Lady of the Thread's Sewing Basket

Still on my father’s computer for now. My new one shipped sooner than expected and arrived today but still needs to be hooked up.

And after sewing like crazy, I managed to finish enough of Ryuuren that I was able to wear it over the weekend. Didn’t have time to finish the cape or make the headdress and jewelry. But since he wore it without those pieces while visiting Shuurei’s house, I made fake bangs and styled my hair like it was in those scenes. So, I guess it could technically be called a finished costume although there’s more to the full version. ^_^; The bangs are pretty messy since they were made the night before; I think I’d want to redo them if I ever wear it like this again. Only pics I have so far are the couple that waynekaa took for ACP.



Anyway, NYCC/NYAF happened. After the first few hours on Friday, it got ridiculously crowded and stayed that way the whole weekend. I expected it for Saturday but I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a crowded Sunday at a con before! o_O; The reason I’d stopped going to NYCC was the huge crowds and not really being into American comics so I wasn’t really happy about the two being squished together. -_- (although it did give me an excuse to wear a couple of my random Western costumes) I ended up hanging out by neoangelwink and athena_chan’s booth quite a bit due to not wanting to deal with the crowds and boredom. I think if it weren’t for seeing friends and hanging out, I would have been bored enough to hide somewhere with my DS and play Harvest Moon for a couple of hours. >_>;

Got to the con around 1 on Friday and did Monkey Island cosplay with neoangelwink. We didn’t really get a chance to walk around together since she was in artist’s alley but we did have a very silly photoshoot with my brother. She was Guybrush and I was Elaine and we kept cracking up, especially when trying to do romantic pics. XD Only a few people got that we were cosplaying Monkey Island; kind of sad the series seems forgotten since they’re fun games and among my favorites. The rest of the afternoon was mostly spent wandering. Left around 6:30 so I could get a ride home from my father after work. Had dinner and then spent the rest of the evening wefting extensions and making a set of fake bangs for Ryuuren.

I wore my half finished Ryuuren on Saturday. Ran into a whole bunch of people early on and spent some time wandering around with blackmarth. At umister’s prompting, I entered the cosplay contest the Japan Society was having at their table and won $50 in Kinokuniya gift certificates. ^_^ Saw ngmaster for a couple of minutes and he gave me a copy of Castle in the Sky as a birthday present. Mostly avoided the dealer’s room that day since it was so crowded but did buy a pretty Japanese print skin to decorate my DS.

Went to the masquerade. I’ve heard there were problems behind the scenes but at least, having it in the theater was an improvement over past years. Was pleasantly surprised to see a Saiunkoku entry; no one seemed to recognize Ryuuren and I was starting to wonder if Athena, Neoangelwink, Emi and me were the only ones at the con who knew the series! (We’re going to try to do a group together next year. ^_^) Didn’t get home and have dinner until about midnight.

Sunday, I wore my purple Daphne dress and it was a huge contrast after walking around mostly unrecognized the previous two days. I kept hearing “Daphne” everywhere and I think I got more photos within the first 20-30 minutes than all of Friday and Saturday combined. Wandered around and bought a couple of things including a fuschia wig for whenever I finally get around to cosplaying Sora; (Yay for not having to attempt to dye a wig anymore but not sure what I’ll do with the violet one I got last year, intending to dye it. ^_^;;)

We went home a bit after 4. Would have loved to just take a nap after all the late nights but we had to change and go to a relative’s wedding reception that evening.

My brother took several hundred photos at the con so it’s going to be a while before he’s done with them. Will post links as he puts them up. Only pic currently posted is one of umister’s Miku: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofong/sets/72157625019002381/

So, NYAF was last weekend. Hi to those of you I saw there. *waves to animeangel, animeangelblue, athena_chan, blackjackie999, blackmarth, dressdragn, haruhi_chan, hystericraider, ifuritaoni, lady_ava, loudnbothered, mostflogged, neo2469, neoangelwink, rare_dreamer, ryoko, sakuralenayuy, springstar, starlighthoney, thedreamerworld, twilitesea, waynekaa, wildhorseranma, winq, yeu*

