I'm awesome! (Teutonic Knights!Prussia WIP)

It was pretty hard to decide which version of Prussia I would make first; man, I love all those designs! In the end I decided to begin to make his Teutonic Knights version - it isn't so popular and it's pretty easy to make. I will make at least one of his uniforms in the future though (when I have more money and time, that is).

The challenge #1 was to find some reference pictures of this version.
...guess if there were any?

Nope.

I decided to take a couple of screenshots of the anime episode in which Prussia appears in this certain outfit it took me an eternity to find out which episode it was.
The quality is quite... Well, hideous, but at least I was able to figure out the parts of this costume!

As you can see the costume is almost completely white, excluding those black cross details. A tunic, trousers and a cape ( + shoes of course) - seems quite easy, doesn't it?

Let's get into business~!

The trousers and the shoes

I didn't really bother to make anything new; my Levi cosplay provided me both of these! Since one can't see the shoes clearly I'll just roll with what I have and those boots are the best option - at least at the moment.
Oh, the Levi costume provides me the belt also, I didn't have to worry about sewing it either! 
I might make new trousers and shoes for Prussia in the future, I don't know yet.

The tunic

You know that feeling when you think that you don't have any of those fabrics which you would need left and then you find a shitload of that fabric?
Happened to me with this costume - I thought that I didn't have much left of the white fabric I wanted to use for this costume but then I found something like two meters of it o__O I'm not complaining, I don't have to use extra money on this now (since that Avalon guy from StarStable Online pretty much ate half of my cosplay budget for this spring)!

This was easy one to make - as you can see from the pictures (it's been such a long time since I've actually taken WIP pictures)! 

I used the patterns of a sleeveless top... 

The tunique without sleeves. I decided to attach the cross to the shirt by zigzagging it.

A close-up of the zigzag. Guess if I really want the new sewing machine and new threads? -__-"

Aaaaand then happened this...

The zigzag killed the needle... :<

Luckily I had more needles left but guess if I cried a bit when I understood that there would be two more crosses left (I attached them to the cape)? Aaagh!

Making the sleeves. They were too wide at first so I had to make a quick decision about how to continue making them and the result is worth a cringe... But hey, it worked!

After the sleeve width problem I just attached the sleeves to the tunic - and here's the final product!

Not ironed in the pic though.

The cape

 For some reason I didn't take any WIP pictures of the cape... x__x Well, I made it in a hurry and didn't have time to think about taking pictures, sorry!
I'm likely to re-make the cape in the future so you'll get the WIP pictures then!

And why am I already considering re-making it?
...let's just say that this is the new episode of "Firith and the random materials" show. This cape is made out of enstex.
Enstex.
Well, it isn't too bad... It'll work for now.

Make-up test~!

Without lenses though... .__. Pic (c) Shiro Samurai.

I will phostoshoot this costume quite soon actually - and I have a lot material to post so stay tuned~!

-Firith

The mysterious druid of Valedale - Avalon WIP and preview

Finally I'm making something!
Here it comes - a WIP post about a certain druid from the game StarStable Online. It's Avalon - a guy without a surname.

Avalon reference picture (found on Google).

This guy is the one who has basically all the information about Jorvik and its history (well, he might not know as much as Spy Master but still). He's one of the characters who help your character and the other Soulriders in the war against Garnok and its minions.

I must admit that the first time when I saw Avalon... He scared the shit out of me! You see, I had just been watching an episode of Doctor Who. In said episode they were fighting against the Weeping Angels I'm so going to cosplay that Statue of Liberty Weeping Angel in the future and this guy's clothing looks just a bit like theirs...
And when I was just running all around Valedale with my horse I literally ran into Avalon.
I might have let out a very, eh, manly scream. Oops.

But let's get into the business~!

Avalon was quite easy to make but damn, my back still hurts from painting in a hunched position. Yes - I decided to paint those white patterns since it was the easiest option. And cheapest.
But yeah, for the robe I used these patterns:

• Upper part of the robe: patterns of a sleeveless top
• The lower part of the robe: patterns of an A line skirt (originally used for Cornelia Hale)
• The sleeves: the pattern I used for North Italy's uniform 

Really, I'm not even sure if this is a cosplay or a puzzle...

This is where I started.

That's not the actual length of the robe; it's a lot longer. In the end I begun to wonder was there even any point to use that skirt pattern but oh well.

Painting the sleeves.

