Sailor Mars: Part... Six?, Etc., Etc.

Alright, this is probably going to be a really lame post, but it's an update nevertheless. I am getting worse and worse at sticking to my self-imposed deadlines. When I get home from work I just want eat dinner and then fall into bed. And then on the weekends, I've been sleeping poorly, so I just want to sleep all day long. Sigh.

Sailor Mars: Part Six
This past weekend, however, I insisted that Bryan be more strict (heehee) in forcing me to work on my costumes. I need that extra push. I managed to pin and cut half the pieces for the Sailor Mars bodysuit before convincing him that I was too tired to do any more. He needs to be more strict at being strict evidently. Or I need to be less persuasive.

On Saturday, we also went to P-Mall, and I got myself a Luna plushie to carry around with our Sailor costumes. And she was half the price of the ones they were selling at Anime North. Huzzah! I also got some Rozen Maiden playing cards, but I digress.

Hetalia (Hungary?): Part One
Bryan also gave me this Army-style coat that he loves (from the 1950s, yay vintage) but which is too small for him. I plan on possibly turning it into a Hetalia cosplay. I am insistant about making that second costume for Fanexpo, but I am very uncertain that I will have the time to make Shinku as well as I'd like, expecially given how badly I have been managing my time thus far. I would like to use the coat to make Hungary, although the colour is slightly off... I may yet decide on someone else (i.e. from Hetalia), but I haven't yet had time to look into it.

Belle:
Finally, I once again brought up the need for a photoshoot of my Belle costume. I do not have a single picture of me wearing it, and if I'm going to go through all the trouble of Disney-esque hair and make-up (the latter in particular) I'd like something a little better than snapshots. In any case, this past weekend had been the original chosen day for the photoshoot, but Saturday (the only available day) was rainy and icky. I mentioned this, and Bryan so cleverly pointed out that we are going to be in the South of France with little to do but laze around, why not bring the costume and get some super authentic pictures. Yes, it means bringing a wig with me in my suitcase, but it surely would be fabulous! I'm excited. XD

Sailor Mars: Part Five

This isn't so much of an update, as a complaint. Heh. I prewashed the fabric, but it's taking a suprisingly long time to dry. It's been rainy so I couldn't put it outside. Boo to you Mother Nature! And my drying rack prevents my from laying the whole piece out flat, because it will be stretched and mangled and horribly tortured if I do. Oh noes! Oh yes!

Anyway, whatever this fabric is, it holds a serious (and I mean SERIOUS) amount of water without appearing to. So, while it's not dripping off huge puddles onto the kitchen floor anymore, it's still very damp. It should be dry by tomorrow, so if my day isn't hijacked by anything else, I will devote it to cutting and assembling. Yay!

Sailor Mars: Part Four

I finally finished drafting the bodysuit pattern. Thank goodness! The last couple of steps are a real hassle, and I'm concerned (as I was the first time) if I did it correctly. Particularly this time because the armscye seems remarkably small... but then again Ashley is a deal smaller than I am. We'll see about that.

Anyway, I plan to pre-wash the bodysuit fabric a little later tonight, so that it will have time to dry overnight and all of tomorrow if need be, then I can get started on making it tomorrow night.

In other news, I finally found some "active wear" bias tape that will be appropriate for binding the bodysuit seams. I've not yet purchased it because I need to measure how much I will need, but soon.... Possibly this weekend. I will aim to have the Mars bodysuit done by then!

Really, Really Crazy.

So... here's the part where the name of my blog starts to sound pretty accurate. I think I want to set aside the Ciel Phantomhive costume for a little while and start on the Shinku (with Detective Kun Kun Henshin Set from episode I-have-no-idea of Rozen Maiden Traumand) costume. Why? Well, my love for Shinku is great and profound, not to mention I just got my very Shinku doll, which is the creepiest and cutest thing I have ever bought, and I just need to keep expressing my love of it, ideally in costume-making form. And while the pink ballgown will be an awesome costume (and historically relevant enough to be worn at an upcoming Historical Ball/Halloween Party), I don't really love Ciel Phantomhive as a character. Anyway, I guess nobody really cares about only doing characters they love, but it's important to me.

