We are backs

I wanted to make a derpy photo entry, because they are just so cheerful and entertaining and I myself love to read them! But while scrolling through our numerous cosplay folders, I realized that we don't have that many photos with odd facial expression. Instead, we have backs. I don't know how it happens, but we usually have backshot of ourselves or each others when ever we are in costumes. Yoki toyed with an idea of an photo post of our numerous back photos and on my spare time I made it happen. So here are the many backs from our cosplay journey!

As you can see from above we have high backs at rooftops. Then we have nature backs like seen below. Nature backs are many in numbers in our photo folders, but I picked these for the swinging action.

We also have nature backs with water and gentle summer breeze. And then we have scroching summer backs with heat and dust.

We have close up backs from nearby photoshoots and far away backs (or chased backs) from location photoshoots.

We have solo and duo backs with straight and aligned camera angles.

 But my favorites are definately the ones with two backs! Sometimes both in costumes and sometimes not.

And as an extra back we have this rare theatrical dragon's back!

We've heard that our regular walking speed could be described as fast, so maybe that's the reason for all the backs...

Amira and Karluk at Desucon Frostbite

Desucon Frostbite was held last weekend at Sibeliustalo, Lahti. It was a three day convention, but as we both had certain obligations towards work and school we only left to Lahti on Friday evening. As I wrote earlier, I crafted a costume for myself from Sandman for Saturday. I also made another costume for the weekend, but it was not for me. It was for Yoki.

On Sunday I dressed as Amira and Yoki draped herself in the multiple layers of Karluk’s outfit. When I look at the photos of us, I’m really happy how the costumes fit together; they have somewhat the same vibe, but are still totally different.

I’m truly grateful to everyone who came to talk to us, complimented the costumes or changed few words about last year’s competition. And the cuteness overload reactions were just priceless!

The photos in this post were taken by Emilia Lahtinen at Frostbite’s photobooth. I’m always so happy to get photographed by her, because it’s certain that I will love the outcome! Thank you yet again!

Photographer: Emilia Lahtinen
Costumes: Hiron/ Casualty Cosplay
Models: Yoki as Karluk, Hiron as Amira

Cosplay Christmas Ball with Wednesday Addams

In mid-December I surprised myself by attending to Cosplay Ball at Helsinki thanks to lovely Shewon who kindly shared her invitation with me! The Cosplay Ball was a sort of a Christmas party organized by local hobbyists, but with costumes and different sorts of ball and historical dances.

Before I talk about my costume of choice I shall raise my glass to the organizers and thank them for the lovely and exiting evening, which hopefully will turn into an annual event! It’s great to see enthusiastic and active people who make things happen and actually turn ideas to functional concepts. Even if the schedule didn’t hold and things changed bit on the way it really didn’t bother anyone. The overall atmosphere was joyful and relaxed.

And all the costumes! The organizers had set a dress code; smart dress, cosplay optional. There were lot of official costumes but also recognizable characters in formal attires. I myself thought about taking Diva with me, but having to travel by train to Helsinki and back set some limitations. I bet the dress would have been in terrible condition if I had stuffed it in my backpack. I ended up crafting a version of a character (in one evening, crazy business). I call the costume as a version, because I didn’t replicate the design directly from the reference material. Instead I used different features of the characters clothing ands appearance to create the look.

The character I chose was Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family. I absolutely love Wednesday by Christina Ricci!

The dress was moderately easy to make. I used matt polyester with teeny bit of elasthane and for once I made a dress without lining it. Instead I used a petticoat to give the hem some volume. I used traits of Wednesday’s signature dress to define the fit and the lengths of hem and sleeves. The details I also picked from the movie dress; button list on the front and white collars. I found old lace collars my mother had used when she was my age and decided to use them as part of the costume.

I wanted to make a prop to go with Wednesday. Marie Antoinette would have been wonderful to have, but with the time I had, I just had to abandon it. The first idea after the doll was a poison bottle. That was a good idea, but when I was raiding third pharmacy trying to find green food color I sort of regretted my decision. Christmas coming, green food color… Duh!

Finally I was able to find one jar with a helpful employee. She noticed that the expiration date had gone months ago, but it was fine by me. I just noted that I was not going to use it on anything edible. I got a weird look, but in the end I bought the product for half of the price.

