[Outfit Post] Midwestria ~ Sweetie Belle

Sadly, this was the only Midwestria outfit of mine that I managed to take snaps of before leaving... yay lack of organization!

For the first day of Midwestria, I decided to do a casual Lolita Sweetie Belle outfit.  No wig though, because the only suitable one I had is a bit too small for my current amount of hair.


Skirt: Metamorphose Temps de Fille
Bolero: Bodyline
Shoes: Bodyline
Apron: Taobao
Hairbow/Neckbow: Chocomint

ACEN 2011 Cosplay - Nana "Hachi" Komatsu [NANA]

The new cosplay I made this year was for Day 2. This was a last-minute inspired duo cosplay that I did with my friend ^_^ We were the two Nana's from Ai Yazawa's "NANA": She was Nana and I was Hachi <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="">
I made the scarf, legwarmers, T-shirt, and skirt part of this cosplay, and I dyed my own hair to make it the right color for Hachi.

Scarf + Legwarmers


I made these out of gray sweatshirt fleece, and then used dot stencils + spray fabric paint to apply the dots. I'll just say that the spray fabric paints I used.... TOTALLY NOT WORTH IT. It would've been faster and less painful to just get normal fabric paint and sponge them on like I normally do. Oh well, they came in the perfect colors.

T-Shirt


I made this out of a plain navy T-shirt from Michael's (I modified the bodice and sleeve length, and the neckline), pink bias binding, some pink crinkle crepe, and acrylic paint. I did not have fabric paint in the right color, so I just went ahead and used acrylic. It'll require washing with care, but oh well. I finally realized why the shirt said "Seven" on it at about midnight the night before... Nana = seven... hahaha... >_>;;

Skirt


My piece de resistance in this outfit... Ruffles... I hate ruffles... I ended up just doing them kind of ghetto to save time. After the bottom-most layer, I didn't bother stitching and properly pulling them... I just gathered randomly by hand, pinned randomly, and then sewed. It actually turned out pretty well, and I don't think any worse than if I had spent a lot of time doing them "correctly". My bottom layer and the rest look about the same... The top layer actually looks better, but that's because I was careful about sewing it straight since nothing would cover it. I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, especially since the pattern-drafting actually went very quickly!! *happy with self* And also... I hate ruffling slightly less now that I know I can do it manually and it turns out fine... only slightly less...

And the whole outfit:


There it is!! I had so much fun on Saturday, between the fashion show and wandering around with friends ^_^

All in all a very successful ACEN!! b(^o^)d

ACEN 2011 Cosplay - Amulet Spade [Shugo Chara]

For Day 1 of Anime Central this year, I decided to pull out my old Amulet Spade cosplay (from AX2009). The new thing that I made for this year was her Baton.

And funny enough, it was made from a pair of disposable chopsticks and lots of jewelry wire, a couple hours in the morning before I left for the convention center XD Given the circumstances, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!!

Here's the baton itself:


And the whole outfit together:


People actually recognized me (more than I expected) and I even got a hug from a super-cute Amu ^_^ The whole day was super fun because it was the first time I wasn't just wandering around ACEN all alone <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="">
(^o^)/ Prism Music~~!!

ACEN 2011 - Photo Digest

Here's just all of the photos I took of awesome cosplays on Saturday ^_^  Not very many, since I'm too shy to ask people for pictures if they look even vaguely busy.  Plus getting my camera in and out of my bag was kind of a pain XD

Was super-happy to spot the Kaibutsu-kun (also, yay fellow JE fan!!!).  Too bad I couldn't make the JE meetup, since it was during the fashion show... Maybe next year ^_^  Also, Gantz cosplays = awesome ^_^  Especially since the blonde dude actually looked kind of like Nino.  Anyways XDD

ACEN 2011 - Day 2

Day 2!!!  Yay for giant horde of linguists wandering around ACEN?  Mike was awesome and snuck them into the on-site registration line without waiting for... like... 3 hours or more, outside, in the heat <3

Anyways, I started the day off by visiting the H.Naoto booth.  In retrospect, it probably would've been smarter to go on Day 1 when the designers were there, and there were fewer people all demanding their attention.  As it was, none of the designers were there, since they were preparing for the fashion show.  I bought an awesomely cute cutsew dress though!  It's the one that was worn by Midori-chan in the recent H.Naoto fashion show in Japan.  Anyways...

