| Starting to plan for next year... |
[Nov. 16th, 2009|07:31 pm] |
Hmm… Looks like a lot of people are talking about AUSA plans. I’m going to be staying in town though. Anyone else not going to AUSA and interested in doing something around the city this weekend?
I’ve been taking a break and doing some crochet and my mother has been giving me regular clothes to alter/repair but I’m probably going to get back to working on costume stuff soon. I figure I’ll finish up the clothes for the Miss Scarlet version of Daphne first. Then, my next projects are probably going to be Kyoya and Youko since I’ve started buying fabric for them. Not sure yet what else I’ll be doing for next year. If anyone wants to do a group with me for something I've cosplayed/am planning to cosplay, let me know. It's been ages since I've had a group. ;_;
So far, it looks like my con schedule next year is:
Anime Boston, April 2-4
AnimeNext, June 18-20
NYCC/NYAF, October 8-10
I’d really like to add at least one more con to that (especially since I’m blah about AnimeNext’s new location and blah about NYAF being merged into NYCC) but not sure what could work. :-/
Katsucon is out since it falls on Chinese New Year. I’d love to do Costume Con again but it’s in Milwaukee next year, which is too far to be feasible for me. T_T (I checked and the shortest trip by train is nearly 24 hours!) Although I’d love to see some Canadian friends again, Anime North is a pretty long trip and in May which would put it between AB and ANext; I’ve found that trying to do 3 cons within less than 3 months is very tiring so it doesn’t seem like a very feasible idea either. :-/ There’s a lot of stuff I dislike about Otakon and I don’t enjoy it nearly enough, considering the cost. So, I’d rather not go back unless there’s a really good reason.
Anyone have suggestions? What’s worth traveling for and within feasible distance of NY by bus or train? Is AUSA good since a lot of you seem to go? Other ideas? |
|
|
| Well, that was an unexpected place to find a new Square Enix game! o_o |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|05:07 pm] |
So, I sometimes download casual games to play on the computer when I’m bored or feel like goofing off. I’ve never bothered to blog about it before since most aren’t that interesting but I thought this one might amuse some people.
Last night, I tried out a hidden object game called Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders. The game started up, Square Enix came up on the screen, and I was like “Huh? Since when did they do these kinds of games?!” o_O;
It's set in 19th Century Japan, during the cherry blossom season, and you play as the wife of a murdered American diplomat. The plot revolves around trying to solve the murder and the main gameplay consists of finding the listed objects hidden within a scene. It seems pretty short since I apparently made it through the first third of the game during the free 1 hour trial. The trailer, screenshots, and trail version can be found at the link above if anyone’s curious or wants to laugh at how random this is for a company that’s usually associated with Final Fantasy. XD |
|
|
| Being a mystery geek |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|12:05 am] |
So, I’m finally posting the answers to the book meme I did a few weeks back since only one title got guessed. ^_^;; I don’t know if anyone really cares since I don’t think there are many mystery lovers on my friends list. But I’ve been reading some of these series way longer than any manga so I’m going to be a mystery geek and babble about cozies and period mysteries anyway. :-P I recommend checking them out if any sound interesting to you! Most of the out-of-print stuff can be found used on Amazon.
Here’s what wasn’t guessed:
1) “The Scarlet Pimpernel” by Baroness Orczy
The one non-mystery title that wasn’t guessed. Although only the first book is considered a classic, Baroness Orczy actually wrote a whole series of Scarlet Pimpernel books.
2) “The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries” by Emily Brightwell
First book in one of my favorite series. ^_^ It’s set in Victorian London and Mrs. Jeffries is housekeeper for Inspector Witherspoon, a policeman who inherited a fortune from a wealthy aunt. The inspector doesn’t realize it but his housekeeper and other servants help him solve murders by talking to people like shopkeepers, servants, and carriage drivers to gather information and gossip. Mrs. Jeffries discusses the cases with him, finding out what the police have learned and planting suggestions about things he should look into based on what the servants have found out. It’s up to book 26 and still going; I’ve been reading this series since the mid-1990s! Unfortunately, some of the older titles are OOP.
3) “The Strange Files of Fremont Jones” by Dianne Day
First book from another favorite of mine. Fremont Jones is an adventurous young woman who leaves her conventional life in Boston and moves to San Francisco in 1905. She starts a typewriting service there, which gets her involved in her first mystery. She eventually falls in love with a former Russian spy and starts a detective agency with him. Ended at 6 books but they’re still in print except for the last.
