Otaku House Cosplay Idol Contest

So I've entered this online cosplay contest and I would really appreciate if people who like mine could vote for me a share it.  This is my first time entering the contest and I'm pretty excited about it!  I chose to use my Vana cosplay for this contest, knowing that as it is an original costume that it wouldn't get much attention and also knowing that since the character is so obscure that no one would know it.  I really love this costume though and I think that entering a cosplay that is unique and unknown can bring potential interest to the character and the story it hails from.

To vote please go here

Cheers to everyone who likes it!

Princess Mononoke Mask Commission

This was my first commission and also my first prop that I made.  I am quite pleased with how it turned out and how cheap it actually was to make!  One of my cosplaying friends asked me to do this because he didn't have time or the experience working with props.  I didn't have much experience with props but I have made maquettes and sculptures before so I figured that I could pull it off.  Before I decided on a price I looked up reference pictures and examined tutorials as posted by other people.  In the end I combined two different sources and used a little bit of information from each to create the mask.

Once I figured out what method I used I looked into the materials.  I went to art stores and got prices for different mediums.  I also took into consideration the weight of materials because it is a mask and it is attached to the fur hood.  I did some research and decided to make the base out of a few layers of papier mache with maybe a thin layer of clay over top to round it.  For the eye and mouth pieces I found some small salad dressing containers that would act as the support under the clay accents.  I got a cheap pair of sunglasses to tint the inside of the eyes of the mask in case too much light would be getting in.  I also got some necessary hardware such as thick malleable wire, sandpaper and an exacto knife.

Materials gathered

I started out with a  plastic bowl that had a flat bottom.  To make it round, I taped paper onto it until I got a desired hemispherical shape.  I made one layer of wet newspaper over the bowl so that the papier mache wouldn't stick to it.  I made six layers of papier mache over a span of a couple of days.  I waited until each layer was thoroughly dry before putting the next one on.  Once the base of the mask was completely dry, I removed it from the bowl and painted the inside of the mask with flour and water paste to get the first layer of newspaper to stick.

Flour and water "paint"

I trimmed the edge of the mask that formed due to the rim of the bowl.  Believe it or not cutting through six layers of papier mache is difficult!  After the base was done I sanded down the top of the mask to make it smooth and even.

I took a bit of a break from the mask part and I focused some energy on the eye and mouth pieces.  I cut off the bottom of the plastic containers as well as the rim.  I tried my best to make them all have the same height.

Cut eye piece

To place the eye and mouth holes in the mask I drew two bisecting lines, one vertically and one horizontal, along eye level.  I used the cut plastic pieces to draw tentative circles to mark the holes.  Cutting through the top was a challenge.  The layers at the top had all piled up so it was more like ten or eleven layers of papier mache on the top rather than six.  I had to puncture the center of each hole with a screwdriver!  One I managed to make a hole big enough to fit my exacto blade in, I had to carve out the circular shape.  Carving it took a while but it allowed me to continuously check the hole size until the plastic pieces fit (more or less) perfectly in.

Eye and mouth holes cut out

Once the holes were cut to shape I sanded the insides to smooth the edges.  I went on to making the ears.  I figured out a pattern for the ears where the front face consisted of a pointed arch shape and the back piece was a triangle with large rounded edges.  I assembled the pieces by bending the back piece until it curved nicely and then taped the two together.  I covered each ear with one layer of papier mache and let them dry. Once dry I gave them a light sanding.

My next phase was working on the accents.  I glued each plastic piece into the holes with hot glue on the inside.  For the raised accents on the mask, I marked out where they would go and how wide I wanted them to be.  I made the accents out of air-dry clay.  I covered the plastic pieces with the clay and did my best blending the clay into the mask.  I let it dry overnight.  Once it was dry there were some cracks that developed.  I fixed those crack by filling them in with super glue :)

Accents

Once the mask dried up I painted the ears, the outside of the mask and the inside of the mask with gesso as a primer.  I used acrylic paints for the bright colours of the mask.  I only gave one coat of paint to everything.

