CtCon Crunch Day Four

Hey sorry it's late and sorry this is gonna be short. Got not much done today. I did the final touches on my bodice piece and did my wig. I know I warned you that I was busy today but even I'm a bit disappointed I couldn't get anything else done. Well. Gonna try and finish everything up tomorrow I guess cause whatever I have by the end of the night tomorrow is what I'll be wearing Saturday at the con. Anyway wish me luck and here's a tired selfie of me in my wig. MadDog out!

CtCon Crunch Day Three

The saga of running out of time! Yay! Anyways today I finished my boots other than potentially adding in snaps to snap on to my overalls if they can't hold their own wait when the armor has dried on. I also did I few modifications on the bodice but it's not fully complete yet as I'm still working out the kinks in how I am going to take it on and off my body. I didn't get the extra armor that goes on the overalls doen but I did finish everything else to do with the overalls so that's good. Bt I really didn't make any progress on the chest piece at all. Also, as the con is in two days, I've made the decision to just not make the naginata. I will for the next con I wear this cosplay at but for now it is just too much I cannot handle making it as well. Tomorrow I am busy most of the day but in the evening finishing the chest piece and the bodice are the most important things. Next is adding the extra armor to the overalls (and some snaps) and then comes the bandeau. I also must get the wig styled. If I'm not forgetting anything that's it. I hope it all gets done. We'll find out when I post next if some of those tasks are carrying over into Thursday though. For now, enjoy some pictures of each step in my boot-making process and a pic of the inside of my bodice. I hope your cosplay endeavors are better than mine. MadDog out!

My base shoes.

Cut off some straps.

Added a cover and grommets to lace up the back.

Added details. (Now I'm waiting for the armor to dry but then I will get a pic of that too.)

Checklist:

• Worbla
• Wig
• Other wig supplies
• Style wig
• Wig tape
• Need tons of red cord-y stuff
• Overall-y thing Materials
• Make base of overalls
• Add designs to overalls
• Distress overalls
• Spandex for leg armor (under the overalls)
• Other materials (maybe craft foam and more cord)
• Make leg armor
• Elf ears (figure out)
• Bandeau fabric
• Make bandeau
• Distress bandeau
• Bodice thing materials
• Make base of Bodice
• Paint bodice
• Add details
• Figure out feather thing
• Make feather thing
• Buy spandex for lower arm armor
• Make out of worbla and spandex
• Paint
• Add details
• NEED A TON OF GLUE
• Attach to spandex
• Figure out the elastic needed for upper arm armor
• Make upper arm armor
• Paint and distress
• Fabric for scarf
• Beads for scarf
• Make scarf
• Belting materials for chest piece (somewhat done)
• Make chest piece
• Details
• Make leather belts for chest piece
• Add snaps
• Base shoes
• Spandex for shin armor
• Create shoes out of spandex, worbla, and base shoes
• Paint
• Add details
• Put together
• Buy makeup
• Figure out how the heckie you are going to attack the Guardian Naginata (I just really love this weapon so it’s the one I’ve decided to make–although I really do like the Giant’s Knife too even it it’s just because that’s the first weapon you get to use when playing her so maybe I’ll make that as well–and maybe I’ll make the Sheikah Naginata too–stop MadDog make the actual outfit first)
• Make the Gaurdian Naginata
• Just distress everything more for good measure
• Cry over how long this took (repeat as many times as necessary)
• Have fun wearing this BA outfit

CtCon Crunch Day Two

Well, I got everything I wanted to get done yesterday done, but today the stuff I wanted to get done... not so much. Today I wanted to finish my arm armor (minus the hands which I'm still not sure how to tackle) and finish the boots entirely. The arms took longer than I thought and the boots even longer and I'm still not done with them. Also I'm now not sure whether or not they will hold their own weight so this is just becoming a big mess. I have other commitments tomorrow and the next day as well so I'm not doing so great as far as time goes. I'd try and finish them tonight but I've been working pretty much non-stop for two weeks now on this and really need the sleep so after I post this I am going to bed. So I guess tomorrow I'm going to try and finish the boots for good and hope everything turns out well. I also really wanna finish my overalls including the weird armor that needs to go on them and also make progress on the naginata as right now it is just two halves of a tube. And this is pushing it but I'd really love to finish the chest piece completely too. I have some pictures for you guys now. I guess we'll see what happens with everything else tomorrow. MadDog out!

The mess that is my boots.

