Lady of the Thread's Sewing Basket

So, AnimeNext happened. Got to the con around noon on Friday, checked into the hotel, and had lunch before picking up badges and starting to wander. Wore my newer Ryuuren costume that day for a Saiunkoku photoshoot with neoangelwink and kitsunesqueak; athena_chan couldn’t join us since she had to watch the artist’s alley table but she found a friend to wear her Ryuuki costume so we finally got all 4 costumes together in photos! The photoshoot was quite silly and involved a sake bottle (empty!) and fighting over fake manjuu. XD

Carrie had suggested entering the hall contest as a group when I called her a couple of nights before the con but the photoshoot ran long, our Ryuuki had to leave, and she had to get back to artist’s alley so that didn’t happen. :-( I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to do the contest on my own since I felt Ryuuren was a bit plain compared to other stuff I’d done in the past. But there was no line to be judged when I wandered over there so I did enter after debating for a while.

Walked around a while longer before my brother and his friend ordered pizza for dinner. Then, spent the rest of the evening in the room, prepared the jellyfish dress for the next day, painted my nails pink, and went to bed around 11:30.


Saturday, I wore Kuranosuke’s jellyfish dress from Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish). I didn’t have time to make the crown or earrings but I was quite happy with how the dress came out. ^_^ I think I’m going to add a bit more to the petticoats (or maybe build a mini hoopskirt?) for next time though since the weight of the pearls hanging from the dress did smoosh them down quite a bit. I kind of want to replace my wig, too. I’d bought the New Look Showgirl wig in Light Purple since it seemed to be the only wavy or curly lavender wig I could find that was long enough but it’s somewhat thin at the top and the fibers aren’t as nice as their natural color wigs. :-/

My brother took a few pictures and then I just wandered around or talked to people most of the day. Despite the anime only airing towards the end of last year (this is the quickest I’ve ever cosplayed something after it aired!), a bunch of people did recognize the costume and a few seemed pretty excited to see it! One person asked if I was Sheryl though, which I found kind of amusing. (Wasn’t there a line in the anime about the type of jellyfish the dress was based on being the pop idol of the jellyfish world? I think I remember Tsukimi saying something like that.)

Masquerade was the shortest I’ve ever seen at any con with only 10 entries. o_o; Entry numbers went up to 18 though so presumably all the skipped numbers were groups that dropped out. I remember in the early years of AnimeNext, there used to be thirty something entries so it’s kind of sad that it has dwindled to this. When the hall contest winners were announced, I ended up winning Best of Friday Craftsman; I shared some of the stuff from my prize bag with Carrie since I originally hadn’t planned to do the hall contest at all this year and only prepared notes and references since she had suggested entering as a group.


I had packed my Eugenie costume for Sunday since it had been so hot the few days before the con and I figured it was one of the few costumes I wouldn’t melt in. But since it was forecast to be rainy and cool again like the previous day (I probably had a shawl over the jellyfish dress a third of the time) and I didn’t especially feel like wearing 4 1/2 inch platform heels, I wore Ryuuren again. And if the long hair and dangly earrings didn’t make him look girly enough, I was stuck with pink nails since I didn’t bring any nail polish remover. ^_^;; A few people did recognize it as Saiunkoku cosplay, which was nice. I know my cosplays tend to be obscure though so I’m always a bit amused to see what people mistake my cosplays for. I got asked if I was China (must be the ponytail and Ancient Chinese looking outfit) and if I was cosplaying from Dynasty Warriors. I confuse people a lot! XD

Checked out of the hotel, took care of luggage, and wandered around the con. Went home around 3. The con seemed a bit boring but it was nice to see friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I wish I’d gotten a chance to hang out a bit more though; some people I ran into once and then never saw again the whole weekend!


Off to Washington for the day tomorrow to see Follies! Will take my copy of the libretto and reread it on the trip down. I’d also like to reread Everything was Possible (book about the creation of the original Broadway production of Follies) but can’t seem to find my copy.

Went shopping with my family yesterday and got some nice stuff. ^_^ My presents were pretty much done so the only gift I got was a little box of Lindt chocolates to add to the stuff I already have for a friend I’m visiting on Wednesday. She’s been busy with work and finishing up her masters degree this year so I haven’t seen her since last Christmas; will be nice to finally catch up!

At Macy’s, I found a couple of pretty Sunny Leigh skirts. That company does a lot of embroidered/embellished skirts; wish I had some pictures to link but Google wasn’t very helpful. The ones I got are both black and flared. One has gold embroidery. And the other has six large red and purple fabric flowers along the hem in the front. Should be fun to wear. They were originally $89 apiece but marked down to about $26.50. Yay for clearance sales! :-D

Then, went to Barnes and Noble since I had a 25% off coupon. I was thinking of getting the cast recording of the “Company” revival I saw earlier this year but they didn’t have it. Instead, I ended up buying the DVD of “Passion” which I’d been thinking of checking out sometime. (For those not familiar with them, “Company” and “Passion” are both musicals by Stephen Sondheim, who also composed “Sweeney Todd.” Figures that I’ve heard or seen most of his shows but not the one that was just made into a movie! *laugh*)

I also picked up the Jan/Feb ’08 issue of Mark Lipinkski’s Quilter’s Home. I rarely quilt but I loved the designs in this issue (I’ve known Mark for about 10 years so I try to flip through the magazine whenever I find myself in a bookstore that carries it). There’s one those of you who are into Japanese stuff might like. It’s called “The Tea Ceremony” and there are blocks with little kimonos, teacups, and appliquéd kanji. I find it rather charming. And I love the colorful “Crystals” design featured on the cover. ^_^ I’m kind of tempted to try making one or both of those someday. Even though my one attempt at piecing a quilt top is still sitting around half finished after years and years. ^_^;;;