Category: Convention

A pre-Mother’s Day adventure

Convention, Cosplay, Exercise, Health, Interview

It’s off to some historical sites today as we take my mom & dad out of town to celebrate Mother’s Day a little early. Since my husband works tomorrow, we’re doing our day with my parents a day ahead of time.

I’m trying to mentally psych myself up for a day of walking, walking, walking. I considered exercising in the apartment “gym” (translation: about 3 or 4 different exercise machines) early this morning since I was up, but then I reconsidered after remembering that I haven’t really exercised in months and months and I’d likely end up sore beyond belief tomorrow…hell, I still might end up sore as hell.

Gotta get my stamina and fitness up at least a little bit in the next few weeks, though, because Phoenix Comicon starts June 2! There will be so much walking to do as we traverse downtown Phoenix to see all the sights (and be seen in our cosplays). I’ve also potentially got interviews to do; as a media member, I get to fill out a form letting the con know which guests I’d like to interview. The con organizers will forward my info to the various guests, and then they (or more likely their agents) will be in touch with me to set up interviews.

I’m super excited about this–more than just normal con excitement. I’ve only done one live interview, and that was a disaster. The band (I won’t name names) was so preoccupied with being late to the venue that only two of the five did the interview while the others started setting up for the sound check, and one of those two obviously did not want to be there. He was squirming in his seat, not making eye contact, and giving short answers to the questions. When I asked if they had a message for their fans, his response was: “Come see our shows. Buy our records. Buy our shirts.” Classy.

These interviews should hopefully go much better. I’ve got to figure a good way to keep my questions with me as we walk around, because I won’t have much storage space in my cosplays (just a tiny purse for the Jedi TARDIS and a small hidden pocket for the Temari cosplay). Maybe I’ll grab a small, small notebook at Wal-Mart or something sometime before the con so I can have my questions all written down. Or notecards. I have a shitton of 3×5 notecards…but my purse/pocket are so small I might still have to fold them up to get them to fit. Hindsight, I guess…

May the Fourth Be with You

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Fandom, Geek, Holiday, Movies, Sci-fi, Tattoo

Yes, it’s that day again: the day when the nerds come out of the woodwork to proclaim their love for Star Wars.

I’m one of those nerds. I love the movies (well, most of them), and if I wasn’t a bigger Doctor Who fan I would probably have been getting a Jedi Order tattoo yesterday instead of a TARDIS.

I guess I’ll let my Star Wars/Doctor Who mashup cosplay make up for it. I have less than a month to lose enough weight to comfortably squeeze into it, though I can still fit it. I’d just like the corset a little less…tight. Like, really tight. I mean, I know corsets are supposed to be tight, but this one is homemade, not professionally made. So I’m hoping there aren’t any wardrobe malfunctions at Phoenix Comicon.

Anywho, happy Star Wars Day to all, and May the Fourth be with you!

Seeing red

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Geek, Sewing

It’s that time again–cosplay work! 🙂 I have finished the kimono and am about to get started on the obi and belt that will go with my Naruto character Temari’s outfit.

If I manage to get close enough to finishing today, I’m going to attempt something extra: a small pocket inside the obi to keep my phone and ID/cards while I’m at the con. It’s may be tricky, because of course why would I give myself an easy task? Where’s the fun in that? Lol

After this comes the big project: the coat for my husband’s Gaara cosplay. I’ve already been warned by a friend who has made a coat from the same pattern that it’s a tough one. I’m trying to avoid letting that bit of information (from someone more experienced than I am) get to me. I gotta keep a positive attitude about it and not freak out.

There of course is a lot more to do, but I’m getting the major pieces done first before adding in details. The Devil’s in the details, and I have enough to deal with without worrying about his ass riding me over my deadline.

A step in the right direction

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Geek, Insomnia, Sewing

I finished yet another piece of our cosplays this morning. Now I have my husband’s pants pretty much finished (just need some buttons) & my kimono is done. I’m pretty proud of the sleeves–I didn’t have a pattern for them, so I made something up. They’re not perfect, of course, but they’re even and the shoulders are comfortable, which means I measured somewhat right.

I’m about to get started on the red sash, and sometime in the next couple of days I’ll probably start on the shoes.

Okay, so I might not get started on the sash just yet. My body has just reminded me that I’ve had like an hour & a half of sleep. So later today. Or maybe tomorrow morning. But I will start soon.

A stitch in time

Convention, Cosplay, Sewing

Y’know, I think I may have used this title for a post before. And y’know what else? I’ll probably do it again. Unoriginal? Yes. Lazy? Yes. But it’s 4:31 in the morning and I do what I want.

Anywho, I think I’m going to do some hand sewing this morning. I have a few things that need it, so that’s going to occupy my time before work today. I’m hoping to get my kimono as close to finished as possible before the weekend. I can do it, but it’s those damn sleeves I’m worried about. Sleeves are enough of a bitch with a pattern, and I have to just make up a pattern for them. Oh, well; don’t know what you can/can’t do until you try.

Here’s hoping!

Bang my head against the wall

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Geek, Health, Sewing

Oh…my…Goddess. I’ve had recurring headaches the past couple of weeks, nearly every day, usually in the evenings. It’s getting annoying.

As long as I catch them early and take some acetaminophen within the first half hour, they stay under control. I know from experience, however, that if I let a headache go without taking something it’s going to end up at near-migraine levels, if not a migraine itself.