Finished ears

Painted mask

To attach the mask to the hood, I used a thick malleable wire.  I molded a long wire that made two prongs that stuck up at the top of the mask and curved all along the bottom inside of the mask.  I held it place with hot glue and added super glue in the cracks along the curved length.  I cut the prongs so that the ears could fit on them.  The goal with this is that the wire would poke through the hood and help keep it in place.  The ears were glued onto the wires on top of the hood.  For extra security I glued the hood down onto the top of the mask.

Attaching the ears

The things that I would improve on are adding a cushion for the chin to rest on while wearing it and somehow  anchoring the back of the hood so that the mask doesn't fall down the face due to it's weight.  The hood was held down by safety pins at the con but next time the hood should be sewn tightly to the cape.

Completed Mononoke mask commission

That's it!  Hope you liked my first prop!

Journal of Anime Boston 2013

Anime Boston 2013... what can I say?  It was awesome!!!  It was only my second con ever and it was great!  So much to do, so little time.  So many cosplays, not enough battery power.  My group and I arrived on Thursday much later than anticipated.  Pre-registration was SOOO fast!  It literally took us a moment.  there was no wait, no line!  I hope that other cons will look at what Anime Boston did this year so that they can improve their own methods in the future.

Friday started bright and early for us.  Unfortunately we didn't wake up early enough so we missed the first panels.  I was sad as I wanted to attend the panel about costume analysis.  I cosplayed as Vana on Friday and I was in the first ever Original Cosplay Fashion Show!  We were brought on stage and asked questions about our characters.  It was a good experience for me, I think that it gave me confidence about showcasing my costumes on stage.  Perhaps I will partake in a Masquerade soon!

So I went to a few pretty cool panels on Friday.  Here are my notes for those panels:

All About Fabric

*To dye synthetics, try using half the dye and half vinegar so that the dye will take better to the fabric
*Tips for Sewing - Do your research, use the right fabric, use the right needle, use the right thread, watch the edges from the very beginning
*Leather mask molding - wet leather until it is sponge wet (not soaking wet), cut out the desired shape, place it over the mold and let it dry while on the mold.  It will hold its shape afterwards.

Saving Money and Your Mind in Cosplay

*Wig caps - use old panty hose, cut off the legs and there you have a wig cap.  To put it on pull it over your head, front first then the back to get in all your hair.
*Wigs have little flap things inside.  They are supposed to line up with your sideburns to center the wig.
*Skirt make from old t-shirt, cut off the top at armpits and add an elastic waist band.  You can use two of the same shirt to make a fuller skirt.
*Apparently there is a cosplay ice skating event every year in Boston!  Perhaps Otakuthon could organize one in Montreal... :)

I went to other panels too but they were more watching clips than note taking ones.

Saturday was the biggest day!  There were so many people!!  I went early to scope out the line (this was before the con started) and it was huge!  It moved pretty quickly though despite bag check.  It was very efficient.  The longest the line was looked like it would take at least an hour and it only took about 25 minutes.

Here are the notes that I took from the Panels on Saturday:

How to Take Commissions

*To know when you are ready - Do people want your stuff?  Do you have time?  Are there other people doing what you do, are they more skilled than you are?  Have you done your homework?  Be honest with yourself! Manage your time
*What will you offer - Create a portfolio, specify what kind of commissions you can do, show examples, keep your portfolio update (your style may change), have a price range, prices and quality are important to people
*Pricing - consider length of time, cost of materials, your market, hobby vs needs.  Don't under price yourself (or overprice), don't charge hourly at first but consider it.  If you get too busy with comissions, increase your prices.  Be confident with yourself.
*Managing Clients - Deposits can be refundable or not, give receipts, good idea to use materials cost as deposit, online payments can use paypal, square for smartphones (takes credit cards), money orders (make sure they are legit), don't take personal cheques as they can bounce, for shipping it is a good idea to take out insurance, get feedback from the clients, anonymous surveys, etc.
*Self Promotion - Follow through with what you say, put your best foot forward, create a wait list, communication is a big one!  It also helps to be interested in what the customer wants.
*Paying taxes - it's best to speak to an accountant!

