Lizard Beans Cosplay Showcase: Arwen's "Chase" Jacket

Well, it's time for the LOOONG overdo Cosplay Showcase for Lizard Beans! Hooray! And it's awesome. But before we get to that, let me quickly direct you to this update post that explains my long absence and what I will be doing with this blog in the future. So once you are done checking out Ms. Lizard Bean's epicness you can pop on over there and read that. But first!:

Cosplay Showcase

Arwen's "Chase" Jacket from The Fellowship of the Ring

Photo By Tim Boothby

Why did you choose this character/prop to make? Why did you choose it for the showcase?

I'd really been wanting to make a Lord of the Rings cosplay since it's my favorite series ever! And I really wanted to make a cosplay to wear to the midnight premiere of the first Hobbit movie to show off my Tolkien love. I really wanted to make something of Arwen's and this jacket was the only thing she wore that wasn't a dress. Dresses aren't really my thing, but warrior babes are :) And I've always loved the look of it, I just avoided it for a long time because it looked too hard. But I finally had the proper motivation to make me shut up and do it. 

I chose it for the showcase because it was a beast to make. I had to use pieces from 3 different patterns which I modified a bit and I had to make a few pattern pieces of my own. It was a labor of love as well as frustration and I am insanely happy with the final product. This isn't something you could just make in a weekend (unless you're some crazy wonder seamstress, which I am not). So I'd like to show off the construction process for you guys.

What was your construction process?

Research- I always start by finding pictures from every possible angle. I watched the scene from the movie and took snapshots on my computer so that I didn't miss any details. And I even found a site where someone had gotten to see the actual costume in person and made an in depth analysis of the costume.

Gather Materials- The analysis site said the actual jacket was made of dove grey suede, so I found a similar charcoal grey microsuede that worked. Then I found fabric for the underskirt and undersleeves pretty easily. The sashes were harder. I found some cheap chiffon but it was a light blue, so I had to dye them in a mixture of grey and purple dye to get them the right color. And I got really lucky and found some mesh fabric leftover from Halloween that looked similar to the mesh on her collar.

Patterns- I bought a pattern for a vest that had a rolled collar, but it had no princess seams. So I traced out the pattern, cut princess seams into the copy and then added seam allowances to the new seams. I used two different skirt pattern pieces for the bottom half of the jacket. And I had to make a pattern for the petal shaped sleeves. I just cut newspaper little by little until it looked the way I wanted it to.

Test- I bought a bunch of muslin fabric to make a test jacket. It's a good thing I did because my torso was longer than the vest pattern and I had to add 5 inches to the bottom. It also let me test out the petal sleeves to see how well they hung from the top part of the sleeves.

Cut and Assemble Pieces- Exactly what it sounds like. I followed the directions as much as I could and made up the rest. The design on the sleeves was drawn on with an oil based paint pen.

Accessorize- I found my leggings, elf ears (by Aradani Studios), and Evenstar on Amazon. I already had the boots. I made the brooch out of Sculpey based on a design I found on the analysis site. I threw the sword together at the last minute. I cut it out of 1/2 inch thick Sintra, shaved the edges and painted it. It's not great but it looks good in pictures.

Photo by Tim Boothby

The things you love about this cosplay/prop.

Like I said, Lord of the Rings is my favorite series ever. Books and movies. So I love that I can cosplay someone from my favorite series. It's also very easy to get in and out of, and I don't have to wear a lot of makeup for it. I feel very badass and beautiful. 

The things you hate.

I hate pulling off my elf ears when I'm done. I hold them on with spirit gum and it feels like I'm peeling my skin off with the ears.

A general closing statement and where one might find more pictures of this and other cosplays you’ve done.

I was very proud of myself when I was finished with it but I have gotten such a positive response from other people that it's turned into one of my favorite experiences with cosplay. I've come very far in the last couple of years and I hope to go further.

You can see more of me on my facebook cosplay page ^_^

Lizard Beans Cosplay

Photo by Tim Boothby

Woo!! Super awesome! I have seen this cosplay in person and it is simply lovely! Thank you Lizard Beans for sharing your process with us (and for your infinite patience waiting for this post.) You can read her interview here if you haven't already.

Ok! So I hope you all enjoyed reading about Lizard Beans! I also hope you all will head to this post to read up on where this blog is going in the future!


Until next time!



~Edward

Cosplay Showcase Special: Usagi Yojimbo Plush

*looks at calendar* Oh it’s Wednesday..... OH CRAP IT’S WEDNESDAY?!?!