Shinku: Part One
Did I mention how I feel that this is very insane, and that this means I want to attempt to make both of these before August and/or October (in addition to the two Sailor Scout costumes I'm making, and the Renaissance costume I'm making, and my super secret crazy sewing project - granted that last one can wait a little while).

The first thing I plan on doing here is finding the pattern I made for my Belle costume and altering it. Knowing my luck, however, I probably will not be able to find this pattern. I know of no concievable place where I might have put it... but I'll look anyway. Second, I have a huge pile of burgundy tulle that I think I could use for a crinoline/petticoat. I am tired of seeing Shinku cosplays without the appropriate undergarments (*nerdy frustration here*). There are a few other things that I think need to be under that skirt to get the proper shape, but I am going to keep those to myself. I can't share all my secrets after all. I think overall, this costume shouldn't be too difficult to put together. The wig on the other hand... well, I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Additionally, Bryan (who loves Kun Kun and I gather Shinku by association) suggested that when I do this costume, we find a really good place to do our photoshoot, even if *gasp* we actually have to pay for a location. I was both surprised and pleased by this prospect. Obviously, I'll test all the contacts I can at my work for Victorian locations that won't charge me, however, it will probably only take me so far.

So excited!

Ciel Phantomhive and Sailor Mars

Blog is officially up to date! Yay! Although, technically I ignored my Renaissance Doublet diary... oh well, I'll save that beauty for when the whole thing is done and ready! Heh.....

Ciel Phantomhive (Little Robin): Part One
I've started working on a corset for my Ciel Phantomhive (Little Robin) costume. I'm using the 1870s (I can't remember the exact date) pattern from Period Costume for Stage & Screen : Patterns for Women's Dress, 1800-1909 by Jean Hunnisett. So far it is going fairly well, I have resized the pieces and cut them out in canvas (my foundation fabric). My plan is to make it in three layers, unfortunately (or fortunately) I have not yet bought the outer later of fabric yet. I also found pictures of Ciel's corset, so, like the nerd that I am, I'm going to attempt to make my corset with similar coloured fabric and lace.

For the boning I am most likely going to use a combination of steels and zip ties, with a metal busk in front. I figure if the busk is too short (I haven't checked yet), I can compensate with adding a couple grommets at the bottom.

Sailor Mars: Part Three
Sailor Mars has been going a little slowly due to my ongoing stupidity. *Headdesk* Half way through drafting the bodysuit pattern I realized I forgot to take Ashley's "bust to waist" measurement. I gather this is not an absolutely essential measurement, because it is almost always 16 cm (or something very close to) in all women. Go figure! So, fine I got that one, then a few minutes after continuing the drafting I realized I'd forgotten to take her shoulder measurement too! Dies. Hopefully, I've got them all now, and I can finish this sucker without too many more problems.*

*By this I mean the bodysuit. I don't have such hopes for ease where the other bits (i.e. skirt) are concerned.

Photoshoots <3

Finally got a complete picture of the Kay Faraday costume up. http://amariel.deviantart.com/art/Kay-Faraday-I-123728396.

Private photoshoot also done. Photoshoots are love. <3

ETA: Also... Anime North was really great. Maybe next year I'll write a con report or something, heh.

Finding a Balance

Original Date: May 13, 2009

Right now I am balancing my costumes (there are technically five on the go, though I'm only working hard on two at present). One which I need to have finished for the May 23/24 weekend, and the second is Ashley's costume, which I'd like to have finished before I start my summer job and/or she goes to Portugal, whichever comes first.

This morning I spent an hour and a half cleaning uncured resin out of silicon moulds. About twelve tooth-picks and nine pairs of latex gloves later, it's still not completely free of the gunk. Eugh. Future note to self: assuming is bad. The past weekend, all time not spent doing mother's day things was devoted to hand stamping/painting a curly fabric pattern onto pink fabric for a vest. It was very tedious, but it looks pretty damn fantastic! It's nice when that kind of thing ends up being worth the trouble. It's kind of amazing too, how fast my costume making skills were forced to branch out from merely sewing to include all manner of things - painting, stamping and stamp-making, woodworking, moulding plastic, etc. Crazy.

