Journal of Ottawa Pop Expo 2013

My friends and I decided pretty last minute that we would be going to Pop Expo Ottawa for the Saturday only.  I had asked them if they wanted to come with me as I really wanted to go and chill with a bunch of cosplayers that I had met previously.  One of my friends (Bandit Spurs) was entering in her first masquerade and so I decided that since it was a small con that I should enter too and gain experience on stage and in front of judges.

We left Montreal Friday night and stayed at the Southway Hotel, which was a pretty nice hotel!  The front lawn was decorated with shrubs and trees that were all lit up.  They even had a creche and a large automated winter village in the lobby!  I woke up early Saturday morning to get ready to head to the con.  One of my friends woke up with me and accompanied me to the con.  We ended up having to wait outside for about ten minutes as the building wasn't open yet.  I was wearing my completed Vana costume and no coat.  I was glad that I had three warm layers!  We were finally let inside and then we had to wait in line for the actual con to open for regular ticket payers.

As soon as I got inside I found the masquerade registration desk (they were only letting 25 enter).  I bumped into a cosplayer (Detailed-Illusion) that I had met at Otakuthon and went totally gaga over his Thranduil costume.  I saw a bunch of other awesome cosplays while waiting for the audio stuff to work.  While registering it was confirmed that Heroes of Cosplay was being filmed at the con.  I had to sign a waiver for them to be able to use any footage/images with my face in them. During the day I mostly walked around and check out all the booths in the dealers room. I got to have a bit of a photo shoot done with one of my friends who just recently took up photography.  We got some pretty awesome shots in the snow!

At four o'clock it was time to head into the green room.  It took a little while to register but as we were only about 25 contestants (not including the heroes of course) it wasn't too bad.  Once inside we were put into our dens.  I got put into den 2 with Bandit Spurs.  We were right after each other as entrants which was pretty cool.  At one point the producer for Heroes of Cosplay asked a bunch of us if we wanted to be in the background of some of the scenes that they were going to shoot.  We all said sure and headed out.  We were made to look like we were getting in line for the show.  I got to talk to some awesome local talent as well as some of the heroes!  Riddle and I bonded over the metric system (lol what nerds we are)!

As we walked back past the camera to mimic going into the competition, I accidentally tripped a cosplayer behind me, or rather he stepped on my train and I nearly fell on my face!  Of course that would happen on camera!

I was much more confident with the masquerade photo shoot this time around.  The photographer was really talkative and knew what angles looked best.  He guided me through the process (all the while blinding me with those bright lights!).  When I tried to get back to the den, they were filming a scene for the show.  I had to wait with Batman before I could pass by.  I got to exchange a few words with Jesse (I almost asked if I could touch his beard lol) and with one of the set crew people.

The judging was pretty cool.  I got looked at by all four judges, one of whom was MeltingMirror and another was none other than Yaya Han.  When they asked me what part I was most proud of I showed them my finished seams in my over gown.  I hand blanket stitched them as I don't have a serger.  As soon as I showed them it all four hands were to inspect.  I know the stitches are not even but it was my first time using that stitch so I was still pretty proud.  Yaya said that it offered a nice clean finish and even suggested using a french seam in the future.

The masquerade went really well in my opinion.  I only decided what I was going to do a couple hours before going on stage and even on stage I improvised.  I felt pretty confident as an elf because I've been pretending to be one for years!  I used the first thirty seconds of the soundtrack from Beauty and the Beast.  It has a very mysterious melody to it and I have always loved it.  I knew the song by heart, and I moved with it.  My friend recorded it so once that's uploaded on YouTube I'll share it :)  I didn't win anything but I didn't enter to win.  I entered to gain more experience and just hang out with really awesome people!

So that was my experience at Pop Expo!  I had tons of fun with friends, new and old and got to meet some really awesome people.  It was a really chill con with lots of room to walk around and lots of places to sit.  It makes me look forward to my next con!  Maybe I'll attend G-Anime... ;)

Potential Lolita Costume :)

I recently acquired myself a pair of awesome little heels that do not match with anything I own (of course).  They were on sale and it was a reasonable price so I couldn't say no to them!  I bought them thinking that I would make a lolita dress to match with them.  Now I think I am going to go all out lolita style!  I'm thinking of making this dress in time for my convocation (May 2015) so that I can be super girly (seeing as I'm in engineering and most of my classmates are guys :P)

Here is a peak at the shoes!  I also bought a headband on a different day where the patterns are pretty much the same!  I shall have to come up with a concept design!  Let me know if you guys have any ideas!  It would be great to hear from you!

