Just about done! Square knot.. eh.. ish
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.
Rei Hino/ School girl socks!
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.
Really almost done!
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.
Here are some photos of my Sailor Pluto at New York Comic Con 2012.
Super Sailor Pluto bun with real hair!
So, I used the Conair Bun Maker kit which is available at any drugstore for around 5 bucks. It comes with a ponytail band, four bobby pins, and a ‘bun maker’ that you wrap your hair around. This was easier to do than I thought. I wonder if it would work for those of you who are using wigs. It is also super light weight and comfortable. I am told you can go to Claire’s and buy the little bun maker donuts in various sizes. I do think this is a bit big, but it’s a cheaper alternative than buying the donut bun from Claire’s since theirs do not come with bobby pins.
Anyway, I put my hair into two ponytails on the back of my head. One low, one high. The high one was combed neatly and wrapped into the bun maker donut and when I was finished I simply undid the ponytail that consisted of the hair that flows down the back. The hair wrapped around the donut is a bit of a thin layer so I had to spread the hair evenly around and secure the even thickness with the provided bobby pins.
Sailor Moon fuku tutorial ‘guide’ 1
These images will be posted permanently in the tutorial’s link of this blog. Feel free to message me if anything is confusing. I hope this clarifies things a bit since I didn’t take pictures of every single detail. THIS picture represents how to modify the Crystal Lake Skating Dress pattern by Green Pepper. Obviously follow the instructions included in the pattern (such as which seams to sew… that will not change regardless of what alterations are being made to shape, length, etc).. for pictures ‘in progress’ follow what is in my previous post.. this here is just to clarify what I left out. http://supersailormars.tumblr.com/post/26538770913/sailor-moon-fuku-tutorial-time
Sailor Moon/Pluto/Mercury Boots
You will need:
Boots
Ruler, marker(or pen, pencil, whatever), foam board (or white pvc material), glue gun/glue, scissors.
If you use foam board, you’ll need latex paint to give it the pvc texture to match your boots(assuming you bought patent/pvc boots)
You may have to cut your boots… in my case, the Funtasma GoGo-300 boot was simply too tall for me. Use your ruler and mark, then cut straight across (make sure your zipper/flyer is down… you don’t want that to come off!!).. please.. please remember at the tops of each zip, put a dab of glue so you don’t accidentally zip your zipper off!!! I did and it was really troublesome to get the zipper back on…..
I don’t have any pictures (d’oh!) but on the foam board or latex sheet… you want to draw 3 lines, one inch apart for a total of 3 inches… Decide where you want the center to be and mark that at the top of the 3rd line… at the first line you’ll have another mark - this is where your V is. Basically, the one inch that goes around the calf of the boot will be the first one inch section… and the 3rd inch point will be the tip of your V…. I swear I’ll make a diagram of this some day.
Try it a few times on a piece of paper…
Now, I did this while the boot was on (so I burnt myself) try not to burn yourself… the Funtasma boots made this easy because there is a front center seam. I simply lined the point up with the seam. From there I hot glued the foam on.. I left a bit of overhang by the zipper(going towards my backside) so that the zipper is hidden - no black gap! I glued a little bit of velcro so that the over hang stays in place… think of this like the hook closure a pair of dress pants has over a zipper.
I really should have taken more pictures to describe things.
Seifuku empire waistline using self bias, bow application time!
Okay, this cosplay is coming along nicely despite the bumps in the road I endured with my sailor collar experiments.
So from day one, I mentioned that you would want to make an extra “top” out of the pattern if you’re using the Crystal Lake skating dress pattern which you would then attach via the two seams at the shoulders and then when you hem the sleeveless edges… So that leaves you with a bodice that has an extra layer with a zig zag seam a bit below where an empire waist ought to be. You can leave it, but I much prefer as few visible threads as possible - so pin that and turn it inward like so.
Follow this up by folding it in again - think of hemming a pair of jeans. Same process.
Here is the annoying part… WHIP STITCH… but only in sections so you can have stretch. The goal here is to make sure not one stitch is visible, so be slow and patient. I whip stitched the front (entire front), and then stitched a few inches in the back.
You can see a little bit in the below picture where I accidentally went all the way through with the thread when I was whip stitching by hand. Try not to poke the top most layer of fabric with your needle. The goal is invisibility.
Now, you remember the bows? Time to put those on. The back bow, obviously goes over the V. I like to whip stitch the back bow right where the V is (you can see my thread hanging down) on both sides of the center of the bow so it sits even against the bodice. If you look closely, you can also see some pins towards the waist, where the bows stick out from the dress form. I sew there, also, because interfacing just isn’t enough to support the weight of the bow.
Same process for the front bow, but with some more stitching… center, sides, and the front tail to maintain shape. You can figure out on your own where these stitches should sit and how you want the tails of your front bow to sit on your chest.
And done!
:)
Next will be the boots… and then pictures of New York Comic Con!!!!
Sailor Scout Glove Rolls.
Hopefully this is easy to follow. It actually wasn’t difficult at all. I suggest stretchy fabric.. 4 way stretch lycra.
Start with a piece of fabric about 7 inches wide, fold it in half.. then sew it shut (raw end) so that you have three inches.
Divide the fabric into 3 sections.
Sew along those lines, and then sew up one end leaving maybe 1/4 or 1/2 an inch for seam allowance. Stuff with quilt batting.
Stuff it up and sew the other end shut… then sew the two seam allowances together.
Trim the allowance and run over the raw edge with a zig zag stitch (or use a serger if you have) and then turn the outside in.
You now have a glove roll. I’m going to whip stitch mine to my gloves, but others may prefer to use snaps or velcro so they can switch out different colors for different scouts.
