Lady of the Thread's Sewing Basket

Wow, it’s been forever since I posted here and since I’ve really checked my friends page. But I haven’t got the time for a huge update at the moment. ^_^;;;

Any of the Canadian people here going to the Toronto cosplay picnic next weekend? Some of my brother’s friends from up there invited him and he asked if I wanted to go, too. So, I’m going to be in Toronto next weekend.

Will be taking the train up on Thursday and staying with relatives until Tuesday so I’ll have some time to visit with them and do some sightseeing. I want to visit the textile museum again while I’m there. I skipped the shoe museum last time since I’m not that into shoes. Is it worth going? Any other museum/sightseeing suggestions? Or anyone want to go see them together? Don't know when I'm going yet but Monday seems most likely; there's supposed to be dinner Friday and lunch Sunday with relatives so I'm not as sure about how my schedule will work out those days.

And for the picnic, I’m currently trying to finish up Valentine’s default outfit from Gankutsuou. Still need to finish the jacket, trim the bangs on my wig and do the scarf in her hair.

Leaving for Katsucon Thursday morning and I’m so not ready. X_X The chorus from this describes my Lia progress pretty well:



It feels like every time I fix or solve an issue on the costume, something else breaks or another problem comes up. -_-X It’s almost wearable at this point but still needs most of the trim and I still need to cut shorter bangs into my wig. Don’t know if I’ll be able to get to covering shoes with leftover fabric to match.

Working at the Funimation booth for the Princess Jellyfish promotion 3-6 Friday afternoon and 10-1 Saturday morning. Come and make jellyfish dolls!

And I don’t know what else I’m doing. Not sure if I have time to pack other stuff since I still have so much sewing to do.

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.

Labor Day weekend wasn’t too eventful. My family had a barbeque on Sunday, which is rather rare. (Our grill lives in the garage almost all of the time and only gets dragged out about once a year. We finally used the last of the bag of charcoal which was well over 5 years old!) But it was just us so it was quiet.

Monday was a bit of shopping. Hadn’t been to the mall for a couple of months and I was kind of surprised to see a Teavana store had opened there. The only one I’d seen before was the one in the mall at Anime Boston and that mall was quite a bit more upscale. I’d been tempted to get some tea at the con this year based on the samples they had in the store but had resisted since I rarely take the time to brew loose tea. So, I thought this might be a good chance to get some although it’s expensive. My initial excitement didn’t last though.

The tea I was interested in was rather pricey so I only planned to get the smallest amount (2 oz.) but I hadn’t realized it was a blend so I had to buy 2 oz. of each of the teas. The second tea in the blend was only about half the price of the first so that wasn’t too bad. But I basically had a 16 oz. tea canister pushed on me for an extra $7, too. I’d never bought any of their tea leaves before but I had gotten some as a birthday gift from ngmaster a few years ago and it came in little bags and I remembered seeing it measured into bags for other customers at Boston this year. When the salesgirl poured it into the tin, I thought it was just for mixing the two teas before bagging it but nope, they expected me to buy the tin, too. So, I ended up spending over twice as much as I was originally expecting and getting a huge tin (about 4” diameter and 8” tall) that’s only a quarter full and that I don’t have room for in the kitchen so I wasn’t completely pleased when I left the store. -_- They told me I could bring the tin back when I wanted to buy more tea but it’s so big it would be annoying to haul around. I had been thinking about getting 2 oz. of another of the less expensive teas also but after the tin thing, that didn’t happen. (From the comments on a post I found on a tea blog afterwards, it seems the salespeople at the chain have a reputation for being pushy.) Bah. I think if I want to try other Teavana teas, I’m just going to wait until I’m also buying gifts and can put together an order big enough for free shipping through the website. At least, the tea that I got should last quite a while since I doubt I’d brew it more than a couple of times a week.