Checklist:

• Worbla
• Wig
• Other wig supplies
• Style wig
• Wig tape
• Need tons of red cord-y stuff
• Overall-y thing Materials
• Make base of overalls
• Add designs to overalls
• Distress overalls
• Spandex for leg armor (under the overalls)
• Other materials (maybe craft foam and more cord)
• Make leg armor
• Elf ears (figure out)
• Bandeau fabric
• Make bandeau
• Distress bandeau
• Bodice thing materials
• Make base of Bodice
• Paint bodice
• Add details
• Figure out feather thing
• Make feather thing
• Buy spandex for lower arm armor
• Make out of worbla and spandex
• Paint
• Add details
• NEED A TON OF GLUE
• Attach to spandex
• Figure out the elastic needed for upper arm armor
• Make upper arm armor
• Paint and distress
• Fabric for scarf
• Beads for scarf
• Make scarf
• Belting materials for chest piece (somewhat done)
• Make chest piece
• Details
• Make leather belts for chest piece
• Add snaps
• Base shoes
• Spandex for shin armor
• Create shoes out of spandex, worbla, and base shoes
• Paint
• Add details
• Put together
• Buy makeup
• Figure out how the heckie you are going to attack the Guardian Naginata (I just really love this weapon so it’s the one I’ve decided to make–although I really do like the Giant’s Knife too even it it’s just because that’s the first weapon you get to use when playing her so maybe I’ll make that as well–and maybe I’ll make the Sheikah Naginata too–stop MadDog make the actual outfit first)
• Make the Gaurdian Naginata
• Just distress everything more for good measure
• Cry over how long this took (repeat as many times as necessary)
• Have fun wearing this BA outfit

CtCon Crunch

It has been forever. Wanna know why? It's cause I was graduating highschool, then traveling, then being sick for three weeks. I'm very sorry. So to make it up to you people I'm going to post a bunch about my Connecticon Con Crunch that I'm painfully trying to make happen. I was going to start this last week but the thought of finding my camera instead of working on Impa was too dreadful. Now that I've made a ton of progress (the costume is a little over fifty percent done now) I feel like I can use the time when I'm waiting for paint to dry and stuff to find my camera and make a post or two for you all. (Although today you are gonna have to deal with crappy phone photos cause my camera is out of battery. Tomorrow nice pix though.)

It's been so long I hardly know where to start. I have been working a lot with worbla to create armor pieces for Impa and then taking forever to hand paint them with acrylic paint because I don't have the money, time, or cooperating whether to spray paint them. How I make the armor is I first pattern of the pieces with craft foam and hot glue accent craft foam pieces on to that. Then I heat up my worlba with a blow dryer (because I don't have a heat gun) and mold it around that. Using the back of scissor blades, I can make sure the worbla wraps nicely around the accents and it looks pretty cool. Here are some pictures of works in progress. (Nothing's completely done yet but most of the pieces are about ninety percent done.)

And here is my checklist so you can see exactly what I have got done and need to get done.

• Worbla
• Wig
• Other wig supplies
• Style wig
• Wig tape
• Need tons of red cord-y stuff
• Overall-y thing Materials
• Make base of overalls
• Add designs to overalls
• Distress overalls
• Spandex for leg armor (under the overalls)
• Other materials (maybe craft foam and more cord)
• Make leg armor
• Elf ears (figure out)
• Bandeau fabric
• Make bandeau
• Distress bandeau
• Bodice thing materials
• Make base of Bodice
• Paint bodice
• Add details
• Figure out feather thing
• Make feather thing
• Buy spandex for lower arm armor
• Make out of worbla and spandex
• Paint
• Add details
• NEED A TON OF GLUE
• Attach to spandex
• Figure out the elastic needed for upper arm armor
• Make upper arm armor
• Paint and distress
• Fabric for scarf
• Beads for scarf
• Make scarf
• Belting materials for chest piece (somewhat done)
• Make chest piece
• Details
• Make leather belts for chest piece
• Add snaps
• Base shoes
• Spandex for shin armor
• Create shoes out of spandex, worbla, and base shoes
• Paint
• Add details
• Put together
• Buy makeup
• Figure out how the heckie you are going to attack the Guardian Naginata (I just really love this weapon so it’s the one I’ve decided to make–although I really do like the Giant’s Knife too even it it’s just because that’s the first weapon you get to use when playing her so maybe I’ll make that as well–and maybe I’ll make the Sheikah Naginata too–stop MadDog make the actual outfit first)
• Make the Gaurdian Naginata
• Just distress everything more for good measure
• Cry over how long this took (repeat as many times as necessary)
• Have fun wearing this BA outfit

So yeah. Along with making my Stocking cosplay that's what I've been doing. Hopefully when I post again tomorrow I'll have a bunch more done. I'm planning on finishing the last of my Stocking stuff today which includes making arm bands and splicing black and white tights to make her stockings. I also want to finish Impa's upper arm armor, making progress on painting everything that needs to be painted (like add a few layers of paint and whatever), and start making her naginata. If time permits I'd also really love to style her wig but I just don't think that that is going to happen today. And everything else is going to have to wait until the rest of the materials I ordered come in tomorrow so if I get all those things done (doubtful) there won't be any bonus progress. :( Now lets see how much I get done! Hope all of your cosplay plans are coming along just fine and MadDog out!

