New Crafting Blog

Since I’ve been doing more craft related projects lately, I’ve decided to start a crafting blog called Craftiness Craziness.  It will be a place where I discuss my progress and updates for any sewing and or crafting I do that is not cosplay/costuming related.  It will very similar to this one in style and set up though I will be discussing such things as quilting, knitting, practical sewing (such as sewing for the home and everyday wear), and other related type interests.  I figure it would be much easy to separate the two subjects than to lump them into one blog and thus possibly confuse the reader. 

If you are at all interested in crafting related projects and updates, then please subscribe to the new blog.  The same applies to this current blog, though instead of crafting interests it is cosplaying/costuming.  I will still update this blog as regularly as possible and will do my best to update both as often as possible with progress, news and hopefully pictures.  Please subscribe to both blogs, if you are so inclined, and comment if you wish.  It would be a pleasure to hear from my readers, so long as you are cordial and polite.  Please continue to read this blog as well as the new one.  It is a pleasure to keep this Costume Crazy going.  I hope it is a pleasure to read as well.  As always, have a good day and an even better week.  ^_^

Nimiar Progress

I have been able to get quite a bit of work done on Nimiar in the past few weeks since I started her.  Both skirts are all but completed except for hook closures, the bodice is almost entirely button holed, and half of the under dress is cut out and awaiting sewing.  I have been able to get a lot done, but there is still more to do.  I still have to finish the closures for the skirts and bodice, make the under dress with beaded detachable over sleeves, make the hat, get and style the wig, fix the shoes if need be, make the necklace, and add any finishing touches that arise.  She should be mostly, if not completely done for Fandemonium if I continue at this pace though I have other pressing sewing projects to focus on as well. 

I have pictures to share!  The first two pictures are of the skirts and bodice while the second two pictures are of the other side of the bodice.  I made the bodice completely reversible to add for more versatility and design options.  The the third picture is the shoes I’ll be using while the fourth picture is the fabric for the under dress with detachable over sleeves (the pink is the under dress fabric and the white/cream is the detachable over sleeve).  The fifth are the rest of the notions (the gold is the cording for the bodice, the purple is a cuff accent for the over sleeve, the beads are for the over sleeve, and the pendent is for the necklace).  Finally, the last picture is a close up of the pendent I’ll be using for the necklace.

    

Thus conclude this cosplay report.  Thank you so much for reading.  Have a good day and an even better week.  ^_^

Steampunk Engineer/Mechanic Pictures

I finally was able to get pictures of my newest updates to my steampunk engineer/mechanic character, Clara.  I finished the skirt except for a few new tares.  All but the goggles done.  I even found a new pair of boots at Goodwill for $9, at total bargain as they are real leather, have a beautiful design on the outside facing of the boots, lace and zip close, and fit both my feet and calves (something that almost never happens).  Pictures!  The first three are the outfit I made entirely by myself, the fourth is with a corset made by my first sewing teacher and a belt from the second hand store, and the final picture is my new boots (aren’t they the coolest). 

 

I’m really rushed to get everything done in time for Fandemonium in 9 days and fair right afterward.  Not to mention, I have a cavy show on Thursday too.  >_<  It’s my first one so I’m super nervous and very stressed about everything else.  @_@  I’m not going to get much sleep. 

Nevertheless, thank you so much for reading.  ^_^  Have a great day and even better week!  Don’t forget to keep reading to find out what happens as con closes in and occurs.  I’m really hoping to get a prize in the costume contest this year. 

Wigs, Wigs, and More Wigs

It’s been a while since I updated my wig progress so I figured I might as well do so.  I was able to get a hold of a camera today so there will be pictures to accompany these descriptions.  It’s a wig extravaganza!

First on my list of wigs is Vorfeed.  I styled her wig a while ago for a cosplay photoshoot contest at near the beginning of July (you can read more here).  It was a very easy wig to style as I only had to cut the bangs and brush the wig.   It was a very good, though somewhat nerve-racking at first, choice for first wig styling project.  I’m very happy with the way it turned out.  ^_^ 

 

Second on my list of wigs is Temari.  I was finally able to make my Temari wig for a cosplay photoshoot mid July. For my third wig, it turned out extremely well.  I am very happy with it and proud of it.  I almost can’t believe I made it!  ^_^

   

Third on the list is my new Akari wig.  It can as a almost prestyled wig.  I say almost because everything but the bangs were prestyled.  Nevertheless, I love this wig and can’t wait to wear it.  It is one of the ones I ordered via the batch order from C.C. Kids.  It is very smooth and photographs the perfect color.