This afternoon I had to stop working on my Naruto cosplay because a headache reared its ugly, well, head. I took something, but it’s still lingering.

It doesn’t help that I keep noticing little things that I need to make for the cosplay. Gotta make gloves, gotta either find cosplay shoes online or buy some sandals & modify them to match, gotta make some straps of fabric to go around the shoulders, gotta make sleeves for the kimono (because the pattern I found didn’t have sleeves)…lots of little things, but things that make the character.

I still haven’t started on the hardest part–the coat–and the vest that I need to pretty much design from scratch. Then we’re going to use some hot-glue cosplay magic to make my husband’s sandals, because the only ones he can find online that match his character don’t come in his size.

Oh yeah, and there’s the painting of the gourd, making some kind of sling for him to carry it, and figuring out some way for us to carry our things (because the patterns I have come sans pockets). All this with barely 5 weeks until the con.

It’s no wonder I’m getting headaches.

An object in motion

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Sewing, Sleep

Geez-o-Pete, I’ve been tired this weekend. Napping almost every time I stop doing something. It reminds me of a Tumblr post I saw one time explaining why it’s easier to stay up late than get up early:

“An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest.”

Well, when I rest lately, I really stay at rest.

Just woke up from a nap that was probably 2+ hours long. My husband let me sleep, for which I’m grateful, but I wonder why I was so tired.

Hopefully I can get my momentum back, fast. I have a busy work week this week, plus I’m still working on the Naruto cosplays. I’ve gotten the pants nearly completed, but I’ve barely started on the kimono, need to buy more fabric for the sash (because I miscalculated), and haven’t even started on the coat and vest. Oh, and we need to paint the gourd. Whew. Maybe that’s why I’m so exhausted! Just thinking about all that is making me sleepy.

I have nearly conquered the pants

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Just a little bit more! I have almost finished the pants that have been plaguing me for what, a week or more now? Anywho, I just need to slipstitch the waistband & then hem them & a couple buttonholes, a few buttons, and BAM! Pants.

Trying to decide which to do next: The kimono for my Temari cosplay, or continue with my husband’s stuff–the coat and vest. I think I’ll do the kimono, partly because I want to switch to something easier and less stress-inducing, and partly because I’m too lazy to change out the thread on the sewing machine. (The kimono is the same color as the pants.)

Today my husband and I started the paper mache on the gourd prop for his Gaara cosplay. It was predictably messy and slightly stressful, as he got annoyed with me trying to give instructions. I was trying to make things more clean and efficient, and I guess I didn’t take into consideration that he might just be wanting to do things his way. I suppose I just assumed I’d be taking point on the project. It’ll be okay, though. Tomorrow we’ll have some more time to work on it, and we have plenty of time before the con to get it finished.

My fighting fan prop may not happen before the con, though. We have to buy it because making it is just too time-consuming and complicated, and our budget might not allow for the purchase until after Phoenix Comicon. That’s fine, though; I mean, we’ll have plenty of time before Dragon Con, which is a bigger con anyway.

I feel good about being nearly finished with the pants. Onward to the next project!

Early Morning Confusion

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Learning, Sewing

I have no idea what to do next on those damn pants. The next step involves “ease stitching” at the top of the pants, where the waistline will be added. Wtf is ease stitching…and how do I do it?

This is why I shouldn’t allow myself to try this crap at 0200. I keep waking up early, all excited to get to sewing, only to be reminded that I mostly don’t know what I’m doing. Oh sure, I can slap two pieces of fabric together and stitch ’em, but when it comes to terms like ease stitching I’m in the dark. (Ha! Pre-dawn pun!)

I’ve reached out to a Facebook group that’s generally helpful for cosplayers who want to learn about sewing or share cosplays that they’ve made, so I’m hoping that when people start to wake up I’ll get an answer. As for right now, I guess I’m going to write a little more. Got some creative juiciness going on here; might as well not waste it.

As I finished that last sentence someone answered my question. Turns out it’s not as complicated as I thought, but now I’m in bed and comfy. I’ll ease into it tomorrow morning. (Ha! Another pun!)

I hate pants

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Geek, Learning

So frustrated right now. The current pants pattern I’m working on isn’t as complicated as the first pair I did, but this next step in the instructions is confusing me. I can’t figure out how to pin/ stitch it, so I’m taking a break until it clicks.

I had this same problem with the first pair of pants that I made for him. That pair was a semi-historical pattern–well, a costume pattern for some pirate pants, which had a front flap and used a lot of interfacing. It took a lot of looking over several times before it hit me how to do it.

I’ve been forewarned by a friend of mine that the coat I’m going to make will possibly be equally frustrating, so there may be a post in my future that is titled “I hate coats.” But I’ve made sleeved scrub tops before, and the first one had no real “pattern,” just an old scrub top that I had seam ripped to see how it was put together. Still, I’m going to do my best. As Tim Gunn of Project Runway fame would say, I’m going to “make it work.”

It’s sweet that my husband wants me to make his cosplay pieces. He takes such pride in my work that he loves showing it off to friends when he gets the chance. I’m even going to make a prop for him. He’s going to help, but I’m going to do probably most of the work because my OCD will make the paper maché turn out smoother. I don’t mind, though. It’s crafty stuff. I like being crafty, and it gives me a chance to try my hand at fabricating props. I’m not making the prop for my character–it’s too large and complicated–but I’ll at least be able to say I made the majority of the cosplays.