They told me to come back later in the day to get a picture with one of the designers ^_^  Also, I got 2 points on their US convention points card.  I appreciated him rounding up since I didn't actually spend $200 XD.  I felt a little bad that I had to make Mike follow me around and watch me be a girl (and even hold my stuff while I tried on the dress XD).

Unfortunately, I had to run to the pre-fashion-show and leave Mike to hang out alone until everyone else finished registering.  The runway was like, an actual runway setup this year (I guess since they had real fashion designers showing this year).  Ahh I wish I was skinnier and prettier and had better photos (ie, a real comp card or portfolio) so I could've had a better chance of getting chosen to be a H.Naoto or Sixh model, because... omg amaaaaaazing.  But anyways, just being in the Lolita segment was fun too! I actually don't remember anything I did on stage (wooh adrenaline), but it was fun anyways ^_^  My feet were killing me though >_< Hopefully pics from that will be up soon!

Immediately afterwards, I did a quick change into my Hachi outfit :-D  And then spent the rest of the wandering around with the rest of the troupe.  I got recognized by one person without seeing Julie (my other Nana) first!!  Yay win <3

I went back to the H.Naoto booth later in the afternoon, and got my picture with IBI (from Sixh)!!!  I wish I knew more Japanese, knew more about Sixh, and that he wasn't busy at the time so I could've actually talked to him T_T  But I still got a picture, and apparently I was in fangirl mode... apparently XD  Ah well :-P

 And then we all went to the linguistics department party, where everyone had a hard time recognizing me.  I guess taking off the glasses and putting on the false eyelashes makes a huge difference XD

All in all, AN AWESOME DAY <3

Also, I managed to snag two Nino pencilboards *__*

I actually bought the yellow one on Friday, and then I came back Saturday and the booth had another Nino one up!!! Of course it was one with him in blue and with a guitar... had to buy!!!!

~(^o^)~ ~(^o^)~ ~(^o^)~ ~(^o^)~ ~(^o^)~ ~(^o^)~

ACEN 2011 - Day 1

So, I skipped class to go to ACEN on Friday ^_^ (It's okay, there probably wasn't much useful in class that day anyways XD).

First of all, the line for on-site registration was crazy long... it probably would back and forth about 4 times in the convention center lobby... They eventually moved it outside, as far as I could tell.  Anyways, thank goodness I already had my badge mailed to me, and Mike had pre-registered so he just needed to pick up his badge.

Most of the day was spent just wandering around the dealer's room and Artist's Alley.  We tried to go to a "Girls Who Like Boys Who Punch Boys" panel, but that was cancelled T_T  We did manage to make it to the "Steampunk Treasure Hunters" panel, which was interesting and informative.  I find steampunk intriguing, but I'm not entirely sure that I'd actually want to really wear it.  I like Lolita, but not really strictly Victorian clothing, and the gadgetry and bronze objects don't really do it for me.  However, I will admire others wearing it all day ^_^  I hope he does actually decide to make a steampunk outfit for next year, because he would look fantastic in it <3  We also went and watched part of the first episode of Evangelion 1.11, and then went to line up for the FLOW concert.

One complaint: When we got there, some IRT dude told us "NO BAGS" so we had to trek all the way to Mike's car, stash our bags, and by the time we got back apparently they decided to change the rule... WTF PEOPLE SERIOUSLY?!  At least the IRT girl at the end of the line was super-cool ^_^

And FLOW concert... UM.... I'm all for supporting local and indie bands in striving to make it, since I'm a musician myself.  However, I still felt like the time allotted for their opener band was waaaay too long, and the band was on the bad side of mediocre.  The horrible sound engineering and acoustics of the room didn't help, I'm sure.  FLOW themselves was awesome, and their English MCs were sooooo cute!!!!  I had to leave early though, because I needed to make it to the fashion show meeting.

