I am sitting here nervous because I entered the Craftsmanship contest at Connecticon in July. I've been cosplaying for 12+ years and this is the first time I've competed at all...I've been in 2 masquerades, in one I was a Generic Skit Extra and the other I was accompanying my friend, because it was a tiny con and they didn't have enough entrants. So. BIG DEAL for me. hoo. I'll be entering this costume (Norah from Child of Light) and I'm also REALLY EXCITED because I covered it in beads and lace. it was fun. This is my cosplay tag on my tumblr.
i started cosplaying again after i moved to berlin (seriously tho best decision y/y), and started small homestuck is rly great for that ::D so i started collecting stuff for a vanilla vriska outfit (and then the wig didn't arrive in time) http://whimsicalobservant.tumblr.com/post/48603230958 <-- at hannover spielt 2013 http://whimsicalobservant.tumblr.com/post/113950350347 <-- at lbm 2015 i'm like, really proud of the arm - at that point i was basically flailing around and trying to make it work. the things are cardboard with tinfoil glued on, which i painted over with black acrylic paint, and then attached the whole thing to an armsock with velcro. luckily i had made a different one in case doesn't arrive in time, so i went as Rogue of Breath instead. the nights i spent sewing this thing xxD http://whimsicalobservant.tumblr.com/post/78795516177 <-- progress/frustration pic. fucking stretchy fabric. http://whimsicalobservant.tumblr.com/post/79884657847 <-- lbm 2014 pics. the hoodie goes down to my knees ::D that one also had two armsocks, but i lost one ::( and, it occurs to me, i really need a mask. hmmmmm. this one was actually the second easiest / low effort, but also the second one i made myself. mostly just, measure fabric, fold, cut, sew. next was Darkrai for animaco, buuuut there are no pics of that. for reasons. i plan on wearing that one again, but i need the necklace modded first. i love that cosplay so much omg, and ffff so much sewing. @IvyLB has the partner cosplay (cresselia) for that. http://whimsicalobservant.tumblr.com/post/100524231782 <-- progress shot the coat pattern is copied from my face black longcoat, and then fitted on the fly, the skirt is two square skirts layered above each other. i think i need an underskirt for this cosplay and i really need to mod the shoulders. hrm. lbm 2015 had two new cosplays: giratina and rhyme. giratina was a hassle, lemme tell you. i originally wanted to start off with a bodysuit, but nope, i couldnt get one in an acceptable shade of grey that wasn't way outside my budget. so i improvised with leggings and a grey turtleneck. sewing the yellow ribs on was such a hassle, damn. because they kept shifting upwards and i had to stuff them and ffff and i had to go the simpler route of holding the wings up for pics, because i didn't have enough time to install a mechanism that wouldve allowed my to keep the wings up and my hands free. and goddamn the helmet made me bang my head on the wall SO. MUCH. i'm still not happy with it. i suspect the problem is less me and more that giratina's head shape does not translate well to human proportions. http://whimsicalobservant.tumblr.com/post/113950519862 i need to fuck with the wing interior a bit more, i fear. gotta stabilize that outer part a bit more. duct tape is not sufficient. (the interior of the wings: 2 1/2 lantern sticks duct-taped together on each side) the only full-body shots of rhyme i've got have the rest of our cosplay group in them, so i'm kinda hesitant about posting them online?? because except Ivy and me they're all minors. hm, maybe i can crop them a bit.... the pins for that group were fun. like, i order the materials, Ivy has the button machine, and I make some pictures. drop by ives. and then have to redo the designs because i made them too small. .._.."
Did I never send you the pics from my cam of that animaco? i am confuzzled maybe tomorrow I'll send you a file thing then you can look through it cuz we TOTES HAVE ridiculous shippy pics of cresselia and darkrai
Hello yes I like cosplay. Like, a lot. I will not talk about specific cosplays atm because I tend to cosplay rare characters, which are hellaciously googlable and I'm paranoid about that kind of thing. But you can ask me about more general things, if you like.
I have sensory problems with satin and sateen materials. This makes costuming a great variety of characters very difficult. I've been able to fudge in many places, and just run it through my sewing machine really quickly where fudging is impossible, so so far it hasn't been an insurmountable problem. (The only place I haven't been able to avoid it so far is in creating the skirt for a high-class steampunk costume that really needed to be something with sheen. It was... difficult. I may give up and just commission someone else next time.)