Sailor Mars: Part Two

Original Date: May 8, 2009

Today, after a small hiatus (due to being under the weather and exams) I decided to jump back on that Sailor-costuming horse (that sounds too weird...) and whip something up. I put together Sailor Mars' collar. It's two laters of the red satin with a single white ribbon for the detail strip. To construct it I loosely followed the instructions found in the tutorial section on this website: http://www.lynleigh.com/cosplay/.

The next step will have to be drafting the bodysuit pattern and constructing it.

Sailor Mars: Part One

Original Date: April 29, 2009

At the end of last month my cousin Ashley asked me if I could make her a Sailor Moon costume for Halloween, etc. And, Sailor Moon being my favourite childhood cartoon, not only did I say "of course!" I decided I would also make one of my own to match (and then slowly convince everyone I know to join in until we have the entire cast, Muahaha! *cough*). Anyway, after making a lot of mistakes on my own to get to this point I'm ready to start her costume with a bit of experience under my belt. I've decided to also keep a costume diary, because I always find it helpful when other people do them, and I have (as of now) been unable to find anyone who has made a Sailor Moon dress diary. And trust me, the tips would have been very helpful!

Anyway, after a few weeks of thinking it over, she decided she wanted to be Sailor Mars - she couldn't resist the red and purple!

Last Friday, Ashley and I picked out the fabric she wanted for her Sailor Mars costume, and I am VERY glad she came along, because I definitely would not have chosen the same colours that she ended up picking out. They look good, though.

We are using heavy crepe back satin, which we found at just over 50% off the regular price. When it comes to buying expensive fabrics the discounts are a godsend! We got 3.4 meters of red (it was the last of the roll) and a half meter of the purple. We also got 2 meters of a white matte stretch fabric for the bodysuit, price reduced by 40% (yay for big sales!). The total cost of the fabric was around $65 (taxes included). There won't be too many additional costs, since much of the thread and other notions I had bought for my own version, or had in my sewing box already.

This morning was the first chance I had to work on anything since our shopping spree, due to the exam I had yesterday. I wasn't yet ready to start making up the bodysuit pattern, so I decided I would start with something simple: the purple front bow and red back bow.Each bow is made up of two parts, and each of those parts is made up of three pieces of fabric. Two pieces of the top fabric and one piece of medium weight interfacing.For bows for a Sailor Senshi costume, I used the following dimensions:

- The front bow piece is a rectangle: 7"x13".
- The front bow tail piece is bow shaped: 7"x15", with the center being 3" wide.
- The back bow piece is a rectangle: 11"x16".
- The front bow tail piece is bow shaped: 11"x18", with the center being 6" wide.

Of course this led me to want to make a bow making tutorial. Because I am insane!
Part One
Part Two

And yay, the Sailor Mars bows are done!

Sailor Jupiter: Part Fifteen

Original Date: April 23, 2009

Hell skirt is essentially finished! In that, I can actually put it on without the aid of my hands or pins to hold it on to my body. Yay! It still needs to be hemmed, but I'll worry about that issue later.

I just need to do some finishing touches - snaps!!! - and the little sleeves, and it's pretty much done! Huzzah!

Sailor Jupiter: Part Fourteen

Original Date: April 22, 2009

Worked on the glove tops today. Cast red buttons for Ashley's costume (which has limited relevance to this dress diary). Sanded down my green buttons, and will buff them later - probably tomorrow.

Overall this whole thing is taking longer than I thought it would.

