Mumei (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress): Work Log #1

The first cosplay that I'm making for Otakon 2016 is Mumei from Koutetsujou no Kabaneri or Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.

This anime was recommended to us by a friend. At the time he was about 4 episodes in and had already decided that he was going to cosplay the main character. Halfway through the first episode, I knew that I had to cosplay Mumei. Then a little later when her Steampunk outfit debutted I was settled.

I started with the easiest part which is the rust colored skirt underneath the leather skirt. After carefully watching some clips of her, mostly from episode 4, it's pretty clear that the skirt is pleated. My local Joann store had a pretty rust colored cotton that I used for the skirt and will use for the jacket when I get there.



Currently, I'm working on a pattern for the white blouse. I tried to make my own based on some tutorials that I found for wrap-front tops, but after much trial and error they aren't working out.

On Lekala.co, their pattern #5631 is wrap front top, and seems like it'll be easy to modify. I love this site because they're most expensive pattern is only $2.99 and if you register on their site, you get 10% off all patterns, taking that down to $2.69. I don't at all mind printing and taping a pattern so this works perfectly for me when I can't pattern for myself.


My goal today is to complete the top. I know once I get the pattern correct, it will only be a couple of hours work, so that will put me in a good place.

I'm so excited about this cosplay, but I have to get to work fast, so that I can also complete my second one for Otakon which will be Mira Yurizaki from Dimension W.

Whew! So much work, but so little time.

Happy Cosplay!!

What happened to Korra?

So, if you've looked at my blog further back than this post you may have noticed that I was making a Korra (from Legend of Korra) cosplay for Nekocon 2015.  You may also have noticed that there's no follow up post or post about my finishing it.

Well, I did finish it, but due to an issue with the hair pieces I didn't actually wear it.  If you're wondering if I'm upset the answer is no, lol. Although Korra was on my "Future Cosplay" list, she wasn't a high priority for me. I populate that list with either characters that I like, or who have a cool outfit, but I don't necessarily plan to get to all of them.

I made her because some friends of mine asked to do a group cosplay, and since they don't usually cosplay I let them pick the show; I wanted them to choose something that they felt they'd be able to make. I knew I was running the risk of being the only one to complete the cosplay and I was, lol.

That didn't upset me either because they're my friends and I love them, but since I was really only making Korra for them, my heart wasn't really into it.

Will I ever wear my Korra cosplay?  Maybe one day in the future I'll feel like fixing the wig, but for now she'll just live in my closet ready should the time arise.

Lesson: Don't let mishaps and malfunctions distress you. Cosplay is ultimately for fun; it should relieve stress, not cause it.

Happy Cosplaying!!!

Work Log: Korra (Legend of Korra) #2

 

Yesterday I mostly completed the top of Korra.  I just need to add the trim to the
collar and arms and finish the hem. I was going to just hem it, but now I think I might also put bias tape on the bottom. It's probably inaccurate, but you can't see the bottom anyway, lol.

Today I make the blue "apron. It's a little difficult to tell from the photo, but it's navy blue. It was really easy to use the suggested method I found here on DeviantArt. 

I also ordered my wig today from EpicCosplay.com as usual. It's the pre-styled ponytail wig in Dark Brown. I love the customer service there, so much. Yesterday the site said that they were out of stock, so I contacted them to try to find out when they'd be back in stock. They emailed me back that they'd checked and actually had a few left.  Yet another reason that I'll keep buying their products.

  

I probably won't have time to work on this again until Saturday, but hopefully I'll finish the top, hem the pants, and get the two lower arm bracers, and the fur "skirt" done.  

Happy Cosplay!

Work Log: Korra (Legend of Korra) #1

I finally started working on my Korra cosplay for Nekocon in November. Last night I made the pants using a free and easy drawstring pant pattern by Martha Stewart, that I found on Pinterest. Yes, I could have just used some of my own pajama pants to make a pattern, but I'm always so nervous that that's not going to work out.

Please excuse the cat butt, lol

The fabric is a poly/cotton twill that I bought from Hancock during their half off sale.  I know the color isn't quite right, but I couldn't find any gray blue fabric that wasn't denim, and I'm still wary about buying fabric online.

Overall I think they turned out pretty good.  I just have to get some twill tape to use for my drawstring. I'm hoping to have time to make the top on Friday.

Happy Cosplay!

