cosplaysaga

Queen Morpho - initial breakdown

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:03:34 GMT

This post is public out of necessity for the moment, I'm going to lock it later and the progress posts will be locked, FYI. Sorry for two posts in the same night, I need to share this with some people I am getting opinions from. This is going to be my SDCC masquerade costume this year, which is original; I couldn't pick something else that I wanted to do and since anime conventions don't allow original, I thought maybe it was better. However, SDCC was running behind on confirmations so I did not hear until *last week* that I was in, leaving me with a terrifyingly short amount of time to finalize my design and complete my costume. Going original may be my savior because I can make changes out of necessity that I couldn't if I was following someone else's design . . . but I'm still really hoping I don't explode.

Character: The character concept is from a novel-y thing I am working on; the larger plot doesn't matter to this character so I won't go into it, the "codename" is Darkwood (most of my BJDs are from this story). This is going to be somewhat inelegant for the sake of brevity, but this is Queen Morpho, (former) ruler of . . . well, effectively it's the realm of nightmares. Basically all the nasty stuff knocking around in humans' heads actually exists there and is merrily carrying on its own existence. Or was merrily carrying on, until Morpho and her lover, Prince Idyll, have a vicious falling out. For reasons that are unclear to anyone, he makes a deal with a sorcerer to cut out his own heart and replace it with a clockwork one, effectively removing all his emotions and making his magic way more powerful in the process. Once he's done that, he can overthrow her - or very nearly, since she is currently still holding on to a small portion of her former lands. The ongoing battle of magic between them has ripped a huge chasm into their kingdom with a wall of storms above it. She is a very powerful and dangerous person - the type who would be cheerful, lighthearted, and "fun to be around" most of the time, but then cast you into a pit of unfathomable torment for overcrisping her toast.

This design sketch is largely called "oh snap I have to send something in with my entry". I was mostly okay with it for a while; right now I feel like I really need to "push it" and it's WAY too conventional and boring. At the moment it's sort of like a renfaire was in a terrible crash with Cirque du Soleil (not that I dislike Cirque); it should be more like what would happen if Guillermo del Toro's concept art people redid Labyrinth but it was seriously f-ed up (only in kind of an Art Nouveau way). o_O; The concept is movie, not anime, because . . . I do anime all the time, it's not like it's getting animated, it doesn't need to be. I simply haven't got the ability to get it to come out properly on paper and it helps to not just go from your head.

Random headshot, computer doodle that I never finished . . . maybe it's useful . . .

Skirt - I want to do this in two layers basically. Well technically three because it will need some kind of petticoat to support the weight properly, but that will be a support layer that I'm not thinking will show. (It could be visible as part of the design, but I'm not sure I want it to be.) The black lower section I wanted to do deconstructed with sections of a lot of different fabrics layered over each other, primarily sheers. The layer above I was thinking to use silk because it's a great fabric to work with for dyes and paints, it has great motion/draping/texture, and isn't that expensive considering. I couldn't color it how I wanted really so I just sort of did something, I actually was intending the black lines to be gold - there is a type of gutta that is metallic and designed to be permanent.

Corset - Nothing all that fancy really, it's a corset. I believe I had some concepts about what I was going to do with it but I've forgotten them so I have to think of something else. ^^; I don't want to overdesign it because it needs to be functional, but I don't want it to be boring. I think I had some idea about embroidery onto sheers and layering that over the base fabric.

Shirt - I dunno about the shirt. The shirt sort of has to be there, I really didn't want to do an integrated dress (I prefer separates). The sheer collar with the wire inserts was one of the first ideas I had for this. Now I'm concerned about it because it's REALLY in the way of much I can do with the wig. I may remove it completely and do some kind of thing in leather that wraps around the neck and part of the corset - sort of an organic bondage halter? I was thinking of doing ruching on the sleeves.

Chainmail skirt/choker - Yep. Chainmail. I wanted something sort of chaotic and open and I couldn't find a fabric; I also couldn't find a way to knit it how I wanted and I don't know how to knit anyway. Linking rings I can handle. I already have designed the basic linking pattern for it, I've also found my supplier; they carry a specialty element that's cut like a leaf, out of metal, that I'd like to incorporate.

Armor - I think I have to order a sample and see if my armor idea will even work. The leather I have right now I think is 6oz and I want 3-4oz because I want to do formed leather with more details than just a curve - I really want to do like, faces in it. I also had the idea of layering bits of metals over the rest of it - which would probably be etched, as if it was pieces of broken armor (defeated enemies?) repurposed. I just think having metal claws would be cool, I'm not sure how practical that is, I want to do something on my hands because I have very short nails and fake ones are really inconvenient.

Headpiece - Possibly my biggest worry. I don't know what the hell is going on with the headpiece. Originally I wanted a ram skull (not a real one), maybe carving designs into it, but I became concerned about some things with that and wound up going more fantasy/leather mask look in the drawing. I really like doing horns so even though I did them for Orlouge last year and maybe shouldn't do it again . . . I like horns. >_< And I do sorta know how to make them. I like the idea of some kind of horrid critter gnawing on her head . . . *omnomnomnom*

Wings - The wing design came from materials tests, basically "how can I use this technique" . . . I wanted wings but not feather wings or traditional fairy wings, so I tried making feathers. I think I'm going to use the technique but make them more like dragonfly wings sections; this is a test feather that shows sort of what it looks like, the edges will be burned and irregular. I was thinking to use copper piping as a base for the top of the frame but I want to build that up. Somehow. Of course, this is if I don't have to redesign the entirety of the wings because I can't get more of the right color films. x_X

Staff - Um . . . I have a thing for walking sticks and have failed to find a costume excuse to have one. Totally my only reason.

Miscellany - I'm probably doing silver or white for the wig, because I don't know what other color I want to do. Honestly I would LIKE to do something more interesting with it - I considered dreads, I considered adding braids or beading, I have no idea. I'm highly likely to dye some of it. The shoes aren't really going to show but I was hoping for some lace-front boots with a kitten heel. I would LOVE to do SFX contacts but can't due to my prescription - so I will have to make up for it with make-up. (:P ) I'm willing to do freaky stuff but I'm not sure what - Idyll actually has elf ears but I dunno if Morpho does . . .

Boring boring boring. I think I may have no imagination. x_x; I should not call them "costume breakdowns", that's inviting disaster XD; (I start every costume with a breakdown, and follow it with many more, lol.) Well, I guess if anyone artistic feels inspired to doodle something, or anyone has a "it'd be cool if..." type thought, throw it at me. I might not incorporate it, but who knows, maybe if someone says "I've always liked ____" . . . I'm sure people have seen more game designs than I have, more artists than I have; heck, I'm even jonesing for more inspiring music than I have because I have this weird feeling like I know what the costume should *sound* like but I don't have enough tracks.

Orlouge @ ACen '08, sort of

Thu, 22 May 2008 05:50:54 GMT

I have been neglecting this journal because I haven't actually been making costumes. ^^; I only started again like . . . two weeks before Anime Central, and I haven't finished those new ones yet. But I will have some progress photos on those to share as soon as I have a chance to upload them. I also realized that there were comments from months ago I never replied to. D: I'm really sorry! I run my LJs from three separate browsers and it gets confusing. >_o I am, however, about to launch into my masquerade costume for SDCC this year, so except more epic ~~angst~~work for that at least.

I am hoping to finally do a proper shoot with Orlouge in a few weeks, fingers crossed that goes down, since I have to strongarm my brother into being my photographer. I *did* wear the costume at Anime Central, however (which I was hoping was for the video game group shoot but it got cancelled). A lot of people think the headpiece is really excruciating to wear because I don't move my head much, it's not very comfy (and it stays sore for a few days), but I mainly try to stay still so I don't forget that the horns stick out VERY far and take out someone's eye. ^^; I admit I haven't scoured the web for hallway photos, but for now you can have two silly ones my friends took. lol. Massively OOC FTW.

At one point people taking shots of me on one side of the hall and the Yatta guys on the other side were blocking the whole hall so I thought we should get a pic together. I think they were a little scared of me. XD;;; *was a little intimidated by them*

With my friend blood_sorbet looking freaking adorable in my ~~Crack Lolita~~"Crazy Cheerios Lolita" costume. Someone in the hall shouted out "it's an explosion of pink!" which would have been a better name . . .

Heaven help me I know people were snapping photos without the boots on, when I was making a fabulous statement with white socks and sneakers - it was several blocks from the Embassy Suites to the Hyatt and I couldn't get to anywhere to put the boots on. (There may also be "can you hear me now?" Orlouge on cell shots.) Hah. But I did also get to crab-walk past Stevenson High's prom goers on the way back to the hotel. :) MY PROM OUTFIT IS BETTER THAN YOURS.

Orlouge - wrap-up

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 06:47:25 GMT

This post is designed to be a final wrap-up for the Orlouge project. It will have some repetition for those of you who've been reading the journal, but the point is sort of to archive the costume and process in one post. I am still hoping to have a better photoshoot soon with this costume, on a day when it's not just rained however many inches. (I couldn't go outside, and my house ≠ Orlouge's castle.)

From Comic-con Masquerade: Video of walk-on, for which I won an Honorable Mention for Textile Craftsmanship. I've never competed alone in a masquerade before and likely have not had an audience of 6,000 (not counting simulcast rooms) when competing in groups either. I did not talk about it much because the experience was so intense, but in hindsight I think I should feel especially honored to have won a craftsmanship award given that I was never craftsmanship judged backstage.

Reposting the reference for . . . reference

Photos graciously taken by Saeru and Ensui in my very un-castle-y foyer

CG of Orlouge by systema's roommate

Also, for reference:
Convention report
Photos from San Diego Comic-Con exhibit hall and panels

Dressform photos for the purposes of documenting the costume. (click for large)

|+| SHOULDER ARMOR |+|
Armor
The final armor was made in about three days immediately before the convention, after the resin process failed.
Relevant posts: 25 March: Costume breakdown brainstorming
21 April: Paper patterns and Fuzzforming
23 April: Early resin layers, on the resin process
02 July: Progress armor, on drilling holes
06 July: Finished lower section, progress resin
22 July: Disaster with the resin
Materials: The green sections are made with Sintra, a cheap thermoplastic usually used for sign making. I got mine from a sign making store who was willing to place a materials order for me. I got it for a totally different project which it proved unsuitable for - lucky for me I had it in the basement or I don't know what I'd have done! Sintra can be bent with a heat gun, but will only curve in one direction at a time. It was painted with metallic green and then accented with gold. On its own, the Sintra is quite thin and flimsy looking; I backed it with black felt and then covered the felt with pleather (because felt looks like felt). I had a problem with gaps which had to be filled with hot glue - so in the end the whole edge was "caulked" with hot glue and then hand-painted black. The multicolored part which goes over the shoulders and around the neck is not based on the art since if it was there, it would not show under Orlouge's hair; but something had to hold the armor up. It's made of Fuzzform with Wonderflex reinforcement where it attaches to the rest of the armor, covered with leather, and backed with felt to prevent damage to the garment or me (hardened Fuzzform is slightly scratchy).
Attachment: The armor goes together with Chicago screws (also known as self-binding posts); eight in total. Thanks to saeru for confirming that the way to keep pieces from rotating is to attach them at two points. The armor then attaches to the jacket with snaps; two in the back on the narrow pieces, and a bunch in front along the curving lowermost bit.

