5 posts tagged “boots”
Remaining Tasks
- Prosthetics (85%)
- Ears (100%)
- Earrings (100%)
- Contacts (100%)
- Claws (100%)
- Tail (95%)
- Antenna
So the shoot got pushed back until this upcoming Sunday due to our photographer being wiped out from his NY trip. I was also glad for this because while I could have busted my ass completing the costume in time, I know have an additional week. Yay! Okay, let's tackle those boots!
Even after deciding to use my plats instead of go-go boots, I still had a lot of reshaping to do! First I wrapped the boots with a sturdy felt-based interfacing and held it in the desired shape with heaps of tape! Not too pretty, but it works! I then carefully pinned the interfacing and sewed it in place.
Next I had to permanently adhere the new shape to the boot. I tried using some Fabri-tac because it was there, but had no real hope of it working. It predictably did not work so I then turned to Gorilla Glue, which is AWESOME but expands like crazy. After carefully aligning my foam shape, I glued it on and held it down with some lamps and other heavy shit I found lying about my room. A few hours later and it was dry! A few snips to remove any excess fabric and I'm good to cover them with the finalized leg warmers!
While waiting for the glue to try I tackled the tail. I was *about* to begin mixing dyes when I happened to glance at my rounder rack and was stoked to see that my Golden Girl's Marathon Party Old Lady Gear was the *perfect* color to match Xixa's skin. Not wanting to hack up my posh ass granny jumper, I instead removed the shoulder pads (a necessary sacrifice) to be utilized as Xixa's tail. Since 80's shoulder pads have a minimum of 2" thick foam, I didn't have to worry about how to maintain shape AT ALL. I simply determined my shape, sewed it up, cut off the excess fabric, flipped it right side out and ready for paint!
As it turns out, the paint I bought from the Fashion District was janky as hell. It more closely resembled *clay* than paint... I tried (in vain) to paint Xixa's purple freckles on the extra shoulder pad. I had to fish out the paint with the back end of a paint brush and mash it into the thread fiber in hopes of it sticking. It crumbled off... LOL!
Rooting around in my paint drawer I discovered I had a purple container of So Soft Fabric Paint. Yus! I again tested the paint on the additional shoulder pad and was pretty please with the outcome, but I still think it's too dark. Ho hum. I have to go to Michael's anyway so I'll keep an eye out for a better paint.
More work to be done tonight! Imma have this done in no time!
Remaining Tasks
- Ears (100%)
- Earrings (100%)
- Contacts (100%)
- Antenna
- Claws
- Tail
Almost ready to cross Xixa's arm warmers off of my list and I am loving how they are coming along! This weekend I plan on taking a huge dent out of my task list. There will be a lot of experimental dye mixing to get that perfect tail hue. :) The arm warmers should be done 100% by this weekend and I anticipate the completion of the boots as well. I'm hoping to have the majority of bodysuit completed by this weekend (I'm still trying to figure out a way to avoid using closures. Hmmmmmm......), which leaves me with a week for attending to details.
First I carefully drafted a pattern using muslin, taking great pains to make sure the points at the end were just right as well as the curve around the back of the wrist. Xixa's sleeves begin below her elbow, which generally is what holds them up so I had to make sure the fit was fairly tight. I then marked off where the wrapping would go and cut my final piece out of my white vinyl. Next came the construction of the wrapping itself. I cut ten 10.5"x3" strips of vinyl and used Fabri-tac to secure a fold of 1" for all of the strips (thanks Gray's Anatomy for acting as a weight). Once this had dried I folded over the remaining inch into a glue line once again secured as it dried to ensure no bubbling. I could have sewed these shut much quicker, but was looking for a seamless finish, which is why I also chose to also glue them to the sleeves rather than sew. All I have to do now is paint the power switch on and sew up the inseam!
For the boots I did the exact same method for the wrapping except the measurements were 15.5"x3" to accommodate my calf, which is decidedly beefier than my forearm. I started out using my white vinyl go-go boots as a base for construction. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but much like my Dethklown boots, I scrapped em at the last second instead opting to forever alter my beloved white plats. Ho hum. I figure it's worth the sacrifice though because I'll have unique kickass boots at the end of this and can always buy another pair of white plats later on. Not like I wear them too frequently ANYWAY. The shape fit better and I wouldn't have to deal with filling the gap that the heel creates. I got some batting and wrapped the plats to make them more conical and without a, uh, foot shape (Xixa's feet are apparently made for stampeding). Next came the muslin draft of the boot cover pre-marked to take in account wrapping space. Tonight I'll be cutting my vinyl draft and gluing down the wrapping to the final cut. Next step is adhering it to the boot itself!
Remaining Tasks
- top (90%)
- skirt (80%)??
- boots (50%)
- studded accessories (50%)
- prosthetics (20%)
- leg/arm warmers
- wig
- prop
I first went about tackling resizing my studded accessories. I bought two overly large studded rubber collars at a Halloween shop, both of which were to large to suit their purpose. I needed one choker and two wrist bands. This was accomplished by a quick snip of my scissors and some sticky back Velcro. All