Going fabric shopping with Ashley on Friday. It would be nice if I could be done the sewing aspects by then.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Thirteen

Original Date: April 20, 2009

This is a thirteen alright.I cast the button and tiara jewel. I don't how it will go, but I was so fucking clumsy while doing it... Ugh. I just want to forget about the whole ordeal.I went back to the skirt as well. I don't know how to fucking fix this thing though. I hate this skirt. Nobody can understand what I need for it to do. Every attempt to fix just requires more fixing. I'm running out of goddamn fabric and there's nothing I can do about it.

ETA: Anger has calmed down. I have an idea about how to fix the skirt, maybe. I won't get too excited because that always leads to trouble, but we'll see.

Anyway... the weekend was fairly productive as far as the accessories are concerned. I made the hair baubles. I found some wooden sphere beads at Desairs, painted them light blue/teal acrylic craft paint and then sprayed them with Krylon clear. They look all nice and shiny. Yay! I now just need to figure out the best way to attach them to my hair piece, but I'll worry about that a bit later.

I found the payless boots in my size. Unfortunately they were $15 more expensive, which is kind of bullshit for a chain of stores. But they are perfect, if not a tad on the high side. But they are love.

We also found the perfect object to make the wand handle out of. Bryan made half of the handle mould, and the second half should be completed next weekend. We're going to then craft the crown/star part out of fimo and make a mould for those too. Then cast the whole thing in resin. Yay, plastic!

Sailor Jupiter: Part Twelve

Original Date: April 17, 2009

So, perhaps I have fixed the skirt. Perhaps. What I did was made a slit in each of my two gigantic skirts and then sewed them together, to form one ginormous skirt. Then pleated the hell of it. At first, it was too small *shakes fist*, but after some pleat manuevering I've managed to make it to my actual size - gasp! The only problem that remains is... does it look bulky with all this fabric, and trust me it's a lot!

Second problem is, if I do go with this giant pleat circle skirt, does that mean I have to follow the same method when I make Ashley's costume so that we will look the same?!Ugh. Diasterific.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Eleven

Original Date: April 16, 2009

Today I accomplished nothing except making a huge mess of everything. Skirt is a disaster! There are no words.I made the hip roll, and it came out pretty well. How to attach it on the other hand? WHO KNOWS!

Sailor Jupiter: Part Ten

Original Date: April 15, 2009

Today was a day of whip stitching. Almost everything I did was whip stitched. I'm ready to use my machine again now! Heh. The bows, collar and choker have all been finished, which is very exciting.

The pictures are slightly blurring because of my camera's stupid inability to take pictures that are clear when the flash is turned off. And the flash needed to be turned off to avoid that horrid effect that happens when you photograph fabric with a shine.I made a quick mock-up for the sleeve pattern, which I will probably tackle next. And then, yes. The skirt will be all that is left. Oh, wait, there's the gloves too.Once the all that is done, I will only need to worry about the boots, tiara, wand and front bow button (the latter being the easiest to accomplish). Joys.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Nine

Original Date: April 14, 2009

So today it felt like I didn't accomplish much, but I suppose I did. I finished sewing together the collar, except for the part at the neck where I turned it inside out. It's also been pressed, even though the fabric generally refuses to be pressed. Agh. Another reason why satin is actually the fabric manifestation of satan.

I started making the little choker, which is pretty cute. I just need to hand sew the last part down, turn the ends over and then either add snaps or hooks for a closure. I also started work on the bows. Unsure of how the bow tutorial would work out, I made a mock-up and decided that I was going to deviate from the Sailor Moon bow tutorial I had planned on using. So far I managed to completely finish the front bow, and prepare the back bow and bow tail pieces to the point where they need to be turned and pressed.

I was going to start work on the glove top pieces - I made an attempt at a pattern, but it ended up being too small, so I just scrapped it for the day.

I also started to look at my mock-up for the skirt, pulling it apart and trying to visualize the way it would look. But that didn't go too well. So, I'm considering doing a circle skirt. After all, my mom did got me one the presser foot for the circle hems. So... maaaaybe. I'm going to leave the skirt to the very last thing, I think. I also had the problem with getting my skirt mock-up on me, so, again I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish that. But, there are a number of possibilities, I suppose. More snaps, zippers, fake pleats? We'll see.I'll take more progress pictures tomorrow.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Eight

Original Date: April 11, 2009

Made the trip over to Fabricland today and got my interfacing, batting and matching thread. Yay. They didn't have the strech bias tape, at least not in any usable way, only lace crap. I didn't put any more work in on the costume today after the trip, however, because I wasn't feel too well.

