Night Before

Sailor Jupiter: Erm... none.

To do:

• Iron and trim skrit
• Sew 1.5 snaps
• Put hair balls on elastic/string/something

Sailor Mars: Sewed glove tops. Hemmed skirt and trimmed excess.

To do:

• Iron skirt
• Sew 1 snap on collar
• Sew 3 snaps on skirt

Second last day

Sailor Jupiter: Hemmed the skirt. Sewed pins onto the backs of both bows. Sewed the snap halves onto the bodysuit. Sewed the snaps on the collar.

To-do:

• Iron and trim skirt
• Sew snap halves (3) on the skirt

Sailor Mars: Made sleeve caps. Sewed snaps onto the collar. Sewed pins onto the backs of both bows.

To-do:

• Hem skirt, then iron and trim
• Sew snaps onto the bodysuit
• Sew snaps onto the skirt
• Fix skirt band

Nearing the Finishing Line

I have about three days to finish the two Sailor Scout costumes. So... I'm a little overwhelmed. On the weekend I attached pins to the back of the front bow buttons for both costumes and attached them to the bows.

Sailor Jupiter: I finished the sleeve caps and sewed them on to the bodysuit.

Still to-do:

• Attach collar by snaps to bodysuit
• Attach skirt by snaps to bodysuit
• Hem skirt
• Attach front bow by snaps or pins to bodysuit
• Attach back bow by snaps or pins to bodysuit

Sailor Mars: I finished both glove tops (however I need to size them to Ashley's arm before I can attach them). I finished the choker. I finished painting the shoes. I finished sewing the closures on the bodysuit and I assembled the skirt.

Still to-do:

• Make and attach sleeve caps to bodysuit
• Attach collar by snaps to bodysuit
• Attach skirt by snaps to bodysuit
• Hem skirt
• Attach front bow by snaps or pins to bodysuit
• Attach back bow by snaps or pins to bodysuit -Attach glove tops to gloves

Bryan took the assembled henshin wands home with him to seal and paint. At this point, I can't really wonder or worry about whether or not those will be done in time, they are out of my hands, literally. However, I do believe that a con (as opposed to a Halloween party) is where they would truly be appreciated.

Sailor Jupter: Part Seventeen i.e. Boots are Evil

Back from vacation and back to the grindstone. First on the to-do list is to get my Sailor Jupiter boots in order. I thought this would take a LOT longer than it appears to be taking, so this good, but I'm not yet done.... so I'm reserving judgement for just a little while longer.

First the boots need to be completely sanded to create a surface that the paint will stick to. I read somewhere online that sanding shoes/boots would take about 10 hours -- five hours per shoe/boot presumably. Each boot only took about an hour to an hour and a half. Quite an improvement! Although it was very difficult to manuever the sandpaper around the hooks and eyelets without pulling up the (decorative?) stitching too much, so this slowed it down quite a bit too. The boots were then rinsed and primed. My crappy spray primer however was not working very well, it kept shooting out huge splotches onto the boots and the nozzle was very difficult to press down. After the primer was dry, I went over it with my green paint. I taped off the heels and bottoms of the boots, so that the whole thing is not entirely green. As soon as the boots are dry I just need to seal them and add white shoe laces.

I used Design Master Colortool Spray (a floral spray) which I picked up from Michaels for $10 per can. I used their brand of primer and 717 Holiday Green for the final coat on the boots. I have not yet purchased sealer, so I'm not sure if I will be going with their brand our using some of the Krylon sealer that I already have.

I also used the same green spray to match the front bow button.

The tiaras are also here, which is very exciting! Bryan is working on the wand for me, while I work on the boots and cast a front bow button for Vanessa's Sailor Venus costume. After these touches my costume only needs a hem and for everything to be attached. I hope to finish this by the end of the weekend, because I am running very short on time!

There is another costuming sleepover in the works, which is very much needed. If I don't get Ashley over here soon to try on things, etc., it's not going to be ready for FanExpo. End of story.