Sorry if I seemed tired or distracted at the con. I was short on sleep plus fretting about masquerade things on Saturday. x_x My brother started putting up some of the photos he took. So far, I see mostflogged and starlighthoney plus ryoko with her new bear hat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofong/sets/72157622367462313/


Last week was pretty crazy and tiring with trying to finish Ekaterina in time for the masquerade. I could have called it finished after Tuesday night but I decided I wanted to remake my black petticoat. The original seemed too stiff after I made the wool jacket and the pleats in the front hung oddly since I had to cut into the waist so much to make the hem even over the panniers. :-/

Wednesday, I went out and bought black wool to remake the skirt and spent a few hours showing haruhi_chan and her boyfriend around the fashion district. I’d met her at AnimeNext 2004 when we both had YGO cosplays but hadn’t seen her since then because she moved. It was a nice break from all the sewing!

Wednesday night and Thursday was spent remaking the skirt and working on documentation. I still had to sew after the skirt was done though because my brother wanted to cosplay this time and wanted me to make him a mask for a TF2 spy costume. It wasn’t very good since I have little experience sewing stretchy stuff plus it was navy fabric left over from my Count D peacock dress so it wasn’t super stretchy. It was past 2 AM when I finally went to bed. -_-

Woke up around 8 on Friday and continued on documentation and gathered the pieces of my Tamaki costume. Fortunately, my uncle agreed to drive me to the Javits so I was able to get the costume there relatively easily. Got to the con around 2 and changed. Saw part of the dating game and wandered around the dealer’s room. Didn’t really attempt to shop due to the huge dress so I mostly looked for people to chat with. Finally met waynekaa after missing him last NYAF.

Left around 6:30 and went home to have dinner and finish up my documentation for the next day. I ended up with 3 pages of notes and 6 of pictures, which is way more than I normally do since I wanted to show my underpinnings and some research. o_o;; By the time I finally got around to putting the whole costume on and practicing for the walk-on, it was nearly midnight. I kept stepping on my skirt and bumping into the sofa and felt so unprepared when I finally went to bed around 2AM. ._.

Packed up my stuff the next morning and my father dropped us off at the Javits around 11. Finished changing and walked around a bit before wandering off to practice near the special events hall. I think I managed to tie everything on better that morning so I wasn’t constantly stepping on my skirt anymore. (I had used period construction methods so the panniers and petticoat were on waistbands that tied.) Felt a bit more prepared and had my brother take some pictures before going to judging.

Went to rehearsal after judging and then got worried again because of the stage setup; I’d forgotten about the pillar and the runway and had planned for a regular rectangular stage. ._.;; So, while waiting, I ended up rearranging the walk-on to use the runway. Fortunately, it seemed to work out.

There was still time before lineup so I went to get some juice and snacks and that was when I lost my veil. I hadn’t tacked it to my hat since I planned to pull it off during the walk-on so it must have fallen off while I had the front lifted and draped over the hat. Fortunately, a little kid found it and I was able to make it back for lineup in time. I like how the costume came out but it certainly seemed to cause more than its share of stress and panic! -_-;

The masquerade walk-on went fine and I was glad I was second so I could just get it out of the way and then relax and enjoy the rest of the show. As mentioned last time, I got Marty Gear’s judge’s award. Congratulations to everyone else who also won stuff in the masquerade or hall contest. ^_^

For Sunday, I just pulled my old blue Count D robe out of the closet since it’s comfortable and carried around my phoenix prop. Was just too tired after all the late nights and two days of huge dresses to want to wear something more complicated. Finally took a better look around the dealer’s room and exchanged birthday gifts with neoangelwink. One of the dealers had diabolos and I bought one since I’m a Kaleido Star dork and thought it would be fun to try out. Went home around 5 and took a nap before going out with relatives for my parents’ 30th anniversary dinner.

Hopefully, I’ll have pics of Ekaterina plus some new Tamaki photos to post soon.

