Final Cosplay Results for NDK 2012

While my Jareth costume did not happen even remotely, here are the results for both Kurama costumes and our Katamari cosplay.

Costume number one: Shuiichi Kurama:

The girl standing next to me is cosplaying as Botan from the same anime.

Compared to this:

(Side note, those twisty-things around his ankles and wrists are not part of the outfit, they are part of a power his opponent was using in the scene, which I would not have used if I could find a better full body picture of this outfit. It is also hard to tell that the cuffs and collar are dark blue.)

Thoughts: I love this outfit of Shuiichi Kurama's. Almost no one knew who I was because Shuiichi Kurama has two, arguably three, more popular outfits. I have never seen anyone else wear this particular outfit. Even doing a Google search turned up no others like this Also, the wig was awful! I couldn't get it right, so I just did the best with what I had. If I ever bring back this outfit I will commission a new wig. The one I made (sadly) belongs in the trash. I had to hot glue parts of it, which means it cannot be taken out and re-done better. The hot glue happened because I was running out of time and options. I don't really recommend hot gluing your wigs.

Costume number two: Yoko Kurama:

(Also, forgive my weak poses and half-smiles. I am a cosplayer, not an actress... And I am sad that my tail cannot be seen in this photo.)
Compared to this:

Thoughts: This one was much more of a hit. My one main problem was the ears slipped if I looked down. Otherwise I liked it very much.

Costume number three: June from Katamari (plus my friends as the King, Prince, and other various cousins):

Notes on making our costumes: We made the cardboard frames and wrapped those in quilt batting. I believe that we all used some interfacing (I did because mine is white and I didn't want everyone to see through the cloth and such) and sewed the cloth like a pillow case which could be slipped on. Due to the irregular shape, they had to be hand sewn shut. I left a hole for my head to go through, but my friends, being wiser, did not and cut it afterwards (which made the case fit better). The linings around faces and edges are hemmed and hot glued on. The cones and balls for the antennae are foam. The cones are covered in yellow cloth and the balls are painted and we hot glued them on last. The faces were made with a cross-stitch mesh covered with two layers of a chiffon dyed a flesh color. The eyes, noses, and mouths are felt that we did together for consistency and are hot glued on. For my dress I used a pattern made for me by Cat and the gloves I winged and did not do a good job on. Tights were purchased and I painted old white shoes to match the rest.

Compared to:

Thoughts: I LOVED this cosplay! It was fun and we were a big hit! Unfortunately it is hard to see much unless there is a lot of light (which there usually wasn't) so we didn't always know when people were taking pictures or finished taking pictures unless someone told us. It was a little hard to hear. We had the King and other friends herd us around the hotel in a big linked chain, stopping occasionally for pictures. Also, it gets very hot inside those heads! But totally worth it! Even after spending about 10-11 hours painting all those circles (yes, 10-11 hours for the whole head and dress-just for circle painting, though I worked 12 hours total including putting the lining on the head and making the gloves) was worth it.

Ending Notes: Wearing so much white at NDK was sort of rough. It is not the cleanest of places and it is hard to keep them white. I got some makeup on my Shuiichi costume and a little drop of chocolate on Yoko's tail (not sure how, but that's OK). Something to keep in mind for the future and for those thinking about white costumes.

For next year we are talking about doing a large Ghibli cosplay! I hope this one pans out because I would love to be Nausicaa! Have to plan these things in advance you know!

Nausicaa

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 Four

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Work got kind of crazy--I worked some late shifts and had some meetings, etc. We should be about back to normal now, so be expecting more updates.

So! Costumes!

I am pleased to report that Yoko Kurama is almost complete! I fixed up the ears and the tail (the tail wasn't long enough or fluffy enough for me and the ears weren't fox-y enough). I used a white (that ended up being a little off-white, unfortunately) fake fur and a little bit of quilt batting for the tail. I just wrapped it all up and hot glued everything. So this is what we have now:

I also managed to put in a little pocket. Let me tell you: they are much easier to do BEFORE you actually sew the pants together. I think I have learned my lesson. And the little sash to tie the tunic shut and attach the tail is finished. Yay! Just need a wig now! (And contacts? I still haven't decided. Based on my financial situation, I am guessing no...). My friend, Cat, helped me find some good wigs for all of my costumes, now just to save up and purchase them. I will post links when I make my final decisions.

For Shuiichi Kurama I have finished the pants. With a pocket! I haven't tackled the shirt yet because frankly it intimidates me a little. That is the next step, however. Hopefully next week will see some of that finished.
 I still haven't done anything besides the belt for Jareth. Cat has done my mask prototype, but I haven't seen it. I'm sure it is going to be great! I am scared about doing his outfit, too. I might leave most of it for last.

We have all been working on our Katamari heads! My friend, Jhenn, is amazingly brilliant! She came up with the whole mascot-head design, made all the measurements, and made templates. We all traced the templates onto cardboard and cut every tiny little piece out. So I ended up with this pile of cardboard with no notion of how it would all come together.

Jhenn began fitting it all, and we hot glued everything together. So here are some progress pictures:

Tracing

  

Cutting

Gluing

 Side note, hot glue guns for a project this big got glue strings EVERYWHERE! Leading to various lines such as "Holy glue strings, Batman."

And the finished product on my head! Soooo fun! And isn't Jhenn amazing?! I can't believe that she could visualize and create these! I am exceedingly impressed.

Next step: Cover the head base in quilting batting and cut a piece of cross-stitch mesh to put over the face. Then hot glue it all together!

And this is what I have!

I still need to put batting on the ends. We are looking for fabric to put over the face so we can paint on Katamari faces and still see out. All of us still need to make the outside cases, but more on that later.