Nekocon Line-Up 2015

So I'm still not one of those hardcore cosplayers that wears two (or more) different cosplays in one day and I still can't bring myself to wear one on the Sunday of a con.  Especially not a convention like Nekocon that's in November.  I'm usually so cold while cosplaying that it's a treat to wear warm comfy clothes on that Sunday, lol.

Anyway, to get to the point, I am again only wearing two new cosplays for this convention.  My DH and a couple of our friends want to do a group cosplay and they chose The Last Airbender/ The Legend of Korra as our theme.  I'm, of course, going to be Korra, one friend will be Zuko, the other friend has decided he'll be Tenzin and my DH has decided to be a genderbent Toph. Actually, in the Ember Island Players episode of The Last Airbender, the team goes to see a play by the Ember Island Players about them, and Toph is portrayed as a man, lol.  So that's who my DH is going to cosplay.  (References pics from left to right: Korra, Zuko, Tenzin, Toph (as portrayed by a man).

So that'll be one of the days.  For the other day, I'm going to try to be Shinoa Hiragi from Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I just loved these uniforms and I think she's a great character. Plus now I have a reason to have another giant weapon. I say try because it's usually difficult to find time to work on cosplay once school starts, but I definitely will work my hardest.

I'm so excited for these cosplays! I better get started, lol.

Happy cosplaying!

Otakon Review (2015)

This year for Otakon my DH finally agreed to just let fate lead us instead of trying to plan every minute and get to every panel.  I have to say, this was the best year yet.

Friday, I wore my Princess of the Crystal cosplay.  That one was so much fun and I got a ton of compliments because not many people have seen cosplayers do this character. Plus, it's just fun to wear a big flowing skirt.

This was my first time wearing circle lenses and I have to say that I'm hooked.  They were just as comfortable as my regular contacts and definitely put the final touch on the cosplay. These are the Vassen Cloud Nine Pink from PinkyParadise.com. You can't really see it in the picture, but in real life my eyes were obviously pink.

There is a garden terrace at the Baltimore Convention Center that is great for taking pictures and a lot of cosplayers hang out there, because photographers like to go there and just shoot.  While we were there the author of Cosplay in America, Ejen Chuang, took my picture!  Although I don't think he's posted it anywhere, it's still an honor to even be asked, since he's seen and worked with so many great cosplayers.

I also finally got a picture with Yaya Han on Friday.  Usually the line for her booth is hours long, but we walked up and were only the 3rd people in line.  It was glorious.  She's such an inspiration.

Saturday, I was Esdeath from Akame Ga Kill. Two awesome things happened on Saturday.  The first was that we were interviewed by a journalist from Vice Magazine for an article about cosplay and anime in the black community.  That was just a case of being in the right place at the right time.  We were early for my first professional photoshoot and were just waiting around, when we were approached by the journalist and her photographer.  How serendipitous was that!!  If you want to read the article I've linked it here.





For Esdeath I'm wearing the Vassen Cloud Nine Blue circle lenses also from PinkyParadise and they were just as comfortable and vivid as the pink ones.












The second awesome thing was my first professional photoshoot. I have to shoutout Ash B Images for the amazing photos that I've posted here..   If you like her work, you can check out her Facebook page, by clicking her name.

Registration was low this year for Otakon, which is of course bad for the convention, but it was great for us because it was much easier to get around and I just feel like I was able to pay more attention to cosplay since my line of sight wasn't being overloaded.  I do hope, however, that they are able to get the numbers that they want next year.  I love to see my favorite conventions succeed.

I also made two new friends at this convention, which is always a great thing and a few of us are planning a group cosplay.  There will be more about that in the next post though.

To see more pictures of my cosplays check out my DH's photography Facebook page at Tarou Studios. If you like s work, message him and maybe he'll take some pics for you at our next convention.

Happy cosplay!

Hey! That's me in that article!!

A journalist from VICE Magazine was writing a story about cosplay and anime in the black community and they interviewed me, my husband and our two friends.  It was absolutely exciting to just be interviewed, but they even used all of our interviews and published the article with pictures of us!  Out of the 30 people that she interviewed, she actually used all of us.  It's so exciting!  I wish it was in print so that I could buy a bunch of copies, but printing it out from online will have to do.

The article titled "What Black Anime Fans Can Teach Us About Race in America" was a really good read, and I'm so happy to have been able to contribute.  If you want to read it yourself, just click the link above.

Happy cosplay!