 

Fourth on the list of wigs is Luka.  This wig is my absolute favorite wig out of my whole collection.  I love it!  It’s so pretty and soft and curly and the perfect pink color ever.  I’m surprised how little it tangles as well.  This is another of the wigs I ordered through the batch order.  This is how it looks after wearing it around con all day, even to a dance, and putting it in a ponytail and a messy bun.  I adore this wig!

 

Sadly, I did get any pictures of my brown wig, but the list doesn’t end there.  My friend, Stephanie, was getting rid of some of her old wigs, nd I was able to get a few.  I got a long curly light blond one that would work perfectly for Tamara, another character from Crown Duel that I hope to cosplay soon, and a short green one that would work perfectly for a Chikorita or Bellossom gijinka and/or Ranka cosplay.  I would just have to make clip extensions for Ranka which would be perfect since her hair is curly for one of her new songs in Macross F: On the Wings of Goodbye (which comes out in Oct!).  Here are the wigs.  The blond one is first, it does need a bit of brushing,  and the green is second. 

 

 

That sums it up for wigs.  I’ll be reporting soon when I start working on the wig for Nee.  Until then, thank you for reading!  Have a good day and an even better week.  ^_^

Toph Update

The wig is done!!!!  I finally finished Toph’s wig.  ^_^  After three modifications, I finally decided on making her wig closer to how it would be in reality instead of the ostentatiously large bun in the show.  I chose this because as you know funds are almost nonexistent and I only had a black wig, bobby pins, a hair net, and hairspray at my disposal.  Nevertheless, the wig looks fantastic, especially for my second or third wig styling projects.  ^_^  I ma very pleased with how the wig turned out.  It definitely looks like Toph’s hair in more realistic proportions.  Even the bangs, which have been styled and hair sprayed into place for ease of photography, look fantastic!  I am so incredibly happy with it!  *^_^*  I can’t stop smiling enough. 

Needless to say, I am very excited to debut her again in 12 days.  Yep, 12 days till con.  I don’t have much to fix before she’s ready which is a relief.  I ended up not needing to resize the main red part of her outfit, the jumper/shirt/pants thing, and can wear it as is to the con though I might fix up the front of it a bit so the fabric is tighter and not as bunchy looking if I get the chance.  If not, I can always work on it for next time.  I have to fix her over-the-shoulder-thing which shouldn’t take too long.  I originally made it in a matter of minutes so I have to go back and case the seams so the underside has a nice clean finish.  Other than that there’s not much to do except figure out how to make her misconstrued belt thing which shouldn’t be too hard as it’s pretty much thrown together in the first place. 

I do actually have pictures this time!   I was able to use a camera for a brief period of time to take pictures of my projects thus far.  Expect another post or two or three with pictures.  Photo spam time!  (I have to fix the bangs a bit since they curled a bit since I styled it.)

 

New Cosplay – Nimiar Argaliar

Crown Duel has been on of my favorite fantasy novels since I first read it back in 2008.  I love the imagery, characters, story, and world of the book.  It is very well written, easy to read, easy to follow, and overall enjoyable to read for the small amount of time it takes to do so. (It took me about a week or two.)  Ever since I read the book, I’ve had a vivid imagery of the clothing worn by the characters, especially in the second half of the book aka Crown Duel, that I’ve wanted to bring into reality.  Unfortunately, at the time I first read the book my sewing skills were very rough, as were my drawing skills, and I lacked confidence to actually make my ideas reality.  So I put my ideas and Crown Duel back on my dusty bookshelf.  Until now. 

It’s been a dream of mine to make a dress from Crown Duel since 2008.  Finally, I am working toward making that dream a reality by construction a series of outfits based on the main characters of Crown and Court Duel for my 20th birthday in just over 8 months.  It will be an extensive projects as well as party, but I know it will be worth the time, effort, and funds.  It is ultimately my goal to get every attendee at my party to portray a character from the series either from a self made or personally (aka me) made outfit.  I hope and plan to make it an extravagant event like the parties held in the second half of the book. 

As with every goal, the plan must start with a first step.  This goal’s first step is Nee aka Nimiar Argaliar, the character I will be portraying at the party.  I chose Nee over Mel (aka Meliara Astiar) for a number of reasons.  Even though Mel is my favorite heroine (followed closely by Nee, Elenet, and Tamara), I do not resemble Mel in the least bit physically, which is a great draw back for me as I am trying to get each portrayal as close to the individual character as possible.  Mel is short (about 5’2”), scrawny(about a size 2-3/3-4 in today’s sizes), and very petite.  I, on the other, hand though short, am neither scrawny nor very petite.  On the contrary, I’ve been compared to She-Hulk or Zena in a miniaturized form.  In all reality, I am built more like Nee who is short (just taller than Mel), well built (about a 12-14/14-16 in today’s sizes), and very curvy.   It just seemed fitting that I should portray a character I greatly enjoyed and fit physically.  Therefore, I have started off my goal by beginning to create a party dress for Nee based on the very limited in book descriptions and very vivid out of book mental images produced from my reading. 