Anyways, I didn't have time to finish my Chiaki cosplay (next year, next year T_T) so I just pulled out my Amulet Spade, made a baton the morning of, and went ^_^

Haha Mike was pleasantly surprised at how popular we were (in terms of getting asked for pictures).  I didn't think I'd be recognized so much, but yay ^_^  Also, one girl was adorable (she was dressed as schoolgirl Amu) and came running up and gave me a hug <3  Also... people had some interesting reactions to Mike's character (he was Aizen from Bleach).  He was super-cute with his wig and glasses though ^_^

Black Highwaisted Corset Skirt

As promised, my most recently completed sewing project is a highwaisted corset skirt. I needed a plain black skirt in my wardrobe (all my other black skirts have either screenprints or embroidery on them), and felt like it wasn't really necessary to shell out >$100 for a brand version of such a plain skirt. Even Taobao seemed too expensive, what with the $30 shipping fee from China >_>;; So anyways, I decided this would be a good place to employ my own sewing skills.

The design of the skirt is pretty simple, just a rectangle skirt with bottom ruffle and high waist featuring ribbon corseting in the back. The waist is reinforced with interfacing, no boning (so this doesn't actually do any corseting, nor would I want it to ^_^;;).

Anyways, onto the pictures...

The Skirt!!!




Modeled by MOI



It's paired with a white blouse that I already had.

And with my maid apron over it, this outfit served as my secondary uniform!


Lesson learned from this project: Don't forget the zipper!!!! This was the first time I made anything that required an opening in order to get on. The one-pieces I made before just took advantage of shirring, and while they were difficult to put on, it was possible. This really required an opening, but I forgot to plan it in. I tried putting it on with just the shirring... close but no cigar... T_T So I just cut a slit down the side and inserted an invisible zipper there. It had to be sewn in by hand (I don't have a zipper foot for my machine), plus since it wasn't planned, the slit had a raw edge that couldn't be hemmed. I applied Fray Check to it, and it seems to be holding up just fine (I wore it all Sunday at Mechacon and danced and everything in it), but in the future... I WILL REMEMBER TO PLAN IN THE ZIPPER!!!!!

Overall, quite pleased, despite the zippertastrophe. It looks nice, and will be quite serviceable as the plain black skirt in my wardrobe!!

Maid Outfit

I was recently accepted as a member of a maid cafe, and I created this look for my character!

The entire outfit took about a week or so of on-and-off sewing to complete, and consists of a white ruffled underskirt, a black overdress featuring a scalloped hem layer and a sweetheart neckline, and a half-apron with a ruffled hem. Additionally, the traditional maid ruffle katyusha is trimmed with blue rickrack (because I am a member of the blue team), and coordinates with a matchingly trimmed ribbon choker. I did not take progress photos of this project, as it is actually quite similar to the construction of the Miwako cosplay dress (I used the same pattern with some sleeve and skirt length modifications for the overdress).

But onto the pictures!!

White ruffled underskirt:


Black overdress:


Scalloped hem with over a straight underlayer:


Sweetheart neckline (made by ruching):


Apron:


Katyusha and choker:


And of course, the dress modeled by me!!



The design of the underskirt/overdress combination was to have a cutaway style. Originally I planned to have just the scalloped hem, but with the apron, the lower half of the outfit just seem overly dominated by white in the front view, so I added the straight layer of black to lengthen the overdress a little bit. However it is only tacked on, and can be taken off or folded up when I want to wear the dress as not a maid outfit, since I designed it such that I could be comfortable wearing it as a normal Lolita dress.

The rest of the outfit is completed by black/white dotted stockings (with a white satin bow at the top, but it's hard to see), a long curly wig from Gabalnara, which I love. I'm not wearing makeup or my gray contacts in these photos, since I'm waiting for the contacts to arrive. The shoes are also just stand-ins, but similar to what I will be wearing.

The bodice is still somewhat loose on me, although I did try to use darts to shape the waist. I'm considering adding a crisscross of black elastic across the back to make sure the sleeves stay up during dancing. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the construction of this dress, although I've learned that I should make the side seams of my bodices straight, and not try to do any shaping through the side seams, since that just makes for some weird puffiness at the sides. Lesson learned. Also, my machine requires the needle to be inserted with the flat side FACING AWAY from me... I unnecessarily broke so many needles because I had somehow reversed it in my memory >_<

And even more pictures of me being silly!

