Lady of the Thread's Sewing Basket

Hmm… I never bothered to make one of these types of posts since most of my entries are public but I noticed some people added me lately. Anyway…

Hi! I’m Lady of the Thread. I’m a crazy cosplayer and tend to ramble a lot about my cosplay projects and post photos here. The bulk of my entries relate to cosplay in some way so you might find this journal to be very boring if you're not into costumes. ^_^; I occasionally write fanfic although I’m much better at sewing. I also like mystery novels, needlework, and musical theatre. These other hobbies come up here once in a while but tend to not be mentioned much since few people on my friends list seem to be interested in them.

If you’d like to be added, please comment and introduce yourself and let me know how you found me. I’m pretty open to adding most people, as long as we share some hobbies and/or fandoms. ^_^

If you don’t comment and introduce yourself, I’ll just assume that you’re mainly interested in my cosplay posts and don’t care about being added back. ^_^; I don’t discuss personal stuff much so I rarely lock posts and all the cosplay and hobby stuff is public so anyone can read it.

Wow, I’ve been lazy about posting. ^_^;; Still haven’t even written about Katsucon yet but I think I’ll wait until after the weekend.

Anyway, Anime Boston is this weekend and it looks like I’ll be on my own this year; my brother had been thinking of going to PAX East but decided a few days ago to stay home instead. By the way, is anyone looking for a PAX badge? I think he’s trying to sell his.

Still trying to figure out what to pack for Boston other than Lia, which now has the missing panel added and a redone ruffle on the chemise. After Katsucon, I just wanted a break from sewing before going back to it. Haven’t started on another cosplay yet since the ones I’m more interested in would have taken a lot of embellishment and I didn’t want to rush. I did start sewing a dress out of a fun Japanese print fabric but don’t know if I’ll bother to try finishing it for Boston since it’s more of a summer dress and it’ll be somewhat cool this weekend.

Probably a couple of older costumes without really bulky pieces since Lia already has a quilted petticoat and I’ll only have one suitcase for costumes plus all the other stuff I usually bring to cons. So, no jellyfish dress since that plus Lia just about filled my whole suitcase for Katsucon. Might pack my D kimono or one of my Ryuuren costumes.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year!

Katsucon is in less than a month and I’m finally feeling motivated to work on stuff again. Don’t have much planned for the con yet. I’m going to be helping with the Princess Jellyfish promotion at the Funimation booth on Friday and Saturday; it’s going to be my first ACP event and we’re supposed to be helping attendees make jellyfish dolls so hopefully, it’ll be fun. :-D I’m also trying to finish Lia’s Russian portrait gown from Le Chevalier D’eon. I started that one two years ago but shelved since it looked like I wouldn’t be able to reuse Ekaterina’s corset as I was planning. And I’m not sure what else I’m going to bring yet.

The past week and a half or so has been pretty productive. I made a mini hoopskirt to go with my jellyfish dress. (The shape reminds me a bit of a lampshade. XD) I originally wore the dress with a plain petticoat under my ruffled one but the weight of the pearls at the hem smooshed the petticoats down and made them not as poofy. The hoopskirt is a great improvement and I love the shape it gives the dress now! (This is what it was previously like for comparison.)





I’ve also finished making the petticoat for Lia. I had it mostly done but needed to finish hand hemming the bottom flounce and gathering and attaching it to the rest of the petticoat. I also did a petticoat out of pre-quilted fabric to go under it. And I’m working on a new chemise now since the sleeves on the old one are too long and it would be easier to have the lacy ruffle at the neckline on the chemise instead of the actual dress. Then, I’m probably making a new strapless corset since the straps of my Ekaterina corset were showing past the neckline of my gown mockup. Will post Lia progress pictures next time.

