I know, I know, I have posted in a while and I really don't have an excuse other than Borderlands 2 and Resident Evil 6. That's right two video games have sucked me in and I almost cried at the end of RE6 (dammit Capcom), which is a testament to how little I've done in the past month.

So in turn, I present to you two things I've done lately!

The first is pretty boring, but just another reason to not knock DIY anything. A bit of back story, I'm naturally a blonde; dishwater blonde to be exact and I'm not a fan. It's ashy, matches my skin tone, and it's just blah. All through high school and part of college I've been dying my hair different colors, red being the main one. Since getting married I've been keeping it Garnier's Sangria, which is a reddish auburn. Its been that way for at least a year and honestly for $8 a month it's super quick compared to going to the salon once a month.

Anyway, just over a year and you can tell the color has been building up cause when the small amount of red that it added to the brown barely showed up and it looked like I had dark brown, almost black hair. So I picked up Garnier's Ultra Color in Light Intense Auburn. The funny part was it went on pumpkin orange.

Lets not talk about how awful this stuff looks in my hair, the color was just hilarious. So, it sat for 25 minutes and in that time it turned blood red, like so...

The splatter on the face was funny and I seriously look like a zombie snack. Not to mention the shower looked like a murder scene. However the final result was amazing! My blonde roots were a nice shade of bright red and most of the dark brown was gone as well, what was left gave me awesome low lights.

Yeah I didn't do ANYTHING but goop it on my head like I normally do, pretty cool, huh?

Away from the hair blurb, I spent October celebrating tons of birthdays (including my own :D) and my anniversary. And for those of you who don't know me or much about NaNoWriMo, October becomes figure out a plot month; which is what I did. Thank you Resident Evil I'm fixing some mistakes you made (bad Capcom, you know exactly what you messed up!) and writing my novel based on it. So long story short, my sister and I tore up the plots of all the RE games and made the make sense on some aspects and are now using their characters as we wish. I'm sitting at 5.3k on my word count and I need to hit 50k by the end of November, so I'm going to get back to that. However, you can expect updates on the novel as the month goes on!

I had this cute welcome mat with a pineapple on it since I first moved out some four years ago. Well after being outside for that long it's lost all the color it had and was just black and blah. It needed to change and I didn't want to buy a new one because my husband and I love it; not mention it's still a perfectly good welcome mat.

The solution? Repaint it, but what paint would a rubber mat need... That's where Google-fu comes in. Acrylic paint stays flexible so it's a perfect fit for this guy! Thanks to a tutorial over at Domestic Imperfection for pointing that out because my poor mat started out as this blah thing.

And after about an hour of painting I have this lovely "new" welcome mat.

Aside from the new paint job I've got the urge to make another welcome mat for a change when the spring comes. Ugh, crafting is addicting sometimes...

Ikasucon just announced the date for their Halloween Rave! If any of you are in the Ft. Wayne area on October 20, stop in for a great rave for only $5; there's even going to be a judge (or judges) for the costume contest this year! I'll be there doing that whole thing, cause you know it's what I do.

Anyway, I bring that up for two reasons. First, it's a great way to have fun and meet fellow Ikasucon attendees while supporting the con. Second, it's Halloween so there will be costumes, just like this:

I picked up this pattern last July while in Michigan and have been wanting to make it since so this is a great excuse to play with resizing patterns. Also it'll be funny to have that campy fifties mom running around a rave.

This morning I started using the app Zombies, run! In case you haven't heard of it, you are Runner 5, tasked with gathering items from the infested areas outside of Abel. It's pretty simple to use, just run the app and while you're listening to music, radio transmissions will play periodically that progress the story. Basically it's super addicting and after walking just over 3 miles, earning a popped blister and probably a few others, I'm getting up early to do it again!

Oh last week, you were my lazy week. I didn't actually get any sewing accomplished, mainly for money reasons. Anyway, I get paid next week which means fabric time! I love fabric stores, I really do.

