Cosplay Shenanigans: The one week Elven dress

Did I mention I'm going to Hobbiton? Because I am. With Courty of Kayoss Cosplay.

Hobbiton held a competition at Auckland Armageddon Expo where the best photo of you in front of the Hobbiton door won you a double pass to visit, and we won! Courty posted the entry though, so she gets extra credit.

Naturally we had to make a costume - this time, Elven garb. I don't think I've sewn a full-length gown before, but no time like the present!

Only problem is that I only have a week to make it. Eep! The three day weekend lent a lot of time to sew, and I got way more done than I thought. I finished the toile on Friday, had Saturday off to go to the beach, then made the majority of the final garment on Sunday.

I also found the most amazing printed cotton to use. Not very elvish in composition, but it was on sale!

There's a pattern sewn in to the weave or part of the print that has a metallic sheen, so the sunlight dances off it when you get the right angle. Siiiiigh! Once again, Smart Dress Fabrics wins the prize for the most well-rounded and fairly priced collection.

Here's the dress as it stands today. This is also my craft supply corner. I think I need a second room.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to work on Jane at all! There's still a fair amount of time, but I've got a lot of leather work to do. No pressure, ha, ha...

Cosplay Shenanigans: The great expanding foam failure of 2015

I was pretty stoked on Thursday when I finished a few evenings' worth of work making the bustle in one day. My productive streak ended there, though; I forgot I had a dinner on Friday night, so that was written off. Then on Saturday we had a hike on Mt Rangitoto which wrote that day off as well.

So that left Sunday, a whole day!

Only I don't think I started work on anything until about 3pm...

I started on the spear for Jane - it's the tip of Tarzan's spear from when he was fighting the leopard.

I started by cutting the template from card

Then placing a wooden pole into the gap

Then hot glued it all together.

At this point I was getting excited - I could finally use the expanding foam I bought a while ago!

I brushed up on the technique by watching Kamui's video tutorial.

However, while my boyfriend and I were spraying one side, we could feel the nozzle beginning to block up, and realised we only had one shot at this.

The only problem was that the foam wasn't sticking to the cardboard in its non-expanded state - it was too slippery on the wax cardboard. So when we held the prop vertically to get the other side, it all started plopping off onto the tray we had out.

And then the can ran out.

My advice for next time? If you have to use expanding foam, buy two small cans, and be sure to do one side at a time like the tutorial says.

Next time, I'm going to try and find the foam that you mix two parts together to activate - that way you don't have to worry about the nozzle blocking up while you wait for one side of the thing to set.

On a better note, I bought a little fibreglass starter kit! I'm going to hopefully use this with my Witch King helm, which I'll start after Hamilton Armageddon.

Cosplay Shenanigans - 2am sewing, picnics, and planning

In order to encourage me to post more as well as keep you all up to date with any cosplay related things, I'm introducing a new weekly post - Cosplay Shenanigans! Basically just a summary of anything cosplay related that happened through the week, such as progress, events, or news in the wider community. A lot of stuff you'll already find on my Facebook page or my Tumblr.

Last minute sewing

No matter how much time you give yourself to prepare your cosplay, it appears that you'll inevitably be found frantically sewing in the wee hours before an event.

I think I gave myself a month to sew Korra (book 4), yet I was attaching buttons and hot gluing things together the night before the event (Auckland Cosplay Picnic).

3D printed button and cording for the thread

If I hadn't slacked off the previous weeks, I wouldn't be gently crying over my sewing supplies while wishing I could just put my head down and sleep. Lesson learnt (yeah, right).

Cosplay in a park

So what was all the rush about? So I could dress up and run around in public, of course!

I hadn't been to one of the Auckland Cosplay Picnics before, so wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out it had a similar vibe to a convention, except almost everyone was cosplaying, it was far more relaxed, and there were no lines for food!

I caught up with a lot of the people I met at Auckgeddon, hung out with a some great friends, and met some new ones!

I was also privileged to have a casual photoshoot with a cosplayer/photographer I met, Hannah (BB's Cosplay & Photography). I'm amazed someone can take such fantastic looking photos while everyone is running around like mad. It was also my first photoshoot, but I didn't feel stressed - it was so fun! I can't wait to see the end result, but for now here's a preview!

Image credit: BB's Cosplay & Photography

I'M SO PUMPED

Also I just realised I parted the fringe to the wrong side. Shameful, haha.

And I absolutely have to show you this most amazing gift Sparky made for me.

She made it herself! I think I died a little. And by a little, I mean a lot. So many feels!! What a talented lady!!

Future cosplays and planning

One of my next major cosplays is going to be Post Apocalyptic Jane Porter, which will debut at Hamilton along with a lovely group of other Post Apocalyptic Disney guys and gals.

I don't have much time each day to make it, so I had to do some forward planning.

I'm using Google Tasks, the predecessor to Google Keep. I like it because it gives you a nice overview on your calendar.