We couldn't go to some of the panels that we wanted to because they were so full!  People lined up a head of time just to get into the panels.  I really wanted to see the masquerade and at around 5-ish I noticed that there was a really long line all around the second floor.  We figured out that it was the masquerade line!  Basically we waited for about an hour and a half just to get into the auditorium.  The masquerade was great though!  Some skits were really well thought out and performed.  The hall cosplay fashion show was also an event for the masquerade.  At the end, they showed the AMV contest winners.

Sunday was the quiet day.  We slept in that day and spent most of it in the dealer's room.  We did get to go to the closing ceremonies and the feedback panel.  I was able to find a Teto for my Nausicaa cosplay!!!  I have to remake it now (maybe transform it into the Manga version).

All in all Anime Boston 2013 was great and if I didn't have to worry about school then I would definitely go again next year!  (It will be held in March which means that I will be in midterms or pre-finals)

Sailor Jupiter

Originally my friend and I were going to get a Sailor Moon group going.  We talked about it for a bit but then we couldn't find any other girls to do it with us.  I thought about doing a Queen Serenity and Princess Serena duo, then the idea of Sailor Moon and Sailor V.  Eventually I decided that I didn't want to do any of those characters.  I've always loved Jupiter so Jupiter I will be!  If my friend is still interested maybe she will do Sailor Venus.

Construction:

Leotard: I used the Green Pepper "Crystal Lake" Skating Pattern for the leotard.  I traced my size onto a piece of newspaper so I could keep all the sizes for future use.  I modified it a bit, making the neckline a little larger so that it wouldn't be so high.

I didn't use elastic around the neckline, instead I cut out a strip of fabric very much like I did in my Curtain-to-Cloak tutorial.  I used that as a bias edging so that I could have a nice clean finish.

Neckline

Chest Armour: I took the top part of the leotard pattern and retraced around it to make the pattern for the chest armour.  Since I was using a knit material that didn't have as much stretch to it, I added extra fabric in the back.  I altered the length of the top, the neckline and the armholes.  I cut out the pattern and used that to get two pieces of the white knit fabric.  I pinned them right sides together and sewed along all the edges except the back seam and the shoulder seams.

I then sewed the back seam and the shoulder seams.  The first time I put it together the chest armour was too small so I had to go back to alter the pattern.  The second time I only had to adjust the back seam as it was too loose across the shoulders.

To make the sleeves I used the pattern described in the tutorial (see references at the bottom).  It took me a while to figure out how stuffed I wanted them.  I cut up scraps of white fabric I had lying around to stuff the sleeves as I am too cheap to buy polyester filling.  I also don't like wasting things even scraps of fabric.  Reduce your waste to help our environment!

Chest armour with sleeves

Sewing the sleeves onto the armour was quite difficult.  I had two make two seam lines, one as a basting and the other as the final seam.

Sailor Collar: I followed the same procedure as is outlined in the tutorial (mentioned at the bottom of the page).  I used the same measurements and to make things simpler I put my pattern piece on the folded edge of the fabric so that I wouldn't have to sew that seam.  Putting the ribbon on was tricky as I didn't really know how to make the corner sharp and clean.  I tried two different methods.  The first one was where the horizontal ribbon covered the ends of the vertical ribbon with an angled edge.  The second method was the cover the ends of the vertical ribbons with the ends of the horizontal ribbon folded over itself.  I'm not sure what the actual method is, they way I did it meant that you had three separate pieces of ribbon to attach.

Finished collar

To attach the collar to the chest armour, I added snaps at the very tips of the collar.  The collar doesn't match up with the neckline of the armour but it wraps nicely around the neck.  The snaps makes it easy to put on and take off.

Skirt:  I decided to alter my skirt from the one described in the tutorial.  I cut out a long rectangle of fabric measured 13 inches by 100 inches.  I totally forgot that I changed the length of the fabric from 90 inches to 100 though so my pleat calculations were messed up.

