NDK 2014 Costumes Part One

Is it that time already? Why yes, yes it is.

Most people who find and read this know, but NDK stands for Nan Desu Kan and is one of the local anime conventions that my friends and I attend. We always manage to have a good time and we make our own costumes. All around good fun.

I am excited to announce that the Sailor Moon/Disney cross over is happening this year! And we have a pretty big group involved! I am going to be Sailor Princess Jasmine. Is that how we should write our names? Sailor Jasmine? Anyway, it is going to be fun!

I am hoping that we bring back our Katamari group costumes. I don't know that a decision has been made. I am planning on bringing back my Lady Doctor costume as my alternative. Because I love it.

I also think that I want to make a Hiccup costume. I probably will--I think it will be easy enough.

So the Jasmine scout costume will be the most difficult on so many levels. First off, my skin color is pale. Some of my friends would tell you that I am so pale I am almost blue. This brings a whole new problem: should I try to tan or color my skin so I look more Jasmine-like? (I am thinking no.) Also, I don't want to bare my midriff. So my plan was to find a skin colored leotard and make my two piece costume over it (so my midriff is covered). After not finding anything in my skin tone, I finally found a leotard that was the color of Jasmine's outfit and decided that I will cut out the middle and add in a mesh or something. I also ordered tights that looked my skin color. If they are too dark, I will dye them. I found it all pretty cheap online so I can justify having to alter them. Plus, covering my midriff and wearing tights will cover two of my tattoos. And then I don't have to do so with makeup.

I will certainly need a wig. I looked a little online and found some truly terrible Jasmine wigs. That will be another hurdle.

We have already had a meeting to start planning our Sailor Disney costumes. We know how we will be making our skirts and our bows, more or less. We even have tiara patterns and everything. I will post more about these as I get into it. I need my leotard first so that I can match my colors. I am excited!

As a side note, some friends and I are running (or mostly walking, in my case) the Boulder-Boulder 10k. Katja, Jhenn, and I want to do super hero themes with tutus (cause that's what we do). So Katja will be Batman, Jhenn will be Leonardo from TMNT, and I'm going to be the Pink Ranger. So we were making tutus (tho Jhenn already has a green and blue one that she made). Here is mine so far:

Like pink, fluffy clouds! We are dorks and I love it! I just need to finish it up and paint a shirt and headband to match!

NDK 2013 Costumes Part Three

A costume update here!

JARETH:

I sewed snaps onto my Jareth vest. So the vest and belt are complete. Now to finish the rest. "The rest" being a dickey and the jacket.

I also haven't figured out pockets for this one. Maybe I will put a pocket on the front of the vest where the jacket will hide it. Remember cosplayers: you will need a place to put your phone, money, and ID!

I haven't decided on boots yet. Cat, my Sarah, said that she wouldn't wear heals. I am just a touch taller than her normally, so I just need a little heal. That's good! I will see what I have or what I can find.

I also still need the wig and then I will need to color parts of it and add glitter.

I studied the broach that he wears and decided to make it. After looking at all of my jewelry-making options, I decided to bead it. My mom used to do tons of beading, so I commandeered her materials and will, hopefully, start that soon. I will show that with pictures and such.

I found this material on sale. All shiny silver! Since it was on sale, I decided to line the lower part of Jareth's coat. I wasn't going to, but now I guess I have to.

ROGUE:

I found this amazing jacket for my Rogue costume at Old Navy:

I know it's a bit longer than hers, but I have, shall we say, a lot of "junk in the trunk," and I think it's best to cover some of that up considering I will be wearing a skin-tight unitard... ("junk in the trunk" = I have a big butt).

Also, we have pockets! Yay! And I didn't have to make them myself! Double yay!

The whole unitard thing is still tough going. I might just have to pay someone for one because I really, REALLY don't want to make it by hand. The search is still on, but it's not going well. I will probably end up ordering one that I found for about 45 dollars.

