October Update

It's October now, crazy right? I thought it was time for a new banner on my facebook page, highlighting all my best/newer costumes. Photo credits to EleventhPhotograph (for Steampunk Captain, Forest Guardian, & Asuna), and Elemental Photography (for Splatoon & Vaporeon). I'm still on the fence about changing my banner on this page, because I like the current one so much. I will probably wait a few months before changing it.

This month I will be starting to post about my Sakura costume. It's a surprisingly complicated costume, so it will be broken down into many parts. I finished my Splatoon posts now, so be sure to take a look at those! Posts on Vaporeon will be coming in December most likely.

EleventhPhotograph is back in Canada for a bit, so I did a photoshoot with my Tomoyo and Sakura costumes the other weekend. Loving the fall colours from that shoot! Must enjoy the fall weather while we can. I've added my Tomoyo shots to my Tomoyo blog post, so be sure to go back and check those out!

I am currently prototyping some bags that I am planning on selling. Hopefully more info to come later this month. Other than that, I've got a couple costume projects on the go now--specifically my newest CardCaptor Sakura outfit and a lolita costume that I am just putting the finishing touches on. I'm also working on a Toothless onesie commission for Yavarice at the moment. I finished up some Splatoon tentacle commissions for some Squids 2.0, excited to have members of the blue and pink teams to join our ranks!

Speaking of joining the ranks, allow me to introduce you to the newest member of the team: Hans! It was about time that I bought a serger of my own. It's not the most hi-tech machine on the market, but it has a variety of features, and the reviews were positive. Having a serger on board will allow me to work with more stretch fabrics than I did previously, and also make finishing inner seams much faster.

At the end of the month I will be taking a short trip to New York City! Excited to do some fabric shopping! This time I will be going with a shopping list and reference pictures. Last time I was so unprepared, all I bought was a small bit of lace trim... Which I finally just used on my lolita outfit! Going to get fabric for my next costumes while I am in a place with such variety! I must be prepared!

Speaking of trips, I will be going back to Japan to visit my sister in November. There will be no blog posts while I am over there.

In other news, after many years of many many headaches, on the extreme insistence of a friend of mine I decided to get my eyes tested. It turns out I needed glasses for close up vision. So far they are working out well and appeared to have solved my problem, but wearing them has taken some getting used to--since I have never worn glasses in my entire life!

As you can see, September was a pretty busy month! Hopefully things will be a little less hectic here in the workshop this month.

That's all for now!

FanExpo 2015

I attended my last con for the season: FanExpo! This was my 11th (or was it my 12th?) year attending this con. Of all the cons I go to, I have to say that this one has the best/most interesting Artist Alley. It's the only reason why I still attend. I only attended on the Thursday night, but since I can see all I want to see in under 4 hours and still have time to chat with friends, it worked out perfectly for me. The lineup to get in was quite short and it wasn't overly crowded, so I was able to navigate the con floor easily and see what I wanted without too much hassle.

The Thursday night ticket is by far the most economical. If you divide the ticket price by how many hours it gets you admission for--Thursday you pay 25$ for 5 hours, while Sunday you pay 45$ for 7 hours. Say what? However, there really are no guests on Thursday night, so providing you are not there to see any celebrities, Thursday is the best night to go. (And so long as it doesn't also conflict with your job.)

Since a lot of my costumes are either large, heavy or too warm I decided to throw together a lolita outfit to wear for the evening. You may recognize some elements from other steampunk/lolita outfits I have put together before. Most noticeably I wore my High Waisted Tree Branch Skirt, which I hadn't worn for quite some time! I borrowed the amazingly fluffy petticoat from my sister's Sakura costume to make it even more pouffy.

I enjoyed my evening very much! It was nice to hang out with Elemental at her table, and also see some of my other artist friends!

On an interesting note, the last time I was in that building was for a marketing exam. It was really surreal to see the space that is usually the dealers room filled with endless rows of desks...

High Waisted 'Tree Branch' Skirt

Greetings all! :D Here is my in-depth look for how I made my high-waisted 'tree branch' skirt.

This is an original steampunk-lolita inspired outfit. I tried to make it a bit subtler than some lolitas, less frills, a bit more mature looking. The steampunk elements lie in the jewellery and the colour scheme. Lots of creams and browns.

The skirt I handmade, the top is actually a dress that I bought in London at Lily J. (And I take no credit in making it obviously.)

