neo-japanesque magic?! (part two)

And here's the rest of the kimono dress--how I created this dip-dye effect on the sleeve was by bleaching (with a sponge--WEAR GLOVES!!!) the edge of the sleeve by hand. I wanted a brushed effect so I used the sponge like a brush. Wash it out, let it dry. Then I used orange dye on the bleached section. Gently rinse it out and let dry. Finally, I painted my design. This is the most ridiculous amount of hand painting I have ever done on a cosplay (as of now, anyway); think I've painted enough sakura flowers to last me a lifetime.


I bought a charmeuse for the skirt lining--sewed on some lace trim that peeks out in the front, and lined the sleeves with this same charmeuse to hide some of the seams inside the sleeves.


The dress ties on the inside, and also on the outside, but will be covered by an obi (I ended up using the obi from my Alice:Madness Returns Oriental Dress and added a red cord).

The Obvious Invisible Woman

This post is titled as such because this cosplay is of the Invisible Woman but my bodysuit was so shiny, I was anything BUT invisible....

^If this is your photo let me know so I can link you!
This was a last minute cosplay I made for Anime Expo 2012 because I didn't finish Black Gold Saw and my Natsu armor didn't work out :( To me, there's a big difference when you cosplay at a con and when you don't, so even though I had 2-3 days to figure out something quick to make, I was up to the challenge. I'd always been a fan of the Kotobukiya Bishoujo figures (I did make the Mystique cosplay based on Shunya's design), and bodysuits are easy for me to make. I finally decided on their rendition of the Invisible Woman because DESPITE THE JESSICA ALBA INTERPRETATION OF SUE STORM, Invisible Woman was one of the first and most important super heroines in Marvel's universe and I haven't seen many cosplays of her. I also already had the black stretch PVC fabric so all I had to do was find the blue fabric, shoes and a wig.

I drafted a quick pattern without side seams -- her bodysuit has a center front seam, center back seam and princess seams. For the yoke, I used the yoke pattern from my Natsu pattern because it was the exact same shape. I made the belt based on a curved waistband pattern from my skirt block, in order for the belt to fit along the contours of my hips -- if I had cut/sewn a rectangle, the belt would not fit as nicely. I was extremely short on time so I actually cut pieces of PVC for my emblem.. and used tacky glue to affix the patch onto my suit.




I made a simple pair of gloves by tracing my hand (don't do this) and adding 1/8" seam allowance to the fingers. I am terrible at sewing gloves and terrible at drafting patterns for gloves so I'll probably write a more informative method on making gloves at a later time when I have more practice!

I was fortunate enough to find the wig I was looking for; all I needed to do was style the bangs. I bought the boots from Maya Shoes on Hollywood Blvd. They are extremely comfortable despite how painful they look.



I had a ton of fun wearing this cosplay, and it was the MOST COMFORTABLE cosplay I have ever worn in my life so far, despite the fact I had to strip down to my knees to use the restroom. Oh, cosplay.

^tiny me

Teal Space Lesbian

This will be a short post considering I had very little time to make this cosplay! It's basically an evening dress anyway, hahaha. My friend Steph wanted to do a Sailor Uranus goddess dress cosplay, so of course I had to be her Sailor Neptune! We bought the same fabric in different colors--I went with a more vibrant teal than the less saturated tone in the illustration..



I drafted a simple surplice pattern and just eyed the pleats for the dress. We were lucky and found a decently priced polyester charmeuse that did not look cheap, and used chiffon for the side inserts. We cut half circles for an insane amount of flare. You don't want to see how full the sweep is... it's ... it's pretty crazy ._.




I lined half the dress with acetate lining in a light seafoam--should have used the same color as the self fabric because the lining peeks out a little :(

I sculpted buckles and casted them in plastic for the straps. I painted over an acrylic jewel with nail polish to match the teal color of this dress.




I was pretty fortunate to find a wig that I found suitable for my cosplay from Epic Cosplay! I just curled the bangs a little and fixed it with hair spray.

I got lucky again and found these beautiful shoes for $30 that matched my dress.

And for some photos!
Photo by EBK