How to Make Patches (When You are in a Fix)

Today I worked more on my Seras Victoria (I figured I should as Anime Boston is in a little more than a week--haha, I'm doomed) and I thought I 'd showed you how to make patches with only a few materials (and no talent for embroidery). It's really quite simple. The first thing you have to do is find a scrap of fabric a little bigger than the patch you would like to make. Then, draw an outline of the patch onto the fabric. After that you want to cut the fabric out but make sure to leave a little extra around the edges and iron that down (on the outline) for a smooth edge. Then all you have to do is paint the design you want on to the other side of the patch and hand stitch it to the whatever garment you want to put it on. More Seras soon. MadDog out!

Random Cosplay Tips #4

• If you are going to be wearing shoes that give you blisters for the whole a day, do yourself a favor and put bandaids on your feet before you start your day.
• Research before you take on crazy, what would usually be considered out of your ability projects.
• It's always better to have too much fabric than too little.
• If you can get away with it, use lightweight material when making your props.
• Always aim for perfection! 

Just a bit of randomness to tide you over! MadDog out!

Random Cosplay Tips #3

I'm very sorry if I end up repeating things I've said in these posts. As they are random, I have no idea what I've said randomly before. I hope that you'll still enjoy these posts anyways though.

• Ask questions of other cosplayers. If you want to know how they made that awesome prop, usually cosplayers are glad to share. (Seriously though, don't be scared--all it does is show that you have interest in their costume and can be taken as a compliment.)
• Knee length hair can be really hard to deal with (no... really), so get used to it beforehand or choose a character with short hair before sporting the super-long wig to a convention. (Guys, just trust me on this one. My hair was that length for the better part of my life--only recently did I get it cut.)
• MAKEUP! Every cosplayer should wear makeup--in the very least foundation--because your cosplay will look so much better in photos.
• Don't be that person who has a completely beautiful cosplay and then wears sneakers. Pay attention to your characters footwear.
• Pose! Right now I pretty much suck at taking pictures. Don't be like me--look completely awesome with an in character pose in yours.

That's all I got for now! MadDog out!

Random Cosplay Tips #2

More random tips! Yay!

• If you have a super long wig, make sure you bring a (wide-toothed) comb to brush out the tangles at a con. (It's super effective!)
• Pick an outfit that will "compliment" the con you are gong to. What I mean by this is, if you are going to a con in the middle of the winter, you should dress accordingly. Pick an outfit that will allow you to do so.
• If you don't like the idea of putting wigs in bags (or you just can't because they are so long and you have so many of them), buy an over the door shoe rack and hang your wigs on that.
• Use garment bags to transport your cosplay different places.
• If you can find something specific, go to a thrift store. If you cannot find exactly what you are looking, you won't be spending full price to alter something. Thrift stores can save you tons of time and money.
• Make sure you buy a good quality wig!

Random Cosplay Tips #1

So, sometimes I find these random cosplay tips that have the potential to be randomly helpful and I make a mental note of them. But I can only hold so many random mental notes at once. If I have too many mental notes to remember, I'm basically going to dump them into a post titled "Random Cosplay Tips #_." And this is going to be the first one.

• If you need to order things online (which happens a lot in cosplay) but you do not have a credit card, buy yourself one of those prepaid visa gift card things (I know, good description). 
• 99¢ patterns. Don't waste your money on overly priced patterns. If you aren't confiden tin your own pattern-making, wait until there is a 99¢ pattern sale at Joann's.
• Speaking of patterns, if you do make your own, LABEL YOUR PATTERN PIECES! It really sucks if you can't tell what which piece is which and you want to re-use a pattern. :(
• For cons, get a portable wig stand so that you don't have to with "bag head" (or worse) all over again.

That's about it for now! I know that this was short but I hope this post was a help! MadDog out!

Save Everything Part Two

You know those people who have jars of coins or rolls of coins or whatever because they never use the change they acquire? If you are cosplayer, you need to be those people. At the end of the day or week or whatever, put all of your spare change in a jar. You never know when it will come in handy and I'll tell you right now, cosplay emergencies are not uncommon.

Save Everything!

