Puhetta pantsuista

Päätin nyt kuitenkin tehdä oman postauksen Duelan pantsuista, koska en ole paljon muuta saanut aikaiseksi (tai no olen, mutta teen mielummin postauksen niistä osista kun ne ovat täysin valmiit).
Pyydän anteeksi kuvien laatua, oma järkkäri on rikki ja käytössä on ainoastaan kännykän kamera, joka sekin on paskemmasta päästä...

Elikkä alkuun himena kuvaa Duela Dentin pantsuista;

kyllä ne näkyy jos oikein zoomailee...

Niistä ei siis näy hirveästi muiden osien alta, mutta puvun toimivuuden takia päätin panostaa niihin kuitenkin vähän enemmän...

Yleisesti pantsuista voin kertoa, että päätin muokata himena tekemiäni kaavoja siten, ettei ne nouse noin korkealle (kasari Baywatch tyyliin). Tämä sen takia, etten itse ole tuollaisten crazy crotchejen fani, enkä usko että niissä oleminen tai liikkuminen olisi ollut hirveän mukavaa...
Tämän lisäksi päätin tehdä pantsuille korkean vyötärön. Jos figua katsoo tarkaan, näkee että korsetin keski osan liilojen osien alta näkyy lisää liilaa. Siitä päättelin että housuissa on pakko olla korkea vyötärö, vaikka se ei puvussa varsinaisesti tule näkyviin. Lisäksi ajattelin että korkea vyötärö lisää istuvuutta, ja tekee housuista mukavemmat päällä; ei sitten tarvitse nostella alas luikuvia pantsuja koko conin...

Päätin myös jättää pantsut auki haarojenvälistä, tämä sen takia, että minulla on ollut elämäni aikana tarpeeksi cosplay pukuja joissa ei kertakaikkiaan voinut käydä vessassa ilman että riisui puolet puvusta... Kröhöm Ciel, Kröhöm Bloodelf...
Haarojen väliin tulee siis nepparit jotka voi avata niin että saa sukkahousut vedettyä alas. Mutta se vessassa käymisestä ja haarojenvälistä...

täs ei pal käydä...

Itse toteutukseen: Jos kuvan suurentaa, näkee että edessä on pystyraitoja. Päätin toteuttaa ne siten, että leikkasin pantsujen materiaalista pitkiä, kapeita raitoja kolme kappaletta, jotka sitten ompelin siistin suoriksi raidoiksi:

tässä kuvassa takaosan reunat eivät vielä ole huoliteltuja, mutta etuosa viittä vaille valmis!

Niitit ostin cybershopista. Pussissa oli 50 niittiä ja maksoi 8 euroa. Netistä jostain olisi varmaan saanut halvemmalla, mutta olin kärsimätön ja halusin päästä tekemään pantsuja.

Takaosasta sen verran, että vetoketju ei kyllä ole ommeltu paikoilleen mitenkään mallikkaasti... Homma kusi vähän, mutta jos ei tule ihan hirveetä oloa siitä niin jätän sen sellaiseksi, koska sehän jää joka tapauksessa korsetin alle.

Etuosan reunat käänsin tahallaan niin, että alemmasta kankaasta näkyy vähän, sillä figun pantsuissa on reuna joka näkyy.

Elikkä melko kiva projekti: ei tullut missään vaiheessa tuskan hikeä tai ahdistusta! Ainoa mikä vielä puuttuu on nepparit, koska ompelin nämä aamulla, enkä viitsinyt vasaroida niitä paikoilleen kun naapurit nukkuu :(

Loppuun vielä kuva valmiista pantsuista:

hnnggg, peilikuva ja sotkua taustalla....

Cosplay Issues # 2: Picking a character (and some planning)

I don't know why, but lately I've been very interested in how people pick their cosplay characters. I've been reading a lot of blogs and noticed, that people have very different criteria for picking their costumes. I thought I'd write a little bit about some issues I have with picking characters, and then end the whole thing with my (ever changing)  cosplay plan...

So when I started cosplaying, I picked characters mostly because I liked the series. I would pick a character that I liked, but not necessarily my favorite one. From the very start, I was more focused on what character I would look good as, and that I identified with. For example one of my first costumes was Kikumaru Eiji from Prince Of Tennis, Kaidoh was actually my favorite, but my personality fits Eiji more, and also my appearance.

my favorite character

and the one I actually cosplayed as

Back then I ALWAYS wanted to crossplay, even if my first ever costume was a female character. I guess this was because I cosplayed only anime and manga characters, and I only liked a few female characters (which were mostly very busty and rather tall).
Rangiku is a prime example of why I didnt want to cosplay as one of my favorite female charcters: I would have had to stuff my bra like a thanksgiving turkey...

So even from the start appearance was a big part of picking a character for me. I also was a little insecure with my skills in the beginning, so I picked very easy characters rather than costumes that would look great and get a lot of attention. In the start I was very keen on hiding my body, with the exception of Hayatos ring contest version, and that costume failed big time. I was however, still into crossplay and for a long period I never picked a female character to cosplay as.

