Category: Sewing

So Close to the Finish Line…

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Yes! I have very nearly completed my cosplay, and my husband’s isn’t much farther behind. I need to make him some hand warmers/fingerless gloves/whatever you want to call them, a pouch of some sort to carry his phone, wallet, & keys, & I need to either make or find a belt so I have a place to put my lightsaber. (Oh yeah, and we need to buy our lightsabers–but we’re doing that at the con.)

It’s the culmination of about 6 months of work (off & on), and I’m feeling very accomplished. Sadly, I need to bust my butt on losing weight because I can barely fit into the corset as I am right now. 🙁 I’ll do it, though. I have more motivation now that I’ve seen how hard it is to get into the corset right now. Luckily I made an elastic waistband for the skirt, so I should be fine if I lose weight.

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I can’t believe managed to pull this off. I really didn’t know what I was doing for the most part and patterns have been my friend, but a few things I had to pattern out myself. (Mainly the skirt, a sleeveless black tunic top I made for under the corset–which you really can’t see in these photos–and altering things for my husband’s cosplay. I also made the black belt with the tails without a pattern.) Hubby’s was much more complicated, but I managed.

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Next up? Well, after a break from making cosplay stuff, next up is a Naruto couple’s cosplay (though we’ll be cosplaying siblings–not that it really matters. It’s cosplay after all). They look like fun characters to play, and they both have large props that should be interesting to make.

Now off to be productive!

Ooh, shiny….

Cosplay, Novel, Sewing, Social Media, Writing

Yeah, I know. I should be writing. Not writing a blog, but writing-writing. Today has been one of those distraction-filled days, where Facebook and Twitter and Google Play and staring into space (and this blog, I guess) all keep me from making any progress on my work-in-progress.

Okay, so maybe I made a little progress. Regressive progress. I did some more work on strengthening my main character, but in order to do so I took out a few hundred words. Granted, the words I took out weren’t necessary anymore (and not really necessary to begin with, I found out), but it’s still a step backwards.

Maybe this weekend I’ll get more done. Or at least Saturday. Sunday I need to get back cracking at finishing up the minor final details on our cosplays. That’s another thing I keep getting distracted away from.

At least the commission art project I spent so much time on is done. It was fun, but it’s a weight off my shoulders to have it completed. One less distraction.

Tonight will be a live tweet of the 100th episode of Grimm for Talk Nerdy With Us. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve live tweeted because I’ve been caught up in stupid adulting, but I think tonight I’m going to take some time to focus on the show and getting a good live tweet done. It’ll be good practice for getting back in the swing of live tweeting, because next week I’m back on Pacific time so I can tweet alongside the people who are watching the West coast feed (so few people live tweet during the Mountain time zone! No one interacting, which makes it less fun).

Aaaaand I got distracted. Again. Well, since it’s almost time to go to work I guess I’ll leave my poor neglected WIP off to the side for a while. Until the morrow!

Crushed

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

No, I’m not crushed. My poor corset grommets are! I bought an eyelet setter to make it easier to secure the grommets on my corset, and while they are indeed now more secure, they also are warped and, well, crushed.

It’s disappointing, because now they look terrible and I know it will count against me if I enter into a cosplay contest at Phoenix Comicon. I was so proud that only a few were distorted after my hammering, but the hammering just wasn’t cutting it. I needed that tool, but I guess the grommets were the wrong size for it. I put some eyelets on the flaps of the pants I made for my husband, and those set perfectly. So sad.

On the bright side, I am nearly done with all the cosplay things I need to make for Phoenix Comicon (and Dragon Con later in the year). A few hems, a bag for my husband to carry his phone/wallet/keys during the cons, and the waistband for my skirt (possibly redoing the skirt entirely–I haven’t decided yet). I might even make myself a belt for mine. Haven’t decided if I’ll do that or just buy a belt.

I’m feeling more confident and accomplished the more I sew. I even think the top I made to go under the corset will turn out pretty nice, despite having no pattern and just piecing together leftover fabric from my husband’s tunic. It’s going to have a weird seam in the middle of the back, but I’ll be wearing the corset and a shrug over it, so that part will barely show.

Can’t wait for Comicon!

Cosplay Conundrum

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Sewing

I’ve almost finished my husband’s cosplay, but I have hit a snag. Not in the fabric, but a snag in the works. I have to somehow make the legs of the pants longer than they are without making it look Frankensteined. I thought I had an idea, but I have no clue how to implement it.

Somehow, I have to make leg wraps that attach to the bottom of the pant legs that don’t fall apart or come undone during con wear. Easy-peasy, right? Not really.

My own cosplay skirt still sits unfinished, and I’m still just as perplexed as to how I’m going to finish it. I know I want to make an elastic waistband, but I guess I’ll have to hit YouTube to figure out how to make the elastic waistband. I have the elastic, I have the skirt, but beyond that I got nothin’. I’ve never done this before (though that hasn’t stopped me so far), but I think I’ve burned myself out on being clever with this cosplay.

I’ll be glad when it’s done, but after this comes next year’s cosplays. My husband wants us to cosplay as a couple every year, with me making a new cosplay each year. I don’t mind it, and it sounds like a lot of fun (I’m so glad he’s getting excited about cosplaying with me), but right now, at this moment, I am just plain tired.

