Lady of the Thread's Sewing Basket

Still need to finish packing for Otakon tomorrow morning. Good thing that we’re not leaving until about 4PM.

I finished Kyoya’s jacket on Saturday and actually managed to finish another costume today. Remember this thing I started around Halloween? It occurred to me that since a library is one of the rooms in the Clue game and there’s a library off the hotel lobby, it might be a good chance for photos. The dress was practically done; I just had to pull it out of the closet and hem it. I had a simple pattern for a bolero so I stitched one up quickly and I managed to cobble the jewelry together from rhinestones and pearls I’d bought a while back plus some other supplies I already had. The jewelry is kind of makeshift but oh, well. ^_^;;; And yeah, it’s a Western costume and really random. >_>; I was going to finish this for NYCC/NYAF but figured I might as well take advantage of the photo op. I doubt anyone will get it since I haven’t had a chance to dress my Scooby plushie as Colonel Mustard.



Other than Kyoya’s frilly purple suit and Daphne’s ridiculously red dress, I’m bringing my Tamaki ballgown. And the dress I made for Sakura Matsuri since it’s simple and comfortable. Might bring my Eugenie costume but not sure. It’s hard to be enthusiastic about wearing costumes in such hot weather with all my real life worries lately.

Kyoya will be for most of Friday since I plan to wear him for the tea party and a shoot with Lionel afterwards. Tamaki will be for earlier on Saturday since it would be impractical for watching the masquerade due to the huge hoops. Daphne, the Sakura Matsuri dress, and Eugenie (if I bring her) will be for evenings and Sunday although I’m not sure what day I’ll end up wearing any of them. Might depend on my mood when it’s time to change.

Went to the cosplay party at the Japan Society yesterday and wore my Count D kimono. It was nice to see some friends and the exhibit of prints was interesting but it seemed a bit dull otherwise and I think the price increase over last year was a bit much. :-/ There were definitely less people than last year; the auditorium was only half to two-thirds full for the costume contest.


And as mentioned last time, here’s the somewhat long story behind my AnimeNext costume plan getting changed from Valentine to Lia…



I was talking to my brother the other week about cons since the only other ones we have planned this year are AnimeNext and NYAF and I’ve been having very little luck finding a good one to add that’s within reasonable distance since I won’t fly. Plus, he doesn’t want to add any cons during his school year so that leaves only summer. And he said why don’t we go to Otakon since he’s never been to that one before and it’s right in the middle of summer so it doesn’t conflict with anything else. Even though I’d been trying to avoid Otakon since it’s so expensive and my least favorite of the large cons I’ve been to. >_>;

So, I checked and surprisingly, there were still a couple of hotels with con rates left (I missed them both times I went before which made things extra expensive). And one of them happened to be the Harbor Court Hotel, where the Costume Con tea party was last year. They had nice lobby areas, including a circular staircase, a library, and old-fashioned paintings, and I was sad my brother wasn’t along to take pictures that time. T_T

So, I booked the room and now, it looks like we’re going to Otakon although I’m more excited about the possibility of taking pictures in the hotel and afternoon tea than anything at the con itself. >_>; And to take advantage of the hotel for photos, my costume plans have completely flip flopped. So, I’m now trying to do Lia’s Russian portrait gown for AnimeNext and Kyoya’s final episode costume for Otakon so I can have both for then. So much for summer appropriate cosplay… >_>;;;

And checking for interest… Is anyone interested in and/or has friends who would be interested in a costume tea party at Otakon? The Costume Con tea last year was one of the highlights of the con for me and I would love to do something like that again. *_* There were around 30 costumers, mostly in historical dresses. I think this would be particularly good for series with period settings like Le Chevalier and Kuroshitsuji, series where the characters often have tea like Ouran and PSOH, gowns and other dressy cosplays, and lolita outfits.

We had the prix-fixe teas so that everyone got tea, a scone, little sandwiches, and pastries. I remember it being around $24 a person but don’t know if it has changed since then since the tea menu doesn’t list prices. The hotel is about 3-4 blocks from the con center and only serves afternoon tea on Fridays and Saturdays so it would have to be one of those afternoons; I assume Friday would be better in case people are in the masquerade.

[Poll #1565132]

Off to Otakon in the morning. ^_^

Costume schedule:
Friday morning/early afternoon: Count D (peacock dress or tailcoat)
Friday afternoon/evening: Count D (19th Century version)

Saturday morning/afternoon: Sarah (for Kaleido Star cosplay with neoangelwink at 2)
Saturday late afternoon/evening: Count D (whatever outfit I didn’t wear on Friday)

Leaving early on Sunday so I probably won’t be at the con at all that day.

Hope to see those of you attending at some point this weekend. Everyone else, have a good weekend! :-)

Ugh. I got a summons for jury duty yesterday. Not for regular criminal or civil court but for a grand jury. Plus, it’s for the Friday before Labor Day weekend. -_-X Definitely postponing.

Now for some better news…

I decided to go to Otakon after all so I should be seeing some of you next weekend! :-D

Still not sure if anyone is going to Baltimore with me other than my father, who was really nice to go along with this on relatively short notice. My sister still doesn’t want to go and I’m not sure about my brother or mother. But since my father will be driving, that means I’ll have room to pack whatever costumes I want. ^_^

I’d definitely like to bring Sarah’s Cinderella dress (hopefully to wear with neoangelwink’s Sora) and 19th Century Count D. Already wanted to wear those again at AnimeNext but left them home since I was worried about the heat; will try to stay indoors and take off the fur parts before walking outside.