This took a lot more time than I thought it would take. I painted the belt and the hem of the robe too. The sleeves and the hem are painted with white fabric paint and the belt is painted with a mixture of yellow and white paints.

The paint isn't waterproof until one irons it. I bought the paint from Rauman Askarteluohjaus.

I'm pretty happy how this turned out to be! 

On the left: the finished product (sleeve). It took an hour to paint...

I painted these on some old newspapers and at some point I understood that the paint had gone through the fabric - and that's why the newspapers got attached to the fabric. There are still bits and pieces of paper in my costume.

Oops.

But yeah, I didn't let that disturb me too much and just went on with my project.

The details before I attached them to the robe.

Fun fact: these are the symbols of the Soulriders. The star symbolizes Lisa, the crescent moon symbolizes Linda, the sun symbolizes Anne ("The Sun of Pandoria") and the lightning bolt symbolizes Alex.
When I attached these to the robes I raged and cried A LOT. You see, the thread I used had shitty quality and my sewing machine didn't want to co-operate with it. On top of that my sewing machine is at as old as I am (and that means 20 years) so yeah, I guess that the old guy just didn't want to be my friend either - in some parts of the costume the zigzag looks very hideous.

The backside of the robe.

The front side of the robe. Excuse me my foot photobombing...

After this all I had to do was to sew those two pieces + sleeves together and the robe was ready~!

At this point I have to admit that I left out some details from the sleeves and the cape. You see, all of those are symbols from the game and every symbol is quite important. I really couldn't figure out which symbols I should've made (I mean, look at that reference picture - some parts look very incoherent!) so I decided to leave them out. Didn't want to put wrong symbols there because wrong symbol = wrong meaning.

Then... The hooded cape.
I didn't have patterns for this but luckily my lovely godmother had and she gave the patterns to me <3
This one was quite easy to make, only took me a couple of hours to make and it would've taken even less time had my sewing machine not bitched about everything.

I don't have any other WIP pics of this, sorry. :<

And after that...
My costume was finally ready!!

I didn't have time to do the make-up test yet, sorry about that.

The preview pics © my little brother (who actually asked if I was going to cosplay Gandalf the Grey, sorry bro, at least not yet xD).

I will wear this costume to Yukicon - only on Saturday though, I don't even know yet if I'll attend the con on Sunday or not.
But there it is, my first cosplay in 2017!
See you guys in Yukicon~!

-Firith

Vee~! North Italy WIP & preview

A few months ago I decided to cosplay North Italy from Hetalia: Axis Powers at Tracon 2016. At some point I almost cancelled this plan since, well, I really thought that I couldn't make this costume - I've never made military outfits before and I thought that they would be too difficult for me to make, especially when I haven't made almost anything myself this year. In the end I decided that "fuck it, I can do it", called my godmother and she was kind enough to help me with the patterns etc.

So, let's begin~!

The collar shirt I used in my second Walter photoshoot is actually meant for Italy. I bought it from Tallinn in May since it cost something like ten euros and I wouldn't have had time to sew it myself anyway. Well, in that point I might have had time, but.. I know myself too well.

The first self-made thing for this costume were the pants. I used the same patterns which I used also for my James and Levi pants, just modified them a bit. Nothing too difficult, only took me a few hours to make (I think it was something like four hours). Note that the fabric I bought isn't legit for the uniforms but North Italy's uniform in Hetalia isn't legit either so I decided not to be too strict about it.

The next part on my "must to do"-list was the jacket of the uniform. I know, it's missing some details but I ran out of time (probably my own fault this time AGAIN) and since the uniform isn't legit I was like "nah, fuck it, it's good enough". I'll probably make those details later.
Since I hadn't done anything like this before I quite quickly contacted my godmother again and asked for her advice. And today, a couple of days before the con, she had time to help me. It took us 8 hours to make everything ready, and I had already made the lining, half of the jacket and some things for the pockets! x__x
One can't see the buttons in the jacket since the buttonholes are hidden under the facing - we decided to be ninjas since the buttons can't be seen in the reference picture either.
The most difficult thing to make was probably the collar. I've tried to make a similar collar before but without good results. This time, however, I managed to make it quite well!
I didn't have time to take pictures during the making process but there really wasn't much to photograph (and at some point the whole costume got on my nerves and I was ready to go into the rubbish bin).
Anyway, here's the end result (some kind of preview at the same time)! Pictures © my brother.

I'll wear the same shoes which I wore when I cosplayed Levi in 2014. I had no time to search another shoes so those will do this time.