First I added all the major components, then spread them out across the remaining weeks. After that I broke each component down into manageable tasks that I can tick off as I go. There's a lot to do, but if I stick to this schedule I shouldn't get too stressed about it.

Progress

I've done a little bit of work on Jane this week - just a part of the underskirt. I can't wait to rip it up and weather it!

It's been a busy week, and next week should be just as busy, which means I'll have a lot of content for next weeks Cosplay Shenanigans post!

Korra Book 4 Cosplay write-up

The January Auckland Cosplay Picnic gave a good incentive to finish my second cosplay - once again, Korra. But this time from Book 4, in her Earth Kingdom garb. Turned out to be perfect for a picnic!

I started with the pants, as they were very similar to her season 1 outfit.

The cuffs were cut and sewn separately, then sewn into the pants. I put elastic in them it keep them taut. The ties were made much later.

Next up, the backpack! This was a pretty fun part. I learned how to make (and sew) piping, and used sew-in interfacing for the first time. I prefer iron on, though.

The tutorial I used was this one, minus a few bits and pieces.

Sewing the interfacing in

Sewing the piping! This fabric is from the dress I'm using for Post Apocalyptic Jane

Sewing it together

The outside complete

Added some lining from some fat quarters I had lying around

Strap sewn in, flap sewn on, and an elastic closure added

I then started work on the top. This time I used what I learned from a draping panel at Armageddon, and it came out pretty well!

The darker green was very hard to find. I wanted to use a natural fibre, but there was only polyester!

The detailing is sewn together

And the complete tunic

At this point I think the picnic was only a week away, and I started panicking a wee bit. My wig hadn't arrived, and I didn't want to cut my hair. I had kind of started the shoes, but still had a number of small things to finish off. I dug my heels in and got back to work!

I pulled apart these old, worn shoes to make the template

The outers are done!

As well as the insole - cardboard with craft foam, then fabric sewn onto it

After a lot of hot glue, the end result

My wig arrived with plenty of time to spare - I'm very pleased with the quality! It needs a bit of styling, but would do for the picnic.

The night before the picnic, I made the belt and attached the button to the backpack. Oh wait, what button? I don't have a big yellow button!

3D printer to the rescue! In half an hour, I had a perfect yellow button, which I attached with leftover piping I turned through.

And here's the end result!

Photo by Pixiscene Cosmedia

Upcoming cosplays

So after Auckland Armageddon Expo 2014 I caught the cosplay fever bad. I already had a couple of characters I wanted to cosplay (Korra, season 4, for example) but that list has increased exponentially.

Seeing that Armageddon only has three days, I've decided to go to both Hamilton and Wellington (Comic Con). That way I can make more cosplay!

So first on the list: Korra, Season 4.

I adore her outfit. It's comfortable, distinctive, and comes with a backpack! This is pretty much the ideal con-going cosplay. I'll be able to traverse the halls, and anything I buy will go in the backpack.

So far I've sewn the trousers. I used the same pattern as for Korra Season 1, but made them a bit shorter and attached some elasticated cuffs. I still need to make the little ties.

Next up is a cosplay I wasn't expecting to do. A couple of gals from CosplayNZ Facebook group came up with the great idea to form a cosplay group based on Tess Fowler's Post Apocalyptic Disney Princesses.

Initially I kind of wanted to do Snow White, but she got snapped up pretty quickly. None of the other princesses really appealed, as I feel like I should cosplay a character I connect with.

So I chose to make one up!

I decided on Jane from Tarzan (she's a princess of the jungle, okay?).

I incorporated as much Tarzan style as I could, while keeping with a post-apocalyptic theme. It's pretty hard!

In terms of progress, I've bought a lot of the materials. Mostly thrift store items that I plan to rip up!

Fangs made from Super Sculpey!

Weathered leather using sandpaper and a dremel

My crafts collection has grown a lot with this Jane cosplay, as she has so many random bits and pieces (I have no one to blame but myself).

And then there is the Witch King. I really want to do well on this one. Most of the effort will be props (of which I've made none before) and armour (also very little experience), so should be a good challenge.

At the moment I've half-built the sword, and that's pretty much it.

Gesso covered

And then there's my competition piece which I'll be wearing for Auckland.

Leona! In pretty much my favourite skin of all time. I love everything about this outfit, and I'm going to make this. It has props, chainmail, armour....everything!

The best part is that I got a whole lot of Worbla recently, thanks to Alter Ego cosplay (closed group here for NZ Worbla orders).

It smells weird.

Hopefully there should be enough to make at least Leona's armour (let's be honest; it's pretty skimpy so I won't need that much).

I'll finish off with a list of "nice to have's" - these are the cosplays I want to make, but might not have the time, or place to wear them.

• Aela the Huntress (Skyrim)
• Corvo Attano (Dishonored)
• Jack of Blades (Fable)
• Kuvira (Korra)
• Lin (Spirited Away)
• Theresa (Fable, Fable 2)
• Monarch henchman (the Venture Bros)

So that's the state of things! I'm likely to finish Korra first, followed by Jane. I'm so excited, I wish they were done already!