Don’t want to bring Cecelia since I’d rather not wear it alone. And my Twelve Kingdoms costumes still need fixing before I wear them again. So, I think I’ll most likely fill in the rest of my costume list with more PSOH stuff. Maybe, the peacock dress since I haven’t worn it for so long; I actually brought it to Next but ended up never wearing it. And something that I can carry T-Chan around with, probably the tailcoat outfit since it’s newest.

Posted my pictures from Otakon, mostly other cosplayers:
http://images.cosplay.com/gallery.php?cat=49618&member=10168
Quite a few came out a little fuzzy this time. Not sure if my hands were just tired and wobbly. ^_^;

Dinner tonight didn’t go quite as planned. My mother had bought a fish in Chinatown but it must have spoiled or something. After she cooked it, the meat was like paste rather than solid fish so we had to toss it. O_o; Never seen that happen before and she had bought the same variety from the same market a couple of times within the last few weeks.

Not much of interest is going on here. Just catching up with various things like going through mail and bills. Still need to catch up with filing stuff. (I seem to have become the family mail clerk!) Seems like the idea of me doing bookkeeping at the store is on hold again since my father wants to put in a new computer system and that will take time.

I did finish reading vol. 14 of Fruits Basket though and am highly amused at what has been set up for the next volume. *giggles* ( Cut for possible spoilers )

I’ll probably do a post over the weekend with ramblings about future cosplay ideas but plan to take at least another week or two off from working on costume stuff. Maybe, I’ll pick up some needlework in the meanwhile now that I don’t have a deadline to make with costumes. Or, perhaps, finally finish the 1940s style dress I’ve had lying around in 3 pieces for at least a year. I think it mostly just needs the sleeves set in and hemming.

Got home from Otakon last night around 8. I was tired and had a bit of a headache from being cooped in the car for so long (the trip home took 4 hours due to traffic) so I have yet to really start sorting through my photos or writing a con report. I’ll try to get those up within the next few days but for now, hi to everyone I met/talked to over the weekend. ^_^

And a new record! 4 North American Juuni Kokki cosplayers in one picture! XD The most I’d ever seen before were a couple of groups of 3.

Ooh, I got a lot done today! ^_^ I finished my last sequined flower, cut my fabric, and did nearly all the sewing for the outer layer of the dress. I’m stitching the hem by hand now and still need to put in the lining and add some trim. Might post a progress picture over the weekend if there’s time.

Then, it’ll be more work on accessories. I’m a bit worried now about whether I’ll need to change stuff with scarves. I tried putting the pink and yellow ones I did over the dress this afternoon and thought they looked somewhat too subdued colorwise to go with the dress. ^_^;; Maybe, it’ll look better after I get the purple one done since it won’t be pastel.

Only a week left until I leave for Otakon. I hope I can figure out the remainder of this costume and get everything ready and packed in time! My Fruits Basket costumes should be fine but the Twelve Kingdoms outfits will probably need ironing. The huge sleeves on my nyosen uniform like to wrinkle into folds just from the weight of the fabric when it’s on a hanger. -_-; Need to see if I can make my hair extension less wobbly, too; it can get kind of crooked after a while.

I’m thinking I should try to get another compact flash card for my camera, too, to make sure I don’t run out of room for photos. I only have the little one that came with the camera and one other and they hold about 120-130 pictures together. And I’m guessing that might not be enough for a con as big as Otakon. ^_^;

Finally registered for Otakon today since pre-reg ends tomorrow. I had asked my brother about it but he didn’t seem that interested in going so I guess it’ll just be me. And I think I’ll be switching hotels since I managed to get a room at the Inner Harbor Marriott the other evening. It’s a bit more expensive than the reservation my father made for the waterfront Marriott but it’s within a couple of blocks of the convention center and will be much more convenient than calling my father each time I need to go back and fourth. (The other hotel was about 10 blocks away, not a distance I’d want to walk each way in most of my costumes. ^_^;;)

The costume is moving along as well. I’m now in the middle of the last front panel for my Terra dress. Along with the flowers on the armwarmers, I now have 22 flowers and about 17 left to do. So, I’m a bit more than halfway done with the sequined flowers. Yay! ^_^ If I can keep moving along at a rate of about a flower a day, I figure I should have about a week and a half left before Otakon to actually cut and sew the dress plus do some more accessories. Must order my wig soon. I think I know which one I want and I have a $25 Cosworx gift certificate which will help. That was my favorite part of the prize from the AnimeNext masquerade. ^_^

Went to the mall yesterday with my family but didn’t buy anything. I browsed in the bookstore for a while and read volume 3 of Pet Shop of Horrors. I’ve been making my way through the series a chapter or two at a time while browsing in bookstores although I missed a couple from volume 2 (they didn’t have a copy of that one).

Count D, the owner of the pet shop, is certainly a mysterious guy. He doesn’t seem very threatening at times with his child-like fondness for sweets and habit of dressing in Chinese robe type outfits. (The detective investigating him makes fun of him for always wearing “dresses.” XD;) But he is definitely involved in some rather shady and sinister things. The brief mentions of his grandfather and father intrigue me. It seems like the grandfather was the one who started the pet shop and looked exactly like Count D. And he seems to resent his father. I'll have to read some more of the series sometime since I'm curious about those two.

Don’t know what my family is doing for tomorrow. We might just end up being boring and stay home and watch fireworks on TV. XD;