We demoulded the earring. The fake test jewel came out really well. The rose came out pretty well, except for some bubbles. So, there were some holes, unfortunately. After the the trip to Fabricland however, we went to the mall and I found some really perfect rose earrings at Claire's (of course). It was a little bittersweet giving in so easily after only one attempt at the roses, but, well I think it may be necessary. I also got some more opera length gloves from Ardene. I saw some boots at payless that were in a pretty perfect style, except for the size. I may yet try to visit another payless location in the near future to pick some up. They were $35 (down from $75), which is not too bad all things considered.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Seven

Original Date: April 10, 2009

I followed my own suggestion and remade the bodysuit, doubling up the pieces. It's finished and it's pretty perfect. Overall the thing is strong, strudier, tighter and whiter! So, all is good. I had to rethred my serger which was a huge pain in the ass, but I managed, and then serged the seams so now they don't rip when I put it on. Yay! I may yet add some elastic to the leg seams because it's still a little loose on the bum, but I'll wait until I get my binding before doing that.

After finishing the bodysuit I went back to my sewing bag and pulled out the green fabric to start making my sailor collar. Before my next trip to Fabricland it's really the only thing I have all the materials to make. I followed an online tutorial that I found, though I'm afraid I've lost the author's name... I'll keep looking for it, I guess.

It was relatively easy to make the pattern, and the measurements worked surprisingly well. I had some annoyances sewing down the ribbons by machine (Jupiter has two, of course!) and getting everything to go on straight. In one area in particular there is a bit of wonkiness, but's not too noticeable. I must say though, sewing along the edge of this 1/4 inch ribbon proved that my ability to sew in a straight line with the machine has greatly improved since I started sewing. I then pinned the collar back and front together to sew, but quickly realised that I didn't have an appropriate green thread, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow when I can pick some up. We also cast the resin into the rose mould so, in about 24 hours the first earring should be finished! Excited!

On Sunday the family is getting together for Easter, so I may get Ashley's measurements to try and get started on her bodysuit while I'm still high on success. Heh.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Six

Original Date: April 7, 2009

Making a good dress diary is hard work. And so is making a good bodysuit.Anyway, last night (as mentioned previously) I cut out the pieces for the bodysuit, using the pattern I drafted. Today was the day to start assembling.

I first sewed and serged the shoulder and crotch (for lack of a better word) seams. I slid into it at this point to check out how the neckline looked. It was too short, so I cut that open (keeping in mind, of course, that later on I would need to fit my whole body through this neck opening). I then sewed in the bust darts, then the side seams.

It was not immediately perfect, but it was pretty close to what I'd intended. The bust darts are MUCH whiter than the rest of the bodysuit. I figure this isn't too much of a problem because I will need to put on some kind of boob armor, which should cover that up. Second, the ass was HUGE and the crotch was too wide (horizontally). The wide crotch problem seemed apparent on the pattern, but I decided I would worry about it later - and so here I am. These two problems took the rest of the afternoon of pinning and sewing and cutting to fix, and they're still not perfect but they've come a long way. I might still try and make it better, but I don't think I'm going to do that today. Heh.

I am going to ask someone for advice on if (or how) to fix my problems and until then I'm going to put it aside. Right now I'm a little short on materials, so I can only really pleat the skirt or make the collar. But, again, I'm going to save that for the next time I work on it. Maybe sometime this weekend, but by that time I'll probably be able to pick up those extra few materials and this will all be moot.

ETA: Everything always ends up being harder than expected. I fixed the crotch problem more or less but now it's more high cut in the front than I would like. Also, my serger decided to chew out a little piece of the fabric in the crotch area as well. What to do about that? No idea. Fucking, fucking mcfuck.