Beading
The beading sections are something that wound up getting finished at the convention. One apparently got lost and had to be remade before I took photos here.
Beads: All are glass (plus some freshwater pearls), strung on 18-strand beading wire. I don't like plastic beads; I think they often look cheesy. I was able to afford using all glass (depending on type, they can be four times as expensive) by buying most of the beads on clearance and also using ones I'd been stockpiling (also clearance). The strings are randomized; segments of them are patterns sort of like .o.0o=o0.o. but they are connected to each other by random sections so you can't tell where patterns begin and end.
Attachment: I wanted the bead strings to be removable to protect them in transit, so they attach to the armor with magnets. I previously tried using magnetic ball clasps on Yuuko (xxxHOLiC), for her choker. It didn't work well for that application, but it would have worked fine for this - had the brand of magnets I found not been a little too weak to consistently support the weight. They hold unless jarred, which was partly the idea - I was concerned about the strings snagging on things in wearing and causing damage, so I wanted them to be "breakaway" (without really breaking). The downside is, when they've all been removed, it can be a little hard to tell what goes where!

|+| TRAIN AND WHITE SKIRT |+|
Relevant Posts: 22 March: Costume breakdown
07 April: Silk dye test
11 April: Silk dye complete process
16 July: Completed train/skirt photos, detail on white skirt

Train
The train has been covered in depth before so I will not go into it much here. Ironically, it was one of the pieces I was most worried about, but it was also one of the only ones that had no disasters.
Materials: Started with blank white silk yardage, cut and sewed back seam, did the silk painting, did hems, added sequins/beads, added ball chain to the hem to get the right trailing effect.
Attachment: The train and white skirt are attached to the same waistband, made from double-fold white bias tape, which closes with a snap. I usually prefer to have things function like "real", separate garments, but there were too many layers here to be anal about that.

White underskirt
Materials: Skirt was remade multiple times; including more than one recut, not sure how many " rip and re-sew" jobs. Fabric is some kind of white rayon, I didn't want to leave it plain so I made a stencil of a rose design and painted it with a pearlescent medium, then added sequins and beads.
Attachment: Same as above. The underskirt is, amazingly!, under the train. XD

|+| HEADPIECE |+|
Relevant posts: 25 March: Breakdown, wireforms for ram horns
03 April: Ram horns early layers, base headpiece sections
07 April: Progression of horns, other pieces
07 April: Wig dyeing complete process
21 April: Fuzzform headpiece sections
02 July: Priming resin pieces, back section
06 July: Final stages of horn painting, completion

The headpiece has a lot of elements: it's 15 pieces plus the flowers.
Materials: Ram horns and long horns - Aluminum wire, paper mache, Magic Smooth and Magic sculpt. Wing sections and petal section - Fuzzform base with Magic Smooth resin. Back section and black piece - Wonderflex with hot glue designs and Mod Podge to seal. Hair - Tina Punky wig with custom dye job and a foam and fabric base. Flowers - Some custom painted, others have sequin and bead accents.
Attachment: Entire headpiece sits on base wig like a hat using a plastic "helmet"-like base. Everything is attached to that base (with multiple types of glues) with the exception of the long horns, which had to be made removable for transit, and the silver backpiece and beading, which attaches with magnets. The flowers are technically removable since they are on barrettes.

|+| JACKET |+|
Relevant posts: 22 March: Costume breakdown
27 March: Trim test
21 April: Cutting muslin
06 May: Jacket sewing and trimming, tassel dyeing
Materials/Notes: Done in heavy, mostly matte "Ultra Satin" (actually remnant from Yuuko of xxxHOLiC), lined with mystery rayon. Two types of gold trimming, applied partly by machine and partly by hand. Tassels were made from scratch, twice, due to dissatisfaction with the dye job the first time.

|+| TUNIC |+|
Relveant posts: 22 March: Costume breakdown
06 May: Tunic designs
02 July: Completion
Materials/Notes: Decent quality satin (remnant from "Frontiers" AYA of Psycho le Cemu), lined in cotton muslin, design in metallic silver trim applied entirely by hand. Zips up the back.

|+| CUMBERBUND |+|
Relevant posts: 22 April: Breakdown
16 July: Cumberbund armor, before alteration
Materials: Black part made made from a commercial pattern with some alterations, a lightweight upholstery fabric with an interesting suede-like pattern, polyester boning. "Armor" section is stiffened Fuzzform with craft foam for dimension, leather over top. Leather already had a paint effect on it, which I enhanced with silver and purple fabric paint.
Attachment: Black part laces up the back; I made the "armor" section removable with velcro to make it easier to transport.

|+| PANTS |+|
Stretch velvet leggings, elastic waistband, very basic and easy, all serged. First time doing a serged-on waistband (works great). Used a commercial pattern that didn't need alteration (Kwik-sew).

|+| BOOTS |+|
Relevant posts: 25 March: Breakdown, Wonderflex forming
25 March: Wonderflex finishing tests
03 April: Unpainted boot caps
07 April: Boot top petal pieces cut, primed boot caps
21 April: Base of boot tops, failed original paint job on boot caps
23 April: finished boot cover front
02 July: boot caps finished

Boot tops
Materials: Fronts are Wonderflex base, PVC on the front and upholstery vinyl on the back, partial Fuzzform section between the bottom and petal sections, with trims, brass, and leather (used like five types of glue on different parts). Backs are Fuzzform and vinyl. I was never happy with these and I'm still not. Honestly, they need to be remade; it took a lot of work to try and make the "crab walk" they required look threatening. It's just one of those things that looks cool in art but doesn't work well in reality - and I probably couldn't have known in advance.
Atttachment: Front velcros to back around leg. Worked great in tests, not so well in practice.

Boot caps
Materials: Wonderflex base with hot glue detailing and Mod Podge to seal; plastic gems.
Attachment: Elastic underneath the shoe.

|+| BASE WIG |+|
Sadly I took no photos of this part of the process, which included duct-taping a wighead on a broom handle to my bathtub. I used the same pseudo silk dye I used on the headpiece wig, but of course it took much longer since the other wig was about 60" long. Four different color mixes were applied with a paintbrush. The result is only slightly visible in person, but it would be obvious next to a solid-color wig. The wig was vinegar-set and washed and no dye came off on the costume.

|+| FINGERNAILS |+|
Relevant posts: 18 June: nails complete process
. . . yes the fingernails get their own section. I didn't get to wear them for Comic-con thanks to nail glue that had glued itself shut, in spite of a valiant and clever attempt with some double-sided tape by resin_ga_miteru. For the photoshoot, I wound up putting them on with rubber cement. If anyone has a recommendation for a GOOD nail glue or alternative, please holler as I will appreciate it for the future. Nails are a dollar-store find, filed into the proper shape and painted.

|+| THE MISSING PIECE - KANZASHI |+|
It's possible you remember me discussing making kanzashi for the headpiece - certain faintly drawn bits in one of the reference artworks. (Kanzashi are the hair decorations Japanese women wear with kimono, the term seemed appropriate.) I had already ordered some pheasant feathers I thought I might use on the headpiece, and these wound up substituting. Why? I spent a lot of time on the designs for the kanzashi because I didn't want to leave them plain, and had planned to brass-etch them. The new transfer technique I was trying, after three efforts, had to be abandoned - and because the armor crisis hit, they got dropped. Since I never posted this, and will be covering brass etching again in the future for the Steampunk thing I'm working on . . . this was using a method wherein you print your design (reversed) onto glossy photo paper and then iron it on to your brass. As you can see, it didn't transfer very well at all.

And now, it's time for the wrap-up, grade-school style.

|+| What Did We Learn? |+|
We'll start with practical things.
|+| Sometimes it really IS the materials. If I had not spent quite so much time assuming that I was an underachiever with sandpaper, I might have realized that I had defective Magic Smooth.
|+| There's no point being snobby about techniques. Not always - but sometimes - cardboard is better than fiberglass.
|+| Nevertheless I am still toast when it comes to upcoming costumes and how I'm making certain parts. But, I'm thinking that finding out how to do things is 99% finding out what DOESN'T work, which sometimes includes things failing in spectacular fashion. Fortunately, the only real casualties were an already worn-out bamboo rug (silk dye), a small patch of carpeting (heat gun), and a large quantity of my sanity.
|+| I'm not underestimating, however, intangible gains (not as intangible as the stuff below), like the kind of new ideas and willingness to try them that come from having the chance to experiment and learn and hopefully have some kind of results. I'm about to talk about another reason why it's important to not just plan, but basically, there is not nearly enough information out there no matter where you look about doing weird things. If you're not making the same thing several million people are, you're going to have to go WAY outside the box with materials and techniques. And the only way that's going to happen is by tracking the stuff down and finding out what it does. Glues do not say on the back "does not work on brass". It's usually impossible even after the fact to figure out the one wild card about how you did something that caused it to NOT work how it did for someone else. The only way you're going to find out what works for you is the hard way (though hopefully not the hard way that involves things catching on fire and/or melting).

|+| Perfect plans don't exist in reality. Or, at any rate, reality isn't highly tolerant of them. See also: Murphy's Law. No matter how much time you have, or how carefully you plan, Stuff Happens.
|+| Always test-run. I'd really hoped this would be my shot at finishing early and having a chance to put on the *entire* costume and tweak, but it wasn't. See above.
|+| Sometimes it's not your fault. See the first one again. I think the biggest realization one has to come to is that there may not be any way to "get it right". You can plan as much as you want, be as careful as you want, leave as much extra time as you want - but it may be impossible to compensate for random things that are totally out of your control. Insurance doesn't cover acts of God; how can you?

