Lets cosplay! Fate Testarossa

Mein Gott! Is Ellie resurrecting this page from the dead?

Well...I had never forgotten about my own little corner of the tinterwebs. In fact, if you have read my more recent posts I can still confirm that I have been pretty busy lately. With me working many hours these days and spending much of my free time with my boyfriend naturally the time for cosplaying has been a little cut, both productively and blogger-wise. I still do my best to update my Facebook Page but even then I still wish I have more time into these things.

Without further ado, I am still yet to write about my Fate cosplay.

When I was still in school, I have came across an anime called Nanoha Strikers. It was back before I knew the Nanoha franchise also covered days when Nanoha and Fate were younger. As much as I loved the series it wasn't until last year I have watched the earlier seasons and felt there was a little void in my life that was finally filled.

I had some black and white fabric that was lying around, as well as some red PVC so I had decided to give Fate a try. I made a basic black leotard with a zipper in the back that happens to have been where the red straps were sewn into. The bows, leggings and gloves were made of black Spandex and the skirt had a nice Cotton twill feel to it. It was only a bit of scrap material so it was shorter than I would have liked but made it work with some gathering. The front part is attached to some elastic to make it easy to slip off when taking the costume off.

Day 1 of work

The cape is what makes this usually cold cosplay more cosy and this revealing one much less intimidating to wear. It has a nice sheen to it and it is lined with some lovely Maroon coloured Polyester fabric with interfacing inside the collar.

The belt buckles and yellow triangles were some left over Worbla that was painted silver. Perhaps surprisingly the most stressful part of the cosplay was waiting for the wig as I have never been blond before. When it arrived it was a very pleasant surprise and have plans to cosplay some other of our yellow-haired friends now I have the confidence to pull of that colour!

Fate is far from my more comfortable costumes as the red straps are very constrictive and I normally have to unzip the back a little so I can breathe. She is also among the very few where I get to wear heels. Placing the extensions to the wig can be a challenge within itself but the cape makes this costume somewhat nice to wear.

Fate was worn at J-con 2015, Namsoc Halloween night 2015, LAGC Winter 2016 and Alcon 2016. I wish to wear this as I am usually ill or tired when I am in this for some reason. In fact, on the day of Fate's debut I was up until 4am, had 2 hours before the con to sleep and had to rush home for an evening shift at work. Never again!

Lets cosplay! Lady Subaru

Thanks Pouncy for the pic :D

Is everyone having fun at AmeChibi? Sadly it will be finishing for the year at the end of today but it has already been announced Amecon would be returning next year on the 29-31 July at the Warwick Arts Centre! Is everyone excited!

Today we will be going back in time a little bit and discuss one of my slightly earlier creations. Although it is defiantly far from one of my favorites it was still one of my greatest learning curves and has taught me alot of what I know about costume making today!

The base of the costume was made from Duchess Satin. Personally I am not a fan of dress satin as it is cheap and creases easily where Duchess Satin has this lovely sheen that doesnt show off every wrinkle. The top took like 4 attenpts before I got it right. In the end I have used an old T-shirt to draw on a rough patten and made a mock up. Thankfully the fabric was super cheap (£2 per metre hell yeah!!!).

The collar and apron were also made of Duchess Satin. The details on the apron were painted using Dylon fabric paint and were painted free hand. I have used hemming tape for the bias tape.

The pendant was sculpted by hand using fimo clay. I began by making the wings for it and done the feathers by hand. I made the body separate and glued them together before painting them in red and gold. The brooches were also fimo clay. The wings on the back were a pair of costume shop wings that were plucked off and reshaped using the same base. I have used wood glue to attach them and they finished so beautifully,

The shoulder poofs were hexagon-shaped bits of fabric that were shaped into pouches and have lots of tulle to poof them out. They both have elastic attached to them right across my back to slip the wings through, functioning as a harness for them as well as parts of the costume.

The boots and wig were ebayed.

Events worn to: Kitacon 2011

Lets cosplay! Rock Lee

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a great day with movies and chocolate! Today I have decided to give my beloved sewing machine a break and enjoy my day day in front of the TV and take it easy.

I have decided that it is time to start putting my work up more often. What better way to start than to show off my most recent work?

'Lets cosplay!' is pretty much an idea derived from the 'Lets plays' that has stormed Youtube but instead of gaming I will give you a run through of my favorite costumes every once in a while.

I have attended Em-Con a few weeks ago in my hometown. Em-con is a annual convention in Nottingham that focuses of Sci-fi and fantasy as opposed to anime. There you can meet various actors from popular series such as Red Dwarf and Game of Thrones. There were also many dealers and artists around. It was a fantastic family event, with tiny Cybermen and little Jedis.

I was expecting it to be a crowded event so I opted for a costume of a character that is well loved, easy to wear and practical to move in when I need to retreat to a quieter place. Rock Lee was planned for Kitacon 2015 but because I was making fast progress with him I thought I'd budge him up ahead.

The weekend was a cold one and it was a chilled out event so we didnt have time to do a 'serious' photoshoot so much of the photos taken were us just messing about.

Several years ago I have brought the legwarmers on Ebay. I didn't have any plans to make the costume at the time but being a Rock Lee fan I had brought them for myself for a little joke and a nod to one of my favorite characters. I became more confident with wearing shorter wigs some time later so there we go!