I decided that I wanted to try and make inverted pleats for the skirt.  I found a really good tutorial on making inverted pleats, which is also mentioned at the bottom of the page.  I did some calculations (with the wrong numbers lol) and figured out something that yielded a skirt that was too big for me.  I actually had to cut off two pleats on each side for it to fit properly.

I sewed up the back seam of the skirt.  I followed the cutting pattern for the V shapes as indicated in the tutorial.  Even with the V I still had to loosen up the skirt in the back.  I took out a few stitches until I could wiggle into it comfortably.

Pleated length

I made the hip rolls next, following the pattern in the tutorial.  They were a little long so I had to cut them back and adjust their length to fit with the skirt.  I stuffed them using the same method as for the shoulder rolls.  I have been able to use up so much scrap material!

I made a big mistake here; I attached the hip rolls before I secured the pleats down.  The hip roll was so stuffed that everything after this had to be hand sewn :S  Luckily I had the time to spend for this.  In the back I added a snap so that the opening that I made could be closed up.

I secured the pleats two inches from the top edge.  Hand sewing all those pleats took a lot of patience!  Again, do this before you attach a really stuffed hip roll!

Bows: Again for both bows I followed the tutorial's instructions and measurements.  I used a satin because I wanted to have a nice sheen to my bows.  I think I should had reinforced the bows more though because they are not as stiff as I would have like them to be.  They attach to the chest armour and the skirt by velcro.

Bow example

The first iteration of the brooch was made out of green Fimo modelling clay.  It was my first time using the clay so it took a while for me to figure out how to soften it enough to mold it into a hemisphere.  Once it was baked, I painted it with the Fimo polish.  I gave it two coats to get everything nice a shiny.  I first tried attaching it with sticky Velcro.  That didn't hold so I then tried to attach it by hot gluing a safety pin to the back.  I pinned it to the bow on the chest and found that it was too heavy and sagged.  I came up with some other ideas including screwing in a screw and then pinning the screw tightly to the bow.  That worked the longest but it didn't hold up perfectly and it even began to crack.

I will be making a second iteration of the brooch soon.  I just have to figure out a way to do it.

Gloves: Again I made these gloves, pattern and all.  I hand stitched most of it.  I only ended up sewing the long seam by machine.

Hand sewing spandex is really quite the challenge because you have to make sure that your thread will stretch with the fabric.  I did my best to keep the thread loose enough so that the fabric wouldn't pucker.  In order to fit the glove to my arm I had to adjust the long seam a few times to make it snug.

For the glove rolls I used the pattern from the sailor fuku tutorial below.  I stuffed them with scrap material.

Finished glove

Boots: I bought a pair of cheap nude heels that I knew I would be able to use for multiple cosplays as long as my boot/shoe covers could be removed and replaced.  I started out drafting my boot covers but placing the heel on a piece of newspaper and traced around the shoe.  I also traced around the heel.  I widened the heel markings and cut out the traced shapes, leaving a hole where the heel was.  I then cut out a piece of fabric using that rough pattern and placed it on the bottom of the shoe.  I cut the heel hole a little wider as it didn't first the first time over the entire heel.  Once I aligned everything, I cut it until it was the perfect shape of the sole and then traced the finished shape onto a new piece of newspaper.  As I didn't want the shoe cover to wear underneath the shoe, I cut out the center piece (2cm from the outer edges) of the part that touched the floor.

Bottom of boot cover

I then started the measure the shoe for the body of the cover.  I measured from the toe to the back of the shoe and from the toe to the ball of the foot (right before the shoe curved up to the heel).  I drew the full length on a piece of newspaper and marked off the ball of the foot.  I then measured from the floor to how high I wanted the boot cover to go, the circumference of the leg at that height and from the ground to the heel top.  I drew that line perpendicular to the first line and marked off the heel height.  

I halved the leg circumference measurement and drew that line perpendicular to the vertical line at the top.  I drew a line from the ball of the foot to the heel height to show the slope of the shoe.  To finish up the rough shoe shape I measured (at the widest part of the shoe) from the bottom of the shoe up to the middle of the foot.  I then measured the length from the toe to the widest part of the shoe.  I marked that point off and drew the shoe width line up from it.  I estimated the curved shape of the toe and closed the shape up by drawing a straight line between the last two open points.