Sheeta

Ever since I saw the trailer for Castle in the Sky I was always intrigued by the story.  It was only until much later that I actually saw the movie.  Sheeta easily became my favourite character of the film and I loved the film!  It is a really simple cosplay which made me decide that I should make it to practice my stitches and finishing of seams.  This is more of an exercise in sewing rather than a dream cosplay.  I also wanted to have some comfy cosplays to wear around cons so this will be one of those!

Budget:

So this is something new that I'm adding to all my cosplays starting this year.  I recently had to really buckle down on my spending money as I am a full time student and I didn't get a job last summer.  I kept all my receipts and wrote down everything I spent.  As I got used to this routine, I realized that I could probably go into a lot more depth in regards to cosplay.  After watching a really handy video here, I decided that I was ready to start cosplay budgeting!

Construction:

Pants - I used a bright pink poplin for the pants.  To draft the pattern I used my favourite poofy pants pattern as described here.  Once again I made these pants big enough to fit two of me in them.  I made them so that the waistband fit right on my waist rather than sitting on my hips.  I used 1 cm wide elastic for all my gathering.  Gathering the waistband and the ankles was a much easier process than my first encounter with this pattern.  I didn't have to hand sew anything this time which was a relief.  These pants took about three hours to make from start to finish.

Finished pants

Shirt - I used a very simple pattern for Sheeta's shirt and altered the sleeves.  I decided to make it very baggy as in the film she is handed the pirate clothes which are three times her size (although miraculously it looks like she can still fit in them).  I used the pattern B5948 view F without the pocket.  I made the sleeves puffy by following this tutorial here.  The bottom of the sleeves are gather around an elastic to help with the puffiness.  I might later on try and raise the sleeve as it is drooping of my shoulders right now.  I added a mandarin collar as well that fastens by a strip of velcro in the back.

Finished shirt and pants

Belt - The belt was drafted using a rectangle pattern made to fit my waist.  I made the belt about 3 inches for the final width.  The belt attaches by two hooks and eye closures.  The buckle was made separately using Worbla.  I made it spherical because to me it didn't look quite flat from the reference pictures I pulled up.  The buckle just slides onto the belt.  The belt buckle was primed with tow layers of gesso then two layers of silver paint (acrylic) were painted on top.  The last layer consisted of some shadowing and highlighting by just using black and white and mixing them with silver.

Belt Buckle

Shoes - I drafted my own pattern for the shoes.  I followed a similar format to that of the jasmine shoes but without the curly toe.  I choose a pair of old flats to use as my base.  They didn't look very nice anymore but they are still wearable so I figured that I would give them a makeover :) I covered the shoes using the same orange poplin I used for the belt.  They are sewn on (except near the front of the shoe, I couldn't get my hand in there).  I am slowly gaining my experience in shoe covers!

Sheeta shoes!

Wig - Sheeta's wig is awesome!  I ordered a Leia wig from Arda Wigs in mahogany and it is gorgeous!  It already came in the braids so I didn't need to style it.  I cut the bangs using an old pair of fabric scissors (they are still sharp but I don't use them for fabric anymore).  I made sure that I kept them long as the last time I cut bangs they turned out to be too short.

Hair Accessories - I bought a simple red headband and used pink elastics at the end of her braids (I was too lazy to buy red ones or buy red ribbon).

Completed costume

Fun With Fellow Costumers

Yestersay I was invited to go and visit one of my classmates to spend the day at her place.  She has been wanting me to visit for the longest time and we were finally able to agree on a date!  Her mum is a wonderful craftswoman who makes all kinds of things such as accessories and costumes.  My friend doesn't sew but she also makes accessories.

We started out the day pouring through her mum's patterns and looking for ideas for costumes.  She was super excited and showed me the Sailor Moon pattern that her mum made for her when she was a kid.  I think she might have her mum make her adult version because she knows that I made Jupiter.  She also has the wand so that would work out perfectly.  We might end up going out for Halloween together which would be awesome ;)

When the sun finally came out we went into her back yard and picked a bunch of apples!  Guess who's going to be making pie this week!  The apple trees were packed with red goodness!  We brought them inside and convinced her mum to make pastries with them.  She has the frozen dough so we just let that thaw and she made up the apple seasoning.

While the pastries were cooking we got out all the bead, wires, pendants and gadgets they owned to make jewelry.  I found a chain maille book so of course I had to try it out.  I had been meaning to make a chain for my pocket watch since I purchased one at Otakuthon.  I decided to try the Full Persian chain.  I took me a while to figure out how to get started.  Once I made the first section, I couldn't figure out how to go on.  The book was not very clear (at least to me).  Luckily there was a portion of the Full Persian already made so I inspected it and reverse engineered it.  Turns out my reverse engineering failed as I seemed to have made up a different weave.  I'm proud of it none the less!

