Flame Princess~

FLAME PRINCESS' DRESS IS DONE :)

it's flippin done!!

i'msohappy.

Look how cute she is.
Just look at her.

The episode she's cosplaying is "Vault of Bones" and it's super cute.

The top pattern was made from a tape model and I used broadcloth (frown upon me o experienced seamsters and seamstresses, FROWN AWAY). The skirt a 4 piece A-Line, also made from broadcloth. The flames (the most time consuming bit and also my favorite bit) are made from canvas sandwitched by two layers of red broadcloth. 

WHAT I LIKE: 

• I like that I finished.
• UM. I like the flames at the bottom.
• I like the that the top is actually interfaced. (BABY STEPS)
• I like our cosplayer, she's super awesome.

WHAT COULD BE BETTER:

• The bunchy bit under the boobs.
• The flames at the bottom should be bigger
• The red part at the top should also be bigger.
• You can't even tell she has a petticoat under the dress.
• I used broadcloth. 
• (I'd bought it ages ago and it was the the right color ;A;)
• *hides in shame* 
• The colors for the bottom flames and the top detail don't match.
• The gems aren't done.
• FUCK, still need to make her gems... (i'm not done.)
• disappoint.

We considered a few different ways to make/buy gems (resin, craft stores, online, sugar candy) but in the end, we ditched attempting clear gems in favor of cheapness and we're currently planning on making paper gems with two billion coats of mod podge. 

YAY, MOD PODGE!

NEXT UP: MARCELINE BOOT COVERS

also, AP LIT TEST ON THURSDAY *shoot me now*

Ice Queen fabrics

I was hunting through our local Savers (thrift store) and if you read the hoop skirt post, you'll know I thrifted some white bedsheets for that, but as I was searching, some blue ICE QUEEN colored bedsheets had also caught my eye. Each one was $1-$2, so I bought 3 blue sheets as well and ran with the idea. 

BEDSHEETS, salvage, and RIPPED THREAD.

The darker two seem to be matte cotton (which is what I was planning on getting), but the lightest one definitely has a sheen to it. I can easily see the problem with not having enough fabric and not being able to buy more, so I'm taking my time to make sure all the pieces will be the right size and ripping the seams from all of the edges to maximize the lengths of the sheets. In this extremely pain-staking endeavor, I salvaged some elastic from the dark blue bed sheet and some blue bias tape from the medium blue one. Each bed sheet took about 3-4 hours to rip the seams ;A; 

The medium blue is in great quality, the dark blue is good, but not as good, and the lightest one is pilling.

I'm currently planning on using the darker two for the dress and the lightest one for a petticoat in between the dress and the hoop skirt.

I have no idea how the dress will turn out, but as this was hoards cheaper than buying fabric from a fabric store, it's worth a go.

WIGS!

~ I got ma wiiigs. I got ma wiiigs. I got ma wiiigs. I got ma wiiigs ~

Last Thursday (April 25) I ordered two wigs from animestuffstore.com
I received them on Tuesday (April 30) which was perfectly in the 4-7 days they gave for shipping, but cost me a good $12, but either way, props for quick shipping.

My first wig was for Ice Queen- click here to see webpage 

(Ayumi-Snow White- 29"-- $27) VERY PRETTY.

The second was for Beth- click here to see webpage

(Tomoyo- Natural Black- 32"-- $25) ALSO VERY PRETTY.

Shipping at this store was quite expensive. I was originally intending to buy the Ice Queen wig off an ebay retailer, but chose this one instead to lessen shipping and for a better guarantee on quality. 

SO, TO THE REVIEWING~
ICE QUEEN WIG:

FRONT
and an obligatory IQ pose

and the BACK
this was a hard picture to take, kept missing ;A;

When I first saw the wig, I was a bit wary that it would be too pretty for IQ. Even though most IQ cosplayers use a straight wig, I wanted a wavy one, as her hair does have a wave to it. This wig is shorter and curlier than I would have liked, but overall, I accept it. As a curly wig, it doesn't tangle or shed too badly and we'll see how the curls keep. It's a bit shiny in natural lighting and I can only assume it'll be worse with flash, so I plan on running some baby powder through it eventually. The head model they used looked small, so I was worried it wouldn't fit my head, but the sizing was surprisingly good-- snug, but not too tight.

BETH WIG:

FRONT
*i be watchin' you all sleep*
*_____*

BACK
i see you seeing my art wall of art which i mostly did not art.

so here's a (marginally) better pic :)
i like my doctor who poster best <3

BACK TO THE WIG, for a Beth cosplay, I'll definitely need to style the bangs and the ends. I thought it would be a bit too long, but I the length came out really well, although I'm starting to think long wigs make people look shorter. In natural lighting, it doesn't photograph too shiny, but we'll see what happens in flash. This one tangles a bit more than the other wig, which is probably because it's straight and doesn't have curls to keep its shape. I've tried to brush the tangles out with my fingers, but that causes some shedding, so I'm a bit wary of that. As with the other one, I was worried it would be too small, but it was a nice fit. 

