storywriter

colossal con: june 27-29.

costumes:
- ep 50 eureka
- SOF eureka
- sundress asuka
- rosemary
- tsukino


TO-DO:

eurekas:
[ ] fix strap on wings
[ ] recolor wig
[ ] paint/glue hairclips
[ ] finish SOF dress
[ ] finish boots
[ ] make thighpouch
[ ] THAT DAMN COLLAR.
[ ] where is my forehead jewel?
[ ] make sure white ep 50 dress still fits D:

asuka:
[ ] buy more yellow fabric and...
[ ] remake sundress!!!

tsukino:
[ ] make new hairbows


i really can't wait to cosplay asuka again. i haven't worn her in over a year. ;___;
shoot, it's been months since i've even put on a wig. last summer. i really miss it. i just needed a break from cosplay for a few reasons... i'm trying to lose my winter fat so i can look good for the con in june. no more junk food for me. :x

lolno.

i knew this would happen. i wanted to get my SOF dress done before break while i was still up at school with cortnee and lisa, but of course it didn't happen. now i won't be able to finish the dress until right before the con when we go to cortnee's house early to finish things up.

watch, it'll look like crap.

i just... so many people in the cosplay community get on your case if you don't make everything yourself. that so much of the pride in a costume is the fact that you made it yourself.
that's why, if i can avoid it, i don't specifically mention that someone else did the majority of the sewing on my costumes. i mean, i never claim credit and i always say at least once on my cosplay.com page who helped me with each costume. but i don't like to broadcast the fact, because people automatically think you're less of a cosplayer.

and maybe i am. but you know what? i make everything else. i do my own wigs, do a lot of my minor customizations and alterations, i make my accessories and props and geez, i made a big pair of jelly butterfly wings.
and i'd rather have a friend do most of my sewing on a costume and look good in the end than do it myself and look like crap! looking good is also part of being a good cosplayer, and i am pretty enough and good enough at being in-character that that counts for me, too. XO

and i do help out with the sewing, i just can't do the majority of it. our sewing machine can't even do a simple stitch without jamming up, so i can't really practice to get better. (it took me four hours to sew the white trim onto tsukino's skirt) i'm sorry, but i can't learn to make a costume overnight. i do want to get a decent sewing machine and learn, but i can't afford that right now.

to tell the truth, i could finish this whole costume in an afternoon if i had the sewing skills. it's not that hard and the pieces are actually all cut out... i will botch it, though.

i'm just really frustrated because i knew this would happen. i wanted the dress done before break so i could work on all my accessories and my wig in december, but nooo. now i can't get it done until two days before the con. that'll be awesome. i love relying on last-minute costumes. totally.


at least i have my undies and my machine gun. i am still trying to get the right magnets to keep my gold collar attached, and i have to dye my wig some more yet.

oh, yeah, and repaint the boots and then try to figure out how to get the felt onto them. i can't find sticky-backed felt in anything but like six colors, so i just got gray felt that's a bit stiffer... i hope i can figure out how to translate cepiapon's sticky-version of her tutorial.


but come hell or high water, i will be SOF eureka at ohayocon.

PS:
dear ohayo staff: three days after new year's is NOT a good weekend for a huge con. thanks a bunch for forgetting to change the dates until recently. (i had thought it was the following weekend until about ten days ago, COOL.)

THE USAGE OF YELLOW FELT ON EUREKA'S HAIR CLIPS NEEDS TO STOP NOW.

so those black boyshorts that i'm gonna wear under my SOF eureka dress. the one that i ordered in mid-august. that they emailed me and said, "oh, yeah, we're not gonna be able to send them until the last week of september/first week of october", without even mentioning that they were out of stock or anything like that (though that's my assumption, if they had any decent business-writing skills, they'd specify this crap). you know, the ones that are perfect to wear under my costume.

new email!

"yeah, actually, we're gonna send them the first week of december."


this "our inventory unexpectedly fluctuates" form letter? yeah, you guys can go to hell. there is no excuse for this. i ordered them at the middle of AUGUST. if you cannot get the underwear in three months, there is something wrong.

it's target.com through amazon.com, but i'm never buying from target.com ever again. ever. they can't even write a proper "delivering bad news" email to their customer.


cross-posting this to my regular LJ. sorry if you have to see it twice. DX

tony called me tonight to let me know that there's no way he'll be able to make it to ohayocon. honestly, though, i think that's okay. because i don't see myself having any time to get fuu made. and even if i did, i'm not going without a ferio. :P i've been stressing over getting fuu done (heck, haven't even started, though i do have the wig), so this is one less thing.