Pattern

I added some seam allowance to the rough pattern and rounded out the sharp corners.  To perfect the pattern I cut out the fabric version of it (twice) and using the bottom fabric piece, made a mock up of the boot cover.  I took note of the place where it was ill fitting and used that knowledge to tweak the design.  Once I got a good design, I also drafted the lace pattern.  I drew out a rectangle with width of 4 cm and the length I wanted for the opening.

To figure out how to attach the lace piece, I took my mock up and sewed around the toe until a certain point.  I then cut a little slash down and towards the bottom of the shoe.  I then sewed the lace piece right side together with the the width along the slash, then along the length.  This worked out and thus I moved onto making the real boot covers.

I interfaced the lace pieces as well as the top of the boot covers to keep them stiff.  I started sewing by reinforcing the bottom of the shoe and sewing some elastic across the open space (this was done to ensure that the cover would stay tightly around the shoe).  I sewed the back seam of the covers first, then moved onto the top hem, attaching the bottom to the body, then sewing up the curve to the marked cut point.  I set that aside then I made up the lace pieces, inserting eight eyelets into each piece.

I took the finished lace piece back to the main body and attached them both.  I inserted the laces and checked the fit.  If it was too large then I removed the laces piece and sewed it so that it would be smaller.  A lot of the boot covers had to be hand sewn though I was able to get away with a few machine stitched seams.

Finished boot cover

Wig: I ordered a medium brown Ivy wig from cosplay.com.  It took me a while to trim the bags because I didn't want to mess it up.  I cut the bangs with the scissors as parallel as possible with the hair fibers.  I did one half first then did the other half then evened out both parts.  I have yet to learn how to put it in the actual ponytail.  I have not going to keep it in the ponytail as I will be using this wig for Sheeta as well.

Bangs cut

To style the wig I had my boyfriend help me.  I had him wear a wig cap and then the wig on top of it.  I styled it using a handy tutorial I found online.  I had to do it twice as I messed up the first time and became really frustrated with it as it kept on knotting up.  The second time I styled it, I made sure the comb everything after every step.  It still got messy at the end but it was much better that the first time.  I have to re-style it though as it became tangled during Otakuthon.

Styled wig

Tiara:  I used craft foam, flexible craft wire, super glue, gesso, gold acrylic paint and a green plastic gem to make my tiara.  I started out by drawing the tiara pattern out of the craft foam.  I cut out two layers of it to sandwich the wire in.  I cut two long piece of wire and shaped them to the size and shape of a wig head.  I then super glued them in between the craft foam layers and let it dry.  Once it was dry I remolded the tiara so that it fit with my head.  I primed the tiara with the gesso, then painted three layers of the gold paint over top.  To finish it off, I glued the gem to the center of the tiara.  I cut the ends of the wire so that I could place them in my hair to help stabilize it under my wig.

Finished tiara

Choker: I found the perfect ribbon for Jupiter's choker!  I will just tie it loosely around my neck and let the ends hang down under the collar.

Make-up:  I started out by washing my face with regular soap and putting my hair up to facilitate make-up application.  To get all the little annoying hairs I put on my wig cap as well.  For my foundation I used Cover Girl's Clean sensitive skin liquid foundation, appropriate for my skin tone.  I applied it using a cosmetic sponge until I had an even skin tone.  For my eyes, I started out by applying a layer of Maybelline color tattoo (by EyeStudio) over my eyelids.  It was a cream eye shadow in edgy emerald.  I then used Rimmel London Colour Rush quad eyeshadow, urban flower for the dark spots and the highlights.  I used the dark brown in the crease, the light brown on the brow bone to highlight and the green to add colour in between.

