Otakon and Post con updates

Wow, 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.

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.

My cosplay for the con...I went as Kamila from Ghost Trick.


I had a wonderful, fantastic group with me. Everyone did such a fantastic job on their costumes.



Jowd, Lynne & Sissile.

And of course I'm going to post some of the highlights from Friday that I snapped.








And of course, the rest of my photos are here.

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.

Connecticon 2011

Connecticut Convention Center; Hartford, CT
July 8-10th
Website

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 Ohayocon.

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 Parkour 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.

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.

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.

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 Anime Seikai 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.

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.

Photos








And of course the rest of the photos are here. Enjoy!

Claudia Auditore

I'm pretty much basically finished with Claudia, 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 previous post where I spoke more about the progress.

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 dress 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.

What was interesting about this outfit is how it was based off of Maria Thorpe's outfit from Bloodlines and the end of AC2.



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.

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 Trucy. 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.

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 ladder stitch, 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.

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.

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.

Bias itself is never too bad, it's the corners that can get you. I had never sew corners before.I found this amazing tutorial 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.

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 friend I had a small knife to carry!

Finished





Also thanks to this Ezio for posing with me! He was fantastic.

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!

AnimeNEXT

AnimeNEXT
Garden State Exhibit Center Somerset, New Jersey
June 10-12

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.

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.

All very important rules.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Photo Highlights












And the rest of the photos are here. Don't forget to check out the subfolders!

Remaking: Ukraine

I 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.


Old version.

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.


New version. My room has changed. Slightly.

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.

Sadly I still don't have a prop like I'd like to. Maybe another time I can!

Also I found out that I got a chance to go to AnimeNEXT. So I should have photos and a con report of that as well!

Also for sake of self promotion, I have Honekoneko plushes for sale on Etsy. You should go and buy one.

My Process

Haven'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 other blog.

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 Clover from 999.

Decision
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.

References
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.


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.

Fabric/Patterns
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 sewingpatterns.com. 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 Joannes (or any local fabric store) has a sale. Joannes has a ton of amazing coupons and they have $1 pattern sales.
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.
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.

Wig
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 Arda-Wigs. It all depends on what you need. For Clover I found a curly burgundy wig on ebay.
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:


And then the near final result, before I trimmed the bangs.

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 thinning sheers, which will allow the cuts to look less blunt and more natural.
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.

Sewing
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 serger, 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 fray check, to keep the fabric from fraying too much.
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.

Buying
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.

That's about my whole process right there. Whenever you finish make sure you take a lot of photos of your completed it!

New Blog

Not 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 here.

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!