Tag: #corset

Breathing room

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Sewing, Stress, Time

Okay, so I finished the corset as much as I can before the boning arrives in the mail. There’s still a lot to do on it, but just getting that much done makes me feel so much better. I’m still working on a mockup of the shrug because I have sausage arms & broad shoulders, so the last thing I want to do is go straight by the pattern only to discover that oops! it doesn’t fit and I’ve wasted a shitton of pleather. So yeah, mockup. Cheap fabric that I accidentally bought a crapton of a while back because my husband & I kindamaybesortareally jacked up the math on how much we would need. Which actually worked out in our favor, because I’ve used that fabric for tons of mockups and it ended up being the perfect color for my Jedi TARDIS cosplay. Still haven’t gotten the size of the back/front of the jacket right (mostly need to make the back/shoulders wider & the sleeve holes too), but I think I have the sleeves worked out. I think.

After the shrug, which really shouldn’t be too bad once I get the sizing worked out, I just have the Spandex stuff to sew. That’s going to be the real challenge, but I’m trying to psych myself up and tell myself I can do it.

My husband keeps “reminding” me of how much work is left to do, which he really doesn’t need to do because OMFG IT’S LESS THAN A MONTH UNTIL DRAGON CON!!! I need to just tell him that the added pressure isn’t helping me at all. I need to be able to breathe and not panic. Panic will not help me.

Just a few more things to sew. Just a few. I have to keep telling myself that. It’s a lot of cutting and pinning and whatnot still, but if I think about all of the steps it’s going to make my con anxiety worse.

There are a couple of things that my husband wants “fixed” on his cosplays from Phoenix Comicon, but those are going to kind of be “if I have time for it before Dragon Con” kinda things. It’s little adjustments/alterations that, in my opinion, can wait. Yeah, it won’t be 100% perfectly the way he wants them, but at least one of them worked well enough for Phoenix Comicon so he can just deal for Dragon Con as far as I’m concerned. Sorry, babe, but I have to focus on the new stuff and try not to add to the pressure. I’ll fix the one part that made him super uncomfortable, though. I’m not going to make him suffer for a whole day of Dragon Con just because I’m trying to stave off the con panic.

He has been a great help, though. He painted my gloves for me last night (they were a dark grey instead of the black that they need to be) and he’s been helping where he can with props and what little fabric-type stuff he can do. I need to have him sew on the buttons for his Shatterstar pants. I haven’t figured out the button foot on my sewing machine, & he figured it out for the Gaara pants, which is the same pattern.

I also need to organize the fuck outta my sewing room. My fabric/scrap stash has grown exponentially since purchasing the fabric we needed for these new cosplays, so I have piles of fabric everywhere. I also kinda have pattern pieces scattered about because I keep forgetting to fold up the pieces I’ve finished with and put them away. My craft room is a total mess. Fabric everywhere. Everywhere. I barely have room on my cutting table to cut out the pieces for the mockup, & they’re fairly small pieces.

In addition, I have my new boots that I need to do some modifying to, mostly stripping the coating off the synthetic leather and then painting them black (the only ones I could get in my size were dark grey instead of black, so yeah, more changes to make).  Maybe I could get my husband to do that part, too? He did pretty well painting the gloves, so the boots theoretically shouldn’t be much different. It would really help me out and take one thing off my long, long list.

Less than one month. The Crunch is squeezing ever tighter, and I am doing my best to remain calm about it.

Crunchy crunchy

Corsetry, Cosplay, Time

Yep, Con Crunch is still on. Less than a month left to go before we leave for Dragon Con. On the plus side? I’m almost done sewing the boning channels for the corset. The negative? I have a shrug, a pair of Spandex pants, & a bodysuit to sew still. And I’ve never sewn with Spandex. Oh yeah, and when my boots come in the mail (I ordered the wrong size at first), I have to paint them black because they were out of my size in the black. So there’s that. Oh! And next Saturday is another propmaking session at our friends’ house (I feel like there aren’t enough thanks in the UNIVERSE to properly express our gratitude for their help and teaching).

I think I can do it, though, if I just buckle down. I’m trying to force myself to get to work and do more than I have been. It’s tedious sewing the channels because I have to pin thin paper to the fabric to allow the pleather to feed through the machine properly, which makes it hard to get even lines (and I end up with wider channels than I intended, meaning I’ll need thicker boning than the pattern calls for).

I think it’ll be easier for the pleather shrug, though, because I’ll be sewing the inside seams of the pleather and I don’t think there will be any outside seams to sew. That should eliminate the need for the paper pinning (I hope).