Contestant #5, Come on Down!

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Okay, so I haven’t entered any contests…yet. But if this cosplay I’ve been working on turns out as good as I think it will, I’m freakin’ entering a contest! I’m so amazed at the progress I’ve made in just six months. I went from kinda being able to hand-sew some things together to making full cosplay outfits.

I’ll definitely be finished by Phoenix Comicon, so I’m hoping they have a cosplay contest there. If not, a fashion show will do I guess.

But I really want to enter a contest.

Cosplaying the Day Away

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Sewing

Spent most of the day working on my husband’s cosplay cloak. It’s turning out pretty well, and I hope to have it finished by next weekend.

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Once I figured out the color blocking on a mockup, the rest came fairly easily. Hubby even helped me figure out how to transfer what I’d patterned out onto the fabric I planned to use in the finished product.

After this comes the belt with the “tails” and finishing his pants and my skirt. I need to make him a bag or pouch of some sort as well, but that can wait until the end.

Getting so excited! 

The proof is in the pattern

Cosplay, Crafting, Drawing, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Sewing

Started sewing early (early) this morning, and I’m almost at the point where I need to partially draft the cloak.

It’s going to take a bit of Frankensteining to get it right. I don’t like the hood pattern that came with the cloak pattern, so I’m using the hood from my TARDIS pattern to make one for my husband’s Sith Time Lord, and the cloak he wants needs some color blocking done, so I’ll have to do that, too.

I’m not too worried about it, but I’ll admit that I am a little apprehensive. I’ll have to get the look right without having some pattern to use. It’s not like I’ve never worked without a pattern before, but there’s something about recreating a look that creates a new kind of challenge. Don’t get me wrong; I am loving the idea of the finished look. It’s just the process of getting there that will be rough.

I’m glad for Facebook groups and the opportunity they provide to let me reach out to other sewists/cosplayers and ask for advice. I’ve only gotten a little feedback so far, but it was encouraging. I can draw, but drawing a pattern is a whole different animal. It’s basically working in three dimensions on two dimensions of paper.

These costumes are going to be so great when they’re done. A Jedi TARDIS and Sith Time Lord–so cool!

Sew here I go again

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Sewing

It’s that time again! Back to the cosplay sewing.

This morning I cut out the pieces for the tunic that my husband will wear. I’m hoping to be done with that this weekend so I can get started on drafting the pattern (aka making shit up) for the cloak. I have a pattern for the hood, but for the rest I’ll have to sketch most of it and come up with a way to put it together.

I may or may not have to line it, which will make it quite hot to wear, but I don’t know if I can pull off the bottom part with the contrast blocking without lining it. Maybe something lightweight? We’ll see.

I’m feeling much more confident in my sewing skills the further I go with this project. I don’t feel as skittish about following the patterns and I’m almost certain I can pull off the cloak.

This is going to be an amazing convention year for me and my husband. If I can finish these cosplays, I may try to convince him to have professional photos taken at one of the cons we go to.

Dead to the World

Art, Cosplay, Drawing, Health, Novel, Sewing, Work, Writing

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted, I know, but I was kinda half dead. Okay, a little dead. Dead enough that I didn’t want to write or do much of anything.

Though it was only a cold, I’m sure y’all know how much that can take out of you. The constant coughing. The wheezing. The shortness of breath. The sinus congestion. The fever. The body aches. It sucks, and it isn’t very conducive to productivity.

Thankfully, though, I’m starting to feel better. I still have a little ghost of a cough, but hopefully tomorrow I’ll be right as rain. That’s a funny saying. What’s so right about rain? Shouldn’t it be right as sunshine? But I digress.

A lot of projects have been backing up. The art commission project. The cosplay work. The beta read. The writing. I’m barely keeping up with the Talk Nerdy With Us work that’s been assigned to me. I’ve been able to work at my day job, but only while heavily medicated. (Not too heavily medicated. The max that I can take legally to function in the workplace.)

I’m trying to psych myself up for getting back into the swing of things. I need to get back into that art project. Like kick-my-own-ass get back into it.

Back from the dead. Time to get to work.

Obi-wan Sith Lord

Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing

Okay, sounds weird, I know, but hear me out: A Sith Time Lord.

As I’ve mentioned before, my husband has decided to be a Sith Time Lord to compliment my mashup cosplay of a Jedi TARDIS. This morning, I finished an obi for his costume, made out of a red fabric with a TARDIS/Dalek pattern on it. I’m really proud of how well I’m doing with the sewing stuff (considering I’ve only owned a sewing machine for 4 months and have next to no experience working with patterns before this).

There’s my hubby modeling the pants and obi for me, along with some images of the finished obi with the almost-finished pants laid out underneath it.

My sewing skills keep growing, and I’m excited to see if I’ll be able to recreate the cloak as my husband wants it. The hood will have the red fabric as the lining and the cloak itself will have the red Doctor Who pattern along the bottom as shown here:

Custom Sith Style Outfit Front and Back

It’s going to be exciting to walk around Phoenix Comicon and Dragon Con as a husband-and-wife cosplay couple. I hope in years to come we can devise even more unique cosplays to do together!