But here it is, the blog post about my North Italy! See you at Tracon, vee~!

(Oh, and I bought my Italy wig from Lucaille WIG. I had a huge headache while doing the preview so I decided not to wear it but you'll see it in the photoshoot pics - and probably in a bunch of stupid selfies I'll post on FB and Instagram.)

-Firith

Ensimmäinen gijinkani, Darkrai./My first gijinka, Darkrai.

Koska en ole tullut hommanneeksi Sylvariin lisää kangasta vielä toistaiseksi, aloin miettiä projektia, johon saisin sisällytettyä ainakin sen suhteellisen suuren määrän mustaa jämäkangasta ja mielellään pitkän, hopeisen peruukkini, jonka ostin Icy-cossiani varten.
Idea Darkraihin lähti siitä, kun keskustelin erään henkilön kanssa Pokémoneista ylipäänsä sekä eritoten juuri elokuvista. Darkrai on ollut aiemminkin mietinnässä, mutta olen työntänyt sen mielessäni taka-alalle. Tämänhetkinen projekti saattaa tarkoittaa joitakin pieniä muutoksia cosplay-suunnitelmissani, mutta no, saanpahan tuon kankaan pois tuosta pyörimästä.
Suunnitelmana oli tehdä asuun tuo takin ja liivin yhdistelmä, hihakkeet sekä säärystimet. Loput osat kehittäisin jostakin. Hahmo on lisäksi Bulbapedian mukaan sukupuoleton, joten päätin tehdä miespuolisen version.

I haven't had the time or money to buy more fabric for my Sylvar costume so a few days ago I started to think about a new project. There were a couple of criteria: I should be able to use a great amount of black fabric which has been in the corner of my room for ages and I should also be able to use the silver-colored wig I bought for my Icy cosplay.
Why Darkrai? Well, I was talking about Pokémon and the movies with one person and that conversation started this project. I've thought about cosplaying Darkrai earlier but for some reason I have never done it before. This project may also mean that some of my cosplay plans for next year may be cancelled but at least I don't have to stare at that black fabric pile in the corner of my room anymore.
My plan: I would make the combination of a cloak and a vest, the arm things (I still don't know the right translation) and the gaiters. The other parts of the costume should be found from my clothing closet. According to Bulbapedia Darkrai doesn't have a clear gender so I decided to make a male Darkrai.

Peruukki/The wig

Peruukilla on pituutta noin metri, ja Darkraihin se sopii sävynsä puolesta täydellisesti. Darkrain tukkalaite olisi semihaastava väkerrettävä, joten mitä oletettavimmin pidän peruukin ihan vain tuollaisena. Mokoma on lisäksi niin ohut, että pitäisi lisäkuituja jostakin vääntää, mutta menkööt noin. 

Jonkin käsittelyn tämä yksilö tosin vaatii ennen varsinaisesti päivänvaloon tuomista, tuo on varsinainen takkupesäke ja äärimmäisen ärsyttävä huoltaa. 

The wig is about 100 centimeters long and the shade of silver is perfect for Darkrai. It would be pretty challenging to make a wig Darkrai actually requires so I guess that I'll just roll with this wig. There aren't a lot of fibers either and at the moment I'm too lazy to order another wig for extra fibers so I think that that wig is good enough.

But at least it needs a proper brushing...

Takki/The coat

Takin mallia mietin pitkään. Oli selvää, että halusin helmasta rikkonaisen ja kauluksen pitäisi olla punainen, mutta kaikki muu olikin sitten vähän auki. Kaksi pääasiallista kysymystäni olivat takin pituus ja se, tekisinkö siihen hihat. 

Lopulta päätin, että takki olisi edestä lyhyempi kuin takaa, enkä tekisi siihen hihoja. Sen sijaan päädyin hiha-asioissa vähän toisenlaiseen ratkaisuun, kuten myöhemmin näette. Kaulus on perus pystykaulus.

Takki on vuorittamaton, ja tarkoituksella myös hieman epäsiistin näköinen syystä että Darkrai = painajainen. Painajaiset eivät ole kauniita. Siispä myöskään versioni Darkraista ei tavallaan ole kovinkaan siisti. Perus langanpätkät sun muut tietenkin siistin pois, mutta se idea, mikä ei Conchitan asun yläosassa toiminut, toimii Darkrain takissa.
Takki on myös edestä avonainen.