And NYCC/NYAF is only a bit over a month away but I’m still feeling unmotivated to work on anything cosplay-wise. :-/ It never was one of my favorite cons and I wasn’t a fan of the huge crowds last year. Large costumes just aren’t practical since it’s so crowded and the location isn’t great for photos so there’s nothing I would be super excited to make for it. I also feel rather out of the loop since hardly anyone posts regularly to LJ anymore and that’s not really helping my blah feeling either. Still trying to figure out if there’s anything I want to bother making for the con. Meanwhile, I’m trying to reorganize my beads/jewelry supplies.

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 )

On Friday, I went to visit my best friend who moved into a new condo with her sister recently. Her boyfriend baked scones and made sandwiches so the four of us had tea outside on the terrace, which was nice. ^_^

We tried some of the flowering tea I’d brought as part of a housewarming present, a new variety I found at Pearl River. They seem to have somewhat random names and this one was called “noble madam.” It bloomed prettily though!



And here’s the food. Mixed berry scones, egg salad sandwiches, watercress sandwiches, watermelon chunks, and strawberries (the bowl on the bottom that you can’t see into).



( Cosplay Meme, Questions 6-10 )

Still working on my new costume, which as ryoko and appaku guessed last time, is the jellyfish dress from Princess Jellyfish. I never thought I’d end up making a costume that involved tentacles… XD; I watched the series a while back on the Funimation site and liked it. I’ve wanted to make a ruffly cosplay for quite a while. But I’ve just never found one that I both liked and thought I could pull off since ruffly costumes are more likely to show up on cute younger characters which just wouldn’t work well with my figure. So, when I saw this, I was like, “Hmm, a crossdresser in a ruffly dress? I could do this!”



Trying to finish this for AnimeNext next weekend. I’m also bringing my newer Ryuuren costume to do Saiunkoku with kitsunesqueak and neoangelwink. And I haven’t decided what else I’m bringing yet. Glad this will be the last convention for a while since spring was so packed. I don’t think I’m going to anymore this year other than possibly NYCC/NYAF since it’s local.


In other news, I booked tickets for a day trip down to Washington, D.C. during the week following AnimeNext. I’m going to see the Kennedy Center's production of "Follies" which is one of my favorite Sondheim musicals. They did this production especially for the Kennedy Center and it's only playing for about 5 or 6 weeks. The original opened on Broadway in 1971 and I think the only fully staged NY revival was the one 10 years ago, which I saw but don't recall that well. Taking Amtrak in the morning, seeing a matinee, and then taking the train back afterwards.

Hmm… It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Inspired by the panel on specialty sewing machine feet at Costume Con, I ordered a few and got them last week. I bought a walking foot, a gathering foot, and a ruffler. Haven’t tried out the walking foot yet. The gathering foot is pretty straightforward although it seems to be for lighter gathers and I still have to pull the threads to gather some more myself. (I suppose stitching a second line after the first would give you fuller gathers although I didn’t want to deal with an extra line of stitching to remove later on.) And the ruffler is kind of scary looking and needs better directions. The little paper in the box told you how to put it on the machine and change the settings but said nothing about how to feed fabric through it although it’s pretty complicated and not completely intuitive like a normal sewing machine foot. Haven’t completely figured that one out yet.

I made a necklace for a new costume and I’ve been slowly gathering lots of tulle ruffles. I haven’t mentioned what it is on here yet so I think I’ll take a progress pic after I finish the petticoat and then we can play “guess the costume.” :-D

And thanks to dressdragn, I have a couple of pictures of the new Ryuuren costume to post from the photoshoot with neoangelwink and athena_chan. ^_^

As mentioned last time, I improved on the hair a lot after Anime Boston. I trimmed the fake bangs some more and used hairspray and a blowdryer on them so they would be messier and not so flat. And I got one of those donut-shaped hair forms intended for making buns to help hold up my high ponytail; added a set of the short bangs from Arda Wigs for the shorter pieces at the top of the ponytail and everything is pinned together under the off-white wrap.



Trying to hide my shortness. ^_^;;