The bottle itself I snatched from Yoki’s shelf, but in the end I found out that it was actually my prop bottle from the time I still LARPed. The bottle itself wasn’t waterproof thanks to the half crumbled cork. I couldn’t just color water, which was my original idea. Instead I made gelatin, poured it into the bottle and let it set on the refrigerator overnight. The result was really odd looking green wiggly… content.

The wig I had was bit thin to split on two braids, but I managed to pull off the hair style somehow. I was just happy that I even got a somewhat suitable, long, black wig! Everything happened in such short notice, that I really didn’t have time to buy anything new for the costume, except the fabric.

Contact lenses I also happened to have from previous projects and shoes I got from my mom. They were her dancing shoes, but thanks to our lovely dog who decided to sharpen her teeth on the pair years ago, I was able to snatch them for costuming purposes.

Altogether, I really enjoyed the ball! The atmosphere was great, my costume turned out fine, I even got recognized and I didn't miss my train home. The only shame was that I had to leave early, just before the disco started. Dancing and meeting other cosplayers out of con environment was a good mix indeed. All the people who I chatted with; you made my evening! Here I insert smiley faces and rows of hearts, even if that might be little out of character!

Photographs: Kyuu Eturautti
Cosplay and model: Hiron/ Casualty Cosplay

Eleventh Doctress photoshoot 2/2

The Doctor is fun, curious and kind.

A traveller...

... only with all of space and time.

Photographs: Karan
Cosplay and model: Hiron/ Casualty Cosplay

The year is 2014. The place: Cosplay workshop, naturally

When year 2013 was almost over I thought of writing an overview of our cosplay year, but then the busy schedule at work with normal Christmas hassle got in the way. For me 2013 was precious with Eurocosplay qualifiers and finals, but I also had quite productive year altogether.

I made four new costumes, finished and debuted two that I had started the year before, competed solo for the second time in my life and enjoyed the hobby more than ever. Yoki crafted two costumes based on her original designs, competed in an original creation class and was picked for Hall cosplay competition, had to make some sacrifices to cosplay goddesses in the form of hair and varied one of her previous costume designs for two different events.

Year 2014 seems to start with a nice buzz. The first convention is closing in and for us that is Desucon Frostbite at Lahti. We are attending only on Saturday and Sunday and will bring two costumes each.

I have been making a costume from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and will hopefully finish that for Saturday. Yoki is still pondering which costume to choose.

On Sunday I was thinking of wearing Amira with one new, major addition… You can’t imagine how happy I am about this… I’m going to have Karluk portrayed by Yoki!

Amira is a character who can support herself just fine, but Karluk being her counterpart and companion I thought it would be ideal to have him around. I carefully introduced the idea to Yoki, saying that I would make the costume myself and she wouldn’t need to worry about that at all. Other that wearing three layers of clothing... and contact lenses, which she just simply hates… But she agreed and I’ve been making Karluk’s attire from the back cover of the second manga issue for few weeks now.

I’ve enjoyed the sewing process a lot! Making Karluk’s costume really brings back memories from Amira, because the materials and some of the techniques I use are pretty much the same. With Karluk I’m making less by hand, but will embroider details on the under shirts and the hat. I’m trying to keep the embroidery styles different, since Amira and Karluk are from different regions. The designs on Amira’s clothes are more or less formed from lines. For Karluk I’m using organic designs and shapes filled with color.

With Karluk I’m also using my freedom as a costume maker to alter and to interpret the costume design. There aren’t many colored illustrations of Karluk and I think the cover art I’m using is the most reliable one there is. I’m combining the clothing details from the chapters and also historical aspects to create the set.

The biggest issue was finding green wool(ish) fabric for the outer robe, chapan. It felt like no one has middle blue or green wool this winter. Gladly one old corner store with its ancient fabric collections saved us! The stripes I sewed from blue and red wool with white yarn details. It took me about three evenings to make the jacket, which was surprising since I thought the decorations would take forever. I think the projects last year really had a positive impact on my sewing technique!

The under garments were the first to complete. I made trousers and an undershirt from linen with embroidered collar. Then I made the long tunic with pin-tuck panels on the edges and on the cuffs. The tunic I made from fine wool mix with nice, silky finish.

The hat is also on its way. I’ve actually made one hat already, which was part of my performance at London Comic Con. Sadly, it wasn’t the style needed so I ended up making a new one. Which is great, because I really do love hats!