I think that changed when I got sick in 2010. I was very bloated due to my medication, and thought my very round face wouldn't look good as a man, so I switched to female characters. I did my first ever revealing costume, Mato from BRS. I chose her because I liked her personality and costume, and for the first time, I didn't mind showing of some skin. Later though, Ive been questioning this costume, why I'm not sure, maybe because Mato is very skinny and I have curves. For once in my life my boobs were too big for something. Hallelujah in heaven.

I posess them curves...

...and she is a sexy stick insect

I guess at that time I had always wanted to have Matos body type, and therefor wanted to cosplay a character like that. I'm not saying any body type is better or nicer, my point is simply that I wouldn't accept the one I had at that time. After that my cosplay desires have changed quite a bit, in a pretty short period of time...
That same year, I crossplayed four characters, yup, was still into that. But those were all characters that were pretty boyish, or that I could hide my bodyshape under the costume (like for instance Rufus)

Im so manly and presidently

and Hayato:

only guy I think I look good as

So if my problem used to be that I'm not skinny enough to cosplay boys or girls with the Mato bodytype, then it has shifted in a complete different direction as of late. I have gotten into comics and games, and learned to appreciate my shape, only now the problem is, for most characters I want to cosplay, Im not shapely enough!
Okay so for most of the Marvel girls, their bodies are impossible to mimic unless youre Pamela Andersson or Barbie. But I really am quite strict whith what characters I could even almost pull of, and which ones are just too darn booby for me.

only booby-girls get to date Spiderman

Ofcourse there are some saving graces, thank heavens for X-23 and Pixie, who are on my list...

still a boobtastic chick, but nothing a stuffed bra can't accomplish...

I guess my point to all of this is, I've never felt free to pick just any character. I have always been driven to pick one that fits my body. And the weird thing is, I've seen a lot of people cosplaying characters that don't really fit their body-type, and still looking awesome, but for some reason, I can't apply that to myself... I guess I'm pretty hard on myself sometimes.
Anyway, what do you guys think? Are there some characters you would love to cosplay, but are afraid you're too skinny/fat/girly/manly for? Or is this just another issue I create for myself?

Just for fun, here are some characters I would love to cosplay, if my body or gender was right for them:

If I was a boooyyyy:

I would cosplay the sparks out of this character, my Arizona BB who has the coolest costume and personality in the Marvel world:

look at that darn precious little motherflipper!

If I had some Boooooobsss:

This one I am extremely bitter over... Why Can't I have the boobs for Gamora?

Then again Zoe Saldana is gonna play her in the movie and shes not that booby... wonder which costume they are going to go for...

Here at the very end I will show my real plan, and characters I'd love to do someday, all been approved for my body :DD

Ame-comi version of Duela Dent from the DC universe:

she is well on her way...

 Pixie from X-men:

started, but not so far along on this one

X-23 from X-men:

so far just in my plans, and I have the belt!

And then some lovelies for the future, still on my maybe list:

Mantis, dunno would like a group for her, but not sure how many people in Finland are into the guardians.... Also, my boyfriend has the perfect build for Star Lord but won't cosplay him .. boo!

Victoria, only not this outfit. She has so many nice ones I still havent picked one...

this is an uplifting little girl<3 The syringe would be so much fun to make....

feewww, I think this is enough pictures for one day. I'll draw back into my working cocoon now... Bye!

Cosplay issue #1 : Reusing costumes, why I don't do it, and why I should.

So, I have a lot of issues. My brain likes creating problems where there are none, and when there actually are some, it blows them out of proportion beyond any reason. Well, I guess it helps me sometimes, it can be useful to be an analytic person, even in cosplay!
Anyway, I decided to write about a few of the issues I have with my costumes, and with cosplay in general. This will be the first issue and it's about reusing costumes after I've worn them to a convention.

To give you some background: I have been cosplaying since 2007 and consider myself a fairly active cosplayer. Since I started I have made  23 costumes (Holy Hotchner, I had no idea there were so many...) and during one year I have made up to eight costumes! That averages out at about three costumes a year... Pretty shocking.

So on to my point; why is this an issue? Shouldn't I be happy about being so active and making such wonderful progress. Haha no. If there is something I can be angsty about there is, and this time there really is.
My problem is this: Of the 23 costumes I've made, I've only worn three of them more than once! I mean most of my costumes I have had a separate photoshoot with, but other than that, they have just ended up taking way too much closet space in our tiny apartment.

So why don't I reuse them? Mostly because I tend to move from fandom to fandom really fast, and about three months after I've worn a costume, I am into something new, and would much rather make a costume from that series, than wear an old one. To put it shortly, I get inspired, very fast. Sure, there are characters I still love, but for some reason I didn't feel comfortable cosplaying as them.