I also found that I can't buy the gloves or make the boots until I have the unitard so I can make sure my yellows match. So that is the hold up here. I did get a simple brown belt, however. I think I can make the X-men belt buckle that she wears.

GAMBIT:

I got a fake costume chest for Isaac's costume. I haven't done anything with it yet, sadly. But I did buy the red and blue fabric to cover it with! And regular old black gloves. I will cut the fingers off later.

One odd note about the costume chest: it has protruding nipples... Which I may have to file down or something...

Yeah. I am embarrassed to own this. I can't wait to cover it up.

I haven't figured out what to do with his pants. Isaac won't want to wear leggings, so I guess I need to find black jeans. I don't know if I want to actually sew the red on the sides of the thighs or paint them. It may depend on the fabric.

So we still need his coat (I'm thinking thrift store?), boots (which will be interesting, but I have a few ideas), pants, and the thing on his head. I found something that will work, but it wasn't black, it was white. Or a ski mask may work.

NAUSICAA:

Sadly, no new progress here. I have been keeping my eye out for brown loafer-type shoes and leg-warmers. I may make those myself since I will have to buy some matching fabric for the cartridges on her top. My Rogue belt may work nicely for her outfit, though. That's good.

Worry not, the denim tunic that I found for this costume does have pockets! Woo! Two costumes with pockets built in!

I also have decided that I can use my own hair for Nausicaa and Rogue as long as I keep it this red-ish color. For Rogue I will diffuse and curl it and spray some white on the front.

Well, that's that! More soon!

NDK 2013 Costumes Part Two

Yay, NDK!

I have made some progress on my costumes for this year. Woo!

My Jareth costume is beginning to get pinned and sewn. It took me time and motivation to finally cut out the interfacing. I hate interfacing. I know it's necessary, but I still hate it. So that is happening, slowly but surely.

My little set up on my desk due to lack of sewing table. And that is "Spaced" playing on my laptop there. Love it.

I did manage to finish the vest! Yay! It will be mostly hidden so its a good warm up piece. It just needs a fastener or two--I'm thinking snaps. I will go get those today. Yay! So excited!

Front.

Back.

Though in the process, I managed to irreparably bend two pins...  Maybe I need more pins, too...

I have been doing research for my Rogue costume. Do you know how hard it is to find good unitards in green or yellow? Very hard. Especially because I don't want to spend 50$ for a unitard I still have to paint anyway. Also, depending on the places you are looking for such items, the *oddest* things pop up. I didn't know they made such outfits. Anywho...

I am at the point where I am ready to look at some costume and dance shops to see what I find. I don't want to paint a whole suit, so green or yellow is preferable. I probably won't find that at a dance shop, but I can look at the local costume shop. I can also get gloves there. Rogue's are yellow.

For Isaac's Gambit costume, I have been wracking my brains about the armor on his chest. In the course of my research, I found a brilliant idea: a costume chest! Wow! Epiphany! So that is something else to get at the costume shop.

So that's about it for now. I am off to the craft and costume shops! And the bank... which is less fun...

Costumes Part Six

Great news! I finished my Shuiichi Kurama costume! Yay!

The yellow ribbon trimming? I used hot glue. I intended to sew it on, originally, but did not for a couple reasons: 1) it was easy and required little effort on my part, and 2) without thinking, I sewed metal clasps all the way down the front BEFORE I remembered that it would be difficult to put those through the sewing machine. So, there you have it. Think before you sew.

So that is two costumes down. And the wigs are ordered and have arrived, but not styled as of yet.

NDK is about a month away. I still need to do my Katamari dress and I think I came up with a pattern (on my own!) that will work. That one will be next. And I do hope my group will be meeting soon so we can finish our heads. We did meet the other day to figure out the faces. Once I put mine together I can show pictures. Cat dyed a chiffon a skin color and we are doing two layers over the mesh on the face. This will allow us to mostly see (at least shapes if not specific people), but since it is dark in our heads, it will be hard to see in. Awesome and genius, right? I am SOOO excited!

So, I have to pick up some newsprint paper or something to make patterns on for my Katamari costume, make that, and style my wigs.

