Wednesday, August 28, 2013

[Jas] Yer Ship is ready Capt’n!



Out of all my purchases at AnimeNext 2013 this past weekend, I’d say my all time favorite were the two pirate ship building kits I got from One Piece. I was so excited to build them, since they would be my first experience with anything kit building at all! Super exciting! I couldn’t wait to start them….so I really didn’t! I started Sunday night when I got back home! XD I finished one Sunday night and another one this morning before work!


They were a ton of fun, especially for someone like me, who hasn’t done anything like this before! Granted, the tiny stickers drove me almost insane. >_> I’m a bit too OCD with getting things to look perfect. Some stickers would bubble a little, and I spazzed, but I didn’t want to rip the stickers or something. *internal freak out*

So I started on Sunday night with Law’s sub. All the instructions were in Japanese, but that wasn’t really an issue, since the pictures were so easy to understand and the pieces/stickers were numbered or defined by a simple character.

It didn’t take me that long to do at all, and Sarah watched me the whole time squealing about how awesome it was looking…and heck yeah, it was looking totally awesome indeed!!



Monday morning at like 6am, aka my usual wake up time, I tackled Shanks’s ship! I was super excited about his ship, since it was a little more intense than Law’s sub. (There were a lot more tiny pieces to put together) I was seriously afraid of snapping everything in half while taking it off the thingy. I was breathing heavily the whole time I was snapping the pieces out.

BUT IT LOOKED SO COOL WHEN IT WAS ALL DONE! SO COOL INDEED! I wish I would have GOT THEM ALL! But…..I had already spent way too much. WAY TOO MUCH! Seriously though.

This is something I’d like to do more of though….oh no….I smell another expensive hobby in the making. Crap. 


Thursday, August 22, 2013

[Jas] Cosplay Costume Party: Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle



Sophie was the second dress I’ve ever sewn before in my life! Princess Peach being the first. So, I wasn’t completely confident in my dress sewing abilities…not to mention the only pattern I could find only came in kid’s sizes!!! Let me tell you….my height is not that of a small child. So, I had to get the biggest size and make everything longer! I also ended up forgetting the zipper >_> so I had to go back to buy that. Oops!

Anyways. Onwards!

Materials list:
*Thicker blue fabric (about 5 yards)
*White fabric (1.5 yards to be safe)
*3 brown buttons
*Zipper
*Thread (white and blue)
*Styrofoam ball
*Red/Orange/Yellow tissue paper
*Glue
*Craft foam
*Silver wig


The dress itself was relatively easy to sew. I made it in about a day, though I went back a few days later to re-hem it, after realizing that it fell to about her ankles and not all the way to the ground.  I just followed the pattern, though certain areas had to be fixed to fit better…I ended up giving myself too much slack and had to make things tighter XD oops! The dress was super comfy when it was finished though, I loved how it hung!

I used a petticoat I already had, and shoes that I already had since they were basically the same shoes she had in the movie! (LUCKY!)

As for the wig, it required almost no styling, aside from the fact I had to cut the bangs, which was rather easy and only took a few minutes. (I did that at the convention actually XD)

Calcifer was made in a day as well. I got the Styrofoam ball, glue, and tissue paper from my cousin’s house. I glue the paper on in little strips to make the flame like appearance. Then cut out eyes and a mouth with craft foam after it dried and attached them.
(I have to say I picked a fantastic face for him! XD heehee)

In hindsight, if I do this again, I may tighten it around the shoulders and wrists and make the sleeves tighter and the waist/chest a little bit snugger as well. (Is snugger a word? I seriously didn’t think it was a word, but spell check is telling me it is….okay?)





Goal: When I turn 60, I’m going to re-cosplay this. For serious.

Photo by Karina Antigua