Work In Progress: StarFire

Today for Work In Progress Wednesday I decided to start casting the gems for my StarFire and Breasa's Black Fire costumes.  Once I started gathering my materials though I realized I no longer had the little paint trays I used to cast my hand gems for Raven which meant I couldn't do any of the smaller gems.  I also only had one big mold to use for the neck armor so in the end I only managed to start one gem today.  I need to go buy a new paint tray this weekend.

 

This is my work area!  The cardboard is where I do a lot of spray painting.  A lot of people use epoxy resin inside, but I'm very clumsy and I have a curious cat so it's better for me to do it outside. If you want your gems to harden outside too make sure you keep them covered.  Otherwise you may end up with gems that have dirt or bugs stuck to the bottom of them...ew.

 As always when working with chemicals make sure to use proper safety procedures.  Whenever I spray paint, cast stuff in resin, sand props or do anything with chemicals in general I wear a mask, goggles, gloves and clothes I don't care about.  To some people that might be over the top, but it's better safe than sorry.  Gloves, masks and goggles are cheap you can buy all three things at the dollar store and a better mask for sanding will only run you up $10-20 at Home Depot or Amazon.  There's really no excuse not to be safe.

Epoxy resin is pretty easy to use so I didn't take pictures during the process.  There are already plenty of great tutorials out there like here: NyuNyu Cosplay: Casting Resin Gems.  The only problem I had is that I intended to mix my blue and yellow dye to make a green gem for StarFire and the dyes did not want to mix so I got an ugly brown...I ended up adding red which would mix fine with the blue and got a weird purple color that I hope will work for BlackFire.  I'll know in a day or two...If not no big deal I'm going to order green dye so I'll try again when I get the small molds.

That's all for today, hopefully next week I'll have something more exciting to show you.

Work in Progress: Sailor Moon

Hello everyone!

First off, I added some new pages to this blog.  An "About" page which just has some profile stuff you may or may not want to know about the person writing this blog and what the blog will feature, which was also somewhat covered in my introduction/first post here:  "Once Upon a Time".  I also added a "Portfolio" page where I'll be posting nice pictures of my costumes as well as details about them.  I didn't do a good write up on Storm yet, but that's because I'm probably going to remake it in early 2015.  Raven from Teen Titans is essentially done minus the widows peak, so once that's finished I will take some good pictures of that costume and post them there too.  Unfortunately I didn't get too many/couldn't find any online of when I wore it to Phoenix Comicon 2014 to post here.

Work in Progress

Sorry for no Maintenance Monday this week.  I spent all of Monday and Tuesday fiddling around with my Sailor Moon costume and didn't end up doing anything else that I had planned. I kind of mentioned it earlier and on my deviantART account, but I'm doing a Sailor Moon group with some friends of mine and I'm responsible for making all the costumes minus accessories(They're all getting their own shoes and we're having a tiara making party!).

I didn't think these costumes would be easy.  They look simple, but there's a lot of little details that really make these costumes shine and so I knew it would be challenging.  I made 2 mockups to play around with the base leotard because I was worried about doing the breastplate before starting mine.  For those I used the Green Pepper pattern that many Sailor Moon cosplayers loves, but after taking measurements of my friends I quickly realized that it wouldn't work for them.  The biggest size doesn't accomodate their hip sizes.  They all have very womanly figures and workout a lot, so the Green Pepper pattern unfortunatly was no longer an option.

The solution was to use the same pattern I used for my Raven leotard: Kwik Sew 3502.  I figured I've used it before, I can basically apply what I did for my 2nd(The successful mock up) and it'll be cake.

I was wrong...I was very tired while doing my costume because of work and schedule changes, so I made mistake after mistake after mistake until finally Tuesday things started to go smoother and I'm almost done(FINALLY!).  I just need to hand-tack my breastplate down and add the space-lady sleeve rolls.

Now onto pictures, the fun stuff!  To the left is how I like to cut my knit fabrics.  Sorry for the bad photo...I usually use my phone.  The pattern tells you to lay that peice on the fold, but I'm not skilled in the art of cutting fabric nicely and so when I try to double cut or cut on the fold my edges are very choppy and uneven.  To get a better cut I like to trace my patterns onto the fabric and then cut them out.  It takes a little more time, but I just find it works better for me.