As for Jareth, I am starting to fear that it will not get done in time.

Costumes Part Five

Hello everyone! This update is a little early because Isaac and I are going on vacation for about 10 days. I will not be able to work on anything while I am away (sad), so I figured I would update now and then work and update again after I return. (But I will probably post about the vacation :) )

Exciting news regarding my costumes.
One: I learned what an ease-stitch is and how to do it. (For my fellow amateur seamstresses, here is the most useful link that I found: http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa063001a.htm.) I needed to do this on the sleeves of my Shuiichi shirt and many sites talked about gathering and puckering and puffy sleeves, which helped me not a bit. Glad I found the link above otherwise I would have been out of luck. The sleeves were a bit puffy, but not too bad when they were finished.

Two: I ordered two of the three wigs I need! Woo! Both are for Kurama costumes and were bought under advisement from my friend, Cat. Check her out, she does commissions and she is just amazing: http://www.facebook.com/groups/274681619281442/ or http://www.angrylittlegnome.deviantart.com/.

My wigs can be found here: http://cosplayanimewigs.com/33herewhlost.html and http://cosplayanimewigs.com/28heredareds.html. I will need to make some alterations because they need to look like this:

I will be consulting Cat some more on how to get Shuiichi's hair to do that...

I also think I found a wig for my Jareth costume. Another magnificent suggestion from Cat. I will post more about that once I order it.

Sadly, little progress has been made with my Katamari costume. Kinks are still being worked on by the "professionals" (Cat and Jhenn) for the heads and faces (like how exactly we will see out of them). And I have yet to start the dress, but I have white fabric and fabric paint for the circles. I don't have a pattern for this one and I think I may have to find one if I am going to get up the courage to make it. Free-sewing sounds like a bad idea for me.

Also, no progress has been made on my Jareth costume, either. I'm still scared of it. On the plus side, I have Yoko's costume finished (once I fix up the wig a bit) and Shuiichi's nearly finished! I need to make the pink belt-tie thing and put the yellow trim on. I'm excited! Once everything is finished, I will post costume test and and make-up and hair test pictures.

Costumes Part Three

Sorry I didn't update on my costumes last week. I made shockingly little progress at all the week before. This week was much more productive.

Here is my belt for my Jareth costume. It sparkles. Need I say more?

All of these tiny rhinestones don't really like to stay attached so I tried Modge Podge on the backside (so as not to cover the sparklies). We will see if they hold up.

And I am almost finished with my Yoko Kurama costume. I just need to make a sash and finish the ears and tail. Oh, and the wig. Guess I need that, too. And find my shoes. Damn.

During the course of making this, I had to have my mom come over to help with the fitting. In case you don't know, it can be difficult to fit things to yourself without help. Especially under the arms. I had to interrupt my mom for this and she suggested getting a dress-maker dummy. While this would be a great idea, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend. The cheapest I found one was about 50 dollars, but I'm not sure it was adjustable (which is not a necessary feature, but it would be nice). The others were closer to 100 dollars, and I'm sure more with shipping such large, awkward objects. I haven't actually looked in a store yet, but I'm sure Joann would have something.

Then I ran across this link: How to Make Your Own Sewing Dummy on eHow. Brilliant, right? I think it would be fun to try. The most expensive part would probably be the stand. Anyhow, I ran the idea past my mom, and she thinks it would be fun to try. So this might be my next project. Totally psyched. Then I don't need help with fittings! Yay! I will post that when it happens.

I also started the pants for my Shuiichi Kurama costume, but they weren't far enough along to justify pictures. It's been a while since I have done pants, it took a while to remember how to put them together! The Yoko pants turned out well and the Shuiichi ones are fine so far. They are a little more complex. I also remembered after I finished my Yoko ones that I wanted to put in a pocket... I will make sure my Shuiichi ones have one, but I will have to go back and add one to the Yoko pants... Ugh.