Sorry about that. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m terribly forgetful.  But hey, as long as I’m posting once a week we’re good!

This time it’s a special cosplay showcase of my little Usagi Yojimbo plush that I entered into the Plushie Costume Contest at Fandemonium this year. I know I said this in my last post, but I actually won fan favorite with this guy and 2nd place with the judge! I’m so proud of him so I decided I’d share him with you guys! I hope you like him!

First off, if you don’t know who or what Usagi Yojimbo is, you should check it out! He’s an anthropomorphic bunny samurai and he kicks ass!! What else do you need to know? Oh, he also made an appearance in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tv series back in the 90’s. And the Turtles appeared in his comic as well. (I haven’t seen or read any of those episodes/issues, but someday I will!!)

Cosplay Showcase: Usagi Yojimbo Plush

Master samurai Usagi!

Why did you chose this character to make? Why did you chose it for the showcase?

I super love the comic Usagi Yojimbo. And when I found out about the plushie contest I knew I had to make this bunny into Usagi! His little ears are perfect!! And his profile is even the same as Usagi’s! Even though he doesn’t have the right legs his top half was so right I just had to make it.

I wanted to share him in the showcase because I’m so proud of him! This is the first time I’ve ever made a costume for a plushie and I think he turned out really well! There isn’t anything about him that I want to change or fix up. He turned out just how I planned!

What was your construction process?

Well first I had to device a pattern for the hakama. His legs are shaped like bunny legs and they are attached to the side of his body, so pants don’t really work for him. So I made a paper mock up that looked like pants and just kept shortening the legs until they actually fit him. Then I made a mock up with scrap fabric and added the appropriate pleating and then I made the actually pants. And they turned out perfect! 

I like how his little feet poke out.

Next I made his kimono top. This plush used to be a white rabbit plush and he had a little jacket with coat tails and a little vest. I used the vest to make a pattern for the top part of his nagajuban (“Kimono-shaped robe worn by both men and women beneath the main outer garment”- Wikipidea. Used to keep the kimono cleaner). I figured I didn’t need to make a whole one since you only see the top part of it peak out under his kimono. And it’s not like he’s going to sweat on his kimono. Lol. Then I took apart the jacket so I could use it to base my kimono pattern off of. I used bias tape for the white edges. Everything went so smoothly and I only had to unpick stitches one time! That’s a first for me! I painted the little designs on the front and the sleeves.

Then I made his katana and wakizashi (that’s the shorter sword). They are made of cardboard and tin foil. I painted the cardboard and it kind of looks like lacquered wood! I was quite pleased with that. I wrapped tin foil around the blade part so they looked like metal and I wrapped the handle with green thread. I like the thread better than if I had painted it. It looks more like a katana. I also made the sheaths out of cardboard that I folded over.

Deadly weapons...

The final detail is his top knot. The tie isn’t anything special, but to be accurate to the “real” Usagi, I placed a lock of hair (that was my husband’s) wrapped in a piece of paper inside of it. Usagi keeps a lock of hair that belonged to his true love inside his knot at all times. Of course no one sees that part, but I know it’s there. 

He looks like he's going to kick some bad guy butt!

The things you love about this cosplay.

Everything. Lol. I just love him so much. He turned out so good and he’s so stinking cute I can hardly stand it. My favorite thing would have to be a toss up between his pants and his swords. They both turned out exactly how I planned them and I’m really proud of that.

The things you hate.

Nothing really. Well, I guess if I had to pick a thing I would have finished the inside seems a little better, as that docked me points on the judging. But I’m not going to fix it. I like him just how he is. I just know better for next time to finish my seems nice.

A general closing statement and where one might find more pictures of this and other cosplays you’ve done.

I fucking love this bunny!! I don’t ever want to take his costume off him! It’s so adorable and I love it. I enjoyed making plushie costumes so much I think I’ll do it more regularly. And I definitely want to enter the contest again next year! And you can find more pics on my facebook page or my deviant art.

Photo by Krystal Miller

There he was! The cutest bun-bun ever! I hope you guys enjoyed this entry and thanks for indulging this proud plushie mama. Haha.

Next week.... Well I dunno what I’m doing next week... I’ll think of something. 

~Edward

Cosplay Showcase: Eric Smart's Steampunk OC Lewis Mycroft

*Me last night at 2am*OH CRAP! I forgot to post my blog!! 

Ok, so that's what happened. What did I do while I should have been writing my blog? I watched my husband play "Batman: Arkham City" all day.



So anywho! Today is Eric's cosplay showcase! Woo! It's pretty sweet!