The bodysuit was just a roll of blue Spandex that I was given for free a year ago. I have decided to make use of it by throwing it in 2 dye baths to achieve the colour. The first bath was by using Jacquards iDye (recommended by my good friend FishyFins) in green and another bath using Dark green Dylon dye. Jacquard's was by far effective but the Dylon gave it a slightly 'greener' hue. I have used my (Knight of Zero) Suzaku costume to help pattern the costume out and a simple green zipper rolls down the back. The collar has been replaced since being worn to Em-con.

The Chunin jacket was by far the most difficult part of the costume. I have adapted the beginning of it from a fleece jacket pattern my friend Katie have copied for me a few years back from Hinata. Though technically relatively simple, measurements were of prime importance getting the proportions right. The fabric was dyed white cotton using Dark Green Dylon fabric paint (same time as the bath for the bodysuit) and wadding was placed around the shoulders, collar and bottom hem. The red spiral was some leftover red PVC from Hikaru and appliqued onto the back.

The wig and forhead protector were also Ebayed. The wig had a ponytail that was cut off and tidied. The forehead protector plate was salvaged from a very cheap one and put onto a strip on polycotton. The eyebrows were coated with eyeliner.

Revisions are underway. I plan to make some new shoes for Kitacon!

Cosplay...on your CV?

Hey guys, long time no see!

I apologise for the lack of activity as life has been pretty hectic lately. It was a jumble of volunteering, costume making, attending Em-con and stuff. Hopefully pretty soon things will settle when I get a job and I can post more again.

Warning: This is written way past midnight so forgive me if any of this sounds like gibberish.

While I have been on-topic a common question that cosplayers ever ask themselves is: is it ever okay to put 'cosplay' on my CV?

What is the purpose of a CV (the UK equivalent to an American resume) is to give an employer an insight to who you are as a worker. This will include you personal details, work history and education and is often a first step for employers to determine your suitability for the role.

We are talking serious business here but at the same time you want to show that you do more in your life than watch Jeremy Kyle and drinking cheap ciders on street corners. As a cosplayer that may be the unlikely case but for someone to just know you on paper they may be unaware that your life is far more exciting that that.

On the flip side, many outsiders are very unaware of the nerdy side to this. Not aware of the many hours you have spent behind the sewing machine getting the seams right or the hours of emboldening they might only see cosplay as a childish and unprofessional hobby. The media shows mixed and sometimes even distorted views on the hobby so watch out!

There is no definite right or wrong answer to this, and the decision varies from person to person. However if you do decide to proceed with it you may want to consider the following:

Be smart! What exactly are you applying for?
Consider how it fits into the job description. If you are going for a seamstress job, theatrical costume designer or a haberdashery/fabric shop then YES!!! However, if you are going for something more serious and reputable like Law or Science then that might be another case.

How would you word it?
One common idea concerning this is that you should avoid using the word 'cosplay' and use something more universally understood such as 'sewing', 'dressmaking' and 'theatrical costume design'. 'Cosplay', to someone who is unaware of the hobby, might sound ludicrous or even a fetish scene so it could be off putting to some potential employers considering that the term is not widely used and understood.

Would you feel comfortable explaining it?
You might be asked to elaborate on that hobby at an interview at some point. While I like to tell my none anime-fan friends that it is simply 'the recreation of attire sourced from fiction', the way I would word it elsewhere may vary depending on how comfortable I am with that person. I often say that 'I do a lot of sewing so I am familiar with different types of fabrics and textures' at an interview for shops that sell soft furnishings or clothing.

Cosplay involves the following:

• Careful planning and initiative; ability to plan ahead, budgeting, research and working interdependently. 
• The drive to meet deadlines, priorotisation, concentration and working under pressure.
• Problem solving and creativity.
• Ability to use various tools and materials.
• Ambition, challenges and confidence.
• Willingness and confidence to be around people, especially strangers.
• Mathematics.

Actually many jobs will require most, if not all, of the above skills!

With caution cosplay can show that one can be a promising and determined employee. Cosplayers come from all walks of life, many are students and many work too. I'd strongly advise that playing around the terminology and thinking about how you can make sewing sound as if it is in a professional light.

Sticky fabrics are hard to work with! HELP!

Today I wish to share some simple tricks while working with sticky fabrics.

Some fabrics such as leatherette and vinyl can be quite challenging to sew through with a machine as they tend to have a slightly sticky surface. As a result they may now flow through the machine as well as cotton would. There are ways around this.

Before you start you may want to ensure that you have suitable sewing needles. Your usual ones may not be strong enough to pass such materials with ease and may result in a number of skipped stitches and worn out needles. Sadly vinyls and pleathers are not able to heal once punctured but thankfully there are needles that are designed for such projects and are widely available. Denim and Leather needles work fine. 

One way to reduce friction is by using a Teflon foot. They basically replace your usual metal foot and work the same way. They are pretty cheap and easy to access. Highly recommended that if you plan to work with a lot of such materials.

Alternatively, you can separate the foot and the fabric with a layer of tissue paper. You can reduce wastage by cutting it into strips and you can simply tear the paper off without disrupting the stitching.

My method when I worked on the belt for my Suzaku belt is simply covering it with talcum power. Most households will have it and can be accessed quickly but it may cause a bit of a mess so you best be prepared to bring towels and clean the machine and the sewing area when you are done. I just simply got a wet cloth and washed it off when I was done. Sadly not all fabrics are suitable for washing so be careful!

While on topic I wish to address that while cutting and patterning these fabrics it is not advisable to use pins on areas that will eventually be shown on the costume. I try to use objects nearby to weigh them down. From experience PVC in particular grips to quite well when cutting with the reverse sides facing outside. Rotary cutters tend to be better than scissors when it comes to straight lines. Be sure to use a large cutting board and a ruler.