Recycle! Guys. Many, many things can be re-used for cosplay. For example, I have about ten, giant cardboard boxes in my closet right now that I can use in the future for making props. (My marching band got new uniforms not-too-long ago and I took all of the boxes that they came in. Yes, many people thought that I was an idiot walking down the halls with giant boxes but also, many people compliment my props. So there.) Here's a short list of examples of things that can be re-used.

• Extra fabric ("But it's just an extra foot of purple fabric," you say, "Why?" No whining! It will save your butt someday.)
• Patterns (If you make your own patterns or buy patterns, don't waste more time and money when you can re-use a pattern. Just don't)
• Parts of school uniforms (A lot of school uniforms are similar in design and if you've made one, you can re-use pieces of it for other uniforms.)
• Cardboard (If you don't want to, you don't have to take boxes from your school but you can always save cardboard form things that you get in the mail or even things like cereal boxes.)
• Wigs (Yes, you read that correctly. Wigs can be incredibly expensive. If you have a character with similar hair to a character that you've previously cosplayed, re-style that wig for the new character--do not buy another $50 wig. Save your money.)
• Shoes (If you can make a shoe cover for $5 instead of buying shoes for $50, make the shoe cover and re-use some shoes.)

My point here is, you can re-use a lot of things for cosplay so why not do so? (Heck, it'll save you a ton of money!) I hope that this has helped in your own cosplaying adventure. MadDog out!

Altering Clothes for Cosplay

If you are new to cosplay and don't know how to sew (or you just stink at sewing), you are going to love the idea of altering clothing. We all know that there are tons of wicked awesome characters to cosplay who have wicked awesome crazy outfits but there are also characters who have much simpler outfits--outifts that you can make either completely with everyday clothing or by altering everyday clothing--and are still wicked awesome. Just to start you off and show you what I mean, here are some examples of cosplays you can make by buying and/or altering everyday clothing:

• Androids 17 and 18 from Dragon Ball Z
• Many Death Note characters (Light, L, Near, etc.)
• Fate/Zero masters also generally have ordinary clothing (hold of on the servants however as they are much more difficult to make)
• Pokémon characters (especially from the earlier seasons if you don't want to deal with the ridiculous hair)
• Ouran High School Host Club (the casual outfits in that show are fairly simple)
• Homestuck 

Hope this helps! MadDog out!

Helpful Tips to Surviving Your First Convention

BEFORE YOU GO:

• Check the regulations and whatnot. No rule-breaking (especially on accident).
• Don't wear a cosplay that has revealing clothing if you are self-conscious. (Everyone will see you.) You will ruin it for yourself and people who want pictures of you and whatnot.
• DO NOT EVER wear a costume that was put together last minute (unless you did a freaking wonderful, amazing, excellent job and that's NOT taking into consideration that you made it last minute).
• Make sure that if you are not using the convention hotel(s), that you find a hotel near a convenience store (just in case) and bring snacks for your room.
• And before you leave, make sure that you HAVE A CAMERA!!! (and extra battery packs... and stuff) and a small repair kit. (Include a needle or two, some thread, a hot glue gun, etc.)

WHILE YOU ARE THERE:

• STAY HYDRATED!!! (Water. Not caffeinated drinks.)
• Always take a buddy. (Yay! Kindergarten!)
• Always ask for permission before you take a photo of someone.
• Make friends and exchange info.
• Check boards and official things often for photoshoots.
• Keep track of your spending. It's really easy to spend big money while you are there. (Ration money if you need to.)
• No stalking people (just, no) and don't act better than anyone else. (These better be obvious.)

(MadDog's Note: People have been emailing me about the bullet, "DO NOT EVER wear a costume that was put together last minute." They tell me it can be a blast freaking out and making costumes at the last minute and they are right. I'm revising my statement to, "DO NOT EVER wear a costume that was put together last minute TO YOUR FIRST CONVENTION." Simply because you don't want to ruin your first convention experience. Yes, this list can be used as a sort of checklist for all cons but it was made with the idea of helping first-time convention-goers so keep that in mind. Hope this clears everything up. Thank you. MadDog out!)