6 hour costume

The thought of having to make an entire costume today was daunting, but I figured it would be easy since I was mainly re-purposing things.   Well, take heed -- re-doing a tailored jacket takes way longer than making one from scratch.  It was pretty amazing seeing all the inner tailored parts, but I really didn't have time to spare since Alex's party was at 6pm.

Here is the character (right) she wanted to be (Sho Minamimoto from "The World Ends with You")...

So we went to Goodwill and bought a pair of pants to cut holes in... first thing I did this morning was make the cuts then send the pants through the washer and dryer -- and they frayed fabulously.  Make sure you buy pants that are cotton woven (like denim or twill) if you want to get a frayed effect.  Polyester pants won't do it.

Here are the pants after the dryer:

The coat we got was about 4 sizes (at least) too large.  After I took out the lining and the padding, I resewed the seams, taking out from .5-2" on each seam.  I had to cut the pockets out and sew up the slashes because the coat was just too big in front.  I also cut off about 8 inches from the sleeve length to make the jacket short sleeved.  For the bandana, I just made a red square and hemmed it.  She had the hat, and I added the 5 metal circles and 2 metal studs.  Here is an early pic after I had been re-doing the jacket for a while (and changed the buttons to gold metal)-- you can also see the beginnings of the necklace:

I kept making the jacket smaller until it fit well, then I hemmed it and put a button on the inside to close the coat.  I had to take up the arms as well.  Again -- either buy the base garment in your size (or close to it!) or make it from scratch!  (or have more than one day to make the costume!!!) 

Next, I made a gray belt and put gray stripes around the sleeves and hemmed the sleeves.  We scavenged an old gold belt buckle, too.  For the necklace, I glued an uncovered button piece to a metal scrap and Alex painted it silver.  I couldn't find a large enough jump ring, so I used a piece from my chainmail supplies.  lol   Here is the jacket, complete:

Next came the challenge of the tattoo on the character's left hand and arm.  At this point, I had less than an hour left to finish.  I wish I had more time to do something better, but I think this turned out ok.  I cut a long black glove and used Miracle Tape (basically a double-sided repair tape that is also used to hold straps up, and to keep necklines from gaping, etc) to stick on the design part. 

And, with about 20 minutes to spare, here is Alex in full costume.  Ignore the little pink elf in the picture.  :D

Mission accomplished!!

Sgt. Pepper... Paul

Ana wanted to dress as Paul on the Sgt. Pepper cover for Halloween this year.  The blue suit here:


ok, that is shiny!

So this is definitely a costume-grade costume.  I made it all in 1.5 days -- but I think it turned out cute, and she appears to be happy.

A few construction photos:

first -- always add pin-stripe to the pants leg *before* you sew up the pants:

I also opted to add as much of the trimmings to the jacket before sewing it up. 

same with the back -- it is so much easier to sew on trim with a partial garment than onto the whole bulky thing!

then I drafted a little collar:

And made and attached sleeves:

Can you see the ball fringe on the bottom?  I love it!

So here she is before the wig...

And I laughed so hard when she did put on the wig...  oh my, she looks so different!!!  She's doing letters from Help!.  Dork. 

Green Day

So after another AMAZING Green Day concert, I decided I needed Green Day Converse (well, I have been wanting them for a while).  So I bought a new pair yesterday, then some fabric paint and here they are:

Working on my new sewing room!

I outgrew that 5th bedroom eons ago, but with 3 kids that need beds, what do you do?  Putting them in the same room would guarantee misery for all of us.  One day as I was piling more fabric into the upstairs playroom (overflow #3).. I started thinking.  Playroom= bigger....  Playroom not being used except as storage....  see where I am going with this???

Weeks later (took weeks to haul everything out in a huge game of musical mess... I hope the hoarding show producers aren't reading my blog)...  room mostly clear (except for said overflow fabric...). 

Here is my sewing wall -- and *yes* that is sparkley paint!  I have to hang the glow in the dark moon and disco ball (really!), and then the sewing counter will go up.  I want to add some rhinestones to the wall as stars, too. 