I added some pink/purple colouring to the edge of my eyes using Cover Girl's eye enhancers dance party eyeshadow.  As I am not very good with eye liner yet, I used a liquid eyeliner only on the top lip.  I used Line Exact in black by Cover Girl.  For my mascara I used Lash Blast Volume in brown by Cover Girl.  Once my eyes were done I moved onto the finishing touches.  I used Match Perfection blush medium by Rimmel to add colour to my cheeks, nose, forehead and chin and finished up by using Vinyl Gloss love bug lip gloss by Rimmel for my lips.

Completed make-up

Sailor Jupiter is both fun and extremely painful to wear!  I love being recognized by all kinds of people and there were so many sailor scouts that I took pictures with!  I am not used to wearing heels so I had a hard time by the end of the day.  At Otakuthon I walked around the greenroom most of the time with bare feet because I wanted to save my feet from some pain before going on stage!  I also learned a valuable lesson: never wear a cosplay with heels two days in a row at a con.  My wig also caused me a lot of grief.  At Otakuthon it kept falling back because the ponytail was too heavy for it to stay on properly.  At Montreal Comic Con I used pin curls to put up my hair and attach the wig to.  I actually had to take pills because the wig was pulling so much on my real hair that it caused a headache!

Completed Jupiter Cosplay

References - Sailor Fuku tutorial   Box and Inverted Pleat Tutorial   High Ponytail Tutorial

Mokona Modoki Gijinka

I love Clamp and I love their character Mokona, who appears in many of their different anime. I wanted to do something that would give me a little bit more design freedom so I decided to do a Mokona gijinka cosplay, with a little Lolita thrown in there. I came up with a few designs before I finally settled on one.

Construction:

Dress:  I had a simple dress pattern that I had bought a while ago from McCall's (M6504 View A) that I used as the base dress. I added some lace edging along the collar, the shoulders and the hem. The dress was quite difficult to make despite the pattern being marked as easy. I had the most difficult time trying to iron out my seams without messing up the rest of the dress. I was able to get the zipper in (my first time whoot whoot!) but when I finally was able to wear it I realized that the back of the dress was much too wide for my shoulders. I also realized that my arm holes are too snug. I had to take in the waist quite a bit as well. Alas, it is an ill-fitting dress but I can learn a lot from the mistakes I made while making this dress. I probably won't remake it as I would rather put more effort into making different cosplays.

Zipper

I added lace edging along the hem of the dress as well as the neckline and the shoulders.  Originally I wanted to have the lace edging turn away from the neckline but it looked better with the lace turned in towards the dress.  I had a difficult time working the the sleeves as I had never sewn anything sleeveless before.  I made many mistakes trying to fit them together.  I learned to hard way that fitting something on oneself is nearly impossible to do.  Looks like I need to get myself a dress form!

Adding lace

Ears: I drafted my own ear pattern. I made them a little too thin for my liking so the next time I will make any sort of ears in that shape I will make them wider. Making the ears was not hard.  My first iteration I decided the attach them to a white headband. Sewing them to the headband was a little strange. They were not actually fixed to the headband so they can slip all the way around. This made them easy to adjust when they are on my head.  When I tried these ears with the bow however I realized that there was too much going on.  I tore apart all my work and sewed the ears onto little individual combs instead.

First iteration of the ears

Gloves: After many failed attempts at drafting my own glove pattern I finally made one that I deemed acceptable!  Believe it or not readers, glove patterns are really hard to draft!  They typically include three pieces, the thumb, the trank (the main part of the glove) and the fourchettes, which are little pieces of fabric that go in between the fingers and allow for better movement.  I followed a couple of different methods that can be found here and here.  I used the latter tutorial as the pattern that I came up with was the better one for me.  I had to do some serious editing though.  The thumb and the thumb piece hole where the first things to be perfected.  After that I got the right width for the pattern to go around the hand, the points where the web of my fingers began relative to the thumb and the right index finger.  After that I started measuring my other fingers.  It took me a few mock ups after each design to see how I was doing it wrong.  I made six versions of the pattern before I felt it was good enough to use.

Finished gloves

I now have a pair of awesome gloves!  The gloves are made with the same material as the dress along with the same lace edging for the cuff and an elastic wrist.  Once I figure out how to go about it, I will post a glove making tutorial :)

Underthings: I used plain white tights that I had lying around to make my legs white. I bought a pink and white crinoline to put under the dress. At first I was going to make the dress shorter but I decided that with the crinoline at my hips the length would be fine.