PS -- I've got a lot requests to post Homestuck photoshoot pictures from Anime Boston so I will be doing that but probably after Connecticon.

Impa and other Announcements

Hey! I hugely overestimated how much free time I was going to have during musical season. BUT I did a ton of cosplay even if I hadn't had time to write a post about it. So here it finally is. Like after a convention and week of cosplay (413).

Just another reason you all should follow me on tumblr. I can post really quick on mobile so even though I'm very busy there is usually new content every day. (It also has a better layout.)

My tumblr cosplay blog: http://telekineticmaniac.tumblr.com/

I'm going to post all of my Anime Boston stuff and 413 stuff over the next few days but today I wanted to start with my future plans. I am hopefully going to be going to some new cons this summer including Connecticon (if I can afford it by the time it rolls around) and maybe even competing in some competitions. What I want to compete as is the new Impa design from the Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors. So I've made a checklist and we shall see what happens. That's all for today. More to come tomorrow. MadDog out!

• Worbla
• Wig supplies
• Style wig
• Wig tape
• Need tons of red cord-y stuff
• Overall-y thing Materials
• Make base of overalls
• Add designs to overalls
• Distress overalls
• Spandex for leg armor (under the overalls)
• Other materials (maybe craft foam and more cord)
• Make leg armor
• Elf ears (figure out)
• Bandeau fabric
• Make bandeau
• Distress bandeau
• Bodice thing materials
• Make base of Bodice
• Paint bodice
• Add details
• Figure out feather thing
• Make feather thing
• Buy spandex for lower arm armor
• Make out of worbla and spandex
• Paint
• Add details
• Figure out the elastic needed for upper arm armor
• Make upper arm armor
• Paint and distress
• Fabric for scarf
• Beads for scarf
• Make scarf
• Belting materials for chest piece
• Make chest piece
• Details
• Base shoes
• Spandex for shin armor
• Create shoes out of spandex, worbla, and base shoes
• Paint
• Add details
• Buy makeup
• Figure out how the heckie you are going to attack the Guardian Naginata (I just really love this weapon so it’s the one I’ve decided to make–although I really do like the Giant’s Knife too even it it’s just because that’s the first weapon you get to use when playing her so maybe I’ll make that as well–and maybe I’ll make the Sheikah Naginata too–stop MadDog make the actual outfit first)
• Make the Gaurdian Naginata
• Just distress everything more for good measure
• Cry over how long this took (repeat as many times as necessary)
• Have fun wearing this BA outfit

Wow it has Been a While

Like the title of this post says, "Wow." I apologize for the wait on this post and the many questions in my email that I didn't exactly respond to with haste. I am here now and hopefully will be back on track at least for a bit. Now where to begin? Uh... Happy New Year? I suppose it's a little late as it is February. For a seriously quick recap on what I accomplished last year, started doing mediocre convention videography (check out me and my moirail's joint channel here), answered lots of questions for people (mostly about Alois Trancy or Seras Victoria although I did suddenly start being asked more about Homestuck at the end of the year--remember to email me if you have questions at wickedcosplay@yahoo.com), made a crapton of costumes and other clothing, AND got into college!!! Woo! And all thanks to this blog or I wouldn't have had a portfolio to get into MassArt (because guess who's never taken a high school art class? this girl)! So thanks followers and other random people who ask me questions because you have helped me continue to stick with this blog. Check out my acceptance letter envelope. (I thought it was funny and great.)

Okay so what's the deal for the future and what is with that photo at the beginning of the post? Well it's part of my future plans. For Anime Bosotn 2015 I told you all that I wanted to make a Trickster Dirk and a Bec Noir Cosplay but unfortunately the people I was planning to do these characters in group cosplays with had things come up and they can't attend Anime Boston at all. So I had to think of new cosplays to do so that we could still premiere those group cosplays potentially at another con. Pictured at the beginning of this post is the start to Friday's new cosplay plan, or Serenity (Homestuck). She is a firefly. And arguably the most overlooked character in Homestuck as my friend Justin (his tumblr and his facebook page) so bluntly put. He's the one you have to thank for this cosplay. As for Saturday's plan I think I'm bringing back Gamzee Makara (also Homestuck--all Homestuck all the time right now) except this time making a Sober!Gamzee instead of a Sopor!Gamzee for those of you who have a clue what that means. (In short I'm doing insane Gamzee instead of chill Gamzee.)