NYAF is over now and it was fun. Was great to see everyone and their new costumes and have a chance to hang out. ^_^

I managed to get Eugenie done in time although it meant working until midnight Wednesday and Thursday and finishing a bit of handstitching on the jacket after I got home from the con on Friday. ._.; Never trying to do a costume with that much handpainting in 5 weeks again; I think I really underestimated the time for all the painting and it should have been a 2 month costume. On the bright side, I entered it in the hall contest and won Best in Show. ^_^




Friday: Thanks to my uncle who agreed to drive me to the con rather last minute, I was able to bring my Sarah costume. ^_^ (There’s no way I could have managed otherwise with the rainy weather.) Spent much of the afternoon wandering with neoangelwink in her Amano Aeris and had lots of crossover pics taken since people wanted pics of both of our gowns. We also got to advertise Tsubasa and Case Closed for the
Funimation podcast although our cosplays were completely unrelated. XD (We’re in there about 3 ½ minutes in and animeangel also makes an appearance near the beginning.) Stopped by the manga library for a bit to visit ifuritaoni and he gave me a Tigger pendant for my birthday. (Thanks, Brian!) Went home around 6:30 and finished attaching the lining to my Eugenie jacket that night.

Saturday: Debuted Eugenie on Saturday. Ran into ngmaster who gave me two types of tea for a birthday gift. (Thanks, Dave!) Went to the Amano panel and spent much of the afternoon sitting with friends, away from the crowds, since the Eugenie shoes weren’t great for walking (4 ½ inch heels!). ^_^;; Watched the masquerade which was very good; many of the costumes were great and it looked like a lot of effort was put into the entries.

Sunday: I wanted to pack D’s tailcoat outfit to change into after getting Eugenie judged for the hall contest but overslept and didn’t have time. Still made it to the con before hall contest judging started though and did that before doing a bit of shopping. Ran into sakuralenayuy and usa_ko and walked around with them for a while. Found neoangelwink later and she gave me a cute kimono fabric bunny. (Thanks for the birthday present, Carrie, and the café suggestion! Sorry you couldn’t make it for tea. ;_;)

After the con, I went out with sakuralenayuy and usa-ko for tea/coffee and cake. Was great to just sit around and chat for about an hour outside of a con. :-)


And I’m probably nuts for even thinking about it so soon after finishing a big project but I’m feeling kind of inspired after seeing some of the WCS costumes and talking to Jasmine and Janina the other day… Anyone want to do Kaleido Star cosplay with me for next year? :-D (No, not for WCS.)

I know there are a few people on my friends list who also like Kaleido Star and I’ve got a vague idea for a presentation with a specific set of stage costumes from the series. Very simple concept without words, mainly to show off the costumes. I think it could be really nice if I figured out a way to make the costume work (it involves the crazy Kaleido Star costume I’ve told a few of you that I want to make someday) and had people to help plan out the idea because I’ve never done a skit before. ^_^;; Number of people should be pretty flexible, could possibly work with as few as 2 although I think 4-5 would be ideal. If there were people interested in doing this though, I’d want the group to be coordinated in terms of material choices and have uniform craftsmanship. Plus, I’d want it to be for something big like Costume Con. (Yeah, I know. This is probably asking a bit much for a series so rarely cosplayed. ^_^;;;)

Or if people don’t want to compete, we can try an informal group with costumes from anywhere in the series just for wandering at cons and taking photos. ^_^


Now that the con is over, I’m catching up on paperwork. My actual birthday is today but it should be quiet; just dinner and cake at home with my family.

Eugenie progress:
-got wig
-bought patterns
-altered dress pattern
-sewed lining for dress
-finished painting zigzag patterns on dress fabric
-cut dress fabric
-started adding black designs to the dress pieces



Here are pieces for the back of the dress. I’ve done more painting on the piece without any black since taking the pic. I hope I can get this done in time since NYAF is in 2 weeks and I haven’t even gotten started on the jacket yet. ._.;

Unfortunately, that also means I have no time to make a new sash for Youka so the nyosen uniform stays in the closet for yet another con. -_- Not sure what else I’ll wear instead. And it looks like I’ll have to wear Eugenie on Friday or Sunday since I’d like to get it judged for the hall contest.