch functions, enough so I could make it completely, use my zigzag, and if needed to, create button holes. A lot of really decent machines you can buy refurbished.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Buying</span><br />This is the last section I'll include in making everything. Because there's a good number of things I can't really make on my own, like shoes. Again, like the wig, most of the stuff I buy is on ebay. I like using ebay because most everything you can get is a lot cheaper then anywhere else. The blouse was a bought item as well, because it's so basic, it's an item that you sort of just want to own for multiple cosplays or outfits. Sometimes it's good to have basics because they can be reused.<br /><br />That's about my whole process right there. Whenever you finish make sure you take a lot of photos of your completed it!<br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/?action=view&current=56266-47632-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 500px; height: 750px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/56266-47632-1.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-23552535383315294882011-05-15T16:52:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:55:44.046-07:00New BlogNot really a major update or anything. I just wanted to post that I decided to move all of my Plushy stuff to a new blog. Check it out <a href="http://cutsomplushblog.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />It has all my projects and how you can commission me for a plush if you so wish to! Anyway feel free to check it out!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-15646475823769379742011-05-05T23:58:00.000-07:002011-05-06T00:27:24.256-07:00Kamila [Finished]I finished up Kamila from Ghost Trick! Probably one of my easier ones to finish up. Just the dress, bow, jacket and brooch she wears.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/gt-kamila-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 362px; height: 498px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/gt-kamila-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The wig I got on ebay from <a href="http://myworld.ebay.com/comic-wig/?_trksid=p4340.l2559">comic-wig</a> and just trimmed up a bit. The bow was from some leftover yellow fabric I had sitting around. The bow part itself has interfacing in it to make it stiff and its just pinned into the wig.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo327.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo327.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo328.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo328.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Don't mind Maya's wig in the back haha. </span><br /><br />There's a few extra accessories I have for her. Headphones and of course a Missile plushie.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo335.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo335.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo337.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo337.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The rest was pretty easy. The jacket part was part of a bolero pattern that I got from a wedding dress pattern. And the dress part was the same pattern from my Red Hood Miku outfit, just without the sleeves. The fabric itself is just a comfortable poplin, both of them really perfect for summer weather. The brooch is just filmo clay and pinned on. And of course the finished costume!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0898.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 828px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0898.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0901-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 828px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0901-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Alright! Almost ready for Otakon. Just need to get the rest of my accessories for Claudia. then of course decide if I feel like making anything else. It might just bring my other stuff to re-wear for Otakon, make it easy.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-65706069939643656662011-04-19T12:52:00.001-07:002011-04-19T23:33:07.040-07:00Claudia ProgressSo 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.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/1291143371208.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 580px; height: 326px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/1291143371208.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0784.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 400px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0784.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0829.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 398px; height: 700px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0829.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0852.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 550px; height: 601px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/IMG_0852.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />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.<br /><br />Also some bonus progress for a wig and plushy. Working on Kamila from Ghost Trick. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo313.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 548px; height: 411px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/Photo313.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-23389901117145914042011-04-13T06:03:00.001-07:002011-04-13T06:08:28.214-07:00Wig CollectionI did a little thing recently where I posted all the wigs I owned so I thought I'd share here.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/wigs.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 512px; height: 900px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/gaiaart/wigs.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />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.<br /><br />Also I updated the <a href="http://cosplayprogressandstuff.blogspot.com/p/resources.html">Resources</a> 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.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911506642254014762.post-71211161070633921772011-04-06T09:23:00.000-07:002011-04-11T07:51:56.138-07:00Con Survival TipsI'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!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%;" >Packing</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Lists are your friends.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />I have a pretty terrible memory so I'd rather just writ</span><span style="font-size:85%;">e everything down and make sure I got everything I wanted. I </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.parisunbag.com/Suitcasesall.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 359px; height: 251px;" src="http://www.parisunbag.com/Suitcasesall.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">can't tell you the number of times I've forgotten my contacts. It's really easy to over pack and under-pack.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Fold everything.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />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.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Wear your shoes.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />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.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Travel sized containers</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />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.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Bags, one or many.</span><br />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.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Travel</span></span><br />A lot of travel stuff is pretty obvious. You cans save money if you split gas and tolls. I've always found it </span><span style="font-size:85%;">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.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Room<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">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!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Con<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Carrying stuff<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span>Carry</span></span></span> 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...<br />- Cards (creditcards, ID)<br />- Cash<br />- Chap-stick<br />And that's about it. I have my camera on hand.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">B</span></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://inlinethumb34.webshots.com/45537/2042380450103947755S425x425Q85.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 425px; height: 318px;" src="http://inlinethumb34.webshots.com/45537/2042380450103947755S425x425Q85.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">adges</span><span style="font-<a onblur=" try="" href="http://inlinethumb34.webshots.com/45537/2042380450103947755S425x425Q85.jpg"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>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.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Water</span></span><br />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.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Asking for photos</span><br />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.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">For now that's all I have or can really think of. If you have any feel free to comment. </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span> </span>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00824980334175162638noreply@blogger.com0