Lady of the Thread's Sewing Basket

Already put these up on ACP but didn’t get around to resizing them to post here until today. This batch has my older Ayame costume from the chapter where they visited a lake for Golden Week and Count D’s vacation outfit.

Okay, so it doesn’t look that much like Ayame from this pic (probably should have run my straightening iron through the wig again before the trip) but you can see the lake! ^_^; The people in the boat probably thought we were weird.



( more Ayame photos )

Not quite a tropical island… ^_^; Unfortunately, we never got to do beach pictures with this one like I wanted. This outfit was from the chapter where D went on vacation with the Orcots and got amnesia after falling off a boat.


( more D photos )

And that’s it for cosplay vacation photos!


Got back to work on my Ekaterina petticoat and I think it should be okay after a few more tweaks. I still don’t get how the waistline came out about 10” larger than what the book said it should be when I first tried it before Costume Con. o_O

NYAF is only 5 weeks away but with the hot weather, I haven’t been very eager to work on the jacket since it would require the undergarments for fitting.

Maybe, I could work on the hat first? Hopefully, I’ll be able to find someplace to get buckram in the city since I’d rather not have to order it online and wait. I wonder if I could substitute needlepoint canvas if I can’t find it since I still have some of that.

I suppose if I run into any more big problems with this, I’ll shelve it again until winter and make Youko for NYAF instead.

Okay, unless I come up with a better idea within the next few days, I’ll most likely be making the dress for Count D’s sister as my new costume for AnimeNext. I’d still like to make a big poofy dress sometime but I’m not confident I’d finish it in a month (stuff always seems to take me longer than I think it should!) so I might try to do Lili’s ballgown for later this year. And I’ve dropped the idea of Arabian Nights Sora since I didn’t really like the costume that much.

Anyway, I’ll try to get started on pattern work this weekend and will probably make a mock up this time so I can make sure it fits correctly. I can go shopping for fabric and supplies sometime next week. Hmm… And I guess I should order another wig if I want to have accurate hair without having to restyle my wig at the con since I also want to cosplay D that weekend. (D’s sister has hair which is a mirror image of his; the hair hanging down over her face covers her left eye rather than the right eye.) Would also help to have two wigs if I find someone to cosplay D with me.

I’m also thinking I should try to sell some of my older stuff sometime. I’m too attached to most of my costumes to consider selling them but I have a couple of cloaks hanging in my closet from my pre-cosplay days which I never get to wear and don’t really want anymore. My Renrin wig has been replaced so I don’t need the old one anymore. And I wouldn’t mind parting with my Namine dress since it wasn’t that great anyway; I originally thought I could just shift it into my regular summer wardrobe after I retired it but it’s kind of baggy now because I’ve lost weight since making it. I should get pictures and post the stuff but it might be a while until I have time.

And on a non-cosplay note, I finally read vol. 16 of Fruits Basket this week. The story really seems to drag these days, especially since Tokyopop has only been putting out a volume every 4 months. -_-; I find I’m forgetting stuff, too; like I'd almost completely forgotten about Mayu and Hatori until there was a little mention of it near the end of the volume because it hadn’t really been brought up for several volumes. I never really cared for the student council people either so my enthusiasm for the series has gone down a lot. -_-

Got an e-mail notice about a sale on Vogue patterns earlier today. Their website (http://www.voguepatterns.com/indexfv.html) has all patterns for $6.99 each with free shipping today and tomorrow. Thought I’d mention it in case anyone needed patterns. ^_^ Guess this would be a good time to get that glove pattern so I’ll have it if I ever need to make another one.

Halloween was amusing. I wandered around town as Count D and visited several bookstores. Of course, I didn’t expect to be recognized but a few people did compliment me on the outfit. Funny thing that happened… A woman who was standing next to me while waiting to cross the street turned her head my way and jumped a bit, going “Oh, my god! That’s so scary!” *laugh* I guess I startled her. Must have been the fuschia makeup all around my eyes; my father has told me it makes me look like a vampire. Well, either that or my face is just scary in the first place. :-P

I stopped by Kinokuniya to ask if they would be getting the Petshop of Horrors artbook that came out in Japan several weeks ago. Turns out their Palisades store had it so they’re having a copy sent over and I should get a call when it arrives. (Watch me buy the thing and then end up with another bunch of outfits added to the potential cosplays list. ^_^;; I already like D’s outfit with the butterflies from the cover.)

I also went to Book-Off and peeked through a few Japanese Fruits Basket volumes I found there. If I found translated text online, I’d seriously consider going back and buying them since they were only $3 and Tokyopop is taking so long with their new volumes. I'm amused that it seems like there's another visit to Ayame's shop in a few volumes and he's wearing something weird again. *laugh*

Wandered into a few Barnes and Noble stores too, looking for the quilting magazine a friend of mine edits. It’s pretty new and seems rather elusive; I had to go to the huge 4-story B&N in Union Square to get it.

I also spent some time in the manga section and read some xxxHolic. Hmm… I thought I’d check it out since I tend to like stuff with touches of the supernatural in regular novels but after two volumes, it doesn’t particularly grab me. Yuuko and her wish granting shop make me think a bit of Count D and his shop but the character doesn’t appeal to me that much.

And I ended up having an impromptu photoshoot with my brother in Union Square park. He had class in the city that day and called me afterward, asking if I wanted to take pictures. Not the most interesting shoot since the only prop I had was Q-Chan but I think there should be some decent full length shots.

Finished the day by going over to my family’s store with several bags of candy I bought to give out to the workers. Yikes, it was kind of scary what happened when my sister poured the candy in a bowl (well, actually a plastic dome XD) and told everyone to come over for treats. o_o; Originally, I was just going around and handing out a couple of pieces to everyone and that worked fine but after my sister had the stuff, everyone rushed for the candy! We even had a few kids come into the store to trick-or-treat which was unexpected; I didn’t really think there’d be any in the neighborhood.

I’ve been lazy about sewing this week so I need to catch up this weekend if I’m going to have my dress done for the relative’s wedding next weekend. Finally set in the sleeves today and everything seems to fit well so far. Still need to add the mandarin collar, fix up some things on the lining, and add trim and closures.