Cosplay Showcase: Steampunk OC Lewis Mycroft

Why did you chose this character/prop to make? Why did you chose it for the showcase?

This is an OC (original character) of mine. My friends and I want to do a steampunk assassin group, my character has two sides in our 'world'. Behind the scene he is the chemist for the assassin group, known as Lewis Mycroft the Third. Well I wanted a cool field version of him, one that goes out on the assassinations when need be. I've always had an appreciation for Tesla coils so I wanted to incorporate one somehow. After tons of designs and concept sketches I finally came up with what you see before you. Agent 713, as he calls himself while in the field, he is sent in rather to capture people they need alive, taser them basically, or if things go wrong jump in, crank up the power and help his partners out.

I wanted to showcase it because it combines a lot of my talents into one project. First off this is straight out of my head so it shows off my imagination. I also used my skills with wood and leather on the majority of this project. I also learned a new skill while working on this project, copper beveling.

What was your construction process? 

Well, where as this was a prop for an original character of mine I guess the first thing was figuring out what it looked like. Originally it was going to be more like a large canon type thing but eventually it came down to something that would provide maneuverability and attack. The first physical thing that I tackled was the most time tedious, wrapping the wires on the Tesla Coil shafts. After that it was a matter of wrapping the secondary wire (not nearly as hard) and mounting them into their base.

The next two parts happened around the same time. At the shop I started construction on the control box (the box mounted to the belt that goes around my waist) and at home I started work on the leather cuffs. The key elements to the control box were adding the power gauge, which I found at Rusty Retro Antiques, and the control switch, which I had. Yeah for being a pack rat! I cut out the leather for the cuffs and tooled it. The pattern that I chose was one I created based off a Tesla Coil schematic.

After the cuffs were done the Tesla Coil base was mounted to them. Then at this point it was connecting all of the pieces together with hoses. The last piece of the puzzle was the Leyden jar. It was a modified plastic tube where I built a new wood topper with a quark center. Like a regular Leyden jar it is wrapped both inside and out with aluminum half way up it. Then I made the thin leather sheath for it and mounted it to the control box.

The things you love about this cosplay/prop.

Well one fact that I love about it is that it is a creation straight from my mind. My imagination created this and I was able to bring it to life. I also love the look of it and how it looks on me. Not to sound vain, I just mean I really like how all the elements came together to form an interesting device.

The things you hate.

The Tesla coils stick out past my hands. I designed them this way because if he were in a fight he would have that added distance to jab at his enemy also it would keep him from shocking himself. The only problem with this is that it makes some tasks very difficult or hazardous. The first time I wore them I got a call from my wife. When I answered the phone and went to place it to my ear and I smacked myself with the coil. So if anything that would probably be the 'hate' factor on this prop but again the deign has a set and very logical reasoning. So basically it's the way it is and I just need to learn how to answer my phone with them on (and other tasks).

A general closing statement and where one might find more pictures of this and other cosplays you’ve done.

Steampunk is something that I will always love creating for. I love prop building in general don't get me wrong but steampunk just lets my imagination run wild to create and have fun. This is just one example of the fun I have with steampunk.

Other places you can find more would be:

DeviantArt

Facebook

How neat!!  I love original character designs and I also like steampunk! A steampunk taser, that's pretty clever! I like when someone does something other than a steampunk mechanic or something. Lol. I like all the intricate designs in this one. So awesome!

So, this weekend I'm going to Fandemonium, so next week will be a convention review! Woo! Though it will be late since I'll be driving home on Monday. So expect a post Tuesday or possibly Wednesday, depending on how pooped I am.

Also, I'm going to do some changes with my blog. But I'll let you guys all know about that next week.

I hope I see you at the con! Here is my cosplay schedule, so if you see me, come say hi! I'll be looking for folks to do more interviews with, so if you would like to be interviewed, come see me! I'm friendly I promise! I've heard that sometimes people are afraid to approach me and are intimidated by me?!? I have never seen myself as scary or intimidating, so please don't be scared! I am quite friendly, I assure you. If in doubt, you could always offer me chocolate. Haha, not really (unless you really want to give me chocolate and then that would be awesome. ((You don't really have to. (((But I love dark chocolate)))) Ok, I'm done. XD

Friday: Sailor Moon
Saturday: Morning- Peacebow OC / Afternoon- Briar Rose
Sunday- Alice

Ok! See you there!

~Edward


(Seriously though, you don't have to give me chocolate. XD)

Cosplay Showcase: Rina as Lara Croft

So this week is Cosplay Showcase with Rina Love as Lara Croft! I think this cosplay is totally kick ass, and I think you guys will think so too!