Of course the last one is what I really covered ages ago in my somewhat controversial ~~rant~~ article for Booty Project on cosplay. Perfect does not exist in reality. The gospel of Walgreens is true: We really do not live anywhere near Perfect. Say you're perfect - the universe will probably go, sorry, we have to compensate for that, and give you a random, out of the blue lightning bolt of smackdown. The trick is - realizing that's okay. It's not your fault. If you let it destroy your world, though, then it IS your fault. The universe doesn't really have it in for you; it's just that Stuff Happens. I admit to having "a moment" at Comic-con when, on two hours' sleep and not enough food, I suddenly had to realize that after four months of working my ass off nonstop, I was NOT IN CONTROL. It's hard to explain what the effect of that is - or the context that I really did *nothing* else in the time period I was working on Orlouge.

So basically . . . what happens in reality generally has very little to do with what you think and plan and predict will happen. If you can roll with that, you learn a lot more and accomplish a lot more. (Maybe the theme song here should be Oasis' "Roll With It".) Big projects are scary - starting them maybe not nearly so much as finishing, and finishing maybe not so much as coming to terms with the results and moving forward with just the best parts of the experience. So here's to perfecting fine arts that can never really be perfected, because hopefully a step in the right direction is more than we think it is.(What's the quote about aiming for the stars because even if you fail you'll still go higher than you thought possible?)

Calumon is brave . . . Calumon doesn't give up . . . Calumon . . . is toast.

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 06:33:35 GMT

I should either be working or in bed, but my feet are really killing me from standing on the tile working on the longer wig (long story but it's getting a similar dye job to the headpiece wig) so I had to sit down for a couple minutes . . .

Yeah so . . . disaster kind of struck I guess. My emergency batch of Magic Smooth to finish the armor was defective. In hindsight, we've realized that the previous batch was probably also defective - I thought it seemed a little funny but assumed it was related to temperature/humidity. The stuff done with the FIRST batch, which was from a different supplier, is kind of night and day from the stuff done with the second batch; and the third batch? Not useable. No-doubt-about-it defective. And there is no way to order more in time; sanding nonstop for several days has availed little, even with the help of both my parents; and there is no time to mail order "Plan B" supplies. Two backup plans are shot down because of lack of drying time.

So I am facing up to the very real possibility of having to remake the armor in the next three days using a completely different method. Basically the resin may not be sanding well at all because it never fully cured - all the layers except the bottom-most may have faulty resin batch. Indents are too large for super glue, spackle doesn't get good finish; Orlouge probably doesn't shop at the Scratch-and-Dent Armory. My only other option is tomorrow morning to use the slightly dodgy 2-part resin from the hardware store. It sets up fine, but has the consistency of jar icing (hate that stuff, always use homemade) and may simply worsen the situation (lots of dodgy layers of resin does not equal one finished layer) . . .

. . . I love cosplay. I'm not actually sure why I'm not panicking. I suppose I shouldn't question that.

the Devil's icing

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:28:13 GMT

Having costume layers attached to each other is a good thing, because it means only one thing you have to keep adjusting instead of two. XD; I used to have an obsession with making things "realistic", and having garment pieces all be separate . . . I'm getting over that for practical reasons ^^;

So I decided the white part of the skirt was too plain . . . so I made stencils (which I forgot to take a photo of and I'm too lazy to go up and do it now). Roses are kind of Orlouge's theme or something so I picked that. There are four different rose stencils, and three roses on the front and then two on each side plus freehanded swirly things.

It's done with pearl medium, which isn't fabric paint. The bottle said to thin with water to use on fabric, but that left this awful ring around the design so I did it straight since I didn't have any fabric medium to mix it with. The fabric is rayon and not washable anyway.

Sorry for the photospam of this one part but it took a while and it barely shows in person lol. :P And just to make more pointless work for myself I put on sequins and beads.

I decided to put everything on the dressform mainly because I was trying to make an assessment about the (unfinished) um . . . thing below the cumberbund. (Armor? I dunno.)

Train in the back, which does have sequins on that probably don't show . . . I put ball chain into the hem to try to get it to flow right :X (GHETTO!) It took a really long time and made my fingers hurt (I shoved/pulled it through like elastic in a casing) but it drapes a lot better now XD; (The silk was too lightweight.)

Tassel. This is round two of the tassels, with the fine-tuned dyeing method. XP I used Dye-na-flow on them, diluted with water in a cup, squeeze out excess, allow to dry, repeat. I found out the first time it takes quite well and won't wash out with soap/water if it's allowed to air dry fully. It doesn't take to the all-synthetic metallic threads, but I thought that looked kinda nifty.

This is the piece in question . . . I'm not sure what it's supposed to be made out of from the pic, I didn't want it too stiff or it will poke me if I try to sit (probably still will). I tried aluminum initially and couldn't get the curve right. This is Fuzzform with craft foam over it and then leather. (The leather looked a totally different color online, though it does go with the outfit anyway . . . but I'm planning to put a bit of fabric paint on it also.)

Two questions about it:
1) Is it too wide top-to-bottom on the basis of
2) Does it look wonky? (I couldn't avoid some ripples when gluing it on.)

I'd rather NOT remake it since the leather is pricey, but I did buy it for this project.

Tomorrow night you should get headpiece progress, hopefully consisting of "Headpiece: 100%" (maybe that's too optimistic?). The armor progress is not currently interesting, since it consists of "sand sand sand . . . prime . . . lament lack of smoothness . . . sand sand sand" . . . and the boot top progress consists mostly of me swearing at them XD;

still life with armor . . . err and flowers

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:25:51 GMT

Okay so all the layers later . . . the horns are all done. Wireframe, masking tape (omg ghetto!), nylon cording, papier mache, two types of resin (the tips are Magic Sculpt), really tedious sanding followed by more resin (repeat several times), finally having it occur to me to try using the Dremel, realizing it leaves tool marks, more hand sanding, finally giving up and painting the dang things. XD And I only started them . . . *has to go look* AT THE END OF MARCH. X_X;;;

No one will be calling me Speedy McFast.

Horns getting sprayed. Primer first, then black (left) and then this stuff called "Shimmer Gold" - a spraypaint that's designed to cover badly, lol. The idea is it gives a dusting, not a solid coat. You can do the same thing with any paint, just go lighter, but this is a bit easier to control. Let's not talk about the fact that it took me longer to do the horns because I was spraying several things late in the evening and confused the Shimmer Gold can with the sealant can . . . >_o;

Uh starting to put some of the highlights on with the interference gold . . . it's a loose pigment powder. It's more intense over a similar color. You can mix it with a medium, or dust it on a tacky surface; but if the surface is rough, you can get it to stick as just the powder. I was applying it with q-tips (for heavier coverage) and a soft paintbrush (for a light dusting). The technique is totally stolen from blushing on BJDs.

Ram horns, left one just black and the right one has had some pigment powder put on (interference gold and red), and then a light coat of sealant. Same trick for BJDs, the dust needs a surface with some "tooth" to stick to, and doing layer of powder + sealant + layer of powder is the easiest way to build up color. Didn't have a matte spray coating around though.

Finished horns. Rather bad lighting >_o

Annnd the ram horns . . . you can see the red a bit, anyway.

Front armor pieces that go on the jacket, just needs the snaps attached, I have to buy some because I'm out of big ones. Added shimmer gold to the top, then did some of the pigment powder, sealant (lots), super glued the other gems in and removed the masking from the other two.

Ongoing very heavy work on the shoulder armor and the piece that's going to hold the whole shebang up, in addition to trying to get to the final sand on the remaining two headpiece sections (no photos of those).
I'm having some issues with the pieces defiantly remaining flexible enough to try to collapse in and become too narrow, so my Mighty Board is getting applied to yet another purpose. We found it in the garage, I have no idea where it's from, but it's already been an anvil, a flat place to hammer eyelets and set snaps, and a waraji loom.

Now, it's being used to hold the pieces the right distance apart while I put more resin on (I have to go in stages). My mother's conclusion was "Sydney opera house".

I left the flowers on the table because I thought it was festive. No explanation for the salt shaker.

Personally I think it's more like (bad) folk art.

I got in my order of extension hair today, I came up with an evil plan to (hopefully) easily set some extensions in the lower wig. I didn't want to dye it to get color streaks/blends like the top wig because it's against way too much white fabric for my comfort. I also finally caved and decided I'm remaking the tassels for the jacket (I know, I know); there was a dyeing incident which completely defies logic and physics and I'm just not wiling to settle after having worked on this for so long. (At least tassels are a no-brainer.)

the sanding never ends

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:28:12 GMT

I'm not even sure if I want to think about what isn't done yet *shoulderarmoromfg*, so I'm going to share what IS done, or is in the process of getting done.

The train and white skirt are in fact nearly 100% (both need waistbands put on, some decorative stuff), but I don't have photos today.

Tunic is done . . . closes with a separating zipper, I could have done an invisible one but on a costume with so many pieces I wanted ease over look - it's under a ton of stuff. I'm not hemming it either, just doing a serged bottom - it will keep it smoother since it's got to be tucked in. It's got a fake lining in muslin because white satin is see-through. It'd take an entire post to describe all the reasons why I don't like working with white fabric.

Closeup of the design . . . it's kind of a weird trim, it's got a white center with metallic "threads" braided around it. I picked it because it's less "solid" looking than a braid or cord but it takes curves better than soutache (which I can't get in silver anyway). Putting it on was honestly a bitch - it seemed simple, aside from being time-consuming (it's by hand with metallic thread, which likes to break), but then I couldn't get the Sulky Sticky off because it had been on too long. You have no idea what I went through to get that stuff (and the adhesive residue it left) off of this. :P I came very close to remaking the whole thing.

The boot caps are at 100%, unless I count trimming off the excess felt. You can't see the color effect I did over the silver, I'm not sure if it will ever show in photos, but it's actually iridescent green, blue, and red. Obviously they're designed to go over the boots with elastic.

I have some major frustrations with the armor I'm not going to go into . . . mostly related to designing it so it could break down into sections for transport. But I was able to get holes drilled in one half (this is for the right side) tonight. Hard to hold it in place, I have a ton more work to do yet but at least the pieces DO fit together . . . (it was a close call).

Armor piece that will be attaching to the jacket, most of the way done . . . it's waiting to get gold detail on it, sealant, and the triangular bits glued in place. (The gems are masked until all that is done.)

How to Make Holes in resin-coated Fuzzform . . . start a guide hole with a pin vise (top), then go at it with a hand drill. I'm not using a Dremel because I couldn't get the right bits, and our real drill is very large and heavy. Hand tools are highly underrated anyway.