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I have some other things to post about, too, but I'll save that for later in the week.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted so let’s see…

NYCC/NYAF was a couple of weeks ago. Huge crowds again and lots of walking in circles since I wasn’t much interested in shopping or guests. (The soles of my feet felt weird for a few days afterwards!) I probably spent about a third of the con just hanging out at friends tables in the artist’s alley due to not wanting to deal with the crowds and boredom. I think I only saw about 15 people I knew and never ran into some other friends in the crowds. I ended up helping neoangelwink and athena_chan sell hats for a while on both Saturday and Sunday since there wasn’t anything better to do.

On the bright side, I did manage to find a cute little Clara plushie from Princess Jellyfish. Only one dealer seemed to have them so I guess they’re pretty new. And I got a tiny clay figure of a Harvest Moon cow in the artist’s alley. It was only an inch tall so I was amazed the artist managed the miniscule details by hand! And it was kind of amusing that she wrapped it up for me in a tiny Chinese takeout carton. XD;



As a couple of you guessed, my new costume was Nancy Drew! More specifically, a vintage version from the original 1930 cover of the first book, “The Secret of the Old Clock.” I didn’t have time to do the clock and wouldn’t have wanted to lug it around such a crowded con anyway so I got an old fashioned magnifying glass with a wooden handle to carry around as a prop. Surprisingly, a few people did realize I was supposed to be Nancy Drew, including one of the guys at the Papercutz booth (company that did the Nancy Drew graphic novels) who recognized it as being from “The Secret of the Old Clock.” I didn’t really think anyone would get it since the cover has been redone a couple of times and the original isn’t in regular use anymore for the books.



Unfortunately, I have no pictures of it yet. I didn’t bother to get pics of it at the con since the Javits is terrible for photo locations and I figured I could do that around Halloween, which would also give me time to do the props. But that didn’t work out since my brother was having midterms these couple of weeks plus he has a Saturday class and there was that snow on Saturday, too. (What the hell? It never snows here this early! o_O;) So, I ended up doing nothing for Halloween and only finished making the clock earlier today. :-/ It’s a fabric-covered box because I can’t build props. >_>; I also painted the pattern on the fabric for the blanket.

Today was my birthday and my family went out earlier for a huge Chinese dinner with relatives. Lots of food!


Started ordering stuff and patterning out a possible new costume for NYCC. Haven’t bought fabric yet so let’s see if this actually gets done in time…

Does anyone still need to buy a 3-day pass for NYCC/NYAF? My brother has an extra that he’s trying to sell. He managed to get a press pass after he already bought a 3-day pass at Midtown Comics. And I already ordered mine so I don’t need one either.

Happy Mid-Autumn to those who celebrate! I actually got this picture from a Chinese-themed Metlife ad but thought it was cute. Snoopy having mooncake with his bird friends. :-D

I was in the living room earlier today when I felt some faint vibrations and noticed the leaves on the potted plants shaking. I actually thought it was just construction since there’s been quite a bit around the neighborhood. The thought of an earthquake did cross my mind since I looked out the window and didn’t see anything obvious going on outside but I was like “Nah, we don’t get earthquakes here.” I didn’t realize it really was an earthquake until my father called a bit later and asked if we felt it too!

Planning to go visit neoangelwink tomorrow since I haven't seen her new place yet. Will bring my cross stitch to work on while she and athena_chan do faces on their hats.

Yikes, that storm on Sunday… It rained all day, I think I heard 7-8 inches, and the basement and living room have new leaks to prove it! -_-

Here’s what I’ve been working on lately, the cross stitch piece I started last year. The blue dress is the part I’ve done over the past few weeks.




And finally, the end of the cosplay meme, which everyone else finished like a month and a half ago… >_>;

26. Any unfinished costumes? Will you ever finish them?
A few. I have a half-finished Ritsu kimono but I’m unlikely to ever finish it since I’m not really into Fruits Basket anymore. There’s also an original stained glass fairy which has the dress done but no accessories; not sure when I’ll finish it since I don’t know when I’d have a good chance to wear it. And I started on Lia’s Russian portrait gown from Le Chevalier D’eon last year but it got put aside; I think I’ll try to finish that one for Katsucon.