The other thing that I like to toy with is writing. I'm definitely not a great writer, but it's still fun. I really got into it back in 2008 when I participated in my for NaNoWriMo and have at least attempted it every year since then. This year I've been toying with two ideas. The first is more of a fan fiction, though I'm not sold on it. The second is an idea that I tried writing in 2009 and it didn't work for me back then, but this time I'm taking a different route with it. My first novel stopped at around 24k words and it was a lot of outlining that got it to that point, this time I'm using lines that I want to incorporate into the story. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out in the end but all I know is I want to start writing it now!

As of Friday all the Ren costumes went out. I'm expecting lots of alterations and what not seeing that El Matador and Navy went out with no real fittings. Oh con months, killing my motivation and time management skills for the past two years.

Good news, the sewing bug has hit. I've been trying to figure out what I've been wanting to make next and I was given the challenge for my next con. Sugoicon is the first weekend of November (I think that's right, it's the first weekend after Halloween) and my husband has been wanting a Red Robin costume since before Matsuri. Crunch time hit and his had to get scrapped, but now I have time... and a bolt of red twill sitting in my sewing room. This works well since I've been wanting to do a Poison 
Ivy costume for the past month. Yay for DC characters, even though I don't really know anything about most of them!

Originally, I had planned on making The Batman version of Poison ivy because I thought it was a cute design and then I looked at the wig; I don't have that kind of experience with wigs, let alone my own hair. This meant that I needed to find an alternate version for Sugoi. I toyed with the idea of a steampunk version and possible a fan art design until I stumbled across this beauty:

It's pretty bad ass and gorgeous, plus the challenge of the cloak appeals to me. The only conundrum I have is whether I should paint myself or not, and that's another thing I don't know much about. Long story short, I love this costume, but I think it may need more than two months for me to get it right.

On the same site that I found that design I came across a design for Batgirl but the same artist, which I adored and am contemplating.

It's cute, simple, and probably warmer than Poison Ivy for November. Downside, I've never made a catsuit, well a decent catsuit without a designer helping me, before. It's definitely on the list though! Checking out some of the other articles that the site had I found one labeled DC Girls in Sweaters. Weird, I know; however this gem came out of it.

Yeah I know, shut up its fabulous. Cute, relatively quick, uses skills that don't require testing and mock ups, and warm for November. Bonus? I would wear the crap out of that hoodie and that cap is awesome! Got to chat with the husband in the morning to get a decent second opinion since I get excited and pick costumes that take more time than they seem...

That's Sugoi... Yup, two costumes, none too crazy, but two (close to three) months later is Ohayocon. Unlike Sugoi, I'll be there all three days advertising for Ikasu and possibly Matsuri. Talk has already begun on the costume for that and I know I plan in having Poison Ivy for that. I didn't have any solid plans for the other two days until this.

First, I've never seen Adventure Time. I know, that makes me a horrible person in some circles, but I've just never really watched it. No real reason, just never did. Anyway, my husband posted a link to a bunch of Steampunk versions of the Adventure Time characters and suggested it for Ohayo. A group of us have picked ones that we like and the brainstorming will commence tomorrow (I hope)!



...no, I haven't forgotten about Mockingbird and I still want to do Black Widow just because I don't need a wig. Damn catsuits are going to take over my closet.

Sorry for the lack of updates, I got back from Matsuricon late Monday night and I've been blah feeling since that Friday. Anyway, Olive is 99% finished with only alterations happening, Navy is 75%, and El Matador is 85%. Basically I'm awake right now trimming both and hopefully finishing up El Matador's jacket. 

There it is with the trim! All that's left on it is turning back the facing in the front, the shoulder pads, the side seams, and hemming. Not horrible but I still have detailing left on the pants.

Navy, on the other hand, got slightly neglected because it's so detailed. Not to mention just LOOKING at the basket weaving makes me want to cry. Right now I'm finishing up the trim on the pants, like so....