No one is ever home when I need to take progress pictures so, I had to take pictures with a mirror again...Anyway, to the left is my finished breastplate.  It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it and I got it on the first go which I was impressed with a) because that was the hardest part of the leotard for me and b) because of all the other mistakes I'd made up to that point.... To the right is the mockup of the collar and bow that I made out of leftover fabric from my Storm cape.  I just wanted to make sure I could do it.  I don't love the bow pattern I used so I'll try another one I found and see which one I like better.  The lines also won't be that thick, I used white bias tape because I didn't have any ribbon laying around.

Also if anyone is curious I'm using white milliskin for the outer fabric of the leotard, white swimwear lining for the lining(except the breastplate which is lined with milliskin).  We haven't gone shopping yet for the other fabric so I'm not sure what we'll be using for the bows, skirt and collar.

That's all for now!

Work in Progress: StarFire

Hello everyone!

I decided to postpone WIP Wednesday and do my WIP post today because I have way more exciting things to show you today than I did yesterday.  Early this afternoon I received my fabric for StarFire, BlackFire(my sister, who has requested to be called Breasa is making) and my Sailor Moon group's costumes.


After the delivery came I go straight to work.  I'm now trying to finish six costumes before Comic Media Expo, so let the panicking begin!  We've got all five original scouts now!  Can you say AWESOME! I'm really excited about these costumes.  Sailor Moon was my favorite show as a kid, I was obsessed.  It really inspired me.  I wouldn't be the same person without that show, so doing these costumes is a dream come true.

StarFire Progress

My morning started with watching Teen Titans.  I popped the disc into my computer and used the episode titled "Betrothed" to get 70+ reference images of StarFire and BlackFire. I used those and started sketching some ideas for the basic bracer shape based on seeing her arm in different poses. I still need to do the same thing with "Sisters" where we first meet BlackFire, but my sister is using my DVD.

 Next I pulled out some newspaper and went to town.  I used a ruler and measure my arm and made a guesstimated mock-up.  Then I cut it out, taped where the bracer connects with masking tape and made adjustments.  The first two were okay, but I got it right on the third time.  Best part of all is that Breasa can use the same one, so I don't have to draft another pattern!

Yay messy desk!

The image to the left is me trying pattern #2 on. We're still figuring the rest out.  I'll probably do a full mock-up soon.  We're probably going to use batting, felt or craft foam to give it that armor stability shape.  Breasa wants to use batting, but we're ganna have to test it out.  I feel like that'll be kind of lumpy 0_0.  We don't have our armor fabric yet.  SpandexWorld was out of stock in what we wanted.  So I'll be ordering it in the morning. 

After messing around with the armor I decided to draft the skirt pattern.  To do that I used a maxi skirt I just bought! That made my life way easier.  I knew the skirt fit about how StarFire's needed to be, so I traced it, straightened it out with a ruler and viola!  Instant pattern in five minutes.

Next I cut it out of some leftover fabric from a shirt I never finished making and sewed the sides together.  Voila! Instant StarFire skirt(almost!). I still have some work to do and we're going to add elastic.  Either way it was a quick mock-up and I feel pretty good about how this project is starting.

To the left is the finished pattern.  I used newspaper again like with the armor for the pattern.  Newspaper is kind of a cosplayers best friend.  It has so many functions.  I keep a ton of it around for paper mache, pattern making and for laying down under messy projects.  I don't read the newspaper, but my mom does so I ask her to save hers for me.  I definitely recommend newspaper collecting.

 

Trying on the skirt.  Excuse my funky tights, I never get to wear them and they're so cute.

And here is the back view.

 See you next time!

Maintinance Monday: Raven's Wig Part 3

Hello everyone!

It's Monday again!  I'll start by apologizing for not posting on Wednesday.  The progress was barely visible despite working on the wig for a couple hours, so I didn't feel like making an additional post about the wig.  I've also just been busy with work :P.  This upcoming Wednesday and on, I will be posting a Work-in-Progress Wednesday post, but I won't be posting about the wig.  I'll have plenty of other material.

To the right(obviously) is a picture of the progress thus far.  I did work on it every night since I started for thirty minutes to an hour, but there is still a lack of progress to show for it.  I'm starting to get the hang of it though and I think progress will move faster.

