Tag: #cosplaylife

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.

12321199_1009152772510235_307824701682353622_n12049705_1009152789176900_8440679904847914902_n

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.

603676_1002442953181217_5846487653560313259_n10398652_1002442963181216_3807254064163261865_n

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!

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!

Can’t Con-tain My Excitement

Celebrity, Convention, Cosplay, Fandom, Geek

It’s a little more than 3 months until Phoenix Comicon, our cosplays are almost done, and I’m getting increasingly excited about this year’s con.

I want to enter a cosplay contest, if possible. I may not win, but it’ll be great to take part and be able to say that I broke through some of my social anxiety to attempt such a thing. I also can’t wait to meet some of the con/cosplay friends I’ve made through my Cosplay Closet Essentials interviews for Talk Nerdy With Us and through the Blue Ribbon Army group on Facebook. (Don’t know about BRA? Check out my post on Talk Nerdy With Us!) And, of course, there’s at least one celebrity that I have to get a photo op with!

Also exciting? This will be my first year attending as a media member! Talk Nerdy With Us has given me so many opportunities, and this one is by far the best. I may be able to interview some great guests of the con, and it will be awesome to do a special Phoenix Comicon edition of Cosplay Closet Essentials. I’ll also get to meet one of my Talk Nerdy With Us coworkers.

In addition to Phoenix Comicon, I’ll also be attending Dragon Con in Atlanta this year (not as media, but it will still be awesome). I’ll get to see my BFF in Alabama on the way (can you say “road trip”?), and we’ll get to spend some time together at the con. I’ll also be able to meet more of the Talk Nerdy With Us team, as many of them are considering going to Dragon Con. TNWU con party!

I’ve gone from having near-crippling social anxiety to trying to gain as much attention as possible by dressing to the nines with cosplays that I have created and wearing an official BRA lanyard to identify myself to other BRA members and possibly make new friends.

Cons are amazing things, and I can’t wait for Phxcc!

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.

image

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! 

Cosplay for all

Convention, Cosplay, Diversity, Fandom, Geek, Social Media

I’ve noticed a slight bad pattern to my cosplay interviews for Talk Nerdy With Us. They’ve almost all been women!

Men are cosplayers just as much as women are. My solution? To the Interwebs! (Or rather, to a Facebook page for male cosplayers.) So far I have three new interviews lined up that feature male cosplayers. I’m hoping that this leads to more diverse interviews and features.

I’ve had women of color and plus-size women (neither of which seem to be prominently featured in the media, though they absolutely should be), but not many men at all. I hope to remedy this in the future, as well as seek out cosplayers of all types. I don’t want only hot women for my interviews. Yeah, they may get more views for the site, but that’s not what these segments are about. They’re about featuring cosplayers who love what they do and helping new cosplayers learn a little something about what you might need to make your own cosplays.

It’s not about equal opportunity or token races/genders. It’s about showing the diversity that’s in the cosplay world. Diversity: it’s not just for the Oscars.

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.

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!

Resolutions revisited

Art, Cosplay, Crafting, Drawing, Exercise, Fitness, Novel, Self Publishing, Writing

image

It’s coming to the end of the year, and as I look at my resolution list I’m both proud and disappointed.

I not only completed the first draft of my novel; I published it as well. I exercised more (not much more, but more than last year). I published a few short stories and flash fiction stories. I sold a few art pieces. And I did more cosplay.

Some of the other resolutions, however, were less than successful.

I gained more weight than I wanted to lose. I didn’t get the tattoo that I wanted, but that’s a trivial thing. And thus far, my marketing sucks.

I’ll try for more realistic goals next year. Perhaps another rough draft? Developing an exercise routine? Who knows. I have a couple of weeks to figure it out.