Tomorrow I have to start remaking the #3 (bottom) piece for the left side that came out deformed, and have a Resin Party probably tomorrow night to do as much more of the resin work as possible (including the neck piece, which I'm nervous about the deforming issue on). I hope my parents won't mind too much having a dressform in the kitchen for 24 hours . . .

Ram horns. The three larger horns started their paint job today, but it was cut off when I ran out of black spray paint. Already done the hardware store like three times in the past two days. The ram horns annoy me muchly, multiple goes of resin and sanding and they still look lumpy . . . >_< I'm already having arm/wrist pain from sanding (I'm doing some with Dremel tools, but you have to do most by hand) and I haven't even done the armor pieces yet . . .

I actually forgot about this for a while, until I remembered noticing it in the game . . . there's some piece of something that goes across the back of Orlouge's head. So this is my piece of something, partway through (I started painting, found rough spots, have to sand again and repaint).

Headwing thingies for the headpiece (to either side of the horns). Had to do really heavy sanding and found some places that didn't get enough resin so I have to add a teeny bit more to the fuzzy edges and then finish sanding. (Priming lightly is a really good way to tell what areas need work.)

Some pretty for sitting through all that (or best I can do.)
The game may not have cutting-edge graphics but you can still make up for that with good design . . .

Now you can see why in-game isn't much use XD; I'm going to look JUST LIKE THIS.

back on the horse

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:31:43 GMT

Trying to get back into the swing of working now that I'm a) home and b) don't need to work on something else. I sent in my registration for the San Diego Comic-con masquerade. @_@ I haven't gotten any sort of confirmation yet, though, so I don't know if I'm in, or waitlisted, or what.

So . . . what am I up to?
~ Re-dyeing the stupid tassels. Can't get the color/gradation how I want.
~ Did the Magic Smooth on the inside of the armor pieces. Also, somehow I failed to notice one of the pieces got distorted; it will have to be redone. Doh. But I am very very close to being done with the Magic Smooth (and ready to spend the rest of my life sanding).
~ Putting some ~~bling~~ subtle decorative sequins on the train.
~ Lamenting my inability to use a rolled hem foot.

I finished Orlouge's artificial nails, which I cannot justify having done before other things but HEY I felt like it. Apparently you can't get nails that aren't french-tip (square) at the drugstore, so I filed them down. The polish brand is Sinful Colors . . . lol.

So, how do you paint nails that aren't attached to hands? With straws and Blu-tak, that's how!

Yes, I have a bat soap dispenser. I got it for Halloween and I thought it was too cute to put away. I admit I am still tempted, since I have a wide variety of them for BJD reasons, to put gems on the nails. x_X; UBER GAY.

I will likely post photos of what the process looks like when I actually use this technique for Orlouge. He has some sort of hair thingies on the left side, they're not very well rendered but they remind me of kanzashi (kimono hair ornaments). I was working on doll costumes for which I wanted to have some metal or metal-looking pieces. (Pictures of it will be posted to my doll journal house_of_darkly, hopefully by later tonight.) Originally, I intended the designs to be cut-out, but I couldn't find any way to cut through the brass; even though I was only using .10 thickness. I played with using thin plastic (stencil blanks and plastic folders), but they're somewhat floppy and can't conform to curves well (the cut-out sections stick up). I've done engraving into brass sheet before, but it's difficult to keep a steady line.

So, I decided to go wandering Google for information on acid etching metals. The information on the web about this is a little shaky; some of the tutorials are confusingly written, and there are a variety of different iterations of how to do it (for example, you can also etch using electric current). This is the best one I found for the way I chose to do it, largely due to time constraints. I WILL post more details when I have more photos of the process.

The short version! You take some brass and mask off or use a "resist" on the sections you DON'T want your etchant to eat into. In my case, this meant using contact paper (shelf liner) or Sharpie on the front side, Sharpie along the exposed edge, and then packing tape on the back. I drew my designs on paper, transferred them onto the front side of the contact paper with a lightbox and a Sharpie. Then I cut the outside shape of the wing piece, peeled off the backing and stuck it to my brass. I cut the details gently with an Exacto while it was on the brass; it's too hard to get thin sections to stick right if you cut it out first.

Then you do your setup. You pour about 1/4" of etchant into a container large enough to fit your biggest piece (I used a ceramic casserole dish). The ferric chloride is NOT something you want to get on you (it's not going to eat through your hand like a horror flick but wear gloves!). I put wire "handles" on my pieces with more packing tape. You have to swish your piece around in the etchant for about half an hour; the longer you leave it, the deeper the etch; and the more times you've used it, the longer it will take to get the result you want (maybe two-five minutes longer each time).

This is the result.

The necklace piece was very small and I didn't use any contact paper, just Sharpie. Better for fine control but bad on large areas.

sewing update

Sun, 06 May 2007 18:30:13 GMT

Okay, so it's not a monster, it's the sleeve . . . I wind up doing fake linings a lot, basically it's something between a facing and a real lining. For these sleeves, I sewed the side seam in the outer fabric (ultra satin, very heavyweight satin with a dull finish) and the lining fabric (not a real lining fabric, but a thin rayon blend). Then you treat the sleeve alone as if you were lining a whole piece; put the sleeve lining over the sleeve, right sides together, line up the side seams and pin and sew.

I had issues with the inner angles. :P No matter what I did, I couldn't sew and trim them in such a way to get a clean angle like I wanted. So I had to stop stitching short of those areas and then handsew them once they'd been turned.

Jacket was done like a real lining because I needed to finish the neck edge, with the exception of ignoring the sleeve area; turned through the center back neck. Since I have a serger, I can sew the lined sleeve to the lined body and then finish that edge. It's a cheat, but it saves a lot of trouble.

I really like the trim I was using on the jacket for looks, but it's somewhat problematic to sew on; it doesn't like to fold and can't be pressed. I did the straightaways on the machine but did the tips by hand. I used invisible thread for it, to minimize what shows on the wrong side.

I did the squiggly bits with a different trim. I drew the design on paper, traced it onto tear-away stabilizer, and pinned that to the fabric so I had a guideline. (Okay, so on this part, I wound up changing the design slightly on the stabilizer. :P) Attached by hand with invisible thread again.

Added a design to the center back also. That area isn't in the pics but it seemed like it wanted something. Couldn't extend the end of the cording under the other trim like I did in front, so I finished it by satin-stitching with a metallic thread.

Jacket done~ except for tassels. I put sleeve poufs in the sleeves to hold them up.

What's a sleeve pouf? Found out about them watching this random show on the DIY Network lol. Basically it's a little netting croissant you sew in to fluff things up in puff sleeves. Works a lot better than the plastic bags I wound up using in the Crack Lolita. XD; Here are the instructions.

Demo in a jacket for another cosplay (Günter from Kyou Kara Maoh!).

Designs for the tunic . . . small doodle, full size version, transferred to stabilizer.

I tried using sticky back Sulky this time because the tunic satin is rather flimsy. I thought about doing interfacing on the back to stiffen it, but I didn't want it on the whole front of the tunic and it would have shown through if I didn't . . . that's still an ongoing saga, because I've been having a dreadful time getting the stuff completely off. ><;

I'm having issues with my tassels.

I wanted to tint the bottoms green. The first one, I tried painting on Dye-na-flow and it wasn't as even as I wanted, so then I tried dipping it in a paper cup (Dye-na-flow mixed with some water), and it seemed to be working fine. But then I had the brilliant idea to dampen the others before doing this so that it might be less blotchy, and that made the color soak up waaaaay too far. I washed them to remove excess dye, too much came out, did it again, washed it again, and somehow the color has these . . . GAPS in it that make no sense to me. Like the dye jumped. I knew the metallic thread wouldn't dye and I have no problem with that, but I don't understand why the color is uneven on the rest of the floss. >_<

So I was leaving it alone, though I think I need to finalize what I'm doing with them today . . . I have photos of how I made the tassels, also, which I will post at some point in case someone wants to make tassels for something.

Rest of sewing . . . the skirts still need to be hemmed and I've been having no luck using a rolled hem foot. Not sure what the solution is there; doing it by hand, or faking a rolled hem with the machine (fold it, sew, fold again, sew again). The cumberbund is done. Still haven't cut out the pants but that's not a time-consuming project to make.

As far as the "hardscape" goes, the non-Magic Smooth pieces are done and painted, will put pics up latler. I've got another 5 pound kit of Magic Smooth in now. But I'm no longer planning to be at 100% for ACen, because I just don't think I have enough time to get the pieces properly sanded. Dunno.

cosplay: so much fun it needs its own dimension

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:15:50 GMT

Please note that you are only getting two photos with me in them because ryuk_in_progres will probably beat me about the head with a dead carp if I don't post them.

I have a horn and I'm not afraid to use it . . .

Resin dust is toxic and it was windy, thus the highly fashionable headgear. :P

systema. Note the paraphernalia of cosplay: sewing machine, fabric scraps, respirator, vinyl fabric (medication not related), armor pieces, caffeinated beverages, and strawberry-flavored junk food . . .

When I was doing the fabric painting for my Yura costume I needed a way to cover the table and wound up using plastic tablecloths we had around. They work quite well for covering large areas; they're fairly heavy and cheap. But this one comes with so much fun it requires its OWN DIMENSION.

Fuzzform armor pieces laid out on tablecloth, waiting to have Magic Smooth put on the outside. The wire pieces are to keep the not-that-stiff Fuzzform from distorting or collapsing; I'm still not 100% sure if the pieces will have maintained the shape to fit properly. I had some trouble figuring out how to find the right length for the wire crosspiece so my mother and systema figured out a way to do it.

Other pieces awaiting Magic Smooth . . . for the counter I use wax paper, though this time I had the sense to use masking tape to hold it to the counter so it wouldn't slide while I was working.

Move along, nothing to see here . . . ¬.¬;

Actually I can point out that I use a popsicle stick like a butter knife to get the Magic Smooth on generally, then dip my finger in water (have to keep doing it) and level and smooth it that way. If you do it right, you can get a glossy finish without any sanding, but that's very difficult over a large area.

This is from tonight, cured pieces. I am nearly at the bottom of my 4lb kit of Magic Smooth. I found a 7-spoonful (each of resin and hardener; 14 total) batch went about two and a half armor pieces, so I had to mix three times to cover the pieces I was working on, and left out the upper shoulder/neck piece. If I want to finish the inside edges, I have to buy more. I'm not sure whether to do that or not; only a small part of the inside will show, and it doesn't necessarily have to have the same finish; the concept of the armor is somewhere between fabric and metal.

