Category: Cosplay

Mission accomplished!

Charity, Convention, Cosplay, Reading

Well, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to, but somehow I did it. I finished the cosplays in time for Phoenix Comicon!

Okay…so technically I’m not 100% finished…but I know how I’m going to finish the last little bit, which is an improvement over being completely clueless as I was last week. And the weeks before.

My list of things to complete is dwindling to the point where I have three very minor things left to do. A couple snaps here, a strap there, and boom! Cosplays done. So what’s a girl to do next?

That’s a simple answer: More cosplay! I’ve already mentioned that I’ve chosen my next cosplay (Magik from the X-Men), and since my husband picked our last cosplay theme he’s going along with it and picked another X-universe character that he liked the look of.

This time I’ll have about two to three months to finish, as opposed to the one month I had to get the Naruto cosplays done. There’s more than just sewing involved, though–this time, we’ve got some fabrication (prop-building) to do. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to attend some panels at Phoenix Comicon that will give us some idea of where we’re going as far as that goes. Sure, we made the prop gourd for my husband’s Gaara cosplay, but that had a YouTube video tutorial that was fairly easy to follow. With the characters we’re working on, there’s less on the Internet to find to work with. I found a couple of step-by-step pictorial instructions for my sword prop, but nothing video. Still, it’s better than no tutorials at all.

Since I have a week and a half left til Phoenix Comicon, I’m going to try to read the book I have to review for Talk Nerdy With Us. I’ve gotten about six pages in, but the grammar and punctuation are kind of terrible. I understand that it may just be a small publisher and maybe they just don’t have the editorial resources that some bigger publishers have, but c’mon. I self-published my book and had fewer errors. The sentence structure so far is very bland and repetitive. Subject-verb-object, subject-verb-object, subject-verb-object. Doesn’t exactly make for a thrilling read. But I’m only six pages in, so maybe it gets better. Gotta give it a chance.

I also have critiques to do for the charity anthology. I’ve fallen woefully behind on those (due to the cosplay crunch), so I have to try to get up to speed on those.

A week and a half may not seem like much time…but a month didn’t seem like enough time for those cosplays, so I think I can do it. I think so.

Magik Motivation?

Convention, Cosplay, Diversity, Exercise, Fitness, Musings

Okay. So I’m a big supporter of cosplayers of all shapes and sizes being able to cosplay whatever they want. So, theoretically, I shouldn’t have a problem cosplaying whatever I want.

Except I want to cosplay this:

image

Even if I was skinny again, I wouldn’t want to do the crop top and hot pants. I plan on using a corset and regular pants and sticking to the rest of the design as best as I’m able.

But I do want to be thinner than I am now to do this cosplay in September. So the question is: Do I try to lose weight just for a cosplay when I’m constantly telling people they shouldn’t worry about what size they are when choosing to cosplay? I feel like something of a hypocrite.

I still believe that fans should be able to cosplay whatever their hearts desire. And my fan heart wants to cosplay this character. I just don’t know if I can lose the weight. Or any of it.

Every time I’ve tried in the last couple of years, I’ve failed miserably. In fact, I seem to keep creeping up there even when I try to do right. I lose hope when I make no progress, and I eat worse because I have given up hope. It doesn’t help matters that I’m too exhausted to exercise when I get home from work. Oh, and there’s the whole cosplay thing. I’ve still got stuff to finish for Phoenix Comicon (less than two weeks!)…

I think that, despite my espousing of the importance of positive self-image in the cosplay community, I’m going to try to lose at least some of the weight that I’ve put on. Try being the operative word.

Maybe all I need to motivate myself is a little Magik.

Invested in Cosplay

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Sewing

I’m almost done with Gaara’s vest for my husband’s cosplay! It only took me a day, which blows my mind because I had no pattern, no instructions, no real plan other than to make a rough mockup out of two pieces of fabric, cut a crapton of the actual fabric I was going to use, and pray.

This is the vest I was trying to recreate:

Garaa1

Not too bad, but I still didn’t really know what I was doing. I also had to make a hidden pocket for it, which I will tell you is no easy feat for a novice.

Here’s the almost-finished product:

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With this being the biggest piece left to do before Phoenix Comicon, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Small things here and there I can do. The notion of two cosplays from scratch was intimidating a month ago when my husband decided that I’d have plenty of time to finish them before Phoenix Comicon (June 2). I didn’t think I could do it, especially considering I would be making my first coat, but I am so close to the end and it feels amazing.

Con artist

#nerd, Anime, Art, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Geek, Sewing

Ha! What a pun!