So that's it for Anime Boston but what am I doing for the rest of the year? Other conventions hopefully. Although probably not Boston Comic Con now that I've found out how expensive it is this year ($100 are you kidding me--it's not even a big con). Hopefully meetups. And hopefully photoshoots and/or cosplay videos. I wanna let you guys see what I'm doing more instead of a few photos from a con and maybe seeing me at said con if you happen to live in my area. Yup.

Also I have started integrating myself into technology (crazy right) and now own an iPod touch instead of just and iPod classic. This means I can use apps and recommend that you get this cosplay one if you aren't great at planning and keeping track of your cosplay "checklist." It's called cosplanner and has been a huge help to me. Here are a few screenshots of it's functions but it also has space for reference pictures and more!

Lastly I encourage you to follow me on tumblr for more frequent cosplay updates and such. Instead of these random, wordy posts that I only make when I've finished a piece of a project (or made substantial progress).

I apologize for being so uncertain throughout this post but I just thought it might be good to touch base with you all because I've been busy for quite a bit. I hope your cosplays are all coming along well and that you have a great year ahead of you. Hope to talk soon. MadDog out!

Karkat (Beep Beep Meow) Cosplay Finished

So at my school we had a twin day for the play I was in a few days ago so of course me and my friends said screw twin day and did triplet day and dressed up as Karkat. So my Karkat cosplay is done. I'm not gray but here are some pictures. Another one crossed off of the list.

My friend Soondra, who has now been to two cons as the mayor, is the other person featured in these photos. Ana-tama was the other frond but was feeling camera shy so she's not shown. That's all for now. MadDog out!

God Tier John Done!

Done. I repeat done. I was not at all expecting to have a new cosplay completed so soon after I did my giant Elsa project simply because I'm almost completely broke right now. The reason I was able to make this is because I actually got all of the materials for free. Yes, you heard me right, for free. My grandmother was clearing out some of her old fabric and she just happened to have two yards of navy blue fabric which I used for John's hood and I had the remains of a gift card to A. C. Moore which just happened to be having a gigantic sale last weekend so I got three t-shirts with it. Although the colors aren't perfect (because the fabric was random and the shirts they had left as A. C. Moore weren't quite right), free is free. And it is because of this fact that I have a post for you today.

The shirt was (you guessed it) just done with fabric paint. (I know I know, you love me for my new techniques with every outfit. Ahhhhhh... so much sarcasm.)

John does not know how to feel about the update.

I made this hood in twenty minutes and I wish I could tell you how but I completely winged it.







If I were to redo this, which I prolly will at some point in time, the thing I would want to redo most is the hood because although it made me happy being able to throw it together in twenty minutes, the fabric is just not right. It doesn't drape well and it isn't the right color really. But it was free so right now I'm ecstatic. Also, if I am able to go to Alternicon, I will be wearing this for at least one of the days and when I wear it, I will prolly have painted my shoes yellow and blue by then. Just really happy with my zero dollar outfit. Have you accomplished anything like this before? Aaaaaaaand MadDog out!

Elsa's Like Almost Done

Guys. It's almost done. The train is done but still needs to be attached (and so do the sleeves--right now they are just pinned) but like here it is. You can like see a dress nows. I'm so excited for this do be done and to make little kids happy at Triton is Haunted. Yay! Here are some pictures! (My face looked terrible in both pictures so none of that. Enjoy some rectangles instead.) MadDog out!

Hey Hey Mituna is Done

I'm so very excited for Another Anime Convention! My Mituna is completely finished and my friends who are going are almost done with their costumes as well. Although I'm only going Sunday, I know the other Bostonstucks will be a blast so it should be rad. Here's a photo of the whole outfit minus the makeup because I didn't feel like having to put on and then take off gray paint before marching band practice.

FYI: I made thing wings with random materials around my house (i. e. wire, fabric, and hot glue).

And the wig is just my generic shaggy black wig that I like to use. It's Arda's Hansel but this time around I also attached some styled long bangs to make it Mituna accurate. (1 C4N7 533 4NY7H1NG!)

Random update! I actually have been asked my the PTA at my school to wear my Elsa cosplay to an event we run called Triton is Haunted so as long as everything goes according to plan, you shall be seeing a completed Elsa before October 25th instead of October 31st. Should be fun. That's all for now. MadDog out!