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Reborn

Photo by Riamux Creations

Why did you chose this character to cosplay. Why did you chose it for the showcase?

I chose Lara because she is one of my all time favorite action heroines. The costume is functional, easy to wear, and I just really enjoy being Lara. The game is a lot of fun too.

Photo by Riamux Creations

What was your construction process?

I thrifted the pants, found a top at Forever21 which I distressed using paints, oils, and fake blood. I cut holes in it to look like bullet wounds.
For the bandages I used scrap fabrics.
I spent months researching all of the angles, clothing, and accessories. I dyed my hair brown and grew my bangs out and used clip in extensions (human hair) For added length (I proceeded to purchase a wig for conventions down the line).
The boots I already owned.
The gun is an airsoft gun that's been disabled. 

Photo by Riamux Creations

I made the gun holster from a pleather mini skirt I found in the mall, hand sewn by me.
The watch was found on ebay.
The (not shown) walkie talkie was from my dad, who also made my climbing axe.
The bow I found on Ebay (Not shown).

I made my necklace as well.

Photo by Riamux Creations

The things you love about this cosplay.

All of my accessories and it's honestly a lot of fun to wear. It's extremely comfortable.

The things you hate.

Doing the makeup and putting on the wig can take a while.

Photo by Riamux Creations

A general closing statement and where one might find more pictures of this and other cosplays you’ve done.

Facebook and Deviantart! :) 

Photo by Riamux Creations

Man, I love all the details in this one. It looks awesome! And what an epic photo shoot! I hope you all enjoyed this Cosplay Showcase with Rina!

Next week I think it will be a general update. It's crunch time for Anime Oasis. Only a month away! And I have so much to get done! Gah!!

Until next time!

Edward

Cosplay Showcase: Narnian as Child Rydia

My wonderful husband got me sick.... again. This is the third time he's gotten me sick and I've about had it! *grumble grumble*
 

But onto happier things! Cosplay Showcase with Narnian!! Yay! If you guys didn't read her interview last week, you should! I hope you all enjoy!

Cosplay Showcase

~Child Rydia from Final Fantasy IV

Why did you choose this character to cosplay?  Why did you choose it for the showcase?  

~I chose to cosplay Child Rydia for two reasons: 1) I love her character. She is a very strong character, even as a child, and is one of the driving forces of the game. In addition, she is one of the best characters to have on your team, especially as a child, since she is both a white and black mage. 2) I love her design. Green is one of my all time favorite colors and her design is full of different greens.  ^_^

What was your construction process?

~Overall, my construction process was very simple. I made the leotard by phenagling my measurements onto the fabric and worked with it until it fit how I wanted. The skirt was made from a scrap piece I measured and cut into a rectangle and gathered on the side.  The sash is self-explanatory since it is just a rectangle knotted at one end. The shoes and bracelets were borrowed from a friend since I did not have time to make my own.  

My favorite part is the cape and beading. The cape was made from two lengths of organza like fabric and a necklace starter with added leafy beads. I burned the edges to keep the organza from fraying and add a worn look to nod to Rydia’s back-story. Afterward, I added beads and beads and beads. There are floral and leaf beads on the leotard, small gold beads on the skirt, and beads on her hair clip. I think the outfit needs more beads once I finish the shoes and bracelets. 

The things you love about this cosplay.

~The variety of colors and the detail work are what I love most about this cosplay.  ^_^ I tried to make it a very colorful cosplay to evoke a sense of childlikeness and festivity since I imagine the people of the marsh were a very festive and colorful people.  

The things you hate.

~To be honest, I do not really hate anything about this cosplay.  I wish the leotard construction was a little better and the outfit as a whole needs more beads.  Other than that, I really love this cosplay.

A general closing statement and where one might find more pictures of this and other cosplays you’ve done.

~Cosplay is about enjoying what you do and sharing that enjoyment with others in a polite manner. Do not be disheartened by looking at yourself and/or others. You will improve. Be diligent and take the time to learn. Remember that cosplaying is about having fun. It is not a popularity contest or competition. There are aspects of competition when you are in a formal contest, but that is not all the time. Cosplaying is about working at your own pace to be your best. You cannot be your best if you are worried about and/or comparing yourself to others.  ^_^

You can find more of my work at the following websites:

www.facebook.com/narniancosplay

www.ever-smiling.deviantart.com

Yay!! How lovely! I hope you guys liked reading about Narnian! I think she's an amazing cosplayer and she really inspires me! I can't wait to do more joint cosplays with her in the future!

Until next time!

Edward