It took me a long while to decide what kind of a coat I wanted to make for Darkrai. It was obvious that I wanted to make the hem look 'broken' and the collar should be red, otherwise I had no idea what kind of a coat I should make. The two main issues were the length of the coat and the question "To make or not to make the sleeves?"
In the end I decided that the coat should be shorter at the front side and longer at the back side. I also decided not to make the sleeves. The collar is quite simple - I can't actually explain that in English but you'll see the photoshoot pics soon! 
The coat has no lining and it doesn't look that neat because Darkrai = a nightmare. Nightmares aren't neat or beautiful. That's why the jacket is like it is. Of course there won't be any extra threads or anything like that showing, that's a thing I can promise. 
One can't close the jacket at all; I decided to make things easier for me this time.

Didididididididi Batmaaaaan! ...yeah, this just reminds me about a bat.

Ratkaisu hihaongelmaan/The solution for the sleeve problem

Niin, en tosiaan lähtenyt hihoja väkertämään. Sen sijaan päädyin hihakkeisiin, jota peittävät käteni likipitäen täysin. Osa olkavarresta olisi periaatteessa näkyvissä, mutta paita peittää senkin pienen osan. 

Olen suhteellisen tyytyväinen näihin yksilöihin. Ei muuta sanottavaa näistä, olivat helppo projekti tehtäväksi. Ainoana ongelmana tässä ehkä oli tuon kankaan liukas pinta, mutta ainakin nämä pysyvät suhteellisen hyvin paikallaan.

Yup, I decided not to make the sleeves. Instead of them I decided to make those... Things that are almost sleeves but don't actually attach with the shirt/dress/coat - there is no word for them in English. Those things cover up my arms almost completely. A part of my arm could be seen in theory but the shirt will cover that little part too.
I'm pretty pleased with these things. I have nothing else to say about these since they were pretty easy to make. The only problem might have been the slippery fabric but these don't slide down my arm so... Yeah. 

Semmotteet!

Meikki/The make-up

Toisin kuin referenssikuvassa sanotaan, päätin olla maskeeraamatta kasvojani tummiksi. Tämä ei johdu siitä, että näkisin sen rasistisena tai muutakaan vastaavaa, suurimpana ongelmana on vain rahanpuute - minulla ei tosiaan ole tällä hetkellä varaa käyttää rahojani kasvomaaleihin, pohjustusaineisiin sun muihin vastaaviin.

Sen sijaan päädyin vähän samaan ratkaisuun kuin Halloween-meikissäni; hahmoon sopien loin hieman painajaismaista tunnelmaa kasvoilleni. En siitä sitten tiedä, miten hyvin onnistuin (taidan näyttää lähinnä turpiini saaneelta), mutta myöhemmin ehtii sentään parannella.

Even though Darkrai has a dark face in the reference pic I decided not to paint my face black. No, it's not about the ethnic reasons or anything, I just don't have the money to buy the equipment needed for painting my whole face.
I decided to do Darkrai's make-up like I did my Halloween make-up; I tried to make myself look like a nightmare. I didn't succeed that well (I guess that I look like someone beat me up) but I have always time for improvising.

Peruukkiakin tässä leikelty jo, vaan ei aseteltu. Ja jostain syystä alan uskoa, että perusilmeeni on aika äärimmäisen vihainen, nimimerkki 'tällä tavalla katson ihmisiä muutenkin'.

Yukiconissa nähdään! Darkrain säärystimiä en vielä tehnyt ajan loppuessa kesken, mutta teen ne myöhemmin tänä vuonna.

(Btw, I have considered beginning to write these blog posts only in English. I know that I don't write it that fluently, but I know that there are some people abroad who also read my blog and translating things from one language to another can be tiring. As you can see I got a bit lazy translating the sentences under the pictures - well, I didn't translate them at all... But yes, I might just start to write these completely in English.)

Hieman groteskimpi romanssi. (2/2)/A bit more grotesque romance. (2/2)

Seuraavana vuorossa olikin sen kaulahärpäkkeen tekeminen. Materiaaleina käytin punaista satiinia ja tarranauhaa. Se ei kauaa vienyt! ^^

The next thing I made was the necklace thing. I used red satin and velcro. This didn't take much time! ^^

Seuraavan projektin nimi olikin sitten alushame. Itse hame ei ole sen kummoisempi kuin päällyshamekaan, tässä vain erotuksena se, että käytin erilaista kangasta + vetoketjun sijasta kuminauhaa. Kuvamateriaalia tästä vaiheesta ei juuri sen vuoksi tullut otettua.