Just Some Elsa Progress

Well, as of the last post, it was officially decided that I would be making an Elsa cosplay (from Frozen). Since then, I have made a lot of progress some of which I will be showing you all here. The lighting isn't the best (it is my basement after all) but check it out.

I got these beautiful sequins from this wonderful place I found called Athena Beads. It has a huge variety of high quality bead, sequins, and crafting supplies in general and I just love these sequins. Eventually all of the sequins will be sewn down with those tiny little beads you can see on some of them, which I just got at Joann's. (Hopefully add and extra sparkle to everything.) And if you are wondering where this glorious fabric came from, I got from this Etsy shop. It's expensive I'll admit, in fact this whole project has just been expensive (although I have been pretty good about finding deals where I am able), the fabric is quality and the pictures really doesn't do it's beauty justice.

These here are the sleeves although they are not complete quite yet. To minimize (French) seams, I went for raglan sleeves. Haha you can see my started Daenerys armor still on Phyllis (my dress form).

Aaaaaand that's my messy workspace. Wig hair everywhere fabric lying about, altered pattern pieces all over the place, etc. Welcome to the world of cosplay.

Along with this progress, I have also worked a lot on the train and worked on the wig which you shall see when it is fully styled. (Just FYI: the wig I bought is Arda's Suzi in Titanium Blonde AR017 altered by sewing in a pack of long wefts in that color to add to the thickness.) That's all for now--I hope you are excited for the final product! MadDog out!

P.S. It's official! I'm going to Sunday of Another Anime Convention. If you're going look for an odd Mituna Captor cosplayer and strike up a conversation if you so choose.

I Have Officially Gone Round the Bend

I cannot believe that I am typing this. The entire purpose of creating a Daenerys cosplay (instead of Zelda) was to take away from my gigantic pile of cosplay work. I was persuaded over the course of the year however to do this new costume and I have finally given in. For better or for worse, I will now be creating a cosplay that is probably overdone (what even ever--personally I think people should be able to do whatever outfit we want whether it's "overdone" or not) from Disney's Frozen. I will be creating (if you haven't guessed it yet) a Queen Elsa costume.

What is wrong with me, you ask? I have no idea. The reason I was finally persuaded to make this outfit is however, is the fact that I will be making it in collaboration with my mother. This means that we plan everything out together (which eliminates the dumb mistakes I usually make), then she'll pattern while I work on schoolwork, and then we'll sit down and make it all happen. For example, yesterday we worked a lot on the train/cape. In the morning we planned it out before I went to marching band, in the afternoon I worked on homework while she taped hundreds of pieces of newspaper together until they were the size of the fabric that we had bought, then we laid out where all the snowflakes would go and made a lot of the train/cape. It was a lot easier than just me doing everything but after this project I will be going back to that method (as I do enjoy being able to say that I made the entire cosplay).

I am also helping Ana-tama through her Anna (as she was originally going to be the Arya to my Daenerys, her plans changed to Frozen as well) and Jade cosplays right now. She's made a lot more progress than I have (but of course she's had my help sooooooo....) and now has a Jade skirt, part of her Jade shirt, the fabric for her jade hood, and materials for an awesome prop. For Anna she has cut out all of the skirt fabric, has materials for the bodice, and has a wig (to be styled). I have started the train/cape, ordered fabric for my dress, bought (literally) thousands of sequins (from some place in Europe), and ordered a wig (which has unfortunately been backordered as apparently everyone wants an Elsa wig for Halloween--it should come in in time so hopefully it will). That's about all for now--wish me luck! MadDog out!

The End of the Summer

It's official everyone. Tomorrow I'm back in school therefor today is the last day of summer. I've done a lot and I hope you all have as well. Now let's see what I've actually accomplished. Master list time!

THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL! This involves:

1. Finish the pain in the butt Jacket.
2. Complete the vest.
3. Make some booty shorts.
4. Acquire thigh-high socks.
5. Buy a wig.

• Completing either my C.C. or Homura Akemi (both of which I have already begun).

For Homura:

1. Finish skirt.
2. Make boots.
3. Make blouse (undershirt?).
4. Make "outershirt." (yeah, not sure what to call it)
5. Make headband.
6. Make gem hand piece.
7. Buy wig.

Or for C.C.:

1. Make boots.
2. Make shorts.
3. Make crop top.
4. Make arm things.
5. Make main uniform.
6. Make belt.

• Making my Senior Dress-Up Day costume (which I thought was going to be Zelda but now that I've taken on Hajime she may be off the table. I dunno--we'll see).

