Anime USA

Late 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (Anime Sekai 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.

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.

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.

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.

And of course some photo highlights from the con.








And of course the rest can be found here. Enjoy!

Cosplay Progress

So 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.

AUSA Line Up

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.

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.

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.



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...



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!

Karina
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.



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.



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 sockdreams. I wish I would have started ordering from them sooner. I've never had a better order and faster shipping before.

Wakaba
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.



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!



The last thing I want to mention is my friend Electricbarbarella has a cosplay blog up now. I think you all should go and check her out!

AUSA: Miku and Amanda

So it's been a bit since an update! I managed to finish my costume for AUSA of course and I have a few finished photos of them to show off. For the most part AUSA was a friend con, so I really didn't attend many of the events like I would have liked, but I had a really great time there. So of course the finished costumes...

Miku (Red Hood)


and closeup


And our Peacewalker group!


Sadly I have no photos of my own to share. My camera broke early on at the con so I couldn't take anything. I should get a new camera some time around Christmas so for Katsucon I should have ton of photos to show off.

As for Katsucon...my cosplay list is a bit tentative right now. This is what I know for sure:
Kay Faraday (Ace Attorney)
Miku Red Hood (Vocaloid: Project Diva 2)
Teodora (Assassin's Creed 2)

There will be one more but that all depends on some circumstances. Teodora will be a serious experiment for me, I've never had to work with a corset before. But I have confidence I can pull it off. There's a lot that needs to get done in between, school and of course Katsu coming up. I'll try and post as much progress as I can!

Projects 2010-2011

It's been super busy getting back from Otakon and then starting school. So I'll try and keep up as much as I can. I never really took the time to write up what I thought about Otakon, maybe I'll get to that eventually, but it feels a little too late now. I might try and keep up with that more with upcoming cons, but for now I can at least sort of showcase my costumes.

Part of this counts still in 2010, so I'll keep using the 2010 tag until 2011 hits. I still have a con in 2010 anyway. So far this year (and next) I plan on going to AUSA, Katsucon and Zenkaikon. I'd like to make it to Tekkoshocon but we'll see about that. And I have no definite plans for a summer con yet.

As for what I plan on wearing. At the moment I'm still working out what I want to wear where. But so far this is what I plan on making.


From left to right: Miku (Vocaloid: Project Diva 2, Amanda: MGS Peacewalker & Sister Teodora: Assassins Creed 2)

Teodora will be the most challenging, so we'll see how this goes!