Still need to cut out the slashing and finish the edges before construction begins. After the pants are done I just have a bit of armscye adjustment and shifting the buttons on the doublet over.

This is gonna be a long night....

Small victory, Olive and El Matador are the same chest size so the doublets are the same pattern with some adjustments. Love it.

Ok so Olive is pretty much completed, except for the sleeves. Now I just need to finish up Navy and start El Matador.
For reference El Matador is a matador take on a Renaissance Spaniard. The sketch is a bit more detailed than what it's going to be due to the jacket fabric, which is super snazzy. Here's the sketch:

It's hard to see on the doublet but it's completely sleeveless and has two stripes down the side and a chain on the other. The jacket is also losing the shoulder flap because it will become too cluttered with this fabric....

It's kinda hard to tell in the picture but it has a bit of a blue hue in spots which is really neat. Ok enough gabbing, need to get cutting!

Last one for the night, here's a detail shot of the panes for Olive.

Cross off making a lacy male costume off my bucket list. That's 17.5 yds of lace for Olive; I'm stoked!

Pattern manipulation 101. Also, yes, that is painter's tape. It doesn't tear my paper if I have to take it off and I seriously have two rolls in my house so I'm going to use it! ...it's also holding up my time sheets and notes for my current projects, don't judge.

Started putting together Olive today. Had to get more lining fabric and few other things before full construction could begin, but I'm moving along pretty well now. Here's a peek at what the doublet is starting to look like. 

My dining room light makes everything look a bit more orange that what it really looks like. :/

Ok, here's a better update for everyone. While the first Ren Faire garb that I was working on is still now quiet finished (from here on out dubbed Navy Ren), I've started working on the second garb (dubbed Olive Ren). Yes, there's a third, but fabric has yet to be purchased for it. >.<

Anyway, here's a look at the design for Olive.
 

The left sleeve is the sleeve for the doublet while the other is the sleeve for the shirt. Also the colors are reversed since my color research was a bit behind compared to my labeling. Oh well, design changes happen! Now to go contend with the pile of fabric.

Crud on my good iron, have to use the crappier expensive iron. That's right my $7 iron beats out a $20 iron.

It's 1:30 in the morning and I'm still working on this monster. Also you're welcome Vaughn, this update is for you.

Trim-a-lima ding dong! The lining is out and the trimming is on its way. I should have this one on Marigold tonight as a COMPLETED piece. *happy sigh*

Well I made it to Ikasucon, the Cheshire was a relative hit even without ears or a tail. Here's a quick pic of the group of us: 

Other than that the cosplay competition did really well. No joke, people brought their A-game this year! We had lots of amazing costumes and it made it really hard for us to pick a winner. Either way people won, we had fun, made a good friend cry with a birthday surprise, and I FOUND A LOKI! 

Sewing pro-tip 1: Lining fabric is usually very thin and doesn't like my serger.

Sewing pro-tip 2: When sewing in a lining, don't assume you can sew it to the armscye and still be able to turn it if the shoulder seams are already sewn.

Or the short version, I like to line stuff that I make cause it hides all the seams and looks nice, but I am by no means awesome at lining things.

Small joys...

I've inherited a lot of my sewing supplies, coming from a family of tailors I guess its bound to happen. One of the few things I haven't inherited a lot of is thread, which is why I'm always really happy when I use a whole spool by myself. I know it's a weird thing to be thrilled about, but whatever I just killed my third spool of thread. Yup, I'm proud of myself, deal with it. :D

I've been bad and haven't been posting for a while. The Ren Faire doublet is relatively finished right now, but I have to take out the lining and redo part of it. Considered it sidelined until I get back from vacation.

So what am I doing now? The Chesire Cat has pants now and the top just needs to be seen together. Jacket-wise, I'm fifty-fifty on it, while its going to be amazing, it's hot as fuck out and I doubt Ft. Wayne is going to be much better in a week. So yeah black long sleeve duck straitjacket... Sounding not cool as time goes on.