To max my use of the wigs, I'm making lists of other characters the wigs could potentially be used for, but I haven't come up with much yet. 

White wig: other Ice Queens (Sailor Moon crossplay, Pre-Ice Queen~Simonne, steampunk Ice Queen) Storm (Xmen), female Appa gijinka (Avatar, the Last Airbender), *possibly* TARDIS (Doctor Who), Totoro gijinka (Tonari no Totoro- Ghibli), Athena (Angelic Layer), Derpy Hooves (My Little Pony), Yue (Avatar, the Last Airbender), Harley-Quinn (Batman- DC Comics), other potential gijinkas, any lolita, and various steampunk

Black Wig: Other Marcelines, Mio (K'ON), Jade (Homestuck), Wonder Woman (if I can curl it right) (DC comics), and again, other potential gijinkas, any lolita, and various steampunk

Also, if anyone noticed in the other pics, I was testing out some gunmetal lipstick
Our PB cosplayer (my main call to arms buddy aka *we do most of the work and we're tentatively ok with that*) ordered some lipstick samples from mybeautyaddiction.com 
She was able to order their 3 sample for $4 deal from their etsy, but I can't seem to find the page, so here is the link to the deal on their home site. We ordered gunmetal, sapphire, and sinful.

it's little capsule on the left (and the bobbin is for scale)

regular smile
(and i apologize for my face, my skin hasn't been my best buddy of late)

teethy smile

FROWNY FROWN

i don't know what face this is, but i have a wig on, so it's ok

It stays on pretty well and the color is wearable, so I like it. The little capsule is also a good size for a one-time use. 
I originally wanted blue lips for IQ, but the sapphire was too dark, so right now I'm planning on using this color for IQ. I'm still debating whether I should try the sapphire mixed with some something to make it lighter (would foundation work?). 

SO THAT'S THAT.

STILL TONS OF SHIT TO DO.
HUZZAH.

Adventure Time Group Cosplay

As one of the few in a large cosplay group able to sew, I feel a mixture of honor and panic. A cosplay group of TEN. I very much want everyone to look amazing, but I'm a bit worried about deadlines and disappointing my groupmates ;A;

We are an Adventure Time group going to Fanime '13

Our entire group!
LSP, Marceline, Flame Princess PB, Finn, Cake, Fionna, PG, Marshall Lee, Ice Queen

So Of these, I'm making/ have made Marcy's jeans, gloves, and boot covers, Flame Princess's dress, Finn/Fionna backpacks, Cake's jacket and tail, PB's jacket and boot covers, PG's jacket, Marshall Lee's guitar, and my very own IQ dress. I'm also helping LSP alter her dress and Fionna make her own hat.

Progress List:

• Lumpy Space Princess
•  Dress- bought, but still needs alteration
• Marcy
• Jeans- made ill-fitting mock, need to fix and start final pair
• Gloves- made tape model, but lost thumb before I had a chance to pattern
• Boot Covers- ALMOST DONE!
• Guitar (backpack) (if possible)- bought fabric, need PVC pipes and pattern
• Princess Bubblegum
• Jacket- DONE DONE DONE
• BMO (if possible)- 
• Boot Covers- bought fabric and used rainboots, need to cover...
• Flame Princess
• Dress- made the skirt, flames, and petticoat-- just need to finish top
• Finn
• Backpack- ALMOST DONE, need to add zipper and stuff pillow for inside
• Cake
• Jacket- cut pieces, need to sew together
• Tail- have fabric, need to pattern and sew
• Fionna
• Backpack- ALMOST DONE: just need to stuff pillow for inside
• Prince Gumball
• Jacket- bought fleece, but cosplayer is rethinking fabric (cause heat)
• Marshall Lee- 
• Guitar (backpack)- have fabric and PVC pipes, just need to pattern and sew
• Ice Queen
• Hoop Skirt- DONE DONE DONE
• Dress- patterned and fabric bought, just need to cut and sew

GUYSS, TOO MUCH TO DOO ;A;

Fanime is in 21 days, during which I also have 3 AP tests and graduating HS.

On the bitsy brighter side, LOOK AT IT, IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

PB Jacket (FRONT)

PB Jacket (BACK)

The color is a quite off ;A; 

It was one of those things-- I was in the fabric store and I had my ref on my itouch, but somehow, I misjudged the color and by the time we realized the jacket should be way more purple, we'd already made the base...

I guess it is what it is ... OTL

I'll just have to pay better attention next time...

It's also not technically supposed to have a zipper, but following the examples of other PB cosplayers, creative liberty?

More good news, my Ice Queen and Beth wigs came on Tuesday!! I haven't had the time to review them yet, but I'll do my best to post pics tomorrow.