Right now I struggle with finding a suitable wig for Karluk. If I can’t find one soon, I’m probably going to dye one from my collections. But next to that and the boots I have under construction, the costume looks quite good!

Death and Karluk are the first new costumes of the year. I have few ideas for upcoming projects and hopefully will debut them both this summer. For the fall we have a pair cosplay coming up from Yoki’s Varjella. I also would like to finish a project I’ve been dragging with me for almost three years now…

Finally, I would like to wish you, my fellow hobbyists a great and productive year 2014!

Onwards with the sound of her wings

After big projects I usually make a statement to my friends and family that I’m going to have a vacation from costume making… Who am I kidding here! Every time I make that promise, I’m back at our workshop few days later! Before I tried to redirect or suppress my urge to make something, but now I think I’m at a point that I don’t even want to fight against it. For me, creativity is just something that keeps me going and makes me happy! So yes, me and my sewing machine have had quality time together during past weekends!

Ten years ago I dressed up for penkkarit, which is a traditional masquarade when you are on your last year at upper secondary school in Finland. I didn’t know about cosplay back then, but the basic idea was the same; I was portraying a certain character from certain comic issue with clothes, props and make-up.

As a teenager I read a lot of fantasy literature and somehow found Neil Gaiman and the comics he wrote. And I totally and utterly fell in love with the character of Death in a form of perky gothic girl. Back then I dressed up as casual Death with jeans and tank top, which is her best know outfit. I was so proud of the costume, even if no one except my friends recognized me. I actually didn’t sew the clothes, because I didn’t have much experience or skills back then. Instead I bought white jeans and dyed them black, because apparently back jeans were really hard to find… Borrowed boots and tophat from my friend, altered a tank top and bought an umbrella. Sadly, I have no photos from the get up. Probably it’s better that way, since there is a high change that time plays its tricks with me and the costume was an utter disaster!

Ten years have passed since my first portrayal of a fictional character. Because I’m still in love with Neil Gaiman, The Sandman and endearing Death, I thought what would be a better idea than to take a second round with her. And now that new volumes are published, I couldn’t have chosen a better time!

Make-up test with white cream make-up and a random black wig.

This time I wanted to make more complex outfit from Death’s wardrobe and chose the formal wear from Season of Mists. The outfit includes a tulle skirts, a blouse with corset and satin gloves.

It was nice to make a corset for a change! I patterned it so that it has some traits of corsets made in 1700’s with flat bust and shoulder straps. The references I gathered shows that Death’s corset has lacing on front. I wanted to make my version so that it would be laced from the back. I wanted my corset to be more of amanipulative one and with back lacing it would be easier to tighten. As a result of this reasoning I made the lacing on the back and a fake lacing on the front. All those eyelets and my fingers… Outch!

With the shirt I made something that I have sworn not to do ever again! I layered organza with another type of fabric. I do like the look, but organza is just so annoying to sew and more so with a material that acts totally different! It’s just nerve-racking! After few seams it fortunately started to be manageable and in the end I had a sheer blouse with organza and fine dotted tulle on top. I covered some old buttons with cotton and stretch satin to match the shirt and hand-sewed the decorative sequin ribbon on the front.

The skirt is still unfinished, because I underestimated how much tulle I actually need to achieve the look from the comic. I think I've used about 6 meters now and I'm still counting.

Next to clothes I’ve made the string of pearls she has on her hip and the necklace. I actually will redo the ankh, because… Well, I tried to use Worbla to make it, but apparently I do not know how to work the material to make it look reasonably good. I probably will try my luck with Fimo. I’m positive that it will be a better choice, since I have some knowledge about it.

The wig is the only component I haven't started yet. I have a reasonably good base wig for the purpose, but Death's updo requires some drastic changes on the forehead. I will finally be able to try making a lace front wig and that is something I'm really looking forward to!

Finishing touches

After the qualifiers to ECC it was clear to me that I would definitely compete with Amira at the finals. But I also knew that I needed to upgrade the costume. I myself had found few flaws on it and after discussing with the judges, I knew what I should place under the magnifying glass.

Photograph: Yoki/ Casualty Cosplay

First thing I wanted to fix was the jewelry. I had little experience with Fimo and other polymer clays prior to Amira, so I naturally chose the wrong paints. Now I know that you shouldn’t choose paints with solvents in them, because they will soften the clay and make it feel tacky and it will never really dry out. This creates the problem at least for me, since all the nice metallic finish paints have some sort of solvent in them. I tried to look for chrome acrylic paints and then just metal acrylics, but nothing fitted my image of the final color.