1. Figure out what my costume will be.
2. Skirt.
3. Undershirt.
4. Top.
5. Armor.
6. Wig.
7. Shoes.
8. Dragon.

• Starting both a 833 M17UN4 C4P70R (Bee Mituna Captor from Homestuck) and a Trickster Dirk Strider (also from Homestuck).

4 M17UN4 C4P70R:

1. Striped shirt.
2. Long-sleeved black t-shirt.
3. Black pants.
4. Yellow boots.
5. Antenna. (Note: Didn't want to wear two headbands.) Flower crown instead.
6. Wings.
7. Horns.
8. Black wig.

And for Dirk Strider:

1. Blue shirt.
2. Orange suspenders.
3. Yellow bow tie.
4. Anime shades.
5. Orange pants with pinstripes. 
6. Blue Chucks.
7. Striped arm warmers.
8. Heavily-styled red wig.
9. Orange soda head piece.

• Designing and making the shoes, legs, and bodice of my Hajime Ichinose. (Preferably the arms as well but saving the wig, head piece, and skirt for later.)

So what do I have to say about this ridiculous checklist I made at the beginning of the summer.
Well for one, it was a completely impractical list of goals money-wise. You're probably wondering how I managed to not do any work on Hajime the whole summer and that's because her complex outfit was too expensive. Not too far into the summer I realized that I could either use my money on Hajime and do nothing else all summer (just part of what I wanted to do for Hajime) or use my money on about half of the things I wanted to get done. I chose the latter because it gave me more of a variety of things to accomplish and helped me accomplish things that I needed sooner than Hajime. Hajime is a dream cosplay that is going to be made over the course of a long period of time.
Two, this list was completely impractical time-wise. I actually was able to acquire more materials than I had anticipated and most of things on this giant list (excluding Hajime) are sitting in my cellar waiting to be transformed into articles of clothing or otherwise specified. However, although it was THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY! I still had a ton of other things I needed to do before my hobby of making cosplay.
So taking these two things into consideration, I feel that I accomplished a great deal this summer and present to you now a revised list (which includes what materials I have for the items not completed):

THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL! This involves:

1. Finish the pain in the butt Jacket.
2. Complete the vest.
3. Make some booty shorts. (Materials.)
4. Acquire thigh-high socks.
5. Buy a wig.

• Completing C.C.

1. Make boots. (Materials.)
2. Make shorts. (Materials.)
3. Make crop top. (Materials.)
4. Make arm things. (Materials.)
5. Make main uniform.
6. Make belts. (Materials.)

• Make my Senior Dress-Up Day costume:

1. Figure out what my costume will be.
2. Skirt. (Materials.)
3. Undershirt. (Materials.)
4. Top. (In progress.)
5. Armor. (In progress.)
6. Wig.
7. Shoes. (May paint them brown though.)
   
8. Dragon? (Materials.)

• Start my Mituna Captor bee outfit:

1. Striped shirt.
2. Long-sleeved black t-shirt.
3. Black pants.
4. Yellow boots.
5. Flower crown.
6. Wings.
7. Horns.
8. Black wig.

BONUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

• Finished my Homura Akemi skirt.
• Made my Trickster Dirk Strider t-shirt.
• Pulled costumes out of thin air for an entire cast. 
• Did nerdy things in Britain.
• Threw together a last minute Gamzee cosplay.
• Went to Boston Comic Con.
• Made some anime shades for Dirk.
• Started making automail for a way in the future cosplay as a fun activity with a friend.

So there you have it. If you, like me, made an entirely impractical list of cosplay tasks for the summer, I recommend for you to not beat yourself up over not accomplishing every little thing but celebrate what you were able to accomplish. You did a ton of work on top of all those other activities and you should be proud of what you achieved. Now it's time to say goodbye to THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY! so take a little break (this could be an hour, a day, a week, a month without cosplay--for me prolly an hour) and then get back into the swing of things doing what you love to do: cosplay.



And now a few last minute notes about upcoming progress and events. If you're wondering why I suddenly took an interest in my Mituna outfit, it's because hopefully I will be attending Sunday of Another Anime Con (AAC) and dressing up as Mituna then. The next closest event after AAC is Senior Dress-Up Day so along with Mituna, Dany will also be taking priority in the progress schedule. After that I'll probably go back to C.C. and other Homestuck cosplays while trying to find or make shorts for my Alois cosplay. This is obviously subject to change due to money issues. For example: I know my Dany wig is going to cost a small fortune so I may go back to working on C.C. while I save money for more Dany simply because I already have the materials. Yep. That's all for upcoming progress really. As for events other than AAC and Senior Dress-Up Day, unless I'm already busy (do to play rehearsals or something) you can count on me attending Anime Boston 2015. I'll let you know if other things pop up. You can always check the countdowns in the sidebar to see what's in my radar but none of those are for certain until I "formally" bring them up in a post. One other thing about conventions. I really love Homestuck and the Homestuck fandom itself is so much fun to just be with so for conventions in the future you can pretty much count on at least one Homestuck cosplay. (I'm sorry if you don't like Homestuck as much as I but this is the way it is.) I hope you enjoyed THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY! and are looking forward to upcoming progress and events but for now, MadDog out!