4) “Death at Bishop’s Keep" by Robin Paige
First book from a series set in late Victorian/Edwardian England. Kate Ardleigh is an American writer of penny dreadfuls who moves to England and eventually marries Sir Charles Sheridan. Sir Charles is an amateur scientist with an interest in photography, fingerprinting, and toxicology. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward) sometimes asks Sir Charles to investigate cases where nobles are involved so that the police and press can be kept away and scandal avoided. Each book also features 1 or 2 real people from that era; Beatrix Potter, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, and Lillie Langtry were among the characters used. Don’t like this series as much as the previous two but it’s still interesting. Ended a few years ago at 12 books but I haven’t read the last couple yet.
5) “The Last Camel Died at Noon” by Elizabeth Peters
A book from the Amelia Peabody series. Amelia is a Victorian woman with feminist views who becomes an archeologist. She marries Emerson, another archeologist. During their Egyptian excavations, they encounter murders, tomb robbers, the occasional wandering mummy, and in the case of this book, a lost city! XD It’s a rather amusing series since Amelia tends to jump to conclusions a lot. The books cover a few decades from the late 1800s to the 1920s but I haven’t read some of the later ones yet. I got a little annoyed that a certain character died and came back not once but twice. >_>; Still going and book 19 is scheduled to come out next spring. The writer has a Ph.D in Egyptology so there’s a lot of Ancient Egyptian trivia included.
6) “Decked” by Carol Higgins Clark
First book in the Regan Reilly series. Regan is a private investigator and the daughter of a famous mystery novelist. The series is very humorous and tends to involve rather ridiculous situations. XD 12 books so far plus some collaborative ones with her mother, Mary Higgins Clark.
7) “Starring Miss Seeton” by Hamilton Crane
A book from the Miss Seeton series by Heron Carvic, Hampton Charles, and Hamilton Crane. (The two latter writers continued the series after the original author’s death.) Another of my favorites, this is a rather humorous series with an elderly retired British art teacher as the protagonist. She is retained by Scotland Yard for her seemingly psychic drawing abilities and sometimes produces cryptic pictures with clues to crimes. She tends to cause muddles trying to explain things clearly and is very innocent, never thinking someone would want to harm her. In the first book, she actually poked a murderer with her umbrella, ready to give him a lecture on manners because she mistakenly thought he was just hitting the woman rather than killing her! Ended with 22 books. OOP
9) “Death on the Mississippi” by Peter J. Heck
First book in another of my favorite series. This one features Mark Twain and his fictional secretary, Wentworth Cabot, solving murder mysteries as the author travels for a lecture tour in the late 1800s. The titles are all plays on Twain’s works like “The Prince and the Prosecutor” and “A Connecticut Yankee in Criminal Court.” Ended at 6 books. OOP
10) “Houses of Stone” by Barbara Michaels
This is actually the same writer as Elizabeth Peters. She used this pen name for romantic suspense, usually with supernatural elements. This particular book involved an English professor and a lost gothic novel. It’s been 10 years since she published anything new under this name but the books are still available. These are mostly non-series. Some are period but most are contemporary. And some have fashion or crafting themes. ^_^ (I suggest “Shattered Silk” for those who like vintage clothes/fashion history.)
I kind of want to go back and reread a lot of this stuff now!
On a slightly related note, I just finished reading Count Cain/Godchild. I’d read a couple of volumes of Godchild quite a while back since it seemed like the kind of thing I’d like with the Victorian setting and mystery theme but didn’t get around to reading the rest until recently. Wow, what a messed up family. O_O; I liked the Godchild volumes better than the earlier series; the artwork didn’t seem as nice and the plot a bit muddled in the earlier stories. I still like the mystery novel series mentioned above best for Victorian stuff though. (As a side note, Kuroshitsuji seems even more derivative now that I’ve finished reading this series. >_>; That one jumped too wildly between humor and dark stuff for my taste although the outfits were much more interesting.)
Not sure yet if I like it enough to cosplay from it. The recurring characters are mostly guys and their outfits aren’t that distinctive. Unless I want to do something silly again like Cain when he was forced to crossdress as a fortuneteller. XD I wouldn’t suit Mary Weather at all since she’s only 10 and I’m not nearly cute and petite enough for something like that. Design-wise, what I found most interesting was the half-Japanese half-British girl from volume 2 of Godchild who wore a long ruffly Western dress with a kimono layered over it. I don’t know though. |
|
|
| What I've been up to... |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|12:30 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | cosplay | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  content | ] |
Hmm… I’ve been out a lot this past week or so and still haven’t posted about Halloween yet.