ACEN 2010 Cosplay - Miwako Sakurada [Paradise Kiss]

I decided to cosplay one of my all-time favorite manga/anime characters - Miwako Sakurada from Paradise Kiss *o* Not only is this series among my top two favorite series, this character is herself one that I especially like and feel like I can identify with.

Since it's my first full dress, I decided to go with one of her simpler looking outfits that doesn't require special printed fabrics. I also chose a very Lolita styled dress so that I could make good use of the tutorials floating around the Lolita sewing community on Livejournal, plus maybe be able to actually wear the dress for something other than my cosplay! Hence, I went with this outfit:


I couldn't find any actual colored reference pics, but based on previous cosplayers, the consensus seems to be that the dress is pink with a white apron on top, and then white socks and shoes. So that's what I went with as well. I needed a matching thing-carrying device as well, and Miwako conveniently has an adorable Happy Berry backpack to go with this outfit!

So there were four main parts of this cosplay that I had to do: dress, apron, wig and backpack!

Scallop-Edged Dress

This was quite a big project, since it's the first full dress I've ever made! I had to draft patterns for bodice and sleeves, as well as a skirt with a scalloped hemline. For the bodice and sleeves, I used this awesomely helpful tutorial from the Livejournal sew_loli community.

I decided to do a fully lined bodice, so I basically had to make 2 bodices (inner and outer layers shown):


And then sewed them together in the final assembly (front and back - with elastic channels):


The skirt was also fully lined (with polyester lining) and has 2 pockets. Just the outer layer (before lining was attached) is shown:


And the final assembled product?


Yaaaaaaaaay! Okay, so I had to dart in the waist because my waist is noooot as big as my bust, so next time I should just draft the darts into the pattern instead of doing them ad hoc. Also, I should've been more careful with the skirt gathering, because it's actually slightly skewed offcenter relative to the bodice, but oh well... Now I know.

Apron

The apron was pretty easy to draft. I basically just made a rectangle for the upper part, and a circle skirt (with a cutout in the back) for the lower part. Waist ties are attached at the waist and neckties run through the top of the upper part (to make the gathers).

Tadaa!!


This one also wasn't perfect. I should've used more like a trapezoid or something, because it tended to hitch up in the side/back and droop in the front. I fixed this on the fly by just safety pinning the top edge of the apron to the dress so it wouldn't droop anymore. Oh, and the neckties needed to be longer.

Wig

I started off with an "Innocent" wig in pink from Amphigory:


I took out the original ribbons + rubber bands and redid the ponytails a little higher with matching pink baubles:


And then proceeded to make a partial bun twist with each pony, and pin the remaining dangling curls into place over the bun part.


I'm actually really please with this! Yay for successful first wig styling!! Not that it was complicated, but, still...

Happy Berry Backpack

Aaaaand the part I'm most proud of... my backpack!! It's fully functional, with a drawstring closure and a hook to keep the top flap down (I'm going to switch it to something better soon), and is lined with silky pink lining on the inside! The green part is actually a removeable pin, if I ever wanted to remove it, and the wings are stuffed so they're actually 3D!

After full assembly with outer and lining, but before wing-stuffing and drawstring (front and back):


Ugly grommets are ugly, but hey, I did it! It was kind of a pain putting them in by hand, but it actually worked pretty well, and they seem sturdy enough.


Green thingy pin:


Made of 3 layers of green felt (top layer is lighter green than the bottom 2), and the spiral is yellow paint.

The adjustment buckle on the strap is made from Shrinky Dink (painted pink):


Aaaand the final product:



I am very very completely pleased about this backpack, and it was plenty roomy to carry water bottle, program book, snacks, 20 calling card goody bags, camera, makeup, and more!

Pics of it all worn!




I need to learn how to put on wigs better to hide my stupid sideburns, but other than that I'm pretty pleased since it's only me second time cosplaying!!