Oh, I have also added another costume to my NDK list for this year: Katamari cousin. My friends talked about a group cosplay with someone dressed as the Prince and others dressed as his various cousins from the games. If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy. The basic premise is that the King of the Universe destroyed the stars (or something) in a drunken fit and his tiny Prince has to roll things up on the Katamari (a big ball which sticks to things smaller than it to grow) and make new stars. It is fun and silly. As you go through the game, you encounter various cousins.

It was decided recently that this will actually happen. So Amie will be the Prince and I believe we have someone who will be the King, and two or three others. I think that I will be June, shown here:

And hopefully we will all have Katamari. Hopefully with velcro things to stick on them! Fun fun! More soon.

Costumes Part Two

Costume progress report! Nearly all of my white fabric is cut out. So that means essentially everything for both Kurama costumes is cut (all except the trimmings). A couple pieces are pinned together, but that is about it... In other words, everything still looks like a pile of fabric.

I bought this set for the ears and tail for Yoko Kurama:

 

I know, it has sparkling pink with bling, but I figured that I could take all of that off and alter it to suit. So here are the tail and ears without the pink and sparklies on them (as much as I love things that sparkle...). I am trying to turn other pieces of the set to make the ears fuzzy like the tail. This is what it looks like thus far:

Not too bad, right? The strip at the top is one of the fuzzy cuffs that will hopefully fit on one of the ears. I'm not sure how yet, but I'm working on it.

I also bought white gloves for my Jareth costume, but I am still sort of afraid to start it.The belt seems easiest so maybe I will tackle that soon. Then I will have an awesome sparkly belt to wear if I so desire.

Still no wigs.

Still no money for contacts.

Costumes Part One

Yesterday I thought I needed a little retail therapy after Pico died. So my mom and I took a trip to Joann to buy fabric for some costumes I want to make.

In case you don't know, I am a pretty big nerd. I love, LOVE Halloween and dressing up in costumes. I also like many animes so I will be attending our local anime convention, Nan Desu Kan (NDK for short). Told you, big nerd. That's OK. Being normal is totally boring.

The fruits of my trip are shown below. Tons of white fabric, some dark blue and pink. Yellow ribbon, gathered sheer fabric (like gathered lace, but not lace) and a bedazzled silver finding. Plus, YARDS of interfacing, which my mother assured me many times that I really do need...

Oh, and patterns. I will be using these as my basic patterns and altering them as I need to. Yes, much altering.

As of right now, I have three costumes in mind. (Yes, there may be more depending on whether or not Isaac wants to do a cosplay with me for NDK).
First, Jareth, the Goblin King, from my all-time favorite movie: "Labyrinth." And not just any Jareth, ballroom Jareth. Mask and all. Here are a couple pictures. Luckily, I have an awesome friend and professional costume maker who is helping with the mask (she already has a prototype!) and possibly the wig. (Here is Cat's deviant site in case anyone wants to see what kind of work she does: http://angrylittlegnome.deviantart.com/)

Second is Kurama as Shuiichi in this particular outfit. When people dress like him, they do not wear this outfit, but it is probably one of my favorites.

Third is Yoko Kurama (same character, totally different look).

I will start with the very last because the costume itself should be easiest. Then I will probably work my way to the top. The Jareth costume is going to be intense. It has lots of little pieces to it (watch the ballroom scene in the movie a few times if you don't believe me).

Problems: The wigs. Especially for Jareth and Kurama as Shuiichi. The white wig for Yoko Kurama should be easy enough, but I am not sure how I am going to do the ears and tail...

Bonuses: I already have shoes for all three costumes! As well as black leggings for Jareth. Awesome.

If I have time: I may do colored contacts, but that's a lot. As a perfectionist, I really want to in order to "complete" my costumes. I would need a gold set for Yoko Kurama (which I could use for other costumes I have), green for Kurama as Shuiichi, and one blue and one brown for Jareth. That might be a hard order to fill, especially if I actually want to use prescription lenses. Well, we can save that for later.

I will be posting updates as I make progress. I am going to start Yoko today. Here we go!