Enough of the whining for now. Off to the day job for a busy day, then back home for more sewing 🙂

Surreal

#dreams, #dystopian, Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Novel, Thoughts, Writing

Taking big steps lately to becoming, like, a real adult. More than just working and paying bills. Sure, there’s work involved–and paying bills–but it’s both exciting and a little unreal. I mean, I don’t think I ever imagined being at this point in my life. Suddenly, things are happening. Okay, starting to happen. Like, they won’t happen for a while, but plans are being made and things are going from theory to discussion to hopefully reality.

Cosplay, on the other hand, has suffered due to my increasing obsession with Pokémon Go and the exercise I’ve been getting. I haven’t been spending as much time in the craft room, and now that I’m only a month out from when we leave for Dragon Con I’m feeling the Crunch. I have to step things up on the sewing, but tomorrow is reserved for prop-building with some new friends. They’re much more experienced than we are, so we’re hoping they can give us more pointers than the panels we attended at Phoenix Comicon. We’re still a little in over our heads, but we’re willing to learn and we’ve gotten most of the supplies and (we think) all of the materials we’ll need. Basically the only thing left to buy is the corset boning, and I have to get off my Poké-ass and get to sewing so I know what lengths of boning I’ll need.

Writing is pretty much at a standstill…again. I keep getting new ideas on how my society will play out, trying to imagine what life will be like a couple hundred years from now. Will space travel be a common thing, or will it have been a passing fad? What kind of tech will be available? What about society itself? Will things improve from today’s media-fed nightmare, or will it all go to shit? Well, it’s a dystopian setting I’m aiming for so I’m guessing things will go to shit, but to what extreme?

But this new thing–this adulting thing–this is a vision of the future that is tangible, that I can actually see and envision with clarity. Change, in this case, is something that I think is a good thing.

Pleather problems

Anime, Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Exercise, Fitness, games, Geek, Hair, Sewing

So I didn’t realize the pleather would stretch so much when I started sewing it to the interfacing I have. Like, a lot. I wanted to use the stronger sew-on interfacing that I had left over from the jacket I made for my husband, but it’s clear now that I need to use the fusible interfacing that the pattern suggests. When I find it, that is…it is most likely underneath a huge pile of fabric, so I need to straighten up in the craft room a bit. I should be straightening up right now…but I don’t feel like it lol I’m frustrated by this development, thus I am taking a break before I take my frustration out on my fabric.

Now I know how the pleather reacts, though, and the leather needles I bought to sew it with seem to work really well for it. Clean punches through the pleather, no jamming. So that’s good.

In other news, the Pokémon Go exercise is still in full swing. I think I’ve missed only two or three days since I started playing two weeks ago, which for me is fantastic. That’s 2 1/2 miles a day on average, not counting missed days. Not bad for a couch potato. Bed potato? Regardless, I have the shape and mannerisms of a potato. Minus the extra eyes. Or something. I haven’t lost much weight–mere ounces, if the scale at my work is any indication–but I’m still proud of myself for getting the exercise. And hey, it keeps me off drugs. (Okay, so I never did drugs anyway…what was my point again?) I even got to hang out with a friend that I hadn’t seen in a few months.

I’m tempted to go on a Poké-walk when the sun comes up, regardless of whether or not my husband is awake. He’s three levels ahead of me; I need to step up my game. Maybe I’ll mess around with strengthening the gym that we (the blue team) hold down the street. I’m not 100% sure on how to do that, but from what I understand it’s just like taking control of a gym except you’re fighting your own guys? I don’t know. I only just fought in a gym for the first time last night. Not the most thrilling thing, but it was cool taking down Pokémons stronger than mine. Yes, I know that’s not the plural. I’m still calling them Pokémons.

Let’s see, what else has happened in the two days I missed posting? Uh…nothing much, really.

Oh! I am seriously considering dyeing my hair, if I can find a person that can do what I want.

fire hair

I would rock this. I just can’t do it myself, and I don’t know anyone in town here that I would trust to do it. I know a great stylist in Phoenix, but not only is she expensive (for my budget) but she’s usually pretty booked, and for good reason. She’s had two local artist showcases of her clients’ hair up in Phoenix, which is pretty cool. It helps that she’s also incredibly friendly and personable. The bubbly type, at least the one time I met her in person. I’ve known her for a year through Facebook, but only met her once at Phoenix Comicon. Anyway, sidetracked–I want that hair pictured above. A lot. I want to flip my hair and have it look like flickering fire. And I can pull off red tones–I’ve done it plenty of times before. Maybe after Dragon Con? But I don’t know that I want to wait that long. I’m really digging this look.