My "Full" Persian

Real Full Persian

I made it long enough to act as a necklace as well as a pocket watch chain.  I wore it as a necklace all day afterwards!  While I was doing the chain maille, my friend was trying to make a Facebook page for her crafts.  You guys can check it out here.  I had to help her out a bit because she isn't really used to Facebook :P

My friend has been wanting to try and sell some of the costumes that they have because they simply have too many to deal with and they want people to wear them.  Her boyfriend and I helped her out by modelling the costumes for them.  It was so cool wearing the big hoop skirts and the heavy ball gowns.  Her mum is really talented!  There are so many details in these costumes and she really tried to stay true to the materials that they would have used back in the day.  Needless to say they cost a lot of money to just make!

We ended the day with a short game of Lord of the Ring Monopoly!  I didn't even know that it existed!  I lost of course but I figured that since I was Gandalf it didn't matter if I didn't have any money because Gandalf is awesome nonetheless!  When it was time to go my friend gifted me with her old set of Clow cards.  I was totally thrilled as I have been meaning to do a Cardcaptor Sakura Cosplay!  Now I shall have to make that costume!  Maybe more than one who knows!

Clow Cards

Journal of Montreal Comic Con 2013

This was my first Comic Con ever!  Wow this year was a lot of firsts!  It was a pretty cool weekend, I got to hang out with people I don't normally see at conventions.  I attended quite a few good panels and got quite a few photos, though none of any super heroes as those aren't really my thing.  The one thing that really bugged me about the con was that there was a clear hierarchy among the attendees.  Honestly, I know that people like to be treated like kings and like to be part of an exclusive group but where is the equality in this?  It's just a huge money making scam!

Friday: I had class on Friday so I only got to the con at around 5ish.  I was going to go and see Monika Lee's panel but the room was full so we just decided to chill for a bit.  I didn't cosplay that night as I didn't get to finish Padme in time.  I will try and finish it for next year though as I have the majority of it done!  It will be my budget costume as some of it was bought from value village and not actually made by me.  My boyfriend took me to a panel regarding game making communities in Montreal.  It was good though I'm not into the gaming scene that much.

At 6:30 pm my boyfriend and I got in line to wait for Kamui's panel.  My cosplaying friend Chelsea met up with us there and we chatted with a group from Nova Scotia while in line.  We actually got to sit up close to the front of the room so we could really see Kamui's costume up close.  She is a really good panelist, especially since she wasn't speaking in her native tongue.  She even handed out samples of Worbla to everyone!  Kamui was super friendly and super funny and she gave some really good advice.  I even got to hold one of her bracers to inspect it!

So here are my notes from her panel:

"Fabric is shit, armour is good!" - Kamui

• Expanding foam can be cut and carved with a carpet cutter, you'll need to fill in all the little holes in it
• Can use wood glue as a primer for Worbla, use acrylic paints, use a varnish
• To affix armour pieces together use D-rings attached by Worbla pieces
• Patterns are very important in making armour
• Frankly plastic - pellets that when heated become like clay, adheres to any thermoplastic
• When starting to work with thermoplastic for the first time, start with a small piece, then go bigger
• You can use the leftovers to make a new sheet simply by heating up the pieces and melding them together - reduce waste!
• Use paint to darken and highlight appropriate places to emphasize the shapes and designs
• You have roughly 1-2 minutes to work with the plastic once it's heated.

After the panel we didn't really stick around too much.  I had to finish fixing Jupiter's boot covers and I wanted to get to bed somewhat early.

Saturday: We got to the con later than expected.  I was cosplaying as Vana and since Sean Astin was going to be doing photo ops I really wanted to try and get a photo with him!  We got there just after the session started and the line to buy the ticket to get into the line for the photos was too long so I (sadly) decided to just wander around.  I did get to go and see the panel hosted by Jessica Nigri and Monika Lee.  When we were getting into the line though I noticed that the attendees were mostly male and none of them seemed to be in costume.  This was my first very good clue that this panel was going to be derpy.

The panel was a Q&A session where the topic was cosplay tips.  I think only five questions were on topic where as some others were just plain strange!  And really awkward too... I got to ask a question though I already knew most of the answer.  I figured though that they might have more insight on the topic, which they did, but just a bit.  I asked about advice for a novice competitor and they said think about the environment of the character when making your costume, talk passionately about why you chose that character, bring reference pics, construction pics and pay careful attention to your craftsmanship.