Boot cover front . . . I'm not really happy with the top bit (it's also missing part of the front design, just haven't put it on yet). Those larger pieces to the side of the center piece have been giving me a lot of trouble. But I'm not sure I can do anything, since I ultimately had to super glue it. Upholstery vinyl is amazing - virtually no glue will stick to it well. I tried hot glue, E-6000, and Gorilla Glue; only the Super Glue set relatively quickly AND held well to the right side of the vinyl.

Somewhat non-illustrative paint test. I will have to see how it looks in daylight. Test horn piece; black base with "Gold Shimmer" paint over top (Design Master is the brand I think); it's supposed to be translucent. A green metallic Rustoleum paint on Fuzzform with Magic Smooth over part of the area on the left, and over just heated Fuzzform on the right. The left piece I did Gold Shimmer over also. I'm happy with that for the armor.

I placed my last order for this costume tonight (unless I decide to order more Magic Smooth, which I'm thinking I will). But anyway I have makeup on the way; you have to have very pessimistic lead time on any ordering you're doing for a costume, which is why I'm worrying about makeup now. I wanted a somewhat unusual color for eyeshadow that I was able to find at and I also wanted very pale foundation and a white loose powder.

miscellaneous bits update

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:46:17 GMT

I had two largely unproductive days when I had no clue if I was having to leave town or not (meaning I was unsure what I should work on) and my dog was sick. Today I had my first day of mostly sewing. Tomorrow, ryuk_inprogres is coming out again so there should be lots more random photos soon. Especially since most of what I'm working on has moved forward but I forgot to take photos of it, lol. I was going to post a photo of the tassels but I think I will wait until I have some photos of how I'm making them for your reference.

Number of things in this photo . . . mostly of stuff where I was working with Magic Sculpt - the gray material. Version 2 of the center piece for the headpiece is magic sculpt over existing Wonderflex piece, also did the tips for the horns out of it (I can get them pointier that way; it's like clay). Also version 1 of the petal piece for the headdress, which is now just a random test sample. It got distorted in drying because it wasn't on a frame and is now too narrow. Doh.

Petal piece version two :P Made in two separate sections for better control forming the lower bits. I also did it over the headpiece, getting rid of the distortion it has by stuffing it full of plastic bags. (Yes, I did melt some plastic bags with the heat gun while forming it.)

Advantage of Fuzzform - even after some heating it's possible to sew through it. Attached wire to keep it from being distorted when I Magic Smooth it (which I will likely remove before doing the back).

The bane of my headpiece - the "diamond shaped things that I can't tell what they are". I've seen one Japanese fanartist picture of Orlouge also and they clearly had no clue either. Unfortunately, you can't scribble something vague in three dimensions. So I sort of followed the shape of the cutout at the bottom but I decided the top part should be wings. I may have an unhealthy obsession with the idea of headwings.

Basically done horn. Still needs sanding and paint. But I did the tip and leveled the bottom edge with Magic Sculpt, repaired some air bubbles with second coat of Magic Smooth in places that needed it.

Front of the boot cover. It's much closer to done now but I forgot to take photos. This stage is just Wonderflex, sealed with some Mod Podge. I brushed on Gem Tac and then put stretch PVC over that. When I did the smaller "fan" pieces for the top of it, I didn't seal it first with the Mod Podge; the PVC is thin and more of the texture of the Wonderflex showed than I'd like. Getting this curve was a pain - I had to keep reheating the piece around my leg to get it to take such an extreme bend and conform properly to things like the ankle bone (at the bottom).

Boot caps again. I tried using this paint called "Ice" - a color-shifting paint from a line called Duplicolor Mirage. Very awesome stuff, and totally not the color I wanted. Genius that I am, I assumed the website picture was accurate and didn't notice that the cap color looked the way the paint actually came out. So I have to spray over it. The gems are masked, incidentally, with rubber cement. It worked in the test, so I really hope it worked.

Posterboard pattern pieces for the shoulder armor. I got rough estimates for the length of the pieces by measuring along the reference drawing and using the multiplication factor I figured out. (Which is 9, btw; gotten by measuring Orlouge's chest in the drawing and comparing that to my own chest width - since it has to be in scale with me, also, not just be full size.)

Pieces bent down the middle and assembled with brads so I could tell if it was how I wanted.

First stage of the Fuzzform armor pieces getting heated. Temporarily attached to each other and the over-shoulder piece with brads again. They were trimmed some and then heated again off the form to fine-tune.

There is always something you don't think of. I sort of forgot that the pieces had to be attached to something in the BACK as well. Even though I figured out there had to be a hard piece across the neck and back to hold up the jacket (real people can't do without gravity). So, added two of these pieces - one for each side. I also have a line marked to cut down the neck piece, it came up too high in back and prevented head movement. I'm going to have a stiff neck from the wig and headpiece anyway, no reason to make it worse.

Jacket pattern pieces (disassembled muslin) laid out . . . I did not take out the princess seam in the front because I don't really want it. Princess seams and bust darts are for "girly curves", so I hate having them in garments for male cosplay. It doesn't lie completely flat but it's close enough.

This is a photo illustrating a stupid mistake. lol. Having garments that come to some kind of point out of a seam (when they require lining) is a pain - largely because you have to remember to include the exact SAME seam allowance on the point as in the seam. I forgot my muslin didn't have this until after I cut the center back. Fortunately I had enough fabric to recut that piece and for the others I just drew a seam allowance freehand on the fabric with pencil. :P

silk painting: mission accomplished

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:43:49 GMT

Fear the too-much-information. Don't worry, though, there are photos. I don't know offhand of cosplayers doing silk painting with dyes, so I figured it was better to write up too much information than not enough. You will note I've gone public with all the entries. Sorry if you friended it just to see them. ^^; I needed to give my advisors access.

I've outlined the train in blue (with some difficulty using a trackpad). For my own purposes, I'm actually calling it the "Eisenbahn", which the pattern glossary listed as the German term. I think it sounds more commanding. But I won't confuse you with that.

I talked a little before about angst over trying to choose a type of dye/paint, the weight of the silk (buying fabric over the internet is always risky; a lot of the choice comes down to feeling the fabric), and so on. I even emailed the store I was buying from to ask for help; but they didn't give too much. If you have an interest in trying silk painting, I recommend you read through all the sections of Dharma Trading's info on it. For your sake though, the short version of the process - raw (undyed) silk is stretched over a frame and dye is applied, usually with a brush. To make more controlled designs, you use a resist (gutta is a type of resist and sometimes used interchangeably), which is basically a waxy substance you apply to the silk. The resist acts as a fence which stops the dye from moving across the fabric. It's either removed when you're done, or if it's colored resist, it's also fixed in place as part of the permanent design. The piece has to have the excess dye removed and the colors set or it can't be washed or dry cleaned without nearly all the dye coming out (and staining anything it's with).

But for my purposes, I wound up going with:
~ Sennelier Tinfix dye
~ Jacquard water based resist
~ Jacquard's chemical fixative, which is compatible with the Tinfix as well as the Green line Jacquard colors (it's not compatible with other dyes).

Why the Tinfix? It had the right mix of properties and came in more colors than some of the other options.
~ Dye = less hand on the fabric (hand = stiff/rough feel; paints sit on the surface of the fabric and alter it; dyes are absorbed into or react with the fibers).
~ Can be chemically fixed. Paints are usually heat-set (with an iron or dryer); most dyes are steam-set. Steam setting requires a fairly elaborate setup to create a steamy environment for the silk with no water actually touching it. You have to wrap the silk up in newsprint and fold it into a very small package - without wrinkling it, or the wrinkles will be permanent; that's how they make crinkle silk. I didn't think this was practical with such a large piece of fabric. Most people make scarves.

Why water-based resist? There are a fair variety of different kinds of gutta and resist; in batik, you use melted wax. Water-based resist has some disadvantages; it's not quite as good at holding back dyes; too much water if you're doing wet-on-wet (dyeing on damp fabric) will partly dissolve the resist, or excess dye can swamp the line. But it's non-toxic.

Colors I used:
003 Canary Yellow (3.5oz); 007 Aladdin Yellow (3.5 oz); 030 Tyrian Rose (3.5oz); 060 Celadon (3.5 oz.); and 056 Blue Lacquer (16oz).
I also used the dye thinner/dilutant. The dye is highly concentrated and goes a pretty long way; it has the consistency of colored water, it's not like paint. The blue is something like 50/50 dye and dilutant; the yellows were usually around 1/3 dilutant, though I was mixing the two yellows and dilutant as I went to get different tones. The Canary Yellow is highlighter yellow if it's not mixed with another color. I used about 3/4 of the green; I still have a lot of blue left, but I might have run out if I had bought the 3.5 oz.
Here's a sample piece with the undiluted and unmixed (except on the fabric) colors. The orange is the Aladdin Yellow. The darker blue in the lower left is Dye-Na-Flow because I wanted to compare. (Yes I posted this before but it's more relevant now.)

No photos of the early steps - cutting out the fabric, sewing the seams. I didn't wash the fabric until after I sewed it up - I didn't read until later that this is a good idea to make sure there is no silk gum residue in your fabric. Still, easy fix with a sinkful of water and dish soap; any steps where I needed to dry the whole piece, I used clothespins and wire hangers to rig it up to my shower door. Silk air dries quite fast.

Silk on the stretcher frame. The frame is from the art store - you can buy lightweight, balsa like frame pieces in various lengths for super cheap. They slot together so you can disassemble it for storage. Unless you're going to cut off some of the fabric when you're done, you don't want the silk to overlap the frame. It will affect how the dye absorbs. To suspend it, you can use clips, silk hooks, or safety pins or straight pins with rubber bands attached. All attach to the frame itself with push pins. The frame is also elevated off the table with upended plastic cups, to make sure the silk doesn't touch it.

My frame is NOT ideal - but it was the best I could do. You really want the fabric quite taut, and all of it available to paint at the same time. Again, the problem is that most people paint scarves. This is a three-yard piece of fabric. In kimono painting, they work with the fabric before it's cut - which works because kimono fabric is traditionally long, narrow strips (which is why real kimono patterns are how they are). How they line up their designs, I admit I do not really know. But there was no way to get my design placement correct without cutting the train out and sewing the center back seam, making it a super-awkward size and shape for stretching. As the New Yorkers say, whatcanyado.