ETA 2: I think I've come up with a contingency plan. I am going to take the bodysuit apart. I'm going to cut a new one and use the old one as a lining. Then I will bias bind the leg holes and neckline. I think this is the best I can do with what I've got. I hope it will work.

Sailor Jupiter: Part Five

Original Date: April 6, 2009

I cut the bodysuit pieces out. Eep! I'm still nervous. But if it's totally horrid, I still have enough fabric to make another one. I've finally decided I am not going to double up the fabric, I am going to use the bathing suit lining or get some lining from Fabricland this weekend if absolutely necessary.

Bryan decided on Sunday that the mould could be a little thicker so as to ensure that the petal details are not weak when we take the mould off of the clay. This is fine. We'll be able to cast them on the following weekend, and because it is a long weekend (Yay four day Easter weekend), we may be able to get both done!

Tomorrow I will start the bodysuit together. *Crosses fingers*

Sailor Jupiter: Part Four

Original Date: April 5, 2009

The mould is almost finished! Bryan thinks we will be able to cast the resin today, which means the first earring could be done anywhere for tomorrow to Wednesday. (I'm not sure the precise drying time, because it will be a very small amount of plastic.) Ashley saw the mould and was interested in getting some rose earrings as well, so, I may just do that after.

I solved my lack of hair problem as well. I found the clip-on ponytail that I originally purchased for my Jedi wig, and it the perfect length for Sailor Jupiter. I may attempt to add a very slight curl to the end, but I don't think it will be too essential. And I'll work out the problem of attaching the hair-balls later.

I pre-washed the white stretch fabric by hand this morning, and boy does that stuff ever hold in the water. Anyway, it should be ready for cutting as soon as I'm finished my final essay. Yay! The first costume at the end of a school year is a very exciting thing!

I'm still deciding on whether I am going to double up fabric or line it with something else. I'm going to have to make a quick visit to fabricland to get some cotton batting and interfacing, so I can perhaps see if there is some cheap swimsuit lining or something to pick up. That way I can save the other half of the stretch fabric for Ashley's costume.

Also, she's seems pretty settled on the idea of a Sailor Mars costume, and seeing all my mock-ups and moulds also seemed to get her pretty excited over the whole costume in general.

Everything is looking good so far!

Sailor Jupiter: Part Three

Original Date: March 20, 2009

On the weekend I went and purchased the fabric for the Sailor Jupiter Costume. Yes. Fabricland, amazingly, had a 50% members sale, so let's just say I made back the cost of my membership twice in this one trip!

Unfortunately, despite my hopes to avoid it I had to settle for a cheapy satin for the skirt because it was the only fabric that came in the correct colour. Sigh, we'll see how that goes. The pink, however, was a better satin, and an absolutely fabulous shade. I'm very pleased with it. My fabric for the bodysuit is a poly-nylon blend, and I unfortunately do not know the exact stretch specifications. Sigh. I hope it is okay. It's a little see-through so I've been thinking about ways to line it - either doubling up the pieces or using my bathing suit's lining, or both. I haven't decided exactly yet. Also, now that I have the fabric I'm a little worried about using the pattern I drafted. What if I did it wrong, or it doesn't work? Eep. I'm considering re-doing it on graph paper. But at the same time, it's stretch fabric... and the pattern is pretty close of my actual body form - far closer than my first draft with the bathing suit. So... maybe I'm worrying needlessly?

I also made a stop at the dollar store to pick up some ribbon for the white stripes on the collar. But... I think it might be too thick to do the two necessary stripes.

In other Sailor costuming news: On Friday, Bryan and I started watching the Sailor Moon Stars season. One of the episodes at the beginning features Sailor Jupiter trying very hard to save Sailor Moon from the Evil Queen Nehellenia. The episode at once made my decision to choose Jupiter definite. Anyway, long story short: Jupiter's rose earrings played a vital role. So, while at lunch on Saturday Bryan and I decided we would make these earrings. Much of the day was thus spent collecting materials to make them. Once we got started, Bryan sculpted the rose out of clay and then started to apply a latex mould. We are going to then use resin to cast the earrings in plastic. Hopefully, we'll be ready to make the first one by next weekend. It's all very exciting!

Sailor Jupiter: Part Two

Original Date: March 27, 2009

I started work on my Sailor Jupiter costume. I do think I've finally committed. Yay! The only reason I will change my mind for this point on will be if I absolutely cannot find the correct coloured fabric. But... I don't think it will come to that.

The first thing I decided I needed to do was work on the bodysuit part. I knew this was going to be difficult, because frankly, it's a very fitted piece that requires quite a lot very exact measurements. Also, because my plan to get an already made bodysuit fell through amazingly quickly.... Anyway, I took my disassambled bathing suit, traced and altered it so that it would look more like a Sailor Scout bodysuit. Unfortunately I did not have any stretchy fabric at my disposal, so I had to cut it out of broadcloth (or something similar, anyway). That made it very difficult, of course, to determine whether or not the actual thing would fit later on. But this was not acceptable. There were already clear fit issues at the bust and armscye. So, I decided I would try to draft a bodysuit pattern to my exact measurements using some instructions I found online.

It took about two hours, but the result looked fairly good, and seemed an appropriate size when held up against my body. Also, I felt a much greater sense of satisfaction. This is my first flat pattern draft! Exciting.

Next, I am going to try and pick up some cheap stretchy fabric to test it out. I'm not sure if this step will be possible, but I am still going to look anyway. Then I'm going to look for the final fabric for the bodysuit. Ideally, if not specifically, the fabric must be:

• White
• 75% two-way stretch
• Nylon lycra blend

I also noticed that the leg is cut a little too high for my purposes. I am going to try my best to lower that a little bit for some more modesty at some point. I'm not sure if I want to try adding some extra fabric to the pattern or to just draw in the extra space when I cut it out. Hopefully if I do get that test fabric I will be able to fix it at that point.

Sailor Scout Costumes: Part One

Original Date: March 24, 2009

Long story short: I have loved Sailor Moon since I was super young... can't remember how young, exactly. And finally it is time to make my very own super-de-duper Sailor Scout uniform! It's an exciting time. So exciting that I would ideally like to get into better shape in order to not look ridiculous once its finished. I will also be making a comissioned sailor scout uniform concurrently. Eep!

The past week and a half or so, my mind has been very much devoted to the construction details of putting a costume like this together. Surprisingly, I've spent more time worrying over how to put together this tiny little thing than I spent worrying over any other of my costumes which required a hell of a lot more fabric. But I suppose a good cosplay is really all about the details.

So, first of all, I've decided to try making a bodysuit as the base of the costume and I'm going to do so by using an old bathing suit as a base pattern, which I've already cut up. That may prove a problem when I make one from my cousin, because she doesn't do the one-piece thing. But, I'll figure out what to do about that after I figure out if the bathing suit idea is going to work period.

I've decided I want to do a pleated skirt rather than a circle skirt. Most people seem to agree that the circle skirt is more accurate, but I like the look of the pleats, and plus it will be less likely to fly around in the wind.

Bryan and I have discussed making wands and tiaras and buttons and stuff out of molds, so, that is pretty exciting! But I'm not going to worry about those just yet. My last early decision will be to decide which Sailor Scout I actually want to make. I'm pretty sure it's between Jupiter and Neptune, and I'm leaning towards Jupiter because she was my first favourite character, and you can't go against that. I'll save the other scouts for later costumes, assuming all of this goes well. I think Ashley wants to take the Mars route... but she has plenty of time yet to change her mind.

Costume Crazy

Thanks to my best friend Nessa, I have decided to start my very own costuming blog. Costuming is a huge part of my life, and so it deserves it's very own space!

Goals:
1. Keep track of my costume progress and experiences
2. Learn from previous costume experiences (i.e. mistakes)
3. Store research and other important discoveries
4. Improve my costume-making skills
5. Collect and record valuable information for my portofolio