Wore my Daphne costume and went into the city with my brother during the afternoon. We took some pictures in the theatre district because I was thinking of a Scooby Doo episode where counterfeiters used a theatre as their hideout. We went by the Belasco Theatre since I’ve heard stories of it being haunted by the person it’s named after. It was under construction and the front was boarded up though so we didn’t actually take any pictures there. We ended up wandering around for a while and using a gate outside the Music Box Theatre instead.
After that, we took some pictures in Times Square. Then, we started to do silly stuff. We went by Midtown Comics, where I bought a volume of Ghost Hunt. And we went to Borders, where I looked through the mystery section. XD Picked up “Ghost at Work” by Carolyn G. Hart. I like her “Death on Demand” series but haven’t tried this new one yet; it’s supposed to feature a mystery-solving ghost. And I found Volume 6 of Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo. I was amused that I bought all of this stuff while dressed as Daphne.
Later, we went by the store and goofed around with some plastic ghost cutouts, having them chase my mini Scooby plushie. Gave out candy to the employees as they left for the day and then went home.
More pics after I get them resized and uploaded.
The wedding was last Sunday. The groom’s mother was one of my mother’s friends and invited us so I didn’t actually know the couple. I was a bit annoyed I didn’t get to wear the outfit I was making for then, especially after rushing to get it done and the dress form collapsing on my finger. My mother stitched the appliques on the jacket for me but then decided the outfit was too red and said I should save it for Christmas. -_- Bah. If I hadn’t been planning to reuse the dress for the Miss Scarlet version of Daphne, I’d be more annoyed. But thanks to those who left compliments on the jacket last time! I guess I need to find a Christmas party to wear it to now. :-P
Wednesday, I went into the city and met ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ngmaster for lunch. Hadn’t seen him since AB so it was good to catch up. We hung out for a while afterwards and visited a bead shop since he needed some replacement parts for a broken cell phone charm.
And yesterday, I hung out with rare_dreamer who I hadn’t seen in ages except for a minute at NYAF; I think the last time I ran into her before that was NYAF 2007! We had lunch and browsed through Midtown Comics, Kinokuniya, and Borders for manga and mystery novels. It was great to have someone to chat with about mystery stuff since only a few people I know are into the genre. ^_^ (And that reminds me that I still never posted the answers for the book meme a couple of weeks back. ^_^;;) We also went in search of yarn since I wanted to do some crochet now that I’m no longer under deadline with sewing stuff. Seems like it would be a good time of year to make an afghan since it’s getting cold. |
|
|
| Ow. I think my dress form tricked me... |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|05:58 pm] |
Earlier, I was working on the wedding outfit for Sunday and my dress form collapsed down the pole and clamped the side of my finger, near the vein. x_x There was bleeding and I was freaking out a bit but it looks like it should be okay.
My outfit still needs finishing work but I don’t want to work on it while my finger is bandaged up with oily Chinese ointment. (Dress still needs to be hemmed, the jacket appliques have to be stitched down, and the jacket needs a hook and eye closure.) Fortunately, my mother offered to finish it up for me and I’m going to accept since I don’t think I’d get it done otherwise.
Here’s the jacket and a closeup of the appliques I bought. I got 2 mirror image pairs of the appliques but decided using all 4 would be too much. And to go under the jacket, I have a plain, strapless dress in the same red satin.
Tomorrow is Halloween and I should be somewhere around the city during the afternoon as Daphne from Scooby Doo. Hopefully, my brother will get some pics for me but I’m not sure where we’re going and we’ll be going home around 6. If anyone wants to hang out or wander around with us, let me know tonight or call me! Happy Halloween! |
|
|
| Halloween plans? |
[Oct. 25th, 2009|05:51 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cosplay | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  curious | ] |
My brother and I were talking about Halloween plans the other night and we were wondering what other people are planning. We don’t have any parties to go to and he’s pretty busy with school this week. But he doesn’t have classes on Friday and he’s hoping he won’t have to help out at the store on Saturday so we can do our usual take cosplay pictures in the city thing. We don’t have definite plans on what we’re doing yet but I should be wearing my Daphne costume. I assume my brother is just wearing normal clothes and photographing. Anyone interested in joining us for photos or hanging out during the afternoon on Halloween?
The other day, I was thinking that I kind of miss cosplaying Count D. Yeah, I know that I still wear at least one D costume every con. ^_^; What I really mean is that I’ve missed having a new costume to wear for him. I did the vampire version back in March but it feels like it’s been longer since I wasn’t completely happy with how it came out and still haven’t worn it to an actual anime con. (I might still remake it sometime but it’s going to be tedious doing all those buckled straps again out of black velvet. :-/) Before that, the last D costume I made was the tailcoat a year and a half ago. I was figuring Youko and Kyoya would be my next two costumes but maybe, I’ll add a D to my list of potential projects to work on over the winter. |
|
|
| Progress and a meme |
[Oct. 22nd, 2009|08:20 pm] |
Went into the city today to get some stuff to finish the wedding outfit and my Halloween costume. I bought some sequined appliques to use on the red jacket for the wedding outfit although I’m not completely decided how I’m going to place them. (whether I’ll do something symmetrical or asymmetrical and if I’ll use all 4 or only 2) Except for closures, the jacket is otherwise done but I still need to make the dress.