The next part of the project was making the petticoat. It´s not very different from the skirt but there are two differences: I used different fabric + I used thick elastic band insted of the zipper. Because of what I just said I didn´t take pictures at all when I made the petticoat.

Myös meikkitesti tuli tuossa nopeasti tehtyä. Faktoja: näyttää paljon paremmalta pitkän matkan päästä, kulmakarvani olivat turkoosimmat luonnossa (joskaan eivät kunnon "Miku-turkoosit") enkä ole innostunut tekoripsien käytöstä. Aikaa tähän ei kulunut kuin pieni hetki. Käytin valkoista kajaalia, mustaa nestemäistä eyelineria sekä melkein liikaa ripsiväriä. Kulmakarvat värjäsin ensin valkoisiksi, ja sitten laitoin päälle sinistä ja vihreää luomiväriä. Tosin, turkoosi väri kannattaa kyllä ihan hankkia, kuvissa tämä tekniikka ei toiminut.


I also made a quick make-up test. Facts: that looks better from a far distance, my eyebrows were more turquoise in IRL (though they weren´t that "Miku turquoise shade") and I´m not interested in using false eyelashes. This only took a little moment. I used white eyeliner, black liquid eyeliner and almost too much mascara. Eyebrows: firstly I dyed them white with white eyeliner and then added blue and green eyeshadow. Though it would be good idea to buy turquoise eyeliner or something because the technic I used didn´t work very well as you can see from the pic.

Seuraavaksi ompelinkin sen korsettitopin. Ei jumalavita, en edes käsitä, mitä onnistuin sössimään, mutta palat olivat aivan järkyttävästi eri kokoisia ja mallikin heitteli sen vuoksi vähän sinne sun tänne. Hoksasin kuitenkin, että topin takakappale istui melko hyvin myös eteen sovitettuna, joten teinkin periaatteessa sitten kaksi takaosaa. Tuo muuten istuu paremmin kuin yksikään muu ennen yrittämäni versio kyseisestä topista. Yksi hieman harmillinen virhe kyllä pääsi käymään, mutta ei siitä sen enempää. Ja toisaalta, enhän minä täysin ohjeiden mukaan tehnytkään, joten eipä se kai virheettä olisi luonnistunutkaan.
Topin materiaalina käytin trikoota, joka ei ole sitä kaikkein joustavinta. Jos olisin valinnut hiemankin joustavamman kankaan, tuskin tästä projektista olisi tullut niinkään hyvää kuin nyt.

The next thing I made was the corset top. *insert some swearing here* I don´t even know what I managed to fail but in the end I had random fabric pieces in different sizes and that´s why the shape of them was also... I don´t even know how to describe it. Then I noticed that the back part of the top would turn out to be pretty good front part too so in practice I made two back parts. That actually looks better than other versions I tried to make of the same top. I managed to make a little mistake but I won´t say anything else about it. Besides I didn´t do almost anything like I was supposed to do so I guess that avoiding mistakes would have been impossible.
I used tricot which wasn´t the most strechable one. If I had chosen a fabric with more strech I guess that this project would have failed more than it did now.

Eikä se niin pahalta näytä, eihän? / Imo it doesn´t looks so bad, does it?

Kuvan krediitit menevät äidille. Tiedän, että ryhtini on ehkä se maailman huonoin, enkä vaivautunut meikkaamaankaan, kun en peruukkiakaan omista (lainaan sen siis kaveriltani). Plus että asu ei ole oikeasti noin oranssi vaan todella punainen, mutta kameran failure.
Mustat sukkahousutkin omistan kyllä jo, niitä en tosin tehnyt itse, enkä juuri kuvanottohetkellä ollut varma niiden lokaatiosta. Tuo asu on melkein hämmentävän punainen, pakko myöntää.

Pic © my mother. I know that my posture is maybe the worst in the world and I didn´t bother to do the make-up since I didn´t have the wig (I´ll borrow it from my friend). The costume isn´t that orange IRL -it´s very red- but my camera failed.
I also own the black leggings/thighs/you know what I mean. I didn´t make them and I wasn´t sure where they were (now I know it but at that moment when we took pics I didn´t know) so that´s why I don´t have them in this pic. That costume is almost confusingly red, really. 