I found that doing one wig fiber at a time was faster than me doing two or three. I also think it's easier to start at the point and work backwards, but that's just what's working right now.  We'll have to see how things progress.... I may not post about the wig again for a little while though.  I'll keep working on it daily, but I have other things to fix too, like Storm's cape could be a little better, the wig needs to be restyled.  I also need to redo the invisible zipper on my Raven leotard now that I have a proper invisible zipper foot.  So hopefully things will get a little more interesting around here.

Coming soon....

I just ordered fabric from Spandex World to start the costumes for my Sailor Moon group and for StarFire from Teen Titans.  It should get here Thursday, so expect lots of WIP posts and pictures.  I need to finish these by early October for Comic & Media Expo and maybe some Halloween events. 

Five costumes in a couple weeks, while working nearly full time...I must be crazy T_T.  I've never really made a costume for anyone else before(I've only made a few for myself...)...I'm a little scared, but if anything I'll probably grow a lot from this experience.

See you next time!

Contacts Review: Ambition Aqua

Hello!

Here is a review on the contacts I used for my Storm(X-Men) cosplay. I have really dark eyes, so finding blue contacts that show up can be difficult.  Colored contacts are great, but they also add about $30-$40 to the cost of my costumes, so when choosing them I have to be very careful that the first pair I order will work.  My search process usually involves a lot of googling, review reading and finding as many pictures as possible of potential products.  With this pair however, I took a risk because I couldn't find many reviews about them.  Luckily it worked out!

These are Ambition Aqua lenses from Color My Eyes.  I ordered these because they looked very opaque which meant I was sure they'd show up.  I knew they wouldn't look natural, but honestly I'm not sure any kind of blue contacts are going to look natural on me.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of my natural eye color vs. the Ambition Aqua lenses.

These are great because they last about three months if you're not wearing them everyday(I tossed them after one). They show up in any kind of lighting: indoors, outdoors, dim and bright. It doesn't matter where you are, they're going to show up.  As you can see they are very dramatic, perfect for cosplay.  They aren't very natural up close(again, nothing blue on me is probably going to be anyway), but at least they are visible from faraway and you can definitely see that I am wearing them.

Overall the lenses were fairly comfortable, they did dry my eyes out more than my FreshLook colors in Violet, which I use for my Raven(Teen Titans) cosplay, but eye drops every couple hours pretty much solved that problem.  I can wear them for about six hours before I need to take them out. These are a little thicker than the FreshLook's which made them easier for me to put in, but the FreshLook lenses were more comfortable.

Before I end this post, I'll leave you with a friendly reminder that anytime you are ordering contacts you really should go see an eye doctor to get your proper prescription and make sure you can wear them.  I have really good vision and I knew I'd be buying plano lenses before going to the doctor, but I also found out I have an astigmatism.  I wouldn't have known if I hadn't gotten my eyes checked and it may have been a problem.  Just because you can see fine doesn't mean that your eyes are perfect or that you can without a doubt wear contacts.  Please go get your eyes checked first.  I know it can be expensive, but it'll be more expensive in the long run if something goes wrong than it will to just get your eyes checked first.  Plus if anything does happen or you get an eye infection you have somewhere to go for help and support.

That's all for today, see you tomorrow!

Maintinance Monday: Raven's Wig Part 2

Happy Monday everyone!

Here are some progress pictures of my Raven from Teen Titans wig.  Since last week I've only worked on it again this morning for about forty minutes, so I don't have much progress to show.  I did learn a lot while I was doing it though and I plan to spend thirty minutes to an hour working on it every night this week. I need to finish it so I can order my wig for Sailor Moon(my next project) and work on that.  I don't want to work on two wigs at once.

The hardest part about doing this was not dropping the wig fibers before I got them through the mesh.  For the last couple that I managed to get through, I taped one end of the fibers to help me keep track of them and then pulled them through with the needle.  That seems to help, but it also makes it take longer and wastes tape, so I'll probably find another method to help me.  The more I work on this though the easier it'll probably become or so I've learned happens with most things.

 After trying to use the ventilating needle and failing for about fifteen minutes, I ended up pulling out a self-threading needle and I found that worked a lot better for me.  I'll try using the ventilating needle again, but for this first part that's close to the hairline I'm going to stick with the self-threading needle.  You can see both side by side below.  It's probably just because I'm used to holding a regular needle and I need to practice more with the ventilating needle.

I'll post more progress pictures on Wednesday for dun dun dun dun! : WIP Wednesday!