27. How many wigs do you own? Which is your favourite?
I haven’t done an exact count but probably 20-25. No real favorite. None especially stand out since I don’t have any wigs in crazy styles.

28. Where do you work on your cosplays and where do you store them when they’re done?
It depends on what part I’m doing. Patterning and cutting fabric gets done in the living room since my sewing room is somewhat small. I usually do machine sewing in the sewing room and then hand stuff in front of the computer while watching stuff. And they get stored in a closet when I’m done.

29. What is your favourite cosplay item? (eg. a pair of shoes, a wig)
Hmm… I’ve never really thought about favorite individual items. I guess my Petshop of Horrors plushies. T-chan is especially fun although it’s been a long time since I’ve brought him along to a con.

30. Describe cosplay in three words. No more, no less.
Many hours crafting

Hmm… It’s been quite a while since I posted. I’ve been enjoying a break from cosplay stuff since AnimeNext and I guess I just don’t have much interesting to post about when I’m not working on costumes.

Otakon is this week and my brother and his friend are going. I am not.

Otakon has never been one of my favorite cons; I don’t like the location and Baltimore in the middle of summer is just terrible for the types of costumes I tend to do (long with lots of layers). I know a lot of people like it but I just seem to have terrible luck whenever that con is involved and last year was the last straw. :-/ 2006: was okay but very expensive since I missed the con hotel blocks and I didn’t find it that impressive for such a large con. 2008: missed the hotel blocks again, my shoulder got sunburnt waiting outside in the registration line (and I never get sunburnt!), my father and I got caught in a hailstorm on the way home plus I got carsick (also a rare thing for me). 2009: didn’t even go and still got burned; I’d booked a room through the housing bureau in case but we decided to do a family vacation instead and I canceled several days before the deadline. Still got charged for one night by the hotel and had to call my card company to dispute it. -_- And last year… Well, see below under “worst cosplay memory.”


And I still need to finish this meme which most people were done with weeks ago. >_>;

16. Do you belong to any cosplay groups? If so, what are they?
Not any formal ones. Once in a while I get to do groups with friends which is really nice since a lot of my cosplays are from rarely cosplayed series! ^_^

17. What events have you cosplayed to?
Lots of conventions. AnimeNext and Anime Boston have been the ones I’ve been to most regularly. Also MangaNext, Otakon, NYAF, Costume Con, Anime North, and Katsucon in various years. Plus some non-convention events like Sakura Matsuri.

18. What is your best cosplay memory?
Hmm… I don’t know if there’s a single thing I can pick out. In general, I think I’ll say getting to have groups for the series I love since as I mentioned above, groups are somewhat rare for me. I’d love to have people to cosplay with more often!

19. What is your worst cosplay memory?
Otakon 2010. -_-X We thought she was getting better but my grandmother went back into the hospital two days before the con, which was too late to cancel the hotel without a penalty and we had all pre-registered. Then, I called the hotel a couple of hours before we left and found out they had overbooked and moved us to another hotel. And I had specifically booked that hotel since I had pictures in mind I wanted to do there so that wrecked nearly all photo plans. I was pretty upset with that on top of everything else going on and knew before we even left the house I knew I was never going back. So, I didn’t want to be there that much and was crying in the hotel room Friday night after calling home and finding out they had a scare with my grandmother that day. I highly doubt anything could ever top this as my “worst con ever.” If it had been just me, I’d have just completely canceled plans after my grandmother went into the hospital the first time shortly after AnimeNext 2010. But my brother and his friend wanted to go (they’d never gone before last year) and my father was taking the weekend off to drive down there with us.

20. Have you won any cosplay awards?
Yep, quite a few! Except for a presentation honorable mention at Costume con a few years ago, my awards are all for craftsmanship since that’s my thing rather than performing.

( all the questions )