Mituna Bonus Progress

Well, over the course of the last now many weeks (with a two week break in the middle for Britain) that I have been working on C.C. I have also been slowly gathering materials and doing things for my Mituna Captor bee outfit. I still need yellow shoes of some ilk (hopefully boots), wings, and a wig to complete this cosplay but it's coming along pretty great so I thought I'd show you what I have so far.

Instead of making antenna and having to wear two headbands, I decided to make a flower crown instead. To make one I was lazy and just looked up a tutorial. I used the first one I found on Youtube (This One Here) and it was pretty quick and simple. That's about all for Mituna.

Bonus Bonus! I also made some anime shades for Dirk. I made them in ten minutes with random stuff I had lying around my house (i.e. plexiglass, a Sharpie, glasses frames, and hot glue). I can see out of them which is good but this means that in the light they look really crappy (like you can see all the Sharpie lines on the plastic). Anyway they were a fast, fun project. MadDog out!

THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL!
• Completing either my C.C. or Homura Akemi (both of which I have already begun).
• Making my Senior Dress-Up Day costume (which I thought was going to be Zelda but now that I've taken on Hajime she may be off the table. I dunno--we'll see).
• Starting both a 833 M17UN4 C4P70R (Bee Mituna Captor from Homestuck) and a Trickster Dirk Strider (also from Homestuck).

4 M17UN4 C4P70R:

1. Striped shirt.
2. Long-sleeved black t-shirt.
3. Black pants.
4. Yellow boots.
5. Antenna. (Note: Didn't wanna wear two headbands.) Flower crown instead.
6. Wings.
7. Horns.
8. Black wig.

And for Dirk Strider:

1. Blue shirt.
2. Orange suspenders.
3. Yellow bow tie.
4. Anime shades.
5. Orange pants with pinstripes. 
6. Blue Chucks.
7. Striped arm warmers.
8. Heavily-styled red wig.
9. Orange soda head piece.

• Designing and making the shoes, legs, and bodice of my Hajime Ichinose. (Preferably the arms as well but saving the wig, head piece, and skirt for later.)

C.C. Main Uniform

FINALLY, the progress post you've been waiting for. I did most of this before I left but basically I never got around to sewing it all together. I thought it was kind of worthless posting a photo of all the patterning work I had done (i.e. a bunch of pieces of fabric), so I waited until after I was finished to post this. But anyway, I have now completed the main part of my C.C. uniform. Here are some mediocre pictures.

Construction Notes: 

I took the pattern I used for my Alois jack and modified it to create my C.C. Uniform pattern. The reason i chose this pattern in particular was because it has two pieces to each of it's four main sections (front right, front left, back right, back left). This way i could lengthen it easier and have the center of each section (the seam between the two pieces) be the point on the end of each of the four sections of the uniform. I completely patterned out my own overlay to make the top part of the uniform which took a lot of trial and error until i figured out the right look. I also bought a bunch of gold fabric in order to keep each of the gold parts accurate. Clearly some parts are just strips of gold fabric and other times the gold is piping (like around the collar area). Making my own piping from the gold fabric was interesting as I had up until this point never made piping before. It's always fun learning new stuff though, so it was tedious yet fulfilling. Because i got a bunch of gold fabric, hopefully I'll be able to use it for the boots i have to make as well. Other stuff to be posted soon. (And don't worry, I'm not taking another trip to some far away from my computer place.) MadDog out!


THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL!
• Completing either my C.C. or Homura Akemi (both of which I have already begun).

For Homura:

1. Finish skirt.
2. Make boots.
3. Make blouse (undershirt?).
4. Make "outershirt." (yeah, not sure what to call it)
5. Make headband.
6. Make gem hand piece.
7. Buy wig.