Another shot of the frame, with one section done and another section getting ready to go. I did all the resist painting first, before I did any dyeing. Resist is usually applied with a metal-tipped applicator bottle (some brands come in a tube); but I wanted wide, irregular lines. The resist areas aren't just to contain the dye - they will be the white lines on the finished design. So, I used a paintbrush.

You can also see how I was mixing the dyes - disposable plastic cups. You have to always put the cup back in the same place because it can be really hard to tell them apart; if I was using more colors, I'd have Sharpied the color on the outside.

Section in progress, with drying dye towards the bottom and wet dye towards the top. This section was done on dry fabric. All you do is touch the brush to the fabric; it absorbs and starts spreading. It's very similar to watercolors. I found that on dry fabric the dye spreads much faster; wet fabric, however, is better at preventing hard lines between colors. Otherwise, you have to work really quickly to keep one dye section from starting to dry before you do another color. I was painting a yellow background in completely, then doing diluted Tyrian Rose (pink) in small areas near the edge, and then going over that with a darker mix of some of the diluted yellow with some Aladdin yellow to get a shading effect.

I applied the dye with various different brushes. Brushes with acrylic fibers designed for dye worked the best; fabric paint brushes second best. Standard brushes don't work so well, it was harder to get the dye out. Foam brushes and a sumi brush worked well on larger areas. Watercolor brushes would be a good option also.

Working on the background. I used a foam brush with a blue/green mix (more towards blue, due to personal preference), and then a diluted green over it in specific areas. Narrow sections were resist; larger white I just painted carefully with a sumi brush. I did the background wet-on-wet to keep it soft; which, unfortunately, caused some spotting in the dry areas. Because the background area was so large, I had to do something to break it up. I was saved by my reference - there are a few places you can see small areas of white near the top of the garment (in the blue/teal), so I think that there was a design similar to the bottom at the top as well. So I was able to hide two resist "seams" in that design so I could segment the larger areas without getting too much of a harsh edge.

Dry, finished piece, prior to color setting and removal of the resist.

Chemical fixative bath. The fixative is diluted with cold water and you keep your fabric immersed and moving for about five minutes; then rinse and wash with a mild soap (Synthrapol would be best, but I used dish soap). You may be able to tell that the water is sort of Slimer Kool-aid green in some places; dye does come out in the fixative, but not nearly as much as in water alone. (One imagines the reason that steaming is touted as giving more intense color is that little or none of the applied dye is lost since it never comes in contact with the water.)

Anytime I work with chemicals with any kind of warning on the side (this has one about cancer), I use gloves. It just isn't worth the risk. Not nearly enough cosplayers/crafters/etc protect themselves when they should; how hard is it to put on at least a dust mask when you spray paint? Well, there's no protecting people from their own stupidity. ^^;

After the fixative bath, I emptied the sink, rinsed out the excess dye, and then re-filled it with warm water and soap to get out the resist (it requires both). There is info floating around the net that water-based resist doesn't do well with chemical fixative - even though it seems to be the only type that's compatible with it. :P I'm here to say now this is a myth - the Jacquard resist DOES get slimy/sticky feeling when it was immersed in the chemical fixative - but this had no effect on how difficult it was to wash out when the time came. I had no problems at all getting it out, and actually continued washing it after I was quite sure there wasn't any because it seemed too easy! Then the piece was hung to air dry, and I ironed it while still damp to get out some wrinkles. It has a static cling problem I'll have to ponder.

Finished. (Minus hems and waistband, of course; sewing machine is still in the shop). It's so big, I couldn't even get it all in the shot on my parents' king bed. @_@

Closeup, so you can perhaps compare the colors after the fixative. (Not totally accurate to reality - it's less orange, more yellow.)They are paler; but not by a really significant amount. I did a test with my sample from earlier - I cut it in half and did one half just washing out the resist, and one using the fixative first. You won't lose all your dye if you don't fix (most costume pieces don't need to be washable), but the colors will be at about 50% their strength when they were painted. You only drop to maybe 85% with the fixative. (As for Dye-na-flow, which is a dye-like paint, virtually none of it washes out. Once it's dry, it's pretty well set.) The bonus is that some of the "mistakes" are much less obvious.

The harsher edges are what happens when wet dye meets a dry area; some silk painters use them on purpose. The spotting from the water I sprayed on to dampen the dye only shows in the green areas, not the yellow/orange. If you can't dampen your whole piece at once, it'd be better (in hindsight) to use a large brush to apply water instead of a spray bottle. You can also see the soft edges that happen when the dye continues to spread in damp fabric; it's very slow so you get a lovely fade. (The borderless yellow-into-blue sections where done that way; the areas below the resist line were already painted, and when I did the blue, I also painted some yellow on up from the resist line. I didn't paint them so that they met - they faded into each other as the color spread.) The two dots on the resist line near the bottom are from where dye swamped the resist line; too much wet dye vs water-soluble resist = dye wins.

So . . . conclusions? Silk painting = definitely a fine art. But it's also very approachable; the basics are easy, it's the finesse that's hard. The same could be said of most things, but I think that silk painting is probably a particularly good thing to dabble in if it comes to textile arts. It's easier than tie-dye, imho, and certainly a more versatile technique. If it comes to dye versus paint, dye wins hands-down for results and ease. Fabric paint is great too, and it depends on what you're doing. But if I could do Yuuko's (xxxHolic) kimono again, I would not use paint. Ironically, it would have been easier and cheaper to do silk and dye - buying silk yardage should definitely not be much of a deciding factor, as it's cheaper than most fabrics!

more progress

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:27:03 GMT

Part two, I figured the wig dyeing should be its own post. Lots of miscellaneous progress photos and some discussion of working with the Magic Smooth. It's brilliant stuff, but I think it should be renamed Magic Mess. >_o

Traced pieces for top of boot covers, Wonderflex to be covered with vinyl.

Fuzzform section of the headpiece, with my heat gun. The Fuzzform is somewhat harder to work with than Wonderflex. It feels like a wool felt; when you heat it, the fibers draw together like cotton candy getting wet. The more you heat it, the more it becomes stiff and hard.

Butterscotched croissants, otherwise known as the ram horns, along with a test horn (for screwing around on) and part of the headpiece I wanted a different finish on. Thinner areas of Magic Smooth dry clear, so you can see the mache layer (the white areas).

The method I finally figured out for mixing the Magic Smooth. They claim the stuff is like Vaseline; it's not. I finally figured out what it is - it's exactly like caramel apple caramel. Since it's a two-part epoxy, you have one tub of resin and one of hardener; nothing happens until you mix them together (1:1, or 50/50). One plastic spoon for resin, one for hardener, and a third to mix them in disposable plastic cup. It's not terribly toxic, but it's better to work with gloves because it's SUCH a mess - better to throw out gloves than have to get it off your hands (though it does come off with soap and water). When you get your fingers wet, it does get nice and smooth. If you get too much, it gets way too slippery to work with and you have to wait for it to dry out some. The working time is about 2 1/2 hours; full cure in 24 hours, at which point it's pretty much "rock hard" and can be worked with power tools. Similar feel to fiberglass; solid but very lightweight.

Mod Podge-ing two of the headpiece sections and the front jacket armor.

Primed boot caps. I did some more work on them after this.

First section of the wire forms for the headpiece horns. There's an extended part of the wire that goes through holes punched into the plastic; it's hard to describe, I'll have to take a photo of the inside.

Horn frames, with more wire on. There's smaller gauge aluminum wire; one continuous piece that does the other two sides, and then another continuous piece that wraps around and up it. I use a very fine gauge wire to wrap around it to attach them to each other.

Mached frames.

Frames wrapped in some nylon cording I had around to form the base for the ridges. I intended to mache over this layer, but it caused the paper to rip; so I went straight over it with Magic Smooth.

Magic Smooth layer one. I'm pretty sure I will do a secondary layer to fix some minor details. It took about an hour and a half to get these covered.

One of my head flowers o.o In the pic his look blue, but I couldn't find any blue-tinted ones I liked. This one was pink; I painted it with watercolors. >_o

Silk painting test, a scrap of the silk I'm working with, a 12mm habotai. The train is already cut out and partially sewn. The gray areas are the resist. The darkest blue patch is Dye-na-flow, to compare to the Tinfix Sennelier dye I'm going to use. The blobby bad-looking bit, I tried putting Dye-na-flow over the Tinfix to see what it would do. The rest is various tests, which colors work over which. There will probably be more on the silk painting in the next few days if you are interested in further details; I have to run some other tests and may have to switch resist types.

wig coloring

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:17:27 GMT

Feel free to skip to the pics on this one; I need to keep notes on process so that I have it for when I do my write-up at the end since this is for school also.

The whole wig dyeing issue is something I've followed for a while and generally wanted to stay the heck away from if at all possible. I had a bad experience with Sharpie dyeing which resulted in me having to wear an AYA wig to meet PLC the first time. >< There was brutal Sharpie slaughter involved, and direct application, and so help me I DID rinse that thing. But it STILL came off on everything.

So this time I tried the acrylic ink method. Except apparently I bought the wrong kind of ink; the consensus on cosplay.com is that you must use "FW" brand ink, and I bought "Bombay". I will add to this statement that the "c.com consensus" is not something I trust as far as I can throw it (which is impossible, since it's virtual, so you can imagine that's not very far). But I tried mixing the Bombay ink, 8 drops to 1 cup of 70% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, and applying it to some braiding hair. Now, there were some other variables - it was textured braiding hair, green, with blue ink. I tried the same thing again, this time with red ink on pink hair, higher quality silky braid. Better, but the vast majority of it still rinsed out.

Someone said that Bombay doesn't work as well because it has a different binder; I looked at some very boring chemical documents and it does NOT use a different binder. I'm also highly confused why you would mix acrylic ink with rubbing alcohol since that's exactly what you use to take the exact same thing OFF stuff you don't want it on. At this point I got annoyed with popular wisdom and was not interested in driving 45 minutes to purchase a different brand of ink on the basis of information that did not appear correct anyway.

So I went digging on the internet about what kind of anything works to dye acrylic fibers. Dylon said sorry but no. Several places claimed Rit, in spite of considerably more threads on c.com (going back ages) which claim it can't possibly dye anything non-natural. Unfortunately, there are all kinds of dyes that work on acrylic - including acrylic BUTTONS for crying out loud - but all of them require fairly high heat, the kind of heat that damages wigs. (Particularly, disperse dyes are recommended for synthetics.) But, at long last, I found a thread on the Jacquard forums (they make Procion dyes, the popular standard for textile art, among other things) that suggested trying Dye-na-flow to dye kayak covers. Dye-na-flow is primarily for silk painting; it's a paint, but a very thin one that behaves more like a dye. I had some in red which I think I used on Amano Guibu's feathers. So I tried THAT on the pink silky fiber.