After the panel we went to the masquerade.  There were some really good entries, especially the last one!  Kamui, Jessica and Monika were all judges for the competition as well as a few other cosplayers.  The last entry was a bunch of daleks, two on stage and one massive one in the audience.  They didn't seem to be "walking", more like gliding.  They exterminated the host with some sort of spray thing and then the huge one exterminated the judges by spinning crazily and spraying the front audience with the same stuff.  It was awesome!

Sunday: Again, we got to the con late because Jupiter took forever to put on.  I got tons of photos taken of me that day!  I think that it was because I was more visible at the con than at Otakuthon rather than the popularity of the character.  There aren't the many cosplayers at Comic Con which is a shame.  Again I missed a Sean Astin photo op because it was schedule last minute but it didn't really matter because I wasn't wearing Vana.  It would have been strange to take a photo with him in Jupiter.

We went to a few good panels, one about Cosplay on a budget and a Q&A sessions with Sean Astin.  Here are my notes from cosplay on a budget:

• have one showcase costume and other buget, comfortable costumes
• thicken a beard with masacara
• thrift stores are awesome!

Between the panels we mostly walked around the dealer's room and chilled for a bit.  I bought a Kamui print so I can officially say that I have helped her fund her next project!  Sean Astin's panel was sooo good!  I had a few fan girl moments, especially when he quoted from the Lord of the Rings.  It was such an honour to sit and listen to him talk live.  He is really a good guy and he is quite funny.  At the end he tried to carry the host off stage but he kind of failed.  It was a good attempt though!

Verdict:  Will I attend next year's Montreal Comic Con?

Answer: YES!

Journal of Fan Expo 2013

Fan Expo was my first non-anime con that I've been to.  My boyfriend and I only went on Saturday and Sunday as it is expensive.  We also only decided the night before that we would go, so it was pretty last minute.  We booked the flight into Toronto and flew in not even twelve hours after.  Talk about spontaneous!

Day One (Saturday): We arrived Saturday morning, a bit delayed because of the flight.  I didn't cosplay the first day because I was exhausted and I was carrying my luggage with me the entire day.  Instead I thought that I would enjoy the first day and take lots of pictures.  The day started out with us waiting in a line that took about an hour to get through.  We bought both Saturday and Sunday tickets at the same time to reduce waiting time the next day.  We were immediately brought into the massive dealers room.

There were soooooo many people!!  There were times where I was taking little tiny baby steps and I was still getting bumped into and pushed around.  I must say the first day I was not a happy camper.  I got very little sleep the night before and because I took two gravol pills for the flight, the drowsiness hit me right as we got to the con.  I was also carrying quite a bit of weight with me and there was hardly any space to sit down.  Despite my crankiness I did get to check out a decent panel.  We went to check out the Make-up panel for cosplaying.  Here are my notes on it:

Make-up panel

• Wash and moisturize face
• Use primers
• Use a correcting cover up wheel
• foundation
• Contour with bronzer, follow natural curves
• Use a highlight wheel
• Use powder to seal in foundation (translucent)
• For male cross-play, contour nose and jaw (make square)
• To get hairs out of face, use pin curls at nape of neck, temples, center front
• Can use hair chalk to colour eyebrows
• For wig styling, do up hair, put wig cap on take measurements then pad wig head or saran wrap wig head

My boyfriend and I decided to leave the con for a bit to check into our hotel.  Once we dropped all of our stuff off, we took a much needed nap.  We woke up later than expected but we still managed to get something to eat and arrive in time for the masquerade that night.  The masquerade was different from the one at Otakuthon, mostly because of the genres that were seen but also because all the entry levels were in order and not jumbled up.  You really got to see the progression of the costumes and the difficulty levels.

Day Two (Sunday): Sunday I cosplayed as Princess Jasmine as it was the easiest one to pull off and to transport in carry on bags.  Our hotel was a good twenty minute walk from the con so I wore the majority of my costume as we walked (with a jacket over top) and carried the rest with me.  There was significantly less people at the convention that day and you could tell by the temperature of the rooms.  I got some awesome stuff in the artists alley, including a Sailor Moon art poster, a nerdy t-shirt and a Tardis necklace for a friend of mine.  I got to attend some more awesome panels.  I went to the Japanese pop culture panel in which we had a Japanese guest give the presentation.  He even had us all take a picture with him to bring back to Japan.  I also went to a fabric dyeing panel and a cosplay tips and tricks panel.