The wig I bought online for the outfit. It is a very fun wig to wear. Not styled in any way.  I love the curls. :D

I plan on jazzing this costume up a bit for future wears. I plan to add a petticoat to give the skirt more volume and possibly a hat. :D

I started off with the waistband. Taking my measurements and dividing them into 4 equal sections. Then adding the extra inches for seam allowance and dividing the back panel in half, adding enough seam allowance to put in the zipper.

(Notice how I made things easier for myself here: with 5 panels I can have both my zipper not put in on a curve, and no seam in the center front.)

Above are the panels for the skirt sewn together. I wanted to give the skirt volume.

I had limited fabric for this project. Here is my original concept sketch, along with all the math behind this skirt. Because I had such limited amounts of fabric, I had to plan out how I would use the fabric so that I could make the most of it, and not end up short.

I sewed the waist panels together.

I put in a layer of interfacing to stiffen it and allow it to stay up better.

Finishing all my seams...

I did a basting stitch along the wait of the skirt piece, pulling the thread and cinching the fabric until it ruffled. Once it was the right length (matching the bottom of the waistband) I evened it out and tied off the thread.

Because I had the same number of panels on the waistband and skirt pieces, I was able to easily distribute the ruffled fabric by aligning the seams. This helps to ensure symmetry. 

I decided to line the waistband. By creating a matching set of panels in white broadcloth and attaching it to the top.

The backs seam was then closed and a zipper basted into the back before getting machine stitched.

Beauty, eh? >:D

Next the inner lining was tacked down and ditch-stitched into place. 

Neat and tidy! >:D

At the convention, my mum took a few pics. :)













Special thanks to Mike Kowalek of Eleventh Photograph for the awesome photoshoot! Click here for more pics! :D

Steampunk Necklaces & Lolita Hair Clips

Here is my collection of steampunk necklaces that I made and sold at FanExpo. It was my first attempt at jewellery making, so I think I did pretty well considering.the colour is a little flat in these pictures unfortunately.

This first design is by far my favourite. I was sad to see it go... I like the asymmetrical design. :D Really nice in copper. I made a similar one in bronze as well, but I don't have any pictures of it.

This one with the keyhole, also in a nice copper colour, is still for sale. Contact me if you are interested in purchasing it. 20$

My bronze keyhole (above right) and bronze key (below) necklaces are also still for sale. I am willing to modify the ribbon if anyone is interested. (20$ each, but anyone interested in buying 2 I will cut you a deal, 35$ for 2 necklaces.)

I will probably make some more for the next con, perhaps try some more interesting designs.

Next up here are my 'Elegant Mini' lolita hair clips. I'm currently all sold out of these, but will deinitely make more for the next con seeing how they were such a big hit. Fairly easy to make, and I managed to sustain only minimal burns. XD

 These were made with the leftover bits of materials.

Here was my setup at our Sweet Geeks table.

 Sweet Geeks now has a facebook fanpage! Be sure to like us! ;D Look for us at FanExpo 2012~!

September Update

Holy carp! It's september already? And I managed to disappear off the face of the earth, AGAIN. In all fairness, prep for FanExpo was crazy-hectic and took up all my time.  But still, now I am even more behind on my picture posting... sigh. (Seriously, my last post was almost a month ago, I am starting to feel like a failure of a blogger!)

I made owl bags, hair accessories and necklaces to sell, and put together 3 costumes: the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who, Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter, and a steampunk-lolita creation of my own original design. More pictures coming up in early september. (Hopefully)

But I didn't make any business cards, so hopefully the 4 people who bothered to ask for one and received this url on a scrap of paper actually made it here... DX Next time I will have business cards!

In the middle of all of that I went to Montréal for the Jean-Paul Gaulthier fashion exhibit at the Musée des Beaux-Artes. A very fun trip. :D

I saw the Cirque du Soleil perform Totem last week! What an amazing show!!! 

I start university this week at Ryerson, which I am very excited about! (And really nervous, but mostly excited!) Orientation was last week and I met a few people from my program who seemed very nice! Looking forward to what I hope will be a wonderful, if busy, year! :D

Here's how it's going to work: I will finish posting Edinburgh pics, and then I will take a 2 month fast forward to post my FanExpo costumes and products. Then I will back track to the rest of London, and Folkestone and continue in chronological order. XD (Meaning that after that will come the farm, Tremblant, Quebec and then Montréal, Quebec.)

Hoping I haven't lost you in my absence? XD