Shoes: I bought my white shoes for really cheap at Value Village. Second hand shops are great for buying costume accessories ;)

Bow: I wondered how I was going to attach the jewel to my head.  Originally I thought I was going to make it out of clay which is heavy.  I then decided to make a stiffened bow that would support the clay.  I changed my mind about the clay jewel however when I went into Dollarama and found the perfect little red jewels!  I bought them and attached one to the bow using super glue.

Basic bow

The bow is made of the same fabric as the dress and gloves.  It is stiffened on both pieces and reinforced with a wire inside.  I attached a long white ribbon to the back so that I could attach it to a high ponytail or something like that.

Later on I decided that I wanted to have to red jewel on my forehead as the jewel wasn't seen claerly on the bow.  I took it off the bow and tested it on my forehead using spirit gum.  Spirit gum did the trick!

I wore part of this costume to a final exam this past summer because that was the night that Otakuthon started.  I basically rushed over to the convention center and completely forgot about my gloves!  Everyone at the exam thought that I was so cute in my dress.  Someone even asked if I was eloping lol!  It was really a lot of fun wearing this costume.  Mokona is such a cute and fun character and I had lots of fun playing him.  It is also quite comfortable once I get used to the smaller than normal armholes.  The only pain about this dress is that it wrinkles so easily!  Next time I use fabric like this I won't chose a pattern that has crazy fitting to it!

Completed Mokona Cosplay

Princess Jasmine Shoe Tutorial

When I decided that I was going to actually make Jasmine's shoes I researched and looked online for any sort of tutorial that I could follow.  I didn't find anything so I decided to come up with my own design.  I started out by sketching out how I thought the pattern for the shoe should look like.  I decided that I would make a shoe cover as I wanted something sturdy to walk in and I already had a pair of slipper style shoes that would do the job.  The basic idea behind the shoe cover was that it would be made of a light blue material that would be sewn onto the shoe with the toe stuffed to keep its form.

Drafting the Shoe Cover Pattern:

Step 1:

I started out by putting on one of the shoes and measuring the following:

BC = Back curve of the shoe

LF = Length of the foot (along the sole)

LO = Length of the shoe opening

X = Distance from back of the shoe to point x

Point x is the lowest point on the inside of the shoe relative to the height of the back of the shoe.  It sounds a bit complicated but the diagram should help the reader see where to take the measurement.

SC = Side curve of the shoe, taken at point x

Step 2:

Next I took my measurements from step 1 and added my seam allowance as shown below,

A = LF +  2 cm

B = BC + 2 cm

C = LO + 2 cm

D = X + 1 cm

E = SC + 2 cm

and I drew them onto a long piece of newspaper as shown in the diagram above.

Step 3:

Once those lines were drawn in I drew in a curve from the back of the shoe to the front of the shoe opening, ensuring that the lowest part of the curve hit the vertical dashed line (the drawing is not completely accurate). I then decided how high I wanted my curved toe to stand.  I drew in another dashed line from the front of the opening of the shoe to the desired height H.  Once this line was drawn in I drew in different curves for the toe and chose one that I though suited the shoe best.  Take into consideration that this curve has to go out enough so that it doesn't come up short on the actual shoe.

Step 4:

Once all my lines were drawn and I had chosen my shoe curve, I darkened the lines I wanted and cut out my pattern.  Pattern Drafting complete!

Note: I figured out that this pattern works for both your left foot and right foot as well as the inside and the outside of your shoe

Putting The Shoe Together:

Step 1:

Cut out your material, putting the pattern on the wrong side of the material.  Make sure that your fabric is folded together (right sides together) so that you only have to cut out the pattern twice.  Each cutout will give you two pieces of fabric which will be sewn together to create the shoe covers for each shoe.