Seuraavassa päivityksessä kerronkin Mikun loppusälät + aloittelenpa sitä Ranskaa - paitsi jos nyt julkaisen tuon yhden päivityksen ennen kuin toimeennun varsinaisesti muuta tekemään.

In next post I´ll tell the rest of the Miku project + I will start to make my France costume - except if I´ll publish that one post before I really start to make something.

Yukiconin cosplay-suunnitelmia.

Pahoittelen muuten hiljaiseloani blogin puolella. Koulu vain on vienyt aika paljon aikaani, ja kaikkea muutakin on sattunut ja tapahtunut. Kyllä tämä tästä vielä!

I´m sorry that I haven posted that much nowadays. School has taken a lot of my time and much else has also happened. I´ll be fine!

-ShinigamiUchiha-

Hieman groteskimpi romanssi. (1/2)/A bit more grotesque romance. (1/2)

Otsikkokin kertonee aika paljon.
I guess that the title tells pretty much.

Tämä siis on projekti, jonka aloitin samalla meiningillä kuin Lukankin asun: jonkinlainen suhteellisen helppo cossi, joka olisi hyvä heittää conilaukkuun mukaan esimerkiksi iltabileitä varten. Hahmo on Miku Hatsune kappaleesta Rotten Girl, Grotesque Romance.

This is one of those "I want to have easy costume to take with me to the conventions" costumes, just like Luka was. This is also a costume that I´ll wear mostly at evening parties. The character is Miku Hatsune and the song is Rotten Girl, Grotesque Romance.



Alkuperäisestä designista poikkean aavistuksen verran, sillä tässä cossissa siihen on mahdollisuus. Puku pysyy kyllä edelleen kokopunaisena, mutta en tee kokomekkoa vaan hameen ja korsettitopin. Tämän lisäksi ompelen punaisesta satiinista vyönkaltaisen, jolloin saan tuon kenties näyttämään hieman 50-luvun tyyliseltä kokomekolta. En tällä halua pilkata asun alkuperäistä designia, mutta oma kehonmallini ja omat intressini saivat minut tällä kertaa tekemään hieman kompromisseja. Hahmo kyllä tulee olemaan edelleen tunnistettavissa, ei huolta siitä. Alkujaan tarkoitukseni oli tehdä samanlainen mekko mitä Lukalla on Magnetissa, mutta kangas ei sitten riittänytkään, joten otin käyttöön vaihtoehdon B.

This costume won't be just like the original design is because I wanted to try something different. It will be all red but I won't make a dress - I'll make a skirt and a corset top. I'll also sew a belt-like thing of red satin so the costume will most likely look like a 50's dress. I'm not saying that the original design wasn't good enough but my own bodytype and my own intresses made me make some compromises this time. People can still recognize the character. In the beginning I wanted to make a dress that would have been similar to Luka's Magnet dress but I didn't have enough fabric this time so I chose the option B.

Aloitin jälleen kerran referenssikuvien stalkkauksella (tarkemmin sanoen otin screenshoteja tuosta videosta, joka muuten ei millään mittaa ole minun käsialaani) ja päättämällä kangasmateriaalit. Päädyin käyttämään trikoota, joka ei ole yhtä lötköä kuin Ayamen takkiin käyttämäni trikoo (varsinainen neronleimaus sekin, etten paremmin sanoisi) vaan on hieman napakampaa ja istuu paremmin.
Ompeluosuudet aloitin hameesta, ja tämä tehtiin samalla kaavalla kuin Lukankin hame, ei mitään erikoista siis siitä. Vetoketjun ompelin tällä kertaa käsin, ja pidän jäljestä enemmän. Miku on nuorempi kuin Luka, joten vaikka videolla hame onkin polvien yläpuolelle, päätin tehdä siitä polvimittaisen. Jollain tasolla pikkutyttömäisempi olemus lisää tähän asuun psykopatiaa (ihan kuin sitä ei olisi tässä jo muutenkin riittävästi).

Once again I started with stalking reference pics (or actually I took screenshots from the video I linked in the beginning of this post, and I don't have anything related to that video btw) and deciding which fabrics I should use. In the end I decided to use tricot. It's not similar to the tricot which I used when I made Ayame's coat (I know that I'm very clever) - this one fits me better and it's pretty good material to sew.
I started with sewing the skirt and I used the same patterns that I used when I made Luka's dress so there's nothing special about it. I sewed the zipper by hand this time and I'm more pleased with it this time. Miku is also younger than Luka so the skirt will reach my knees. Somehow the "I'm the little girl" thing adds more psychopathy to this costume (like there wasn't enough of it already).