So today I am browsing the web (instead of working on sewing room) and I come across this contest http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=9630  to win a brand new shiny Husqvarna Viking s21serger.  Yes, I said shiny!!  My serger is ooooolllllddddd....  yes, old.  I would love to have a super nice new serger to replace it.  All these cosplays need lots of serging  (Elven capes, super hero tights, J-pop outfits, gothic creations....).  A new serger would make things so much easier for me!

 I have space for it, see? 

If you sew... rush over to the above link and enter the contest!  Someone is going to win a fine machine!  Now I have to get back to installing my sewing counter!

ok Mel!
I am in for the back-to-school wardrobe challenge...  I am posting here to remind me, too!

Cosplay Commissions

I've been a lazy poster! 

I am working on a new system of assigning commissions to specific months, and a different deposit schedule.  Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, stay cool!  It is HOT outside...

A couple of pics...

As promised, a couple of live model shots of the Noiz girls...  some borrowed from Facebook:

Noiz costumes --- final

Animazement was awesome~   I finished Kotaro and Yamato cosplays...  I have the unworn outfits pictured here, and when I download images from my camera, I will post pics of them being worn. 

First, Kotaro:

And now Yamato:

Animazement~

What a fabulous time!  Animazement was so much fun!  I will post pics of the completed costumes later today.... and maybe post some pics of the awesome and wonderful costumes I took pictures of.  So many creative people -- and everyone (well, except one person...) was super duper nice. 

I am so tired!

collars...

Kotaro has a 3 part collar -- a slightly standing up silver collar, a wide lapel silver collar, and a blue sailor collar!  I drafted the collars and have been getting them ready to attach.

Here are a few pictures of the steps in assembling the wide lapels:

Sewing on pleather piping is a real pain!!  You have to be careful, as every stitch in the pleather makes a hole in the fabric that doesn't close back up around the thread.  Oh, yeah - did I mention that the pleather piping is attached to another favorite fabric - silver lame' -- woah! slippery fabrics!

This part of the collar is ready to attach!

Here is the top of the costume awaiting the attaching of the collars....

Kotaro... slowly

I decided to just focus on one costume at a time... lol 

Here are Kotaro's leggings.  They attach to the shirt via suspender clips.

I looked and looked for an example of Kotaro's jacket tails.  I finally found a good shot of them in a music video -- they look so much like cicada wings!

Here is the drafting of the 3-piece collar for the jacket.  I have had to make my own pattern for the whole jacket -- the tails, super puffy sleeves and exaggerated collar are just not available in a pre-made pattern... lol

And here is a sneak peek at how the jacket is coming along -- lots of embellishment to do after I get the other sleeve and collar on! 

Hammer time...

Here are a couple more quick pictures of Kotaro in progress.  I finished the garters that hold up the leggings and attached them.  The legging are basically complete as well -- will post pics later today.  Also, a glimpse of the cravat while drying...

Uchuu Sentai Noiz

I am making Kotaro's (in blue) and Yamato (in green)'s costumes... 

I have bits and pieces done of Kotaro... here are a couple pic of the shirt, shorts, cape fabric and some of trim work... 

I am sewing a lot -- so getting back to it now!

more AZ stuff

I have lots to get done for Animazement... so posting will be brief! :D

Here is Rufio's ring in progress:

I used foam for the base, and I used blue tape to sculpt some dimension onto the ring.  For the actual "ring" part, I used an adjustable ring base.

Here is the completed ring after multiple coats of paint and glue...

Next post, I will show pics of the next two costumes I am making...

Rufio...

Final pics of Rufio's outfit.   Not pictured -- wristbands, earring, and ring (not made as of yet...)

Note Yamato's fur in pic! lol 

more Rufio...

I finished up Rufio's vest (it has been *almost* done for a while... lol).  I sewed the fringe onto the shoulders -- I had already attached the shells and stones.  I decided to attach the fringe to the vest rather than the shirt so the shirt can be easily washed.   I like it!

Here's a peek at the almost finished necklace pieces.  I made them out of air-dry clay then put a wash on them.  They feel like bones... lol