I honestly don't think satin or sateen look all that good outside of evening wear and even then I am a horrible snob and won't actually use anything but silk, whoops. My personal nemesis is usually my wallet plus ambition. Dang do I love linen but it can be really expensive when it comes to the nice tough-but-soft kind that looks kinda washed out? also wow grab tables for left-over fabric pieces are bad for my wallet 'I DON'T KNOW WHAT I BUY THIS FOR BUT I WANT IT' is like the unofficial subtitle to all my shopping endeavors ever "OTL
My biggest issues with satin are usually using it outside of evening wear for no real reason and if its like cheap, thin, crinkly satin that has this kind of plasticky sheen to it which is mostly because I actually am probably super lucky with how cheaply I can get quality fabrics (with an open air market with hella deals on sweet fabric coming through our town/the neighboring one like three-four times a year) so I'm terribly spoiled lol But yeah. Silk! Especially raw silk! Such a nice texture and great temperature regulation abilities! I'm mostly into figuring out distressed looking grungy fabrics made from natural materials for LARP atm so lotsa linen and cotton in my last haul as well as random but gloriously garish blue-gold-leather (I swear I actually have a plan for that) I do kinda dream to make at least the tunic for Lucina (FE:Awakening) from actual silk because i wanna treat myself lol. Kinda same with Henry's (same game) stuff for my little brother since I may inherit that entire cosplay anyways when he inevitably outgrows it. Also @whimsicalobservant do you see the partner Celebi-Gijinka cosplays more in like a raw silk + linen or chiffon poof kinda aesthetic? I am feeling the more mori-kei aesthetic with silk and distressed linen rn but if you think a more fluffy disney-fairy-look would be better eventually idk...? (I mean we haven't even planned or scheduled that one really lol)
@IvyLB hell if I know. Dunno if I can deal with chiffon, tho? Sensory issues re: polyester fabrics and all that.... ::/ It'd depend on the design and cut, I think. i mean, celebi is a wood fairy, so rougher materials as a base combined with floatier ones on top would be the way to go? holy fuck, i absolutely love linen, it's so nice. canvas is close second, but difficult to sew by hand. (.... i still haven't managed to get my sewing machine running, so every costume i talked about up there is either hand-sewn, and/or with bought parts). and then there's brocade and wild silk -drools- fleece is really, really nice because you don't have to hem it. i can't touch most synthetic fibres, although stuff with low stretchy percentages can be fine (there are 5% lycra 95% cotton mixes i can wear, and there are some i an't even touch). taffeta is the devil. as are satin and most velvets. and hand-sewing stretchy fabrics or organza is just blrgh. but you can't really machine-sew them either
looks super interesting but i am mildly afraid the shipping costs would kill my budget twice over because it's US based as far as I can tell and I'm sitting over here in Europe so I obviously prefer local fabric buying opportunities :D ehh most floaty fabrics are synthetic. There is always silk chiffon which is how they traditionally made chiffon before synthetic fibers were invented, but i cannot honestly tell the difference since it's woven the exact same way and it could be the grainy texture that could be bothering you? Also silk chiffon is probably REALLY expensive. Honestly at least for the Dark!Celebi look I'd almost stick exclusively to wild silk + linen for this kind of soft 'lost in the woods' look. (I really like Dark Mori okay) I'm kinda thinking stuff like this as aesthetic guidelines: http://burtoo.tumblr.com/post/72728244329 http://birchwoodfables.tumblr.com/post/101463976107/pumpkins-happy-halloween http://brujadelbosque.tumblr.com/post/106354242360 http://mori-witch.tumblr.com/post/100312123626/i-love-rawrags-http-www-rawrags-dk-180812456 http://anya-aesthetics.tumblr.com/post/118951818500/im-spending-a-short-while-in-the-summer-house http://mori-witch.tumblr.com/post/101803822401/http-www-pinterest-com-spiderknit-clothing-i-want http://niiv.tumblr.com/post/119193921983/travelling-damsel-another-ootd-d-ive-been-really (this one has autoplay sorry) Like if we stick to floaty lace overlays over linen and maybe wild silk and do this faery witch aesthetic thing in dar greens and greys for Dark Celebi and light greens and creams for regular Celebi, would it get read as Gijinkas? If it's literally the same cut and obviously the cut would be mimicking Celebi's Sillhouette kinda... (Romper + cardigan/coat + scarf(/scarves)???)
YAY cosplay thread. Current projects: Kalos Pokedex dress--I already made it once, and completely screwed it up, so I took note of all that I did wrong and remaking it. I just finished making a petticoat for it. Garnet's bodysuit--I've cosplayed Garnet before, but it was a "casual" outfit that was modified to look like her bodysuit and I figured I should just go all the way I just had an idea about making a pair of no-glue prosthetic ears as part of a fantasy OC cosplay, so I'm working on designs for that.
Oh yeah, no problem! *^_^* I love making tutorials. (Ahaha I was going to insert something from what I thought was an ordinary selection of smileys--the emotes here are hilarious)
Here's the pics from Connecticon of me looking hella tired ;D I didn't win anything, but then again this was my first real competition and they moved me up to Master's Division b/c I said I had been cosplaying for 12+ years. Was beaten out by a Jareth with 10x more sparkly beads, so I'm ok with that. I had fun wearing it regardless, especially since it was way more bearable in the heat than my other costumes. Spoiler: Norah!
So guess who finished her Melody (Gravity Falls) cosplay? IT ME!!! Wig's not quite the right shade, but I'm still happy with it!