This is where I start to try and make a long story short XD; I threw everything I know in a blender. I brushed the Dye-na-flow on, let it dry, rinsed it, let it soak in vinegar overnight (vinegar WILL help set some dyes), rinsed and washed it, and then let it dry again. It's now only losing color to a paper towel if I drag it through with a LOT of force. I also spent some quality time last night standing with my hands in purple Rit dye working on the punky wig for the headpiece; the two wigs are two different brands and not the same color. The New Look wig is now almost exactly the same color as the longer Sepia one (Rit doesn't stick to acrylic, huh?) and does not appear to be losing any dye at all. Basically, the Rit solved one problem, and I think the Dye-na-flow may be a better answer to the second - getting some color gradation at least in the top wig. The top wig won't be in contact with anything white it could stain. I wanted to add some color gradients to the longer wig also, but I'm not sure I should risk it.

Here is the before and after with the Rit dye on the New Look punk wig. The lighting conditions were similar when both photos were taken. If you just look at the New Look wig, it looks the same color; but against the Sepia wig, they now look much more similar in color, mainly because the Sepia wig looks less pink-based. I used a recipe from the Rit site to mix my violet - using purple and fuschia. I think that it did make the New Look's bluish tinted purple come closer to the redder Sepia color.

This is a test weft I made when I was doing the falls for my crack lolita costume; Kanekalon hair. I did red Dye-na-flow over the ends, let it dry, and then rinsed it.

First layer of work with the Dye-na-flow; purple, brushing out from the roots. I just used a regular paintbrush, a fairly soft, wide one.

Second layer of color - blue over the purple. I didn't let it dry between colors.

Third layer - I went back over some of the sections with more purple, including over some of the blue at the roots. I didn't get a photo of it, but I also used some red at the tips, though it doesn't show like I'd like it to and I may do a bit more with a custom-mixed color.

Wanted to get a pic in daylight, but I didn't so . . . this is the wig "finished". The dye was let dry, I washed it, THEN set it with vinegar, then washed it again, in a sink with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and dish soap (ghetto Synthrapol substitute, the detergent preferred for post-dye washing of garments).

croissants covered in butterscotch

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 06:17:34 GMT

My art supplies order came today, with my Fuzzform, the aluminum wire (so I can finally make the frames to start the springbok horns), and the Magic Smooth. I covered the ram horns with Magic Smooth tonight; so more on that tomorrow when I've seen it cured. You'll also be getting the Adventures in Wig Dyeing story tomorrow probably.

Mm, croissants. Um actually I cover my wireforms in masking tape as a base for the papier mache . . . there's probably a better way to do it, but I haven't had much success on shapes like this with wire sheet.

Boot covers, assembled and with wacky glue action. I made the piece which will attach them to the shoes already, but I can't put it on until they're painted and everything.

This is the plastic headdress form I bought from the feather company. Already started drawing some placement on but I haven't removed the visor bit yet. The thing it's on is a wooden hat block, I'm not sure where it came from; but it's closer in shape and size to a human head than a wig head.

Paper mockup for the additional pieces taped on to the form. I stuck my references folder and my doodle of various pieces of the headpiece in the shot since they were nearby anyway.

Muslin for the jacket; I cut the pieces much longer, put it on the dressform, and freehanded the curved sections with a chalk pencil. Then I took it off so I could lay it flat against something hard so I could clean up the lines in pencil. Then a lot of back and forth to and from the dressform, then retraced in pen and then cut off the excess when I was happy with it.

Incredibly dorky-looking photo of the additional headpiece sections (in Wonderflex) before forming.

Speaking of weird-looking, here's the pattern for the jacket sleeve. o_O;

Tomorrow is going to be my last day for a bit with weather suitable for spraying. The boot caps just need a light sand and they'll be ready for paint, although I'm still having some issue as to whether to put some small gems near the tip (and when to put those on so I don't have problems with paint). The other Wonderflex pieces are still in the Mod Podge stage, but I can hopefully get them primed by the end of tomorrow as well. It would be nice to get the paint on, but we'll see.

I haven't really figured out how I'm going to set up to do the silk painting for the the train once those supplies arrive. They were supposed to come today but didn't. As far as what I'll do pending better weather, I've got the horns, the silk painting, and the actual sewing. >_o So I guess I shouldn't worry about keeping busy, anyway.

armor finishing tests

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:51:44 GMT

Almost done with supplies. I put in an order today with Douglas and Sturgess, where I finally managed to find everything I wanted from one place - Magic Smooth for finishing the horns, cheaper aluminum wire (for framework), and Fosshape. It's not Fosshape - it's actually Fuzzform, which is a much better name imho. ;P But it appears to be the same thing; they also carry Varaform, which is the higher-end version of Wonderflex (I don't know if its properties are different).

Just to prove there are fabric-related things happening too . . . lol. Silver trim for the tunic, plus gold trim on a test piece pointy bit. The cording next to it is for the swirly detailing. The white fabric is "ultra satin"; I accidentally overbought for Yuuko's kimono and I think it will work well for this. It's lined with some kind of miscellaneous rayon I found, very lightweight but with a nice feel, sort of like a silky muslin. I have to work on the technique to get the placement on the trim - you can't sew it down the middle because of the metallic strip. The part where it's right against the edge, I tried sewing along the inner edge of the trim (the right side, I was sewing along the outside edge).

Finished up the tests on finishing the Wonderflex today. Problem: finding material(s) to do detailing and cover the texture of the Wonderflex that will still bend (and therefore not crack).

Pics with just primer, it shows the surface a little better since it's not reflective (or white). I'm not sure I needed the primer, but whenever you're painting plastic it's a good idea. If you want to see a larger version, just drag the pic to your nav bar and remove the "SM" and you'll get a 640x480. Too lazy to make all the links.

Raised areas are hot glue, if you couldn't tell. Separate experiment. Far left: unfinished. Center: Mod Podge. Far right: plastic wood.

Better shot of the unfinished. Lower corner is acrylic caulk I applied with a toothpick. (What, it was on the shelf, I figured I'd try it.)

With silver paint, did about four light coats.

Plastic wood. I didn't sand.

The Mod Podge section. This was about 4-6 coats.

The section with no finishing. Metallic paint probably makes the texture stand out the most.

The acrylic caulk again. Kind of interesting but not what I was going for.

I might investigate other options for other types of armor, but in this case, I want it to be a bit organic so I was pleased with the results I got with the Mod Podge. (The other armor things I'm going to be doing in future for other costumes, I probably will have to graduate from "user friendly" materials like Wonderflex anyway.)

breakdown part 2

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:21:23 GMT

Second part of the costume breakdown, MUCH shorter! Covering the "hardscape": headpiece and armor pieces. Also featuring some progress pictures! I will be posting again later tonight with some more photos from ryuk_inprogres's visit.

HEADPIECE
Base: One store (and only one) on the internet carries a plastic base for building headpieces off of. (The Feather Place, retail outlet of Zucker Feather Products, who make nearly all of the feathers you can buy at any hobby/fabric store. I bought the peacock feathers for my Genzai Arcadia YURAsama costume there.) The base will be extended upon with Wonderflex most likely for the front, pointed section, and also for the sculptural bits to either side of the central horn. This base is going to sit OVER the base wig; the spiked hair in back is going to be made with a totally separate wig, which should cover the base. I'm still concerned about the weight of the horns pulling it forward; but I'm going to try putting shelf liner on the inside of the plastic (where it will sit against the wig) to add some traction. I may need to counterbalance the horns with something, though.
Horns: There are two types of horns; the "mohawk" horns, which are very similar to blesbok/sprinbok horns; and the "ram" horns on either side of the head. They aren't really like ram horns because they appear to be smooth, but the curvature is similar. I looked at buying real horns for the blesbok horns, either to make a mold from or just use outright. But since I'd have to get them from eBay, I was worried they'd be too heavy, wasn't sure how tough the horn would be to cut if they were to be attached, and there was a problem with the way they curved (real horns curve out from the side of the head and slightly back; if mounted on the center of the headpiece, they'd veer to one side). Basically it looked like it would cause more problems than it would solve.

At this point, I'm planning to make both sets of horns out of papier mache, likely filled with expanding foam for strength. This is the same way I did the Petshop of Horror ram horns I did on commission. The problem that I had then and still have now is how to finish the papier mache to get the surface I want (basically, NOT looking like papier mache). On the Petshop horns I resorted to Paperclay, which increased the weight far too much. I have fiberglassing supplies and could use that, but I don't need the structural advantages of fiberglass; so it's opening a big can of worms. I thought about using Magic Sculp (or Sculpt, 2-part epoxy clay which air cures into resin), which I used for doll-size horns and also Yuuko from xxxHoliC's pipe. It's lighter than paperclay, but it still might add more bulk than I really want; the key is something thin which can still fill in small imperfections. Finally I found a product called Magic Smooth, which is basically a thin version of Magic Sculpt (it's compared to Vaseline).

Paper pattern, wire form (armature wire, much lighter than same gauge of regular wire), and the other horn's form with added thinner wire to work on shape.

Sort of side view . . .

CHEST/SHOULDER ARMOR
Shoulder . . . flanges? Leaves? I don't know what they are. Need to come up with a name. I have not patterned these yet. I am still planning to make these out of Fosshape (thermoplastic material; is a fabric which can be sewn, but the more it's heated, the stiffer it becomes; not reshapeable). I found it for less from a supplier that sells fabrics for people who do convention floor displays (as near as I can tell).
Chest armor: Already patterned and the base cut out of Wonderflex (another thermoplastic; plastic with embedded fibers for structure, bends around forms with heat gun/hot water/hair dryer; is reshapeable).

First and second version paper patterns, with gems laid out. The gems are a whole long saga, but just FYI, nail polish remover (mild and non-acetone) and some scrubbing did take the painted smiley face off the yellow one, which is from a ponytail holder.

Third version paper pattern and traced Wonderflex, along with the scissors I've been using to cut it. They are nicknamed the "Death Scissors"; they are very sharp and have badly cut at least two people. Apparently the Japanese really know how to make their scissors. But the Wonderflex would probably still cut even with lesser scissors; using a matte knife works, using that for cut-outs, but it's slower (takes more than one cut).