Anyway, today is pool and change oil in the car day. Yeah... you know... ;)

Quick little pic of what the Ren top looks like with the two trims I have for it. The final decision will be made Tuesday once the slashing goes in. All in all I'm stoked that its almost finished! 

On a side note, Mockingbird is getting put off for a little bit (probably Nov or Dec) due to a few more Ren Faire costumes and, drum roll, Emma Frost's 60's dress from X-Men: First Class! My husband and sister-in-law decided that I needed to make that for Matsuricon this August because I picked to be a villain this year.

My Demented Little Wonderland

Here's the sketches I mentioned the other day; they're definitely not final versions with tons of detail, just quick sketches to mainly get the silhouettes and general shapes on paper. Not to mention the faces are goofy as all get out, but it was 10am at Skyline when I did these...

The Duchess originally was going to look more like an assassin (I don't know why), but I decided more of a doctor look would suit her better since this is all about a demented asylum and military what not. Her top needs a bit more work which is why it's just this blah area. I figured it out last night, just never sketched it in. The bustier is going to be made out of some sort of vinyl or leather with spots for syringes and vials. She's actually wearing a jacket with a pencil skirt underneath, the pic just doesn't show it well. My bad, but its supposed to be similar to a harness on the top and the jacket tails come from underneath the bustier. Those lines are box pleating marks so I can remember that little detail.

She also looks a bit like Sailor Venus in the face...

The Queen of Hearts had the most thought out of these two, mainly because she was the second one I focused on after the Cheshire Cat. Thank you Once Upon a Time for the jacket idea though, ok well the underbust with long tails idea really. When I get around to the final sketch you'll be able to see that the tails make a heart shape. Additionally the corset is heart-shaped and there's a heart detail on the falconry glove.

Honestly, I don't know where the falconry glove idea came from but I like it and she also has a feathered epaulet, which I think will be some sort of flamingo homage. Oh and her pants look a bit strange but they're riding pants so the thighs are reinforced.

Obviously these two are on the Red Side of things so they'll be much darker in the final versions. The White Side will still be dark, just more pathetic than foreboding.

Quick little update and the pics will be up either tonight or tomorrow. I've been sketching out some of the characters for my version of Wonderland, so far so good. The Queen of Hearts is complete and The Duchess is on her first draft. Not super fond of her, but the main ideas I wanted to get down are there. So basically two of the Red Side are finished, none of the White and I still need to figure out what I plan on doing with Alice.

In the books, Alice is more of a neutral character in all the madness and that makes her a bit difficult to deal with in my version. By separating Wonderland into two factions with a few mercenary type characters, Alice doesn't really have a place. Ah well, I figure something out while I'm stuck at work today. I have a whole 13 hours to let all this stew in my noggin.

Side note, I may end up making all these costumes so who knows I may need to find a photographer and some models. XD

Ok, ok, I love superhero stuff a lot and I started playing the Avengers game on Facebook. Well they have this little side thing going on where you can get the character Mockingbird. Two things happened when I saw her: 1) I have to unlock her cause she looks awesome! 2) I really wanna cosplay her cause she looks awesome!

In case you don't know her, here's her newest look which I plan on making probably in August.

Yeah, I'm stoked about this one, no lie!

Finally get to start weaving after spending over a day getting these strips ready! Can I get a huzzah?!

Actually finished these yesterday with the help of my sister. They're two of the five coney suits in working on; just pre-made Halloween Hot Dogs with some fleece cheese. Easy peasy.

Cheshire Cat!

I got caught up with work a little bit so pardon the slow posting, not to mention the last post that was the pile of strips that I finally got through. Anyway here's what's going on with the Cheshire Cat as of this week and what will be premiering at Ikasucon 2012.