Or for C.C.:

1. Make boots.
2. Make shorts.
3. Make crop top.
4. Make arm things.
5. Make main uniform.
6. Make belt.

• Making my Senior Dress-Up Day costume (which I thought was going to be Zelda but now that I've taken on Hajime she may be off the table. I dunno--we'll see).
• Starting both a 833 M17UN4 C4P70R (Bee Mituna Captor from Homestuck) and a Trickster Dirk Strider (also from Homestuck).
• Designing and making the shoes, legs, and bodice of my Hajime Ichinose. (Preferably the arms as well but saving the wig, head piece, and skirt for later.)

Daenerys Started!

Well, as you already know, I've started work on my Dany armor. Although she appears to have a sort of leather breastplate, I will be attempting to create it from craft foam and hoping it looks how I want it to. I'm doing this because for my Hajime Ichinose cosplay I will be using craft foam and worbla, and I want to have at least a little bit of knowledge of how to use craft foam before I start attempting her complex outfit. So, all last week I struggled trying to learn the ins and outs of craft foam and now this week things are going by smoothly (mostly because the addition of Phyllis). Here is what I have so far. I'm hoping that over the next few days I can finish the base and get a coat of Gesso on and if all goes well, maybe I'll be painting soon. Wish me luck! MadDog out!

THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL!
• Completing either my C.C. or Homura Akemi (both of which I have already begun).
• Making my Senior Dress-Up Day costume (which I thought was going to be Zelda but now that I've taken on Hajime she may be off the table. I dunno--we'll see).

1. Figure out what my costume will be.
2. Skirt.
3. Undershirt.
4. Top.
5. Armor.
6. Wig.
7. Shoes.
8. Dragon?

• Starting both a 833 M17UN4 C4P70R (Bee Mituna Captor from Homestuck) and a Trickster Dirk Strider (also from Homestuck).
• Designing and making the shoes, legs, and bodice of my Hajime Ichinose. (Preferably the arms as well but saving the wig, head piece, and skirt for later.)

Just an Update

All last week I struggled with craft foam trying to make armor for Daenerys. My struggle however, proved futile as I didn't have a dress form and it's really hard to see what shapes will actually look like on me without a form simply because I am not a master pattern-maker. Through a series of events I learned that my grandmother had a dress form and no need of it so I picked it up yesterday and now have one. Yay! I'm hoping my armor-making will go by much faster now that I have a form. (Her name is Phyllis. Expect an armor post soonish if all goes well.) And since I feel I must have some actual progress in this seemingly unimportant post... I found some old knee-high socks in my dresser that have these big holes in the bottom. Pretty useless right? WRONG! I stuck my feet though the holes and now have the allusion of thigh-high socks for my Alois. One more thing off my list! MadDog out!

P.S. Anime Boston's 2015 theme is "Kaiju vs. Mecha"--I'M SO EXCITED!!!

THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL! This involves:

1. Finish the pain in the butt Jacket.
2. Complete the vest.
3. Make some booty shorts.
4. Acquire black, thigh-high socks.
5. Buy a wig.

• Completing either my C.C. or Homura Akemi (both of which I have already begun).
• Making my Senior Dress-Up Day costume (which I thought was going to be Zelda but now that I've taken on Hajime she may be off the table. I dunno--we'll see).
• Starting both a 833 M17UN4 C4P70R (Bee Mituna Captor from Homestuck) and a Trickster Dirk Strider (also from Homestuck).
• Designing and making the shoes, legs, and bodice of my Hajime Ichinose. (Preferably the arms as well but saving the wig, head piece, and skirt for later.)

Homura Akemi Skirt Finished

Another half-finished project piece done! I hemmed and sewed ruffles onto the bottom of my Homura Akemi skirt thus completing it. Here are a few pictures. MadDog out!

THE SUMMER OF COSPLAY!

• FINISHING MY FRACKING ALOIS TRANCY COSPLAY ONCE AND FOR ALL!
• Completing either my C.C. or Homura Akemi (both of which I have already begun).

For Homura:

1. Finish skirt.
2. Make boots.
3. Make blouse (undershirt?).
4. Make "outershirt." (yeah, not sure what to call it)
5. Make headband.
6. Make gem hand piece.
7. Buy wig.

Or for C.C.:

1. Make boots.
2. Make shorts.
3. Make crop top.
4. Make arm things.
5. Make main uniform.
6. Make belt.

• Making my Senior Dress-Up Day costume (which I thought was going to be Zelda but now that I've taken on Hajime she may be off the table. I dunno--we'll see).
• Starting both a 833 M17UN4 C4P70R (Bee Mituna Captor from Homestuck) and a Trickster Dirk Strider (also from Homestuck).
• Designing and making the shoes, legs, and bodice of my Hajime Ichinose. (Preferably the arms as well but saving the wig, head piece, and skirt for later.)