BOOTS
Boot caps: The boot caps are being done in Wonderflex also. I want to be able to do some sculpting on top of them, which also needs to be dealt with on the chest pieces. They need more dimension; I don't want them to look like posterboard. This opens up a whole bunch of new problems, though, maybe more so than I would have had with the Wonderflex to begin with, and related to the horn-finishing problem. The downside of Wonderflex is that it has a texture; similar to duct tape. The only recommendation I've heard for getting rid of it is gesso, which will not work on any piece in danger of getting bent. Gesso is designed for flat canvases (to get rid of that texture in preparation for painting); if it's bent, it will crack. Fiberglass is again overkill (the polyester resins that are designed to be used with fiberglass cloth can't be used without it, either). I could simply use the Magic Smooth, but there are two issues: a) it may not be safe to use on plastic (TAP Plastic's website vaguely mentions this), and b) it may ALSO crack if bent. I'd be better off with something flexible. Which leads me, perhaps, to a product I'd heard of called Sculpt or Coat, used most commonly by puppetmakers; for sealing carved foam pieces, and to make fabric and mache pieces more durable. It's too thin in its normal form to work for sculpting - but I can add a filler to it. But, I haven't been able to find out much about what it REALLY is. It may be very similar to Mod Podge, which is much easier to get (and is basically a thinned white glue). The Sculpt or Coat site, of course, claims it's way better than anything else; but it's also kind of hard to buy and may not remove the texture anyway (though it will make the surface more paintable).

Tonight I've started on a test, however, working with some materials I already have, so we'll see how that goes. I may have a ghetto solution to the problem that won't require special ordering anything and taking a risk it won't really help in this application.

Newsprint pattern made off of boot; traced in pencil on Wonderflex sheet.

First stage of shaping; I did it over the boot with my foot in it, bit awkward but should make it fit better. I only used a hair dryer because I didn't want to risk aiming that kind of heat at the PVC boots (not to mention my foot?). I can still fix problem areas but I'll probably do that with the heat gun.

Minus the boot, and starting to add on upper part (because of the curve of my ankle it was easier to do two pieces), with the unshaped piece for the other boot.

Boot covers: Because his boots have a really weird design, and also because the boots with the accurate sole were too short, I'm having to do boot covers. Thanks to an idea from systema, I'm planning to do the front part in PVC over either Wonderflex or Fosshape. I already tested gluing white PVC to the Wonderflex with GemTac and it worked quite well; the piece can even still be heated and formed if need be. The back half of the boot top will just be fabric, and close around and underneath the front part; it's patterned already and designed to cover the zipper on the inside of the boot as well. I have a very nice gold metallic soutache-type braid to use for the "lines", but I'd rather use piping along the edges so I have to see if I can find something to match. Gold trim tends to be a real pain because there are a LOT of different types of "gold" in trim, many of which clash horribly with each other.

Costume breakdown part 1

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 06:35:08 GMT

Character: Orlouge
Source: SaGa Frontier (Video Game/RPG)
Orlouge is not a playable character. He appears as a major character/plot point in Asellus' quest. I will admit that I normally choose cosplays on the basis of the character. This one is primarily for the art. This is schoolwork, and I needed a design that would conform to what I wanted to accomplish with the "course". Orlouge met all my requirements. I still feel it's important to me to know as much as I can, regardless of what piques my interest, though. To say much about his character, I would have to regurgitate what I've read online; I haven't beaten Asellus' quest yet! Rest assured that I will before I wear the costume (I'll do whatever it takes!).

Illustrations by Tomomi Kobayashi. (Japanese official site)

In-game. Not terribly helpful. I am ignoring the fact that in game he has silver/white hair because I like purple better, and it's not just a shading thing apparently, since it's purple-tinted in both illustrations.

This entry is covering only the sewing and basic accessories, not any of the "hardscape" (? what shall I call it?) elements - the shoe caps, shoulder armor, headpiece, and horns. It's long enough as it is :P
Wig(s): Ordered Sepia "Amanda" and New Look "Punky", both in light purple. I have no idea quite honestly if they'll be the same color or clash. Too bad I can't remember what brand my Ayane wig is, because it's also light purple (Günter's wig is New Look Cher 951). At any rate I'm planning to do some dyeing to both wigs so it should minimize the difference. I'm pretty wary of anything remotely similar to the Sharpie dyeing technique given my previous experiences with it (it works great so long as you don't care what happens to everything your wig touches). But die_sama recommended an alternate technique using acrylic permanent inks (basically colored India ink). Anyway, I am going to think of some way to test it to make sure it will be colorfast but I really want to get some nice gradations in the color and I doubt that Rit (or Dylon) would cut it on the higher-quality fibers.

Boots: Arrived last week. They have some strange topstitching on them and they're only ankle-high, but the line of them is as accurate as I could have hoped - black sole, kitten heel with a flare at the bottom. The boot tops need to be done in stretch PVC if I want them to match, but I'm not too keen on the idea of piping + stretch vinyl . . . if I want to use a non-stretch faux suede, I will have to order it. Probably from Sy Fabrics; Denver Fabrics only carries the $40/yd real ultrasuede. It's definitely much nicer and way more like real suede, but it has a price to match. At the moment I'm thinking of combining the patent PVC with another fabric so that I can keep the shoe looking continuous while minimizing the amount of piping I have to put in vinyl. I have problems with piping on normal fabrics, for some reason.

Jacket: Oh, jacket. You annoy me with your many mysteries. The blue train is probably going to be attached to this layer. It doesn't make sense from a garment standpoint, but I've learned to avoid having unnecessary separate layers in costuming. I've chosen trims to use for the gold sections (two, one for the edging and one for the curliques), but I'm waiting to buy the yardage on the edging until I have a more precise estimate of amount. I've been burned too many times not having enough trim. I think I will break this down into separate issues. I could add the fact that I'm not sure what the garment does in the shoulder area since it's covered by his hair, but I've already figured out what I will have to do for practical concerns (I can't make it float).
1) Edging does not show on the reverse side and design comes to a point. The first part is solvable by using nylon (invisible) thread, but there is a hidden advantage to double-fold trims that wrap over an edge - you can hide raw edges on unusual shapes without hems or facings/linings. I'm left with three possibilities - 1) use a rolled hem and hope the increased thickness does not cause a problem attaching the trim; 2) use a non-fraying fabric; 3) face the triangular sections. I think that 1 is out; rolled hems are time-consuming and the points would not work well. Non-fraying fabric limits me to faux suede, pleather, or vinyl. Vinyl would be "pimpin'" but not right. Pleather would probably not get along well with puff sleeves, and somehow suede does not seem like a sensible choice for the garment type. So, I think I will be using
2) What the heck is going on in the back? The front comes to three points on each side; but what is the design in the back? Zero help from the references. I am thinking doing another three points, with the center one being the longer (and wider).
3)Tassels: I have to make them. Chainette tassels apparently do not exist in 8" length.

Train: Hancock Fabrics is currently carrying a burnout silk which bears uncanny resemblance to the very bottom of the train. But, aside from being $30 a yard, I tried layering it over a blue fabric and it just was not going to look organic enough. Attempting to applique the lightweight silk was going to be more trouble than the benefit. So, I am going to place an order with the inimitable Dharma Trading (no connection with the Dharma Initiative). It's time to try working with silk and resists. I've chosen water-based resist over gutta, but I still have to decide what type of paint or dye to use. Since it's a train, I may not worry about changing the hand. I think I'm going with Dharma's "pigment dye system" over Dye-na-Flow, since it's still heat-set (not chemical or steam) and they claim it has brighter colors and less feel on the silk. I also have to purchase something to use as a stretcher.

Tunic: Likely using a stretch twill I already have since around here it's nigh impossible to find decent midweight garment twill in white. I got some interesting narrow cording, white with silver metallic around it, to do the swirls. I know soutache is the "gold standard" for that kind of thing but I just don't like how flat trims take tight curves. I am wondering now if the silver will stand out too much, though, so I may switch to a narrow cording or rattail. From a design standpoint, I feel it's probably sleeveless and more like a stomacher than a "shirt", and that the black sleeves are part of a garment he's wearing underneath. But I may attach the black sleeves to this part anyway for practical reasons.

Skirt: Just today I purchased two separate fabrics for the skirt, which I'm planning to layer - a jersey (forget what type, non-stretch) and a georgette chiffon. The jersey drapes very well but has enough body that it shouldn't fly around too much; it's also fairly opaque which will work better over black. However, it has an informal look, which is why I decided to put the georgette over the top. Unless it doesn't seem to fit as the costume comes together, I'm planning to do some beading and/or sequining on that layer. I decided against using a pattern; basically we're talking slightly jazzed up rectangles because of where I need the seams to be anyway. I made something similar in stretch velvet for one of my BJDs and I think the position of those slits/seams is critical to keeping it from looking like a) a woman's skirt or b) an overkill loincloth.

Cumberbund: I was originally planning to use a velvet, possibly doing some stamping on it; which would have to be special order since the stores do not carry the right type in black. But now I'm leaning towards using something more like a dupioni silk. I think even though in the illustration it sits quite low, I will put it somewhat higher and bone it for a better line.

Leggings: have only gotten as far as deciding they might look nice in velvet. I'm hoping I can purchase them, but might wind up making them, since the serger makes stretch velvet much easier.

Socks: . . . wait, what? I'm just wearing trouser socks >< Why did I put this on here?

Underthings: I actually do need to post this because I want to remember to get the nifty shirt that Tasu told me of. I'm tired of the Ace bandages.

what's this thing for?

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 06:29:52 GMT

What is this journal for?

I'm finishing my bachelor's degree at the DePaul School for New Learning. They have an unusual requirements structure unique to the SNL program. One of those is called "externship". In one required course we were required to fill out a sort of survey to determine our preferred learning style. Apparently I'm "Abstract Conceptualization", which means that my weak area is in "hands-on" learning. As far as the school is concerned, the challenge is to do something outside your "learning comfort zone". I don't fully agree with the form's assessment (it claims I like lectures) about my learning style. But for me, this is going to be about learning to not get scared off by areas I have little prior knowledge about, and to learn by trying things out. It's also a challenge about dealing with ambiguity (in cases where I am not in control of the original design).

(If anyone is interested, I will post my proposal - the form is not very long.)

What's going to get posted?

I'll be using this journal quite regularly to help me formulate weekly updates to my advisors. So, it will have design sketches, progress photos, and give me a place to ponder issues.

I'm not sure yet how much of this journal will constitute the "learning journal" I am required to do for the course. But I may include comments, so please be aware. I will protect your anonymity, however (you can pick your own fake name if you like).