For this project, I will be pulling design aspects from many different fashion eras (mainly medieval and Elizabethan with some hints from renaissance and regency), as well as my own imagination.  For fabric and colors, I will be using some in-book descriptions as well as intuition to choose colors and textures that would most likely be worn by the characters for a reasonable price.  I will probably have a budget of between four to five hundred dollars to pull the whole thing off.  Costumes.  Food.  Rental/facilities.  Decorations.  Everything.  I don’t have much money to play with nor room for many, if any, mistakes.  Nevertheless, I am very excited to be able to do this project and greatly look forward to it’s completion.  I will be making costumes for at least the main five or six characters with the possibility of a few minor/secondary characters. 

I’ve already started on Nee.  I have all of the fabric gathered, sketches drawn, patterns and minor designs chosen and at least half of the cosplay sewn (both skirts and most of the bodice).  Hopefully, I will have her done in a few days as I greatly wish to debut her at Fandemonium for the costume contest.  I’m really hoping that all the time, effort, and hard work I’ve put into this outfit with be rewarding beyond the feeling of accomplishment I will feel when she’s finally done. 

I will get pictures up when I can and will work toward blogging and updating more regularly.  As always, thank you for reading.  Have a good day and an even better week.  *^_^*

As Con Grows Near

I am slowly realizing that I might just have overbooked myself a little.  Ok, a lot.  Right now I am trying to get three to four cosplays for myself, two to three cosplays for my friend, and one to two cosplays for my other friend and his daughter done for Fandemonium in about 21 days.  Yeah, I overbooked myself just a little. 

Nevertheless, the cosplay progress is coming along ok.  Other than the fact that I lost my sewing machine foot and spent three hours looking for a new one while crying like a baby out of sheer agony and frustration only to find that my back up machine was hidden along with all my other sewing machine feet which took my another hour to find.  All to say I wasted six precious hours looking for sewing machine feet and other miscellaneous cosplay items today.  X_X  I didn’t have a good day. 

My personal cosplay progress is coming along well.  I’ve added to and changed up my cosplay list to include two new cosplays and cut back, somewhat, one the amount of sewing I’ll have to do before con.  At the moment I’m planning to cosplay Toph in her fire nation disguise, my original steampunk mechanic/engineer, Vorfeed from Lost Universe, and Nimiar Argaliar from Crown Duel in an original party/dinner gown based of the few gown descriptions in the book and fabric I could scrounge from my stash.  I might also cosplay Maria Ross, but due to my lack of time and lack of progress on her (she’s only at 35%-40% complete max) I highly bought she will be done in time and will cease to mention her.

I don’t have much to do before I finish Toph.  Earlier in the month I found, much to my dismay, that my Toph cosplay seemed to have shrunk in the hips (either that or I grew) so I have to let out the seams some and possibly add a bit of fabric.  I also have to redo the wig as the previous bun dismantled thanks to my sister and my lovely cats.  How they do love to play with my cosplay stuff.  I still don’t have any foam or money for foam so her bun won’t be as big as it’s supposed to be this year either.  *sigh*  Maybe next year.  Finally, if I so choose, I have to make her crown (which I think I’ll wait to make until after I finalize the bun), her meteorite armband (if I can find the materials in time), and her shoes (which I highly doubt will get made this year).  Oh, I have to remake her waistband thing too since the last one failed and was turned into my sister’s candy bag for last year’s Halloween extravaganza.  I have more to do before she’s finished than I thought. 

Steampunk wise, my cosplay is coming along nicely.  I already have most of the cosplay finished (bodice, waist cincher, skirt, belt #1, and hairpiece, gloves).  Nevertheless, I still have more pieces to finish before the cosplay is considered finished, for the time being.  I still have to make spats for find period shoes, find the materials for and make goggles, find or make a tool belt, find tools to use as props, and add all the finishing decals to everything.  Yeah, I’ve got a lot to do on that one too. 

Vorfeed, on the other, hand is almost done.  I have the dress, cape, wig, one glove, and the jewels with feathered accents done (though I might touch up the jewels a bit).  What’s left is I have to finish the boots and add a few finishing touches to the second glove.  ^_^  Yay!  She should be done for sure!