So bad at being good

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Exercise, Fitness, Health, Plus size, Sewing, Stress

Why can’t I just eat healthy? Or at least eat less?

I’ve been walking almost every day since Pokemon Go came out (last night there were major thunderstorms with torrential downpours–not exactly something one wants to go walking in), but I have a feeling I haven’t lost an ounce because of my eating habits.

It’s so difficult to for me eat healthy. I have strong cravings and strong urges to eat when I’m not hungry. I have a terrible resistance to these things. I’ve heard that if you manage to stave off those cravings for at least two weeks it evens out and you stop craving as much, but I haven’t been able to make it that long yet.

The worst thing is that the corset/bustier I’m making for my cosplay seems awfully short-waisted…meaning unless I make really high-waisted pants, my gut will show. So I need to lost at least some weight. Some decent amount, not just a few pounds here or there. And I only have a month. Not too likely that it’ll happen, sadly.

I don’t know why I sabotage myself like this. I’ve known about this con since before Phoenix Comicon, and even then I still didn’t really make a concerted effort to eat better. Sure, I was drinking healthy smoothies, but I wasn’t eating them consistently or cutting back on the other food.

Crash dieting isn’t the answer, I know that much. At this point, I just need to accept that I’m going to have major muffintop at Dragon Con and I’ll just have to deal with those repercussions when I get there. There’s probably going to be some laughter and pointing and bodyshaming. I’ve just gotta suck it up (not literally–my gut’s too big for even that), try not to let it get to me, and just have fun.

Oh, and I have to finish the damn cosplays. *Sigh* Guess I should be getting to that.

Cosplay Crunch

#design, Comic books, Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Stress, Time, Work

Oops. I kindamaybesorta have been slacking on the cosplay stuff. I have a little over a month to get it all done, and I’m starting to get nervous.

The fabrication of the weapons we’re getting help on, but the sewing is basically all me. Which I can handle I guess, but I’ve got to motivate myself. I still have all the pattern pieces for the corset to cut out (I had cut out all the other pattern pieces & organized them earlier to save time, but I forgot the corset pattern pieces), then the fabric (of course), and then there’s all the sewing of stuff. And there’s the Spandex sewing. Still a little intimidated by the thought of that.

I don’t know why I put myself into this crunch all the time. I guess I just have an issue with motivation. When I first wake up in the morning I’m super tired, and messing around on the computer for an hour or so helps wake me up…which turns into two or three hours on the computer because I get sucked in by the Internet. Damn you, Internet!

I’ll probably get the pattern pieces cut out this evening (or maybe tomorrow morning) after we get back from out Poke-walk. Then I’ll cut the fabric & get to busting my butt this weekend. I think I’ll have to change out the needle on my sewing machine to a heavier-duty needle because I’m sewing pleather. Yeah, man, pleather corset. Hawt. Or something.

Well, I’m off to get ready for work. Gotta make that cosplay money. Oh, and money for bills, I guess. That, too.

To the Bone

Corsetry, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Insomnia, Sewing, Sleep

Finally got the boning in for my corset yesterday. I got all the bones in the channels with no problems, and got the top binding sewn on. My biggest problem? The damn grommets.

Now, according to the directions (and according to several corset making groups I’ve followed on Facebook), the best way to gradually make openings for the grommets is to use an awl–a special leatherworking tool–to open up the space between threads.

I, however, do not own one and did not bother to buy one. I went the long way about it and thus am going to have the cracked and blistered hands to prove it come daylight.

Still, I’m determined to finish this corset. If I’ve gotten far enough to get the boning in, I have to. I wouldn’t be able to rest knowing it wasn’t done (which is probably why I’ve had insomnia all night and have not slept in 23 hours).

I got roughly half of the grommet holes made and the grommets in place, but I can’t set the grommets until it’s later in the morning when people are awake and won’t complain about hammering. I also made one tiny boo-boo where the fabric ripped about half an inch, but I think that once the grommet is set in place it won’t be as bad, and then I can sew it back together. Just need to find thread that matches well.

I hope to be able to post pictures of me wearing the corset soon. I think once I can see how it looks with the hood I made I’ll have a better visualization of how the overall ensemble will look, and it will also give me a better idea of what to do with the skirt. I have the basic design down, but I need to hem it (which I have a plan for) and finish the waist (somehow).

This is the time when I should be going to sleep.

I’m not though. I’ll probably mess around on the computer for a while longer. I’m wired as all get-out & not much will settle me.