Hanskat ostelin sitten Punanaamiosta. Pitäisi opetella ompelemaan hanskoja itsekin, mutta ei vain napannut tällä kertaa.

I bought the gloves from Punanaamio. I know that I should learn to sew gloves but somehow I had no inspiration for it this time.

Sitten se satiinivyö. Tämänkertainen satiini oli huomattavasti mukavampaa käsiteltävää kuin se, mistä tein Lukan mekon. Vaan enpä sitten huomannutkaan, että kangas oli mennyt jo liikkeessä leikatessa hieman vinoon, ja ollessani melkein valmis huomasinkin vyön toisen pään olevan puolisentoista senttiä leveämpi kuin toisen. Eipä muuta kuin purkamaan. Onneksi ei tarvitse tehdä kokonaan uudestaan, ja tämä moka tapahtui asun helpoimmassa osassa eikä esimerkiksi korsettitopissa.

Then the satin belt. This satin is way too much better material to handle than the one I used when I made Luka's dress. But I didn't notice that the piece of fabric was wider at another head and when I was almost ready I noticed that the other head of the fabric was almost 1,5 centimetres wider than another. I just had to do that little part again. Thank goodness I didn't have to make all of it again and this mistake happened while making the easiest part of the costume. It would have been Hell if it happened when I made the corset top.   

Tällaista täällä on siis väsätty ja tähän asti on päästy. Projekti kyllä jatkuu jo tänään, mutta välttääkseni kilometripostauksen jaoin tämän kahtia. Vihdoinkin muuten projekti, johon olen jaksanut keskittyä kunnolla ja josta oikeasti olen innostunut.  ^^ Jos Yukiconiin pääsen, tämä asu tekee debyyttinsä siellä.

This is what I've been making. I will continue this project today but I didn't want this post to be as long as a kilometre is so I decided to make this in two parts. At last a project which I've been fully concentrating on and I'm also very interested in making this by the way. ^^ If I'm able to go to Yukicon this costume will make its debut there.

-ShinigamiUchiha-

Grellin takki WIP/Grell's coat WIP

Pahoittelen jo ensialkuun WIP-kuvien puutetta, mutta projekti lähti käyntiin jokseenkin epävarmoissa merkeissä enkä halunnut ottaa kuvia keskittyessäni siihen, etten feilaisi koko projektia. Kyseessä on siis Grellin takki, jota lähdin kaavojen puuttuessa modaamaan topin kaavoista.
Kokoan tähän alle nyt jonkinlaiseksi listaksi asioita, joiden pohjalta lähdin koko projektia toteuttamaan.

• Kyseessä on naispuolisen henkilön takki, sillä se kuului madame Redille ennen hänen kuolemaansa, jonka jälkeen Grell nappasi takin häneltä. 
• Takissa ei ole kiinnitystä, vaikka ensin niin katsoinkin. Se on kuitenkin edestä avonainen.
• Madame Red käytti takkia ennen jäätävintä syksyä, mutta sesonkiajan jälkeen. Tämän pohjalta valikoin tarpeeksi paksun mutta kuitenkin kevyen kankaan, joka näyttäisi luontevalta eikä kiiltäisi. 
• Vinokaitalenauha on fiksumpi valinta reunaan kuin kanttinauha.
• Madame Red oli korkea-arvoinen naishenkilö 1800-luvun Lontoossa, josta kertovat takin malli sekä siihen käytetyt materiaalit - punainen kangas on suhteellisen yksinkertaista, mutta yksityiskohdissa pyrin kertomaan siitä, ettei madame ollut ihan tavallinen kaduntallaaja.
• Grell ei kuitenkaan pidä takkia kunnolla päällään oikeastaan kaiketi kertaakaan, joten pituutta piti lähteä tarkastelemaan sukupuolieron lisäksi senkin pohjalta. 
• Tässä vaiheessa tämä listaus alkaa tuntua jo itsestänikin puolihullulta perfektionismilta, joten ehkä jatkan itse projektin selittämistä.

First I'd like to apologize the lack of the WIP pictures but when I started this project I really had to concentrate on it - I didn't want to make mistakes because of the lack of concentration. I'm speaking of Grell's coat. I actually made it with the top patterns since I didn't have patterns for a coat. 
I've collected a list of things in which I payed much attention when I started to make the coat.