Step 2:

Take one pair of fabric cut outs and pin them together, right sides together.  You will sew two seams, one along the back of the shoe (the straight, vertical edge) and one along the front toe curve (the one that extends from the bottom of the shoe to the top of the curve and then about a quarter of the way down the curve that extends to the top of the shoe. (Sorry I don't have an image for this, I will upload one as soon as possible to help readers visualize it).

Step 3:

Turn the shoe cover so that the right side of the fabric is facing outwards.  Place the shoe cover over the shoe and carefully pin in the fabric near the sole of the foot.  Keep in mind that it's best the turn in your raw edge so that it's won't fray after you've sewn them and worn them a few times.

Step 4:

This is where it get's very tricky (and frustrating and aggravating and somewhat painful if you aren't careful).  You are going to have to HAND SEW the bottom of the shoe cover very close to the sole of the shoe.  This should be done with a thimble and very careful fingers.  Depending on the shoe material it can be very difficult to push the needle through.  I had a really hard time because my shoe had an elastic opening and I couldn't see where my pins were in the toe of the shoe.  Needless to say I pricked my fingers many, many times.  I would advise you to start sewing at the point where the shoe is widest and work your way towards the back of the shoe.  This way by the time you get to the narrowest part of the shoe (aka the toe) you won't have as many pins holding the shoe cover to the shoe.  In the end this is what the shoe will look like once the bottom is sewn.

If you look closely you can see my stitching.

Step 5:

The next step is to pin down the top part of the shoe cover so that the top can be sewn.  Stuff the toe with scrap fabric or batting before you pin the toe curve together.  Again, try and turn in the raw edge all along the way so that you can avoid fraying along the seams.

Step 6:

Now you can sew the top part of the cover to the shoe (again, hand sewing)!  Sewing the top part of the shoe was much easier though I still recommend caution.  Using a thimble will also help when you have to work near exposed pins.  Once this is done you finished one shoe!  Then you can work on the next one!

Step 7:

I sprayed my shoes to protect them because I didn't want all my hard work to be ruined from simply walking in downtown Montreal.  I used the Payless Rain and Stain Guard spray on them.  Note that it only works on synthetic fibers (which worked out for my shoes).

And Voila!  You have made yourself some awesome Princess Jasmine Shoes!

If you have any questions about the procedure or if anything is really unclear, comment and I will try and explain it in a different way.

Estë: Original Design

I promised my friends that I would make them some elven gowns for the upcoming Hobbit movie.  This is the first gown I made for a friend.  Seeing as there are no female characters in the the Hobbit I decided to name this gown Este after the Valier.  I decided to go with a more dark blue raiment then grey because grey is depressing.  There will be two parts to the gown, the under gown and the over gown.

Design:

I drafted many different patterns for this character, all revolving around the same colour theme of dark blue/silver.  I didn't want to go by Tolkien's description 100% because I don't like the colour grey.  I figured that if I had the character dressed in darker colours rather than just grey then it would still fit with the character's description.  I tried many different designs of the under gown.  An earlier version of it included long sleeves that went to the floor and opened up along the front "seam".  Another version had a full trumpet shaped sleeve.  The over dress was always a sleeveless, lighter gown.  At first I wanted it to be heavily beaded to reflect the stars at night.  I decided against that design because I have never beaded in my life and I didn't think doing a whole gown was a idea to start with.

Concept art

Construction:

Under Gown: I used the pattern M5499 from McCall's to make the gown, with a few alterations.  I bought a really really dark, almost black, navy blue material (I think it's a sort of crepe) for the main body of the dress, a grey lightweight fabric with a nice drape to it for the lower sleeves and I used leftover black crepe from the Shredder cosplay for the upper sleeves.  I bought a white organdy ribbon for the trim.  Instead of having trim around the neck and having the neck slash, I just left the neck plain and simple.  I also didn't make the belt or the hat.  I used silver 4mm eyelets.  My friend helped me figure out how to attach them to the back bands as apparently I can't read instructions :P.  I used a thin flat black cord for the lacing.  This gown turned out quite nice and was easier to make than the Vana gown.  I hope to get a photo shoot done soon.

Adding eyelets

Finished back

Finished side

Finished front

Over Gown: