Modesty's Costume Closet

 May 29th 2013 was my recorded Day 0 for my first earnest attempt at cosplay with my hot pink Halo Spartan. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago! But that means I have been making costumes a bit more earnestly for at least 11 years.  OMG...baby face! I wasn't even 30 yet! Well I did make that Lady Galadriel cosplay back in 2011...so maybe more than 11 years.  This was for Halloween!  Still, I feel like I've made little to no improvement since then. 😂 Why is it that we never feel confident enough to call ourselves expert when we have so much experience? I think it's the level I expect from my teachers that I feel I just don't have. Costumes are my favorite and most prevalent hobby at the moment. Even though I rarely go to costume parties or conventions anymore. (I really need another person to go with me...I don't like going alone!)  And all my costumes and cosplay were created inside one-bedroom apartments. Although my current place does have a fair bit of

 A couple days ago I finished constructing the Green Polish Embroidered Kimono. I still plan on making the haori for it but I have not gotten around to it yet. For now here's what I did: Embroidery  So technically this part isn't done according to plan, but I am done with it for now.  For the sleeve corners, I machine embroidered directly onto the fabric using a design I got on Etsy .  Then I designed and created my own embroidered designs to make patches.  Based on my cat.  Two horses Here is what went well:  The designs look good against the kimono. My photos don't do it justice.  The wash away mesh DID wash away.  Here's what could have gone better:  The cat patch had a bit of wonkiness after washing away the stabilizer. Nothing major. One of the sleeve corners got bunched while the machine embroidered so I had to pick out some stitches and it left some tiny holes.  Broke a few needles on the machine that scared the life out of me.  What I learned:  Embroidering onto

 Sorry for the delay. I meant to write this out and post it a week ago, but I got laid off from my job a few days ago. However, I am pleased as punch with how my Yukata turned out. It makes me happy to look at it. So here she is!  Front view Back side. Infusible Ink Flowers I was SO scared this would not work. However, I can say I am SO HAPPY with how they look. It's spot on...except for one sleeve where I used the wrong green for the scattered leaves. 😖 It did help that I got the heat press.  Chest flower Sleeve flowers with the wrong green  Heko Obi To be honest I am already a bit worried about the heko obi. I serged it and I already had to redo the seams on my sewing machine due to little tears. I really should have learned more about sewing gauzy fabrics. Otherwise, it does match the character perfectly! Reminder this is the character. Things to Improve Like a dingus, I had written that I would use a microtex 70 needle and instead I used universal 80 for the yukata. That was t

  It started with the Theme of dancing to America's The Last Unicorn. My design was based off themes in the film The Last Unicorn. And to that end, the final product was a success.  Here is what I was happiest with:  The costume felt stable and easy to move in. Nothing was loose or felt like it could fall off.  The crown and veil prop worked flawlessly The chiffon flutter sleeves and pants looked dramatic!  I was able to finish with time to spare! Things I wish were better:  I cut the wrong size for the purple surcoat dress.  The clasps were so expensive!  My crochet top was too small.  I was a bit clumsy sewing the extra doo-dads on the top. (I was going to use SOME of my crochet so help me!)  The shimmery organza did not drape how I thought so no extra shimmer happened and I wasted fabric. 😭 I didn't hem my chiffon so it started to fray Day of the Performance I neglect to remember how wide my hips are at all times. Thankfully, I unintentionally balanced things out. But I am

I have complete construction of the Unicorn Costume so it's time for some post-mortem style stuff.   Surcoat/Gwahzee Coat  So for a long time my measurements haven't changed. I cut out the pattern pieces about a year ago. But it turns out that I have grown and the size I cut out was one size too small. Again, because my measurements hadn't changed for a long time, I just went with the assumption that things would work out. Cutting and constructing was straight forward. Love that it had no sleeves! But when I tried it on I suddenly realized that oh no...it wasn't quite fitting all the way around! I took out the darts to give myself more fabric but it still didn't help. I ended up installing some "extensions" made from stretch velvet. It closes now at least. I really liked the clasps but they were expensive.  Pants The pattern I used was clearly for much stretchier fabric than my choice. I had to re-draft the pattern to make it fit but now it does! It's

 Here's some photos of the full costume on me.  I would not call this the photoshoot. I did just get my photo backdrop so I will likely do more but it will have less of my apartment mess in it. LOL.  What Went Right: - Most of my plans went well! - Learned to knit! - Did some cool designing on things even if some of it was improvised.  - Dyed fabric - Sewed a lined kimono successfully - Kept a regular pace and finished in 2 weeks (over the course of 4 months.) - Ended up creating a new character and I'm perhaps making a story with all the kitsune I came up with. It's a lot. I'll share character designs later!  What could go better:  - Creating and attaching the sleeves, hindsight.  - The neckband doesn't stay down properly.  - Hair chalk did not work very well, will need to wear a wig - My kanzashi broke. The hot glue was not enough - Bought one more kimono pattern for reference - Bit more fabric research...find something that irons! - Faux Fur fox Tail or Yarn tail

 For Halloween 2021, my costume was the Armorer from Disney Star Wars The Mandalorian. I did not intend for it to be a very intensive pattern-making project. Many things are made from patterns by someone else. I was going for close accuracy but not detailed accuracy. It was close to perfect except for the portion that I did not have a pattern for, the apron. The belt had some struggles.  Some of the major take-aways: Hot glue weakens against my hot body. LOL.  Velcro isn't always the strongest or best way to close things up.  Don't cut shaggy fur with scissors, use a craft knife 3D printing is awesome The Original Plan My intention was not to make a 1 to 1 accurate remake of the show's costume. That was more work than I wanted to do. I did know that I was going to 3D Print a lot of this costume! So I purchased some STL files for the helmet, the chest piece, and the hammer. There were some free STL files for the belt doo-dads and the Grogu head. I also found pre-made pattern