• The coat actually belongs to a female because madame Red owned it before her own death. Grell took it from her after that.
• There are no buttons or zippers on the front. The front of the coat is open but it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago when I noticed it.
• I didn't want to use the edge string so I used a different kind of string (I didn't find an English term for it, sorry!).
• Madame Red was actually pretty high-ranked in 19th century in London. You can tell it by the model of the jacket and the materials used in it. The red fabric is pretty simple but in details I wanted to make it known that she wasn't just somebody.
• Grell never actually wears the jacket properly so I had to check the length of the jacket twice (because there's also that thing that madame is a woman and Grell is a man).
• At this point this list seems to be written by a maniac perfectionist so maybe I'll just continue my explanation about the project.  

Voin sanoa, että ensialkuun jännitys oli todella korkealla. En välttämättä ehtisi ostaa uutta kangasta, jos kaavanmuokkausteoriani ei toimisikaan. No, tuumasta toimeen ja kappas - sehän muuten toimi! Olin kyllä vahingossa turhankin hahmouskollinen - takki ei ilmeisesti mahdu Grellille hartiaseudulta, mitä varten hän roikottaakin sitä olkavarren puolivälissä. Eipä tuokaan tekele minulle hartioista kunnolla sovi. Note to self: seuraavaa käyttökertaa varten hiha-aukkoa suurennettava parilla sentillä. Suhteellisen hyvältä tuo silti näyttää, eli suuria katastrofeja ei päässyt tapahtumaan.
I could say that I was very excited about this at first. If my plan "Modify the patterns" didn´t work I most likely wouldn´t have time to buy new fabric. Well, I decided to give it a try and look - it actually worked! I was actually too loyal to the character reliability by accident - I think that the coat doesn´t fit him very well around his shoulders and that´s why the coat is practically hanging on him (if you don´t get what I mean I´m trying to explain why Grell wears the coat the way he does :DD). The coat I made doesn´t fit me around my shoulders either. Note to self: next time when I use those patterns I have to do something about this problem, most likely modify the pattern even more. That looks pretty good though so I didn´t cause any big catastrophes.

Eli suunnilleen tässä vaiheessa ollaan nyt. Kaulus tosin päätti hangoitella vastaan, enkä ole vielä saanut päähäni sen kiinnitystapaa. Toisaalta koko takki on käytännössä improvisointia, joten eiköhän sekin asia siitä ratkea. Ai niin, löysin muuten kengätkin Grelliin! Ihan varma en vielä ole, lähdenkö muokkaamaan niitä. Periaatteessa niin pitäisi tehdä, mutta noille kengille tulisi käyttöä vielä asuissa Grellin jälkeenkin... No, katson miten aikaa jää, huolehdin ensin muun asun valmiiksi ja katson sitten mitä teen.

So I´m at this point right now. The collar decided to start bitching though and I have no idea how I should attach it to the coat. On the other hand the coat itself has mostly been made by improvising so I think I´ll solve the said problem. Oh, I also found shoes to this costume! I´m not quite sure yet if I´ll modify them or not. I know I _should_ do that but I could use those shoes in so many other costumes after Grell... Well, I´ll see how much I´ll have time after making the other parts of the costume.

Facebook-sivuillani olenkin tästä jo kertonut, mutta onnistuin jonkin ihmeen kaupalla ilmoittamaan parini ja minut esityskisaan! Ensimmäinen esityskisa siis kyseessä, jännitys suhteellisen korkealla mutta hei, ainakin se motivoi tekemään! ...älysin muuten juuri, että olen pyörinyt kohta kaksi vuotta cosplay-piireissä. Herranjestas, aika, minne oikein juoksit (ottakaa kaunis mielikuva kymppitohtorista juoksemassa, ja kyllä, David Tennant on suosikkini) o__O

I´ve already told about this on my Facebook page but somehow I managed to take part to the skit competition with my cosplay partner! This will be our first skit competition and I´m pretty excited but hey, at least I´m motivated to make this costume! ...I just understood that I´ve been cosplaying almost two years now. Gosh, time, where did you run (take a beautiful mental image of 10th Doctor running somewhere and yes, David Tennant is my favourite) o__O


Preview-kuvaa takista seuraavassa postauksessa, joka oletettavasti käsitteleekin sitten Grellin kauluspaitaa!
You´ll get a preview pic of the coat in the next update which will be mostly about Grell´s blouse!

-ShinigamiUchiha-