Finally, my Nimiar cosplay is proving to be more difficult than I expected.  The under skirt and over skirt are done except for the waistband hooks and eyes, but other than that the rest of the outfit is not near finished.  The corset is taking longer than I expected as I decided to make it reversible and have biased taped edges which I have to hand sew shut due to the reversal effect.  I had to redo it twice as the first time I forgot about the reversible design and the second time I had to tailor it since the pattern was too large.  Nevertheless, it is turning out beautifully and better than anticipated.  I only wish it didn’t take so long to sew.  But, it will be worth it in the end.  The only other part of the outfit I have to make are the bodice/under dress and detachable over sleeves.  According to my design, the over sleeves are going to be sheer and have a beaded, lattice type design on the top of the sleeve nearest the bodice and a beaded design on the two ribbon accents on the cuff and lower bicep.  Finally, I plan to make a headdress type piece out of the skirt fabric to accent the dress.  From what I imagine in my head, it will be gorgeous.  I’m planning to enter this one in the cosplay contest so all my effort and time has been poured into it.  I really hope I can get it done in time. 

As for my friend’s cosplays, I have a lot to do.  As part of our Avatar: The Last Airbender group this year, one of my friends (Theo) is going to be Iroh in his White Lotus outfit and the other (James) is going to be Aang in his Sozen’s Comet outfit while his daughter (Alyssa) plans to be Momo.  They both are going to look amazing.  I’m going to be doing all the sewing and, possibly, wig styling for my first friend’s Iroh cosplay which so far hasn’t been started much less touched.  My other friend is scrounging for as much of the cosplay as he can find so I’ll probably end up sewing half or less of his if all goes well.  I have no idea about what or if I’ll be helping with his daughter’s Momo cosplay (which will be awesome if/when it happens). 

I am also organizing a steampunk group which I know for sure that my first two friends will be joining.  I’ll be helping Theo put his outfit together which shouldn’t be to hard as steampunk is a rather easy dress type to cosplay and put together.  James already has his cosplay done (which looks amazing) and I don’t know if his daughter will be joining or not.  If she does, I will happily help her put something together. 

I might make Theo another cosplay, but I sincerely doubt it for this con since I’m already short for time and scrambling to get the afore mentioned cosplays done (or at least, which I dearly hope does not end up happening, con worthy).  Hopefully, this time I will have my cosplays done at least a day before the con since I also have staff responsibilities to tend to in the midst of this mixed up sewing mess and have school to prepare for, a job and apartment to find, and my last 4-H year to finish.  Yeah, I know for sure that I over booked myself.  Hello sleeplessness.  You tend to be my ever beckoning friend. 

As always, thank you for reading.  ^_^  Have a wonderful day and an even better week.  Ciao!

Back on Track

I salvaged a few feet from my previous sewing machine, which thankfully fit perfectly, so I’m back to sewing now.  Sadly, I had to spend around four hours searching for the replacement feet so I lost precious sewing time.  That was honestly one of the biggest time wasters I have ever experienced.  Nevertheless, I am very happy to finally be able to sew again.  ^_^

Progress at a Halt

Well progress is at a halt for me.  I lost my sewing machine foot today, and as you know no sewing machine foot, no sewing.  It is rather sad and angering.  I was just about ready to finish sewing my corset for Nimiar today so I could wear her to the photoshoot on Saturday, and now this happens.  Ugh!   It’s just so frustrating, and so typical.  ;_;

Third Place Winner!

I won third place in a cosplay photoshoot contest today!  Eeee!  I am so happy!  It’s my first time ever winning an actual prize/contest held by someone besides my friends!  *^_^*  Vorfeed was the lucky cosplay.  I literally chose to cosplay her at the last minute when Toph fell through, but I am so glad I did, even though I was cramming to make her up until the last minute.  A big thank you to all who helped me with finishing Vorfeed, getting me there, and being encouragers along the way.  I couldn’t have done it without you.  ^_^

Avatar: The Last Airbender Cosplays

ATLA cosplays are back in session for me. I'm currently fixing my Fire Nation Toph cosplay. I have to remake her belt thing, add a backing to her other-the-shoulder-thing, remaking the wig, and making the crown. I might make shoes too if I have the time. I'm also working on my friend's White Lotus Iroh cosplay for Fandemonium in August. We're both going so it'll be awesome to cosplay Toph and Iroh together since their relationship was so dynamic.
If I have the time and money, I'd like to make Toph's Earth Kingdom/Book 2 outfit for the same con since her EK outfit would go better with Iroh's White Lotus cosplay. Also, I might be helping my other friend make his Aang cosplay for the same con. It's gonna be so awesome! There's even going to be a mid-sized ATLA group there, which is very good for a small con.