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.)

Alois Trancy Part Five: Vest

I definitely would've preferred to be starting something big and new this post but my most recent trip to the fabric store did not prove to be as fruitful as I might have hoped and I have had this fabric lying around for a while. I basically took the day Friday to whip it into a (heavily modified to actually fit me) almost finished vest and completed it over the weekend. Here is the final product. I got the lines down the front just by using a fabric marker and a ruler. MadDog out!

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.)

Alois Trancy Part Four: Jacket (COMPLETE!)

I wasn't able to get to Promstuck and I'm really bummed about that as it looked like it was a great time but...

Yay! It's finally done! My Alois jacket is finished once and for all. Okay well maybe not "once and for all." I am not against redoing it at some point as it isn't my best work. This is because when I started making this jacket, I wasn't sewing everyday and only had mediocre sewing skills and the fabric I chose to work with was really just awful to sew. This means that by the time I got around to finishing the jacket, I had developed much better skills and now the jacket is kind of awkwardly terrible looking in some places but quite nice in others. (Also the pleats aren't accurate because I really just wanted it done--especially after three and a half hours of ripping out old basting stitches yesterday.) But it's done. So for now, I'll take it! Now on to the vest. Here's a picture of me in my completed Alois Jacket. Sorry about the wet hair and how disgusting my bro let's his mirror become. Hope you enjoyed this long awaited post. MadDog out!





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.)

Alois Trancy Cosplay Part Three: Jacket (In Progress)

For those of you that have been waiting for an Alois update, here you are! I know, I know... That was a horrific wait and I'm very, very sorry but I'm still not quite done. Sorry. I did work for six hours yesterday though so I wanted to show you all what I have done.
To start off, this is where I was before my work yesterday:

I know, pretty pathetic. In my defense, I had to rip out tons of stitches cause I sewed the wrong pieces together and this fabric really is just a pain in the butt to sew. It has also died my ironing board purple. :(

I basically ended up sewing all those strips on the floor into the thing above. Below is what it looks like on me so far. Please don't mind all of the crap on the mirror (my family hardly uses this bathroom so it's not really that clean). My summary of this project so far, I hate sewing this fabric but it looks really good. The 99 cent pattern I got at Joann's is really working for this cosplay and giving it the nice flare at the bottom that I thought would be a problem. Off topic: now you all know what I look like after six hours of sewing. I call it the, "I don't give a crap," look. Note the messy hair, nail polish on one hand but not the other, and men's Jurassic Park t-shirt. To completely match this look however, you must strive for the look of happy annoyance and utter not-caring also known as the, "I don't give a crap smile." Moving on, to finish this jacket, I need to a) attach the collar and sleeves, and then b) sew all of the lining into it. Should be fun. (Ha! Hurts so good.) That's about it! Hope you all enjoyed this bizarre post. MadDog out!

Bagle As Alois Trancy... Sort Of

Hi people. Just posting these not-so-great but amazing-anyways pictures of my friend, Bagle. There you have it.

Bye bye now!

Alois Trancy Cosplay Part Two: Jacket

Next, I started working on the jacket part of my Alois cosplay.

When searching for fabric, I eventually went for a more purpley fabric as opposed to a more maroon fabric and a dark purple liner also. Unfortunately, I have not made enough worthy progress due to much busy-ness lately so this is all I'm posting. Hopefully next time you see a jacket post, some actual progress will have been made. Haunted Halloween everyone!

Alois Trancy Cosplay Part One: Boots

When I first started breaking down his outfit into pieces, I decided to start with his boots. Now, if you remember earlier, I said that I didn't like buying cosplays because that would be cheating but I would end up cheating a little bit on this one. Well, even though I'm cheating, I really don't want to buy something from a cosplay website because that would still be too easy. Instead, I decided that I would try to find everything I needed from someplace different. (Note: I said try.) I started with his boots because I figured it would be incredibly difficult to find boots in a similar style. (I was proven correct.) I knew that they weren't going to be exact, so I narrowed down a list of characteristics that I wanted the most. Here it is:

• Dark brown (light brown or black will not cut it)
• About knee high (give or take a little)
• Correct heel shape (height doesn't matter as long as the shape is right)

 When I first started looking for them, I didn't even bother to try and look for boots with ribbons let alone purple ones because I figured it would be dead near impossible to find. Finding boots the correct height with the right heel was not hard at all but finding them in the right color was a nightmare. I quickly figured out that if I wanted the fancy heel, I could usually only find them in a light brown or simply black. Unfortunately, I'm stubborn. I would not settle for that. After days of searching, I had still only found a list options that had two of the three requirements. Then, I had a "Duh" moment and realized that I hadn't looked on ebay. I quickly found what I was looking for.

The boots I found are just above the knee (according to the company even though they only go up to my knee), a lovely dark brown, and have the fancy heel (taller than Alois' but that's okay). They are actually made to be laced with ribbons and came with long brown ones that I have replaced with purple. If you want more information on the boots (they come in brown and black), don't be shy (Light), just ask. Later!

First Project I Shall Be Blogging About

Hello Nobody!
I hope that you're all glad that I started this blog!
It's good to see you here!

I'm just going to jump right into this, my first project will be an Earl Alois Trancy cosplay from the anime Kuroshitsuji II or Black Butler II. I don't really like buying cosplays because I feel that that is taking the easy way out. But saying that, I will admit I will be buying things for this cosplay (just not the whole thing). If you don't know the anime, here he is (he's the blondie-bear):

If you want to know more about the character or the series (manga or anime) just ask. (Did you get both references?) See ya!