To give you an idea of what's going on with this design here's some back story that I'm planning on evolving further. The steampunk aspect of the original design has pretty much been dropped and I'm going with more of a militaristic style. Cheshire below has lost of the military inspired bits for a more asylum look with this jacket. 

 

I've always been inspired by darker imagery and with Cheshire being an former member of the Queen's army, I feel that she wouldn't be thrilled with the idea of someone leaving. Instead she locked him up, keeping him from helping the growing resistance, and over time she grew more and more annoyed with him and eventually had his grin sewn shut. The jacket itself will be a cropped version of a straitjacket complete with belted sleeves and straps running to the back; however, I've moved the main closure to the front and added a hood. It won't be fully functional, but the sleeves will zipper shut so that the belts can be latched in the back similar to a real straitjacket. Basically, semi-functional but cool as hell. 

As for what you can see peeking out from under the jacket in the sketch above, well that's the main part of the costume which I'm super excited about!

Its black canvas for the outside, black cotton lining, and the front is this awesome striped knit that I've had for a couple of years. The same knit will be the lining for the hood and the main strap running down the center of the jacket kind of like his tail. I'm just waiting to get some free time between projects to get this guy serged and sewn together.

As for the pants, is it bad that I'm still playing around with the design of them? I have a version sketched out but I'm debating getting a pair to deconstruct into what I want. Oh the joys of choices and being fickle!

That's only half of the strips for the good ol' Italian Renaissance garb. Must iron faster! 

Current Projects

For those who've haven't had the misfortune of listening to me since January, I'm working as the Assistant Cosplay Director for a convention in July. Yeah July, like 34 days until I can't work on anything else cause I'll be at the con. Since I'm slightly insane, or just really hate off days, I have a total three costumes I'm working on. It may get bumped up to four, only three of them are personal costumes, but it all depends on money and time. Anyway here's what I have on my plate right now:

Italian Renaissance Garb               Due: June 26th


Ah this little guy has been a long time coming. I talked with my friend about this costume last summer, but at that time it was going to be completely out of leather. This time its cloth seeing that leather is not my forte.

Here's a look at what he sent me:

He was kind enough to pick up the fabric for me after giving him the run down on the amount he would need, granted the diamond patterned section had to be changed. The original fabric was $34.99/yd, so we(he) came up with a genius idea of weaving fabric together to mimic a similar pattern.  Pretty neat stuff coming out of the mind of a fight director! Needless to say, the weaving has to happen first and boy it's a process!

For reference, each strip is 2" wide and after they've had their edges finished they'll be 1.5" wide when I finally weave them. And yes, I had help cutting out all the strips, there are 108 of them....

(Steam)Punk Cheshire Cat               Due: July 13th

I love Alice in Wonderland. Like really love it and when this came up at one of the Ikasucon meetings the whole cosplay department jumped on the chance to make our own Steampunk versions. I originally wanted to do the Duchess just so I could have a giant pepper shaker staff, but yeah... When I found out the Cheshire Cat hadn't been claim I jumped on it and after going through my giant folder of steampunk inspirations I came up with a design for the top; late night talks with my buddy Vaughn morphed that top into this.

Cheshire, at this point is going more punk/military inspired. I went a little more towards the darker side of Alice, making the Cheshire Cat an ex-member of the Queen's Wonderland military. I'll go into more detail with this costume when I have a bit more free time... right now I have a real job to get some sleep for.

First Post!

Oh geez, I started this blog back in January or February when a friend of mine suggested it (he runs Chalky Hearts!). We joked that I needed to have a place to put all the stuff that I work on so people could see, though I'm still hesitant on the whole blogging thing. For example, does anyone really wanna hear me go on and on about costumes?

Wait, yes you do or you wouldn't be here!

Aside from the posts about things that I'm working on the techniques and other random things that go along with them, I'm guaranteed to post ridiculous things. That's a promise because I'm a ridiculous person.