Thankfully I went to an art store and after discussing with the seller, I ended up trying out something she proposed; I first paint the jewelry with gesso, then acrylic paint with metal powder in it. The gesso and the acrylic paint created a protective cocoon for the clay. And finally I applied metal miniature paint by brushing it very gently to the surface. The seller had advised me to use as little pressure as possible so that the strong miniature paint would not break through the acrylic paint. And it worked!

Also to add some more “real” to the jewelry, I asked my Russian friends for small change coins, Kopecks to use on the amulet and the necklace. Earlier, I had made the coins from Fimo, but I really wanted them to jingle when I move. Using real coins made the jewelry heavier, but this only meant that I had to use stronger thread on them.

Next thing I started was the boots. The first ones were made of pleather and they didn’t have a base shoe inside, which is equivalent to poorly supported feet. I still had the old shoes on at Tracon and after a day walking around in them, I really wanted to make new ones.

I had my doubts with pleather earlier, but I was running out of time before the qualifiers so I had little choice left. I chose pleather since the color scheme was close to the references and it was rather easy to work on. For the new boots I chose wool as the main material. It felt a lot more authentic and would enable same type of appliqué technique as pleather.

I found the perfect shade of jacket wool for the dark, mud colored parts. With the light blue sections I had to cheat a bit and use polyester-viscose felt, which I dyed the same way people dye their wigs. I was hesitant that regular cloth dye would not work, even if the felt was a viscose mix. We happened to hace this perfect colored tube of marker fluid lying around, which was meant to use years back to dye Clef’s wig with. The cosplay never happened, but now at least the dye served its purpose.

For the base shoe I chose a regular women’s walking shoe. I cut out the tip of the shoe and made new one from felt to make it more flat and also to give the sole a small curve. Then I took a carpet knife and started to slice to the heel to more “boot like”. The heel of the shoe was really distinctively shaped for a walking shoe, as it spread out on the bottom and was over all really bulky looking. It was also too high compared to the reference. The easy solution was to attach the boot cover so that about two centimeters of the heel was left visible and three centimeters were hidden inside as a build-on hidden heel.

I made few alterations to the boots based on the old design. For example I patterned the tip of the shoe differently and made few tweaks on the design also. I have made boot covers earlier and the problem was always how to finish the edges. I finally seemed to solve it!

After the edges of the cover were turned and glued over to the bottom of the sole, I took a piece of real leather and cut it to fit. At this point I cleaned the sole from dirt and dust, spread glue evenly and pressed the piece of leather on place. This neatens the raw edges of the boot cover, hides the modern looking pattern on the sole and is also good materials choice to use since it’s not slippery and will also look good!

I also worked on the skirt a bit to make it bit more finalized. I dug up every piece of linen I had left from the skirt and made bias tape from it. I used the bias to hide the stitch marks inside the hem of the skirt. This was really small deed to make during few evenings in front og the TV, yet it impressed few lovely people on backstage; “You even made bias!” And I was smiling stupidly and squeaking, because I was so happy that someone noticed it! Thank you for that!

Next to working with already existing pieces of clothing, I made something completely new also! I had made the underwear for the qualifiers, but if you have read the manga you painfully know that something is missing… The socks! I was ahead of the schedule at one point, so I decided to try to make them. I kind of knew that I was crazy to even start them, but then again I was so madly in love with the gossamer silk jersey I had purchased and the red and white silk threads and… Yes, it was madness!

I actually had the socks on to-do list for the qualifiers. I’m actually glad that I didn’t make them back then, since I only found the perfect material after the competition. I also think that embroidery is now lot easier for me and that if something was required for that type of fine fabric. It took me about two to three evenings to make the embroidery and few hours to put the socks together and I truly think that they are really nice touch to the costume! I could walk around in them forever, because the material is just so freaking pleasant!

This particular costume is now more or less finished. I'm still hoping that I can get a location shoot organized sometime in the future, because I would really like some sheeps to go with the costume! But for now, after a year, I can direct my attention towards new costumes which naturally have piled up now. I will surely use the costume in concentions to come, because and due to the working hours and crafting it's really comfortable and easy to wear and it's my favorite costume I've ever made... And needless to say, I love the character!