I also got some cheap shoes and leather paint so I can paint them purple for my Daphne costume. And I bought a new pair of pink tights since I decided the first pair was a bit too bright for my tastes. The clothes are nearly finished. The dress is done but I’m going to remake the scarf since it came out a bit too short and bulky to tie nicely. Also still need to cut bangs into my wig. Should be done by this weekend. I kind of wish I could go to the botanic garden for pics this weekend but my brother is probably going to be busy with a paper for school. (The garden’s annual Halloween event is this Sunday and I find it’s a good time to take costume photos without seeming weird.)
And a book meme from athena8
1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.
This is probably going to be super hard (unless someone is bored and starts Googling stuff XD;) since I tend to read a lot of series mysteries (only 2 of these are non-mystery) and most of my favorites aren’t that known. I might do another post after several days to explain where these come from. Extra hints: There’s one classic, all except 10 have series, and all series are the first book except for 5 and 7.
1) A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate. The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant raised an undying monument to the nation’s glory and his own vanity.
2) Dr. Bartholomew Slocum was definitely dead. Inspector Gerald Witherspoon stared morosely at the body slumped over the huge mahogany desk and fervently wished he were home sitting in front of a roaring fire instead of standing in a gloomy Knightsbridge surgery.
3) I know what people say about me: that I am willful and opinionated, shockingly eccentric in my manner of dress (this is because I will not wear a corset), altogether a trial to my father. These things are true except the last.
4) Kate Ardleigh glanced warily over her shoulder. The late-summer night was black as the pit and stormy, lighted by the intermittent blue-white glare of lighting flashes.
5) Hands on hips, brows lowering, Emerson stood gazing fixedly at the recumbent ruminant. A sympathetic friend (if camels have such, which is doubtful) might have taken comfort in the fact that scarcely a ripple of agitated sand surrounded the place of its demise.
6) Athena ran blindly down the dark country lane, her breath coming in short, harsh gasps. Her school jacket with the St. Polycarp’s logo sewn to the pocket was no protection against the sudden drenching spring rain.
7) Lady Colveden stabbed a brooding knife into the breakfast butter. “I do wish,” she said, in a plaintive tone, “that casting wasn’t always so difficult…”
8) “I see…” said the vampire thoughtfully, and slowly he walked across the room towards the window. For a long time he stood there against the dim light from Divisadero Street and the passing beams of traffic. (Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, guessed by gothic_lolita)
9) After I completed my four years at Yale College in 18—, I faced the inevitable decision of what to do for the rest of my life. Conscious as always of our family’s standing as one of the oldest and most respectable in New England, my father encouraged me to read for the bar.
10) If only Simon weren’t such a practical joker! The other booksellers with whom she dealt were not given to joking about their profession—as one of them gloomily put it, peddling the printed word to a nation of semiliterates was no laughing matter—and Simon, of all people, ought to have been free of that weakness.
*looks over list* I certainly seem to like verbose writers, don’t I? :-P |
|
|
| Tea and sewing |
[Oct. 16th, 2009|10:50 pm] |
Today, I visited my old friend who I had last seen back in August and we finally made it to Alice’s Tea Cup. ^_^ Her boyfriend, who I hadn’t met before, also came along and the three of us had afternoon tea and a nice chat. Had a huge pumpkin scone and tried the birthday tea, which was scented with tropical fruit and flowers. The tea tasted kind of weak although it smelled very fragrant.
Not much else of interest has been going on this past week. I’ve started on both my Halloween costume and the wedding outfit. For Daphne, I’ve gotten the headband covered in lavendar fabric. (Something I’ve noticed is that although her headband is light purple in the show, it often seems to be dark purple on DVD covers. I decided to go with the light purple since that’s what it is most of the time.) Plus, I did most of the sewing on the dress but decided I left too much ease in the hips so I need to take the skirt apart and take it in. For the wedding outfit, I started making a long sleeved jacket in red satin. Still need to find some kind of trim to use to embellish it. If I had more time, I’d be tempted to do beading or something on it since I love embellishing but haven't had a chance to do it on any of my costumes lately. The dress isn't started yet but hopefully that won't take too long since it's just going to be plain.
Only two more weeks until Halloween and the wedding so I need to get in more work on both of these over the weekend. ^_^;; Off to do a bit of sewing! |
|
|
| Getting ready for Halloween... |
[Oct. 10th, 2009|01:02 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | cosplay | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  okay | ] |
My sister had jury duty today and my parents wanted me to drop her off and pick her up from the courthouse. (She’s so short that she still looks like a teenager size-wise and won’t take the subway by herself.) So, with the time in between, I decided to go into the city and pick up supplies for my Halloween costume. It was a pretty productive trip since I picked up nearly everything I need for the regular Daphne costume. I think the only thing left is shoes and stuff for modifying them. And maybe, supplies for making a box of Scooby Snacks. (I know there are actual licensed ones but I’d want a box like one of the versions seen in the show.)
The purples for the dress were the hardest to pick out since I was trying to avoid fancy fabrics and thin cottons. I wanted to get both shades in the same material since I’d be sewing them together but didn’t find anything I liked that came in two suitable purples. I rarely buy at Mood but eventually ended up getting the dress fabric there because of the selection. They’re still not quite the same but they both have a crepe texture and look pretty close. I wish the lighter purple had come in the same blend as the darker one; the darker one feels nice but the light purple is a bit rough.
I got lucky with the tights though. I found a single pink pair hidden behind some capri pants of the same shade at Ricky’s. They were my size and discounted $5 from the original price, too. :-D I had been thinking I might have to order them online.
The wig needs bangs cut into it and it’s longer than accurate for Daphne because I really bought it a while back for my planned Youko costume. But since they’re both redheads with bangs and I doubt I’ll wear Daphne much, I don’t want to buy a new wig for her. >_>; Actually, I'm not even sure if I have any place specific to wear her for Halloween. I usually just end up wandering and doing photos with my brother somewhere in the city but it's a Saturday this year and he normally helps at the store that day. ^_^;;
I also bought some red satin to use for an outfit for the wedding my mother’s friend invited us to. And for the Clue version of Daphne. (Yeah, I still want to do the red dress at some point even if most people wouldn’t recognize it. Obscure stuff is nothing new for me. :-P) After some thought, I decided to save the shiny pink fabric I had for another time (probably would be better for spring) and make a red dress instead. I figure if I make the Miss Scarlet costume, I would split it into a mini dress (the game token shows it’s supposed to be a short dress) and a bolero jacket due to the lines on the bodice. So, my new plan is to make the dress and a long sleeve jacket to embellish for the wedding. Then, when I get around to doing the Clue version, I can just make a second jacket to use with the dress and add the jewelry. ^_^
This weekend will probably be spent getting started on these projects. And my mother always likes to have a dinner with our relatives to celebrate birthdays so I’m getting another party tomorrow. ^_^;; With both my parents’ anniversary dinner and the mid-autumn festival last week, we didn’t manage to fit it in then. |
|
|
| Sewing projects for this month... |
[Oct. 4th, 2009|10:31 pm] |
More photos updates from my brother. (It’s a record! He actually finished con photos in a week this time!)
yeu, the photos of you and your groups are up.
K-On!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofong/sets/72157622386531139/
Macross Frontier: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofong/sets/72157622516829904/
And neoangelwink, the pics of the cupcake dress you modeled for the fashion show are up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofong/sets/72157622516727310/
Dim sum yesterday was fun. ^_^ Thanks to neoangelwink, loudnbothered, athena_chan, ifuritaoni, lampbane and her boyfriend for coming! Unfortunately, it started raining while we were at the restaurant so the ending turned out rather soggy with trying to walk everyone back to the train and bus in the rain. ._.; It would have been nice to hang out longer if it weren’t for the weather.
Now that NYAF is over and I’ve caught up on some other things, I’m thinking a bit about what to sew next. I don’t expect to go to another con until Anime Boston in April but Halloween is coming up and one of my mother’s friends invited us to a wedding the day after.
I bought a couple of yards of shimmery pink fabric and a pattern a while back, thinking I’d make a dress to wear for the wedding. I’ve kind of lost my enthusiasm though since the weather suddenly got so cold last week and I have a sleeveless dress pattern. :-/
For Halloween, I’m tempted to make a Daphne costume from Scooby Doo… And now, people are probably thinking I’ve finally lost my mind after Ekaterina and all the other huge projects I normally do. :-P But seriously, I loved Scooby Doo when I was a kid and I’ve been feeling nostalgic since I picked up a couple of the box sets recently. And I could probably get away with using the red wig I bought for Youko although it won’t be exact; I don’t see myself wearing this at a con other than maybe NYCC/NYAF when they’re combined next year so I’d rather not buy a new wig for it. >_>;
I’m kind of trying to decide whether I want to do the regular purple dress version or the Clue version where she’s dressed as Miss Scarlet. I think the Clue version might be more fun since I love alternate costumes but I don’t think anyone would get it unless I carried around a Scooby Doo plushie dressed as Colonel Mustard. Otherwise, I’d probably just look like a redhead in a red cocktail dress. ^_^;; Normal purple dress version would be much easier to recognize without props and warmer though since it has long sleeves, a higher neckline and the green scarf.
 |
|
|
| NYAF pics |
[Oct. 3rd, 2009|12:32 am] |
Yay, I have pics to post! Ekaterina first since it was my new costume for NYAF. While it looks pretty plain, it was started in January (was originally meant for the historical masquerade at Costume Con) and is actually one of my most time consuming costumes ever. I would say it took 120-140 hours, including the mockups and remakes. The only costume that I’ve ever spent more time on was my formal Terra which had like 200 hours of beading. o_O;
I made almost everything from scratch, including the chemise, corset, and panniers worn underneath plus my hat. The only things not made from scratch were the mask, wig, and boots. It was definitely a learning experience since I’d never built a corset, hoops, or hat before. I researched clothes of the period a bit and tried to incorporate the research where I could while still retaining the anime design, which isn’t that historically accurate. Some pieces, like the jacket and corset got mockups and others like the panniers and black petticoat were remade because I wasn’t satisfied with the originals. And I did stuff like handstitching all the eyelets in my corset since I found in my research that metal grommets weren’t used yet in the 1700s. And I handstitched the buttonholes in my coat for a more historical look instead of just using the automatic buttonhole foot on my machine.
Although it’s pretty plain, I really wanted to make this since I loved Ekaterina’s role in the Le Chevalier D’eon anime. I dislike wimpy female characters so I really like that she went to warn the French knights about the assassination plot against the Russian empress that her husband was involved in despite the jerk slapping her around. (That was what was referenced in my walk-on intro. This outfit was her disguise for that scene.) Plus, she got her revenge on him in the end. >_>;
( more Ekaterina photos )
And now for something less ominous, here’s a guy in a poofy pink and red ballgown. :-P
It’s kind of funny that I made a tulle petticoat to keep the hoops from showing but you can see them here anyway because the light was so bright. >_>;
( more Tamaki pics )
neoangelwink, your Mikuru photos are up too:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotofong/sets/72157622503714478/
Those coming for dim sum, I’ll see you tomorrow! Bring an umbrella since it looks like the weather’s going to be bad. o_o; |
|
|
| NYAF report |
[Oct. 1st, 2009|11:04 pm] |
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. |
|
|
| I'm going to need a diet... ^_^;;; |
[Sep. 30th, 2009|10:34 pm] |
Lots of food this week. My parents had their anniversary dinner on Sunday night. My birthday was today so my mother cooked a huge dinner. And I’m working on birthday plans for this weekend. ^_^;
For those who expressed interest, I sent out details about dim sum in Brooklyn on Saturday through PM. If you haven’t already, please check your messages and RSVP by Friday. I think I sent the info to everyone who said they were okay with this weekend and dim sum rather than afternoon tea. But if I missed anyone, let me know! |
|
|
| "Maybe, I trust you. But can you trust me?" |
[Sep. 28th, 2009|11:14 pm] |
It was good seeing people at NYAF. I'm mostly recovered from the con now. Last week involved a lot of late nights but I managed to get Ekaterina done and the masquerade walk-on went okay despite a few moments of panic beforehand. The worst was losing my veil less than half an hour before lineup. x_x; Fortunately, a little kid had found it and was playing with it nearby. I was so relieved to get it back that I gave him $5 as a reward.
I won Marty Gear’s judge’s award, which I’m pleased with considering how impressive some of the other costumes were. And I was happy to have a chance to finally present it onstage because of all the work that went into it. I originally started it in January for Costume Con and I’ve probably put 120-140 hours into it with building the period undergarments plus the mockups and remakes.
ACP has my walk-on posted although I haven't been able to watch it myself yet since my computer hasn't been displaying videos properly the last few weeks. Have to figure out how to fix that. :-/ I used “The Riddle” from “The Scarlet Pimpernel” as my background music since it’s one of my favorite musicals (it’s set in 18th Century Europe, too) and I felt it fit well with all the political intrigue in Le Chevalier D’eon. It was about 20 seconds longer than I would have preferred for a walk-on but it would have been awkward to cut the song more with the lack of pauses. ^_^;;;
http://www.acparadise.com/acp/vid/5561/h
Longer post about the con later in the week.
Birthday plans will be for dim sum on Saturday. I’ll be getting in touch with those who were interested in coming sometime in the next couple of days with details. |
|
|
| Birthday plans and costume progress |
[Sep. 14th, 2009|09:47 pm] |
Birthday plans are still a bit up in the air. This weekend is definitely out since I’m going to need the time to finish up cosplay stuff. The results from the last poll were pretty much tied between Sunday of NYAF and the Saturday after but I think the latter would work out better since it’s not that easy to get from the Javits to other parts of the city and my parents’ anniversary party is that Sunday night.
If it’s afternoon tea, it might depend on the size of the group since some places have small tables/limited space. If it’s a bigger group, we might have to resort to just hanging out at the Kinokuniya café. ^_^;; We could possibly visit some fabric, bead shops, etc. afterwards too. This could be anytime that afternoon although I’d have to leave around 5 since the Mid-Autumn Festival is that night.
If it’s dim sum, it’ll be in Brooklyn since there’s a place that serves it nearby; I haven’t had dim sum in Manhattan for well over 10 years and have no idea where would be a good place for it there. It’s pretty simple to get here by subway (it’s just a few stops from Chris and Carrie’s place) and there are large tables that can seat 10 so it wouldn’t be a problem if there’s a larger group. There isn’t much to do around the neighborhood afterwards though unless people want to buy bubble tea or Asian snacks. ^_^;; This would have to be around noon since the dim sum selection dwindles after the lunch crowd is gone. This would be a bit easier for me since I wouldn’t have to make a trip into the city but I’m not sure if it’s an issue for other people. If most people are okay with either, I’ll probably go for this.
So, new poll for those interested in coming…
Poll #1457683 Birthday plans again
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: Friends, participants: 5For October 3, which of these work for you?
And costume progress…
I finished figuring out my jacket pattern last week and got a got a good amount of work done on the real thing over the weekend. Hopefully, I’ll get it finished this week so I can concentrate on the other minor things left next week plus putting together references and notes. Here’s the mockup from several days ago.
I’m undecided about what to do about shoes for Ekaterina since they were never shown. Considering the outfit, I think something simple and black would be appropriate. I’ve been looking around a bit for 18th Century style shoes and there are some Halloween costume ones that go for about $40 after shipping. But they don’t seem like a great deal considering I could probably buy a nice pair of shoes on sale for the same price. :-/ This site has nicer ones intended for historic costumers and more styles but it’d be expensive, even more if I also needed to buy buckles. (Although if I got one of the unisex styles, I could reuse them when I make the purple Kyoya costume.) I’ve also thought about just getting a pair of heeled black boots I can also wear regularly since my current pair is already a few years old and Chevalier designs aren’t historically accurate anyway. Like I highly doubt there were any purple boots like D’Eon wore with Lia’s dress back then. :-P |
|
|
| I made it! |
[Sep. 8th, 2009|09:46 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cosplay | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  good | ] |
Yay! I got an acceptance for the NYAF masquerade today. ^_^ After I heard about how many entries they got, I had doubts about whether they would pick me since I just applied for a solo walk-on and wouldn’t be eligible for the Yume prize. But I’m glad I’ll be able to present this onstage after missing my chance for Costume Con.
I’ve been working on a new jacket mockup for Ekaterina. I tried just using the sleeve from the men’s pattern but the sleeves still pulled and made it difficult to raise my arms. Checking what my draping book said about patterning sleeves, I found the cap was rather high (about 8”) compared to a normal sleeve. (That seemed to be a problem with the other sleeve I had tried to use, too.) I made a new sleeve by pinning the pattern in place at the shoulder and rotating it to both sides so the bottom of the sleeve cap would end an inch higher. It’s a big improvement over the old sleeve in terms of being able to move my arms. I’m working on patterning the overskirt part now and still need to do the cuffs. Should be able to start sewing the actual jacket in a few days.
The weekend was nice. I went fabric shopping for a bit on Saturday. Bought some stuff to use for lining Ekaterina’s jacket and what was left of a roll of pink with a metallic sheen (a bit more than 2 yards). One of my mother’s friends invited us to a wedding in a couple of months so I’m thinking I’ll make a dress to wear for that out of the pink. Afterwards, I went by Nintendo World for a bit and saw dedpoo, animeangelblue, blackjackie999, neoangelwink, loudnbothered, and yeu.
Went out shopping with my family for a bit on both Sunday and Labor Day although I didn’t buy much. Got a dress pattern on sale at JoAnn’s that I’ll probably use with the metallic pink. Was a bit hard to find something I could use with the limited amount of fabric I had.
Well, I’d better go work on Ekaterina some more now! |
|
|
| Wait... All that pulling my hair out was for nothing?! |
[Sep. 2nd, 2009|08:24 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cosplay | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  ditzy | ] |
Ugh, I feel dumb.
So, some of you might recall the problems I had before Costume Con with the sleeves on the mockup for Ekaterina’s jacket pulling and causing wrinkles in the back despite a few attempts to fix it. From a closeup and one of the main screencaps I was using for reference, it looked like the sleeve was supposed to have some extra fullness and stand up a little at the cap. Which was why I was trying to combine the sleeve from one pattern with the body of another.
Today, I was getting ready to try again with the pattern and decided to rewatch those few scenes to check some details. And then I realized, the sleeve looks like a normal sleeve in nearly every shot. And in the main pic I was referring to, it just looked like it was a weird sleeve because of the way the veil from the hat overlapped her shoulder. The only part where it actually looks like it stands up a bit at the cap is that closeup. So, all of that stress several months ago was for nothing. X_X If I’d realized it then, I could possibly have finished it for Costume Con like I originally wanted! |
|
|
| Hatmaking Experiment |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|12:30 am] |
The last few days I’ve been experimenting with hatmaking and made a tricorne from this Butterick pattern. I enlarged it a bit since my skull is on the large side and I’ll be wearing a wig.
The hat is wool cashmere stiffened with buckram and the brim is shaped with millinery wire. Since I used buckram rather than the interfacing that the pattern called for, the pieces were too stiff to be easily flipped and sewn by machine. I had to do about half of the sewing by hand, some of it with a curved needle, so it went slowly. It’s not perfect but I think it looks pretty good considering I’d never made a hat from scratch before and don’t really know anything about proper hatmaking. ^_^;; Oh, well. It’s going to be covered up anyway since there’s a veil that goes over the whole hat. The wig is kind of messy since I didn’t finish styling the bangs yet and it got tossed into a bag when I postponed the costume earlier in the year.
And I finally put in my masquerade application for NYAF. Yeah, really last minute. ^_^;; Hoping I’ll get in since this costume was already postponed from Costume Con and I’ve probably spent about 70 hours working on it so far.
For those who are interested and missed my post the other night, check here for the poll on birthday plans: http://ladyofthethread.livejournal.com/158883.html
It’s split pretty evenly so far so I’m not sure which way to go if I do plan something. |
|
|
| Birthday Plans? |
[Aug. 28th, 2009|09:34 pm] |
Hmm… I’m not sure if I’m going to try to do anything for my birthday this year. Like last year, it’s a few days after NYAF. I did a tea thing last year on Sunday afternoon after the con but only sakuralenayuy and usa_ko were able to make it. It’s also a bit hard to get from the Javits to other places around town. ^_^; And I know there are several other birthdays on my friends list around then so I’m not sure if people are already planning other things.
Also, I just realized the other night it’s going to be a bit crazy around then because my parents’ 30th anniversary is the day before my birthday. My mother was saying that we’d have the dinner party for that on Sunday, which is the last day of NYAF. So, I wouldn’t have as much time to hang out after the con that day. And the Saturday after the con (10/3) is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival so that night is also out. And I assume the weekend before NYAF, people might be busy with last minute sewing. ^_^;; Nights in general don’t work that well for me so I’d prefer to do a lunch/brunch thing (maybe dim sum?) or afternoon tea.
So, a little poll to help me figure out if it’s worth trying to plan anything or not…
Poll #1450367 Birthday Plans
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: Friends, participants: 9If I planned something for my birthday, would you be interested in attending? Which times would work for you? Which of these appeal to you?
Ekaterina’s petticoat has been done for a few days. On Wednesday, I went out and got millinery wire, buckram, and some wool so I can try to make a tricorne. Visited neoangelwink afterwards and cut out some of my hat pieces at her place. Also met her friend Flippy.
Hopefully, I’ll get the hat finished up over the weekend and then I should start messing around with the coat pattern again and see if I can finally get it to work this time.
And I think I’m about finished with uploading stuff to the Cure account I made a few weeks ago. I threw one of my Terra photos into the weekly contest on the Japanese side of the site since the current theme is all FF characters. Mostly just to amuse myself since I almost never have a costume that fits series contests on cosplay sites. I don’t actually expect to get any votes but figured it might be good for a bit of exposure. Only knew about the weekly contest because I remembered waynekaa talking about one some months back.
Okay, off to work on that hat… |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
lonely
surprised
tired
full
cold
busy
1 (20.0%)