Fabric Dyeing Panel

• Always test first
• Always follow instructions
• Natural fibers dye better than synthetic, (rayon is a natural fiber)
• Painting - acrylic, not ideal for spandex
• Marbeling - mix solution, suspend dyes on solution, experiment, set fabric on bath and it will adhere to the fabric
• Start with a lighter colour, dye in a well ventilated area
• Keep a dyeing pot for boiling dyes, be careful when boiling!
• Hang gradient dyeing
• Salt  bath fabric before gradient dyeing
• Get undyed, white fabrics
• Paint in thin coats!

Cosplay Tips and Tricks

• Synthetic wig sprays
• Heat can help with damage, use steam, test and be careful
• Storing things at a con - pouches, purses, pockets
• Wig pins and pin curls to keep wig from slipping
• Blister strips while wearing shoes
• Shoe glue is handy
• Sealing spray for glued soles
• Garbage bag and duck tape dress form, expanding insulation foam
• Modify basic dress, bodice and skirt patterns to get slopers
• Armour needs lots of pivots

Overall I enjoyed myself though I could have done with less people in the convention center.  Will I go next year?  I will consider going again.

Journal of Otakuthon 2013

I was super excited for Otakuthon this year mostly because I decided that I would enter in the masquerade for the first time.  I was also slightly pissed off because I had a final on the Friday night which meant that I missed one of the days.  It also meant that I had to balance studying and finishing up Sailor Jupiter.  I wanted to bring Sheeta as well but I didn't have enough time to finish it before the con.  Before the con, I corresponded with a cosplayer from Toronto who was coming down for the first time.  We decided that we would meet up during the weekend to chill and get to know one another. Thursday my friends and I met up for pre-registration which took up about five minutes of our time.  Afterwards we went out to eat at the restaurant we traditionally eat at during the con.

Friday was hectic for me.  I had to finish up my studying for Statistics.  My exam was at 7 pm and ended at 10 pm.  I decided that I was going to rush to the con right afterwards and so I decided to wear my Mokona costume to my exam :)  I had many comments from people, one guy even asked if I was eloping (lol).  As soon as the exam ended, I dropped off my stuff at my boyfriend's apartment, did my makeup and headed to the con.  I didn't really do anything that night, I mostly just hung out with my friends and took pictures of Mokona.  Knowing that I had to get up early for masquerade registration, we decided to get to sleep at a decent time.  Our plan was foiled however when I realized that my brooch wasn't staying on the Jupiter costume.  We were up for a while trying to figure out how to fix it.

Saturday started out bright and early.  I got dressed as Sailor Jupiter and left without eating anything.  The registration for the  masquerade opened at 10 am but I wanted to be there a bit earlier as there were only 60 spots available.  Along the way I got a text from the cosplayer from Toronto saying that there was already a line up for registration.  I hurried along, knowing that I would get there soon.  We waited for a good while before it opened up.  I am very glad that I decided to wear my crocs that morning instead of putting on my Jupiter boots right away.  I didn't do very much between registering and heading to the green room.  In the green room I met some really awesome cosplayers from different regions. I was very helpful for a few of them as well :)

I decided to get judged for my crasftmanship.  I surprised the judge by revealing that my gloves were hand made and that my wig was not my real hair.  I then had a couple of professional photos taken of me to be used by Otakuthon for their judges as well as to put up on their facebook page.  While in the green room we actually discovered that 80 contestants were chosen instead of the original cap of 60.  This made some of us a little upset and mad because it made the wait so much longer than it should have been.  I was entry 62, even though I was the 20th person to register.

Before getting on stage some of the more experienced cosplayers gave me some really good advice.  I think that helped me to be a bit more calm when I was on stage.  I was still quite nervous though when it was my turn to walk out to show off my costume.  Luckily I couldn't see past the first couple of rows because the lights were so bright.  My costume also got a warm welcome so that made me happy :).

After the masquerade, we went to the hotel room that we had booked for the night and chilled with our friends.  We stayed up quite late, getting to bed at 5 am!  Luckily I only had to be at the award ceremony at noon the next day so we were able to get a bit of sleep.

Sunday was nice and calm.  As I didn't go home that night I wore Jupiter again.  I went to the award ceremony for the masquerade and cheered on my fellow cosplayers.  Everyone did such a great job!  Afterwards we went to the dealers room and shopped around.  I learned a very valuable lesson  Never wear heels two days in a row at a con!  My feet were so painful the second day that I actually had to change into my crocs halfway through. At the end of the day, we went to the closing ceremonies and the feedback panel.  I gave my feedback regarding the masquerade.

All in all I didn't really do much besides the masquerade but I think it was worth it.  The panels at Otakuthon weren't very interesting to me and there were some awesome costumes to take pictures of.  I think eventually I shall have to host a panel myself and I shall definitely enter the masquerade again!