Which brings me to the second reason: There are always so many God-damn issues with my costumes. I tend to focus so much on making it look  good, I forget that I'm actually going to spend a whole day, sometimes a weekend in them. So I rush through things, not really thinking about how it is going to work, how it's going to hold together,  and mostly how it is going to stay on.
An perfect example of this is my Ashe costume, I put a lot of time and energy into it, but in the end I couldn't get the leg armor to stay on and so it got sort of... destroyed. I've had similar issues with Cloud (whos shoulder armor refused to stay on) and the Smile version of Ciel (which it was impossible to go to the toilet in...).
The most recent one was my WoW costume. The pauldrons wouldn't stay on, even if I had created a system, and the leg armor made it look like I had pooped my pants when I walked... Note to self, that's not a costume you wear all day at a convention.
Anyway, bad planning has resulted in some parts of the costume getting completely trashed, and therefor I can't use them again, before I remake some parts.

Another thing that stops me from reusing some costumes is the quality of the work. I am improving fast, and most of my old costumes just don't live up to my standards anymore.  There are some that I still think are good, but there is always one part that I think sucks, and want to re-do. I've heard from other people that they are good, but naturally, I only see the issues...

 A good example of this is my Luneth costume, I adore this character, and I actually think I look good as him. Most of the costume I'm still pretty pleased with, not to mention it was awesomely comfortable. But the vest is a mess, and I would have to do a new one. Back then I was pretty pleased with it, but looking at it now, the fit is awful, and it needs to be a lot thicker. It also needs new buckles, real buckles, and not ones made out of cardboard and leather...

Back in 2011 :) I also need to wash those pants after sitting in the forest Dx

The last, but certainly not least, issue is that I used to only crossplay. Now however, I only want to do female characters, with maybe the exception of very few characters. Of all the male characters I've cosplayed, I think I only look good as Hayato Gokudera (who wears loose clothes that hide my girly body), Luneth (who my boyfriend still insists is a girl) and Cloud Strife (well, the crisis core version). I actually really like my Rufus costume, but somehow my face looks too round and girly for that costume...

Look, I can pass as a fifteen year old boy right? xD

Anyway where does all this leave me? What did I get out of writing all of this?
I guess it was kind of therapeutic for me. I was starting to feel really guilty about putting so much time and effort (not to mention money) into a costume, and then only using it once... It also kind of got me thinking about making costumes that are functioning well and that I would enjoy wearing more than once. Lets not dwell on stuff we may have or may not have done. Maybe all my crazy costume making actually has taught me something valuable? Maybe now I will put more time into the stuff that doesnt show, but keeps the costume on all day?

So now to you dearies! What do you guys think about this issue? Have you encountered it? Whats your solution to it?

Duela progress and other plans!

So... I have been Quietly working on my Duela Dent costume and loudly cursing the fact that I didn't get a ticket to Desucon.. Turns out I also am going to attend a wedding the weekend of Finncon so... yeah won't be making it there either... So it looks like the next convention will be Tracon for me! After that I will also be attending the new convention "Fanfest" in October and then SSGFC in Stockholm or Göteborg or wherever it's held this year :D

So as it looks right now I will be cosplaying Duela at Tracon (and I am actually planning on competing woo!), also hopefully I can get Pixie done for the other day.
For Fanfest and SSGFC we are planning on making S.H.I.E.L.D jumpsuits and a Star Trek group!
As a sideproject I will propably be making  X-23 from X-men for a photoshoot :)

There are other lovelies I would also like to make (and am going to) but don't know for which convention yet:

Victoria here is an example of those characters! I even have the wig for this :)

But onto the actual buisness! Here is some progress I've made on Duela. It's not much since I have been focusing on my actual career for the past month but anyway, here we go:

The shizzle for the arms:

This was pretty easy so I won't ramble on about it, just some measurements and some sewing and done!

enjoy the trash in the background!

I have always hated purple but I'm starting to like it, thanks to this costume and Hawkguy...

The Hat:

So for this I bought a horrible hat that had the right shape and then draped it with the correct fabric, which to be honest was a lot harder than it first sounded...

gorgeous right?

this was a very interesting stage.. by far the hardest part...

and the finished hat! Its not as good as it could be, but oh well...

The Goggles:

Now this was a really fun project! I loved every stage of it!

this is what I started out with...

oh and they had this "wonderful" fluffy green stuff around the lenses...

so I painted them the right color....

even though the goggles already had green lenses, I really thought they looked too plastic to be steampunkish, so I made new lenses from rasin! the first ones I made ended up looking like crappy flubber because I used the wrong kind of color...

some of the parts before I glued on the rasin lenses...

... and the goggles after I glued them on! Looks way more steampunky right?

and tadaa! finished! I also made a new strap from brown leather!

I'll take a better picture once I get new batteries for my camera :) (yes my camera runs on batteries- it's rubbish)

So Next upp I will be styling my wig, which I got about a month ago :) I will also start working on the thing she has on her back.. Let's just call it the backpack of doom.

So what have you guys been up to? Haven't really been on my blog in a while so.. yeah, hoping that will change now that my summer job starts!