it's also one less costume i'll have to attempt to cram into the weekend. i still want to arrive on thursday afternoon, but now i won't be attempting to cram in fuu and ferio.

i'm disappointed we won't be able to do it, but honestly, it's not a good time to do it. :P
so it all works out.

wow, it's a good thing that i didn't wait until the last minute to order my boyshorts to wear under my SOF dress. you'd think the panties to wear under your costume would be safe to leave off till closer to the con, but it's a good thing i ordered them so soon:

Order Date: August 23, 2007

Items not yet shipped:
Delivery estimate: September 26, 2007 - October 12, 2007
   -> 1 of: Hanes Black Vintage Boyshort 2 Pack - L


do not ever buy from target via amazon.com. heck, this makes me intend to never buy from target.com period. and no, they weren't out of stock when i ordered them.

so. remember those white cowgirl boots?

white boots are black!
the lighting in the garage is really bad and the boots seem, after FIVE coats, that it's uneven. the flash doesn't help. so we'll see tomorrow. D: and yes, i used sealant, so it's very unlikely they'll flake off; i painted my wings with temporary glass paint, and the sealant keeps them nice and safe. ;D

and just for kicks, this is the beginning of the gold collar. i desperately want this thing done by tomorrow. cause that's one more thing finished!
but it depends on whether or not we can pick up magnets the CORRECT size tomorrow. :\

seriously, i can't wait to finish these.
heck, i can't wait to finish the whole costume; being eureka makes me a happy little fangirl, oh yes. <3

harr, my knees are all banged up right now. but my legs look and feel great; i've been doing a lot of walking lately and it's paying off. :3

fuu wig GET! :D
i have been searching for an appropriate wig since APRIL.

the wig (i can't wait to cut and style it!).
the cosplay.

i'm still unsure if i can pull her off as well as i feel i do eureka and asuka, though. i'm always concerned i won't look enough like the character. :\

i saw someone mention using false eyelashes for MKR cosplay since they have SERIOUS eyelashes in that series and i think it's an awesome idea. i am planning on trying that out! :DD

( rosemary teaser shot. )

attempting to style aikochan's mizuno wig:

KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLSOB.


i can't get the stupid hair into the pony beads. i don't know if they MAKE bigger beads??? i am getting a little beyond frustrated here.

these stockings are not working. i feel like crying. i'm going to have to go ghetto on them. ;___;
i really fail at sewing. like, a LOT. i'm done with this crap tonight. maybe mizuno's wig is dry and i can style that instead. a headache, but less of one.

at least lisa h. will be able to make the pantasia shirts for us. that's one less thing for me to commit hara-kiri over.

*facesewingmachine* oww.


[edit] so the stockings are not salvageable. awesome. i love my life so much. bought another pair for another five dollars. i want to scream. i know how i'm going to do them this time and they'll look stupid but at least i will have them.

( finished nadja's brooch! )

oh, for the love of all that is holy. how long does it take for a little tacky glue to dry?! hours, apparently. hours.
you can't use hotglue on model magic, though.

long story short, i cannot afford to buy the actual toy of nadja's brooch so i am making one out of model magic because it's super-light and i can actually velcro it to my bow. okay, the shapes are slightly off when compared to the actual thing, but i think mine actually looks more rosemary-ish in some way. >__>;
i'm using tacky glue to reinforce the more delicate parts and, hey awesome, it's been on there for almost two hours and is still cold and sticky. i wanted to use the elmer's glue to make the detailing before i go out at five, but i still have to shower and i honestly wonder if this blasted glue will be dry before then.
[edit] hehhh. the test glue-blobs are caving in on themselves. now what do i use...?

heh, i'm sorry~ but if i'm cosplaying rosemary i so have to carry around the brooch to gloat over and be an evil wench about. ♥


i'm also working on moondoggie's hat. the white fabric pen works great and all, but it'd be nice if it dried. i don't even have the white stripe done yet because i have to let it dry so i can put on yet another coat. normally i wouldn't be in any rush, but i'm taking it to our UAC meeting tomorrow so eelhovercraft can use it for his moondoggie; his hat self-destructed in multiple ways.


i cut tsukino's skirt to the right length shortness and pinned the white material to it. i'm not entirely sure how to make the little triangles and make it still look nice and neat, so... heh. D: i have to get mom to show me how to use the sewing machine because it's been years since i even touched one. it's simple enough, i just need a crash course on how to use it again. i'd rather wait and be shown how to do it than mess up my skirt.