No, seriously. I may not be the world’s best artist. I may not even be a good artist. And I’m certainly not a featured artist of the con. But I am an artist. And I’m going to the con. So…yeah.

The cosplays are going so well that I can hardly wait for Phoenix Comicon. I mean, there is still a lot of stuff to get done. Mostly little stuff, thanks to my early morning insomniac sewing, but still a lot to get done.

The parts that are finished are looking quite nice, and I have to admit I’m egotistically proud of myself for doing so well, especially on my husband’s cosplay pieces so far. (I’m not particularly proud of the skirt I made for my Jedi TARDIS, but it’s finished now and it would take too much effort to remake the whole thing. Again.)

I don’t have any pictures of his Naruto cosplay–yet–but I have a selfie of me wearing my Temari kimono and headband. At 3am. In the dark. Still, it’s a cute photo, so I’m going to show it off here, along with hubby’s completed Sith Time Lord cosplay (missing just a couple red leather straps that are due to arrive *fingers crossed* hopefully by the end of the month):

As you can see in the bottom left corner of the picture of the front of hubby’s Sith Time Lord, our cat Rory likes to photobomb our cosplay pics. I have several examples of this. Seriously, cat, we’re just standing around in funny clothes taking pictures of each other. Relax. It’s nothing interesting.

We also *may* get my Temari fighting fan cosplay prop before Phoenix Comicon. Hubby ordered it last night, but we don’t know for sure if it will arrive before the con.

My plans for the evening? More artsy-craftsy cosplay art for our annual con. 🙂

Tick-tock, Tick-tock

Cosplay, Crafting, Poetry, Sewing, Time

Tick-tock, tick-tock

The hands go round and round

The more cycles that the hands complete

Her nervousness abounds

Tick-tock, tick-tock

So much work left to be done

There’s snips and clips and lengthened tails

Will she finish by the strike of one?

Tick-tock, tick-tock

The list, it ever grows

The more that’s done, the more’s to do

Will she finish? No one knows

Crunch time

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

It’s now exactly 3 weeks until Phoenix Comicon, and I’m still not done with all the cosplay stuff I need to do–in fact, my list is growing every day!

I have to:

  • finish my husband’s Gaara coat
  • work with my husband to make our Sand Village shoes
  • make the Gaara vest (and put a pocket inside it for keys/phone/wallet)
  • make the Gaara belt and leg strap thingies
  • paint Gaara’s symbols on the gourd
  • make a belt for my Jedi TARDIS cosplay so I have a place for my lightsaber
  • add belt loops to the bag I made for my husband’s Sith Time Lord cosplay (so he has a place for his keys/wallet/phone)
  • add a snap on his tunic so it stays flat in front
  • maybe make another couple of straps for my Temari obi

I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting, but those are the major things. So yeah, 3 weeks for that, and I work a lot in those 3 weeks.

I think I can do it. I’m telling myself I can do it. I just need to buckle down & bust my butt. Once I get the Gaara coat and vest done and the Sand Village shoes for our Naruto cosplays, that should be the majority of the sewing stuff. So beyond that it’s little stuff. The painting shouldn’t take too long…the symbols are simple enough, just need to sit down & paint them. That’ll be, what, an hour or so? So yeah, not too bad.

The worst part will probably be making the vest for the Gaara cosplay, because I have no pattern for it. I have to 100% make it up from scratch. And I’m no Project Runway contestant.

I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. (If I make this my mantra, maybe the positive thinking will make it true lol)

Oh…and think up interview questions for any interviews I get with the con guests.

I can do it. I can do it. I can do it……

Stressing over nothing?

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Sewing

Yesterday, I spent Mother’s Day worrying about the coat for my husband’s cosplay. I was frantically cutting, pinning, and sewing in the hopes that I could finish it before Phoenix Comicon. Before I sewed the first seam I got so frustrated that I started bawling. My first pre-con freakout of the year.

As I started putting pieces together, though, I noticed that it really wasn’t as bad as my mind made it out to be. Sure, there are a lot of pieces. There’s a lot of technical stuff I have to do that I’m not accustomed to doing. It’s my first freaking coat. Still, the instructions are (thus far) easy enough to understand, and I have the aid of a friend who has made the pattern before.

Now that the top outer layer is getting closer to done after only a day of work–most of it spent pinning and cutting–I’m more confident that I can pull this off. There are a little over three weeks until Phoenix Comicon and I have a couple of half days and an off day in between where I can work on it during the week (and not just first thing in the morning before I have to get ready for work).

I just hope it fits.

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.