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Here is another batch of pictures - this time of my Rei Hino fuku.
I may have mentioned that I was selected to perform in the Cosplay Fashion Show (hosted by Uncle Yo), which was super exciting since it was my first time. Here is a picture I found in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s official flickr.
Don’t I look sassy?
There are some random videos on youtube, all of the costumes were quite nice so you should go on and look for them!
Also, my awesome friend, Simon, over from Simon Abrams Photography
was nice enough to spend an hour with me at the festival shooting some pictures. Look at his magic!
Do view the rest of the gallery here.
As always, some of my images can also be found at my DeviantArt.
I think I’m going to take a break from making new Sailor Moon cosplays and move on to some other things.. although I think eventually I’ll go and do a Sailor Moon villain.. mwahaha.
taylrmoon asked: Hey, I am looking at your Sailor Moon costumes and I notice you use a... "stand" to support the making of your costume. I don't have one of these. Do you think it will greatly hinder the process of making the costume. What do you recommend to work around this?
Hello!
I think this is a great question and I am sure you’re not the only one wondering.
I use a dress form, but I don’t think it is really required. In fact - mine is actually a few sizes bigger than I am so I can’t always use her for a lot of things - for instance, the Rei Hino fuku.. the vest didn’t button on her, and the skirt I pinned in the front to make it look like she was wearing it when in fact it didn’t fit her. Super stretchy things like the Pluto/Mars fukus fit her(which is also good if I ever sell things, I know they’ll fit a bigger gal). If you work from patterns or you know how to draft good patterns, you really don’t need a dress form. They’re good to have to see how something fits/sits/drapes/hangs off of the body without having to try the garment on over and over (especially with pins still holding things together… ouch!)
If you want to start draping things from scratch without a pattern (corsets, things with princess seams, etc) then you do need a dress form. Now that I have a big girl job, one of my goals is to acquire a mannequin that is MY size and then sell off the one I have to someone in my area for cheapy so I can start making my own corsets or a Morticia dress.
In conclusion to this somewhat off track ramble… NO, you don’t need a dress form and you don’t have to worry about working around it. My suggestion is a few full length mirrors arranged in a way so that you can see what you are wearing to make sure everything looks good at all angles. Do I think a mannequin helps? Absolutely. I love pinning and sewing things on a model without worrying about stabbing myself/reaching around to see what I am doing.
On another note, I really suggest the Green Pepper Crystal Lake skating dress pattern. It does need some modification but I think it’s the best one to work with.
I hope this helps!
^_^ It’s been very nice so far! Perfect, sunny weather, lots of flowers, and fun people!
Since I’m in the BBG Cosplay Fashion Show, I can’t really wear my Rei fuku until the performance.. they want the costumes to all be a ‘surprise’ for the audience. So for the first day I decided to bust out the old Mars fuku.
THE DAILY HEY NOW!: Cosplay crackdown in NYC? -
So there has been something that has been grinding my gears and that is the new proposal by NYC City Councilman Peter Vallone to crack down on costumed humans. The legislation introduced is intended to crack down on costume characters or ban them outright. According to CBS, “One bill would…
I normally don’t post stuff like this here, but do check out this article I wrote on another blog about some insane law Peter Vallone wants to pass pertaining to costumes in NYC.
Well, I guess that is it.. I can’t think of anything else at the moment. Maybe more accurate shoes… for now I’m just going to wear some generic Mary Jane style shoes I found at DSW a while ago just to go with some suit I had.
Anyway, getting the knot to stay just the way I wanted was hard… so I got creative.
As you can see, the center is kind of wide.. but you can tuck that inside of itself carefully to narrow it and the fluff out under the collar…
A little thread also won’t hurt either.. and of course since it runs the length of the neckline you don’t have to undo the scarf everytime you put the shirt on… :-D just have to adjust a wee bit to smooth it out and that is it.
And nearing 99% complete with a little over a month to go until Sakura Matsuri 2013, here is my plan to tackling the very worrisome “School girl” socks. If you have tried to find knee high socks exactly like those of the character you are cosplaying, you know this is not easy. I came across some socks that had two stripes and someone suggested I just roll the sock down to hide the first stripe; however, I also wanted the color to match the trim on my collar. I’ve seen some people take some lace and just tie it onto their legs. Why would I want a knot to show up in pictures? So lazy! So I bought a pair of white socks and measured a bit of trim for about an inch below my knee.
Make sure to sew the ends together!
Measure it and pin to socks! I used 4 pins, these pins will dictate where I sew a stitch to the sock.. I will not sew all the way around the sock since there is no need, I will do four individual stitches by hand to keep the trim in place while I’m walking around.
After pinning you should have this:
Hand sew where the pins are and done! Socks to perfectly match your fuku.
I really need to master the whole ‘square knot’ thing. Anyway, I say almost done because I have a few details left, like sewing trim onto knee high socks and hand sewing a few things.
So I’ve made the shirt more fitted,hemmed it and done. I like how it’s the perfect length so I don’t need to tuck it into the skirt, yet it wont poke out under the vest.
I removed seven inches from the skirt and hemmed it using the blind stitch on my sewing machine. You can only see it if you look closely ^_^. Of course, you cannot see it all in this far away picture… but in person you really need to pull at the fabric to find the stitches.
Now that just leaves me with some little hand stitches on the lining of the vest and the scarf.
I think my Pluto staff came out pretty nice, my friend did a good job considering the small amount of time he spent making it. For this year at Otakon, I want to ‘finish’ the staff with details, perhaps sanding it smoother, etc. While I was at CAA this weekend I came across the Tri-Art booth. The woman, Rheni Tauchid, who was manning(hah?) the booth was super nice and very informative. A product caught my eye - Liquid Mirror. It is a bit expensive - 28 dollars for two ounces but I think it is quite worth it. The biggest issue I had with my staff was that the silver rubs off (I am sure a lot of cosplayers have this problem with props), and nothing is worse than having a costume ruined by some cheap paint. I’m uploading part of the paint chart since I think that it does a better job of explaining the specs of the color.
Obviously, this is a terrible picture taken in a dark room with a crappy iphone. Liquid mirror is the 3rd color from the right on the first full row at the bottom.
I purchased Liquid Mirror, Iridescent Pale Gold, and Carbon Black. Carbon Black is going to be for my Yuuko project while the gold and mirror will be for my staff. Along with repainting it(all except the orb - I like the liquitex glossies in red on it because it matches my earrings and choker I’m hoping to switch the gold balls made out of .. something not so durable with smooth wood balls from a craft store.
Back to the paint: I’m waiting for my order to be processed and shipped - in the meantime the patient woman (I say this because I probably came by to ask her questions five times in one day) gave me a near full gloss polymer medium(to mix with liquid mirror) and the remainder of her Liquid Mirror so I could play with it at home while I wait. (Break down day at a convention always equals freebies or great deals! **hint hint, hit up Housing Works bookstore after BEA every year** )
Here is a swatch of Liquid Mirror on top of the current color of my staff. I think this will be an awesome improvement and I’m excited.
I think it goes without saying where the Liquid Mirror is in this picture.