as far as my sister's things~
i sewed the patches on the knees for TJ's pants. first time i've held a needle in years. i don't mind if they don't look that great because, well, they're patches and harvey probably sewed them on, anyway. ^.^; they're a bit higher than they should be, but screw it. :x
i also got one of her shoes done for mizuno.

we bought fabric for her shirt last night and hopefully a lady at our church will be willing to let us commission her to make it. hopefully i can get the pattern from engetsunoaori tomorrow at our meeting. the meeting in which we will foam at the mouth and swear and wonder what the heck did lisa do to the pantasia shirts???

excellent. and by "excellent" i mean "welcome to cosplay hell".

yes, so i redyed eureka's wig like three times and i'm still unsure about it. it could still stand to be a little bit darker, but for colossal i'm not going to mess with it anymore. let it suffice to say it looks better than it did before. ^^;

( just some shots to prove that it's not PALE BLUE anymore... )


i gotta learn to sew. i need a generic eureka cosplay (see: her blue dress like everyone else). i hate being just another eureka, which is one of the reasons i did her final form~ but i do need something i can wear alone. :\

general costume updates!


( rosemary applefield- orphanage dress. )

( azusagawa tsukino- pantasia uniform. )

( TJ livingston (for aikochan) )

( azusagawa mizuno (for aikochan) )


so that's what i've been working on.

that and practicing my makeup for my individual characters. :o

i need to make eureka's regular dress so i can be a generic eureka cosplayer XDD
cause i really can't do ep-50 eureka ALONE. i need a renton. though my sister is likely going to be sakuya for colossalcon, which i don't have a renton for... screw you, renton. representin' the coralians here. >D rekkanize.

but i do really want to do eureka with her wings in ( this image. ) i love that image SO MUCH. and i'd totally tote around a parasol.

i'm still thinking about how to do the allowance for the wings, though. i'd just make it a low back, like i'd assume a lot of her clothing is (like her white dress), but it has a turtleneck (it's very similar to her shirt in ep 26). a hole in the back of a turtleneck is... weird. even if it's a collar, that has to go around the back of the neck.

so i'm thinking of making actual SLITS in the back of the shirt with a hidden zipper so i can get the whole wing through but still have the opening as fitted to the base of the wings as possible.

*stares at shirt some more*
it looks like it possibly folds over the breast and fastens. hmm. that still doesn't help the collar thing. i think i'll have to do the slits.


god, i love that image.

stole some of the shots of my eureka that metalmcfire took at anime punch. they were good shots and just needed the colors cleaned up. i went to town making them glowy and whatnot while i was at it. because eureka is wonderful and i really feel like i don't do her justice. ;^;

( two eureka edits~~~ )

so yes, my eureka wig is re-dyed. it's soaking wet, so i can't quite tell how the color is going to come out. unfortunately, i think it may still dry a bit too light. (it's lighter than my skintone wryyy) i want to get this really perfect. :P

the only green RIT dye around was "dark green". it's not the dark part that bugs me, it's the tone of green that it is. more army/olive green. it definitely helped make the shade darker, but i'm not sure if it'll give the wig enough of an aqua color. if not, i can always throw it back in the teal dye for a bit to blue it up. better it be a bit too blue-aqua than olivegreen-aqua. meh.

crossing my fingers. dying isn't hard at all, i'm just not that good yet at predicting the color for when it's dry. looking at it, i'm guessing it'll be darn close and maybe need a bit more of the teal... should be dark enough. i don't want to waste any more water just to fix it a slight shade... but i am picky.

the main problem with the saturation/darkness of the color is that eureka is incredibly pale. moreso than even myself (especially since my face has a ruddy tint). so i have to make the wig a smidgen darker than her actual coloring, just so it's not terribly lighter than my skin. cause her hair is darker than her skintone.
or i could just lay on the powder to pale myself up. :B

i'm pretty optimistic, though. just babbling is all. ^.^


[EDIT] well, looks good. it could stand to be a tad greener... but it's better than it was! hopefully i won't feel the need to dye it again. XD; but you never know with me. it looks pretty good. <3 will get pics... one of these days.
[EDIT2] i have decided that i want to dye it again. i keep looking at it and it's just not green enough. dunno when i'll get around to doing it, though. :P

i'm really tired, but i want to picspam my costumes from anime punch before i fall into bed.
drhikaru took a good chunk of these, cause she's awesome.




i just took some test shots of eureka after getting back to school
from the con. mostly because none of the photos we got really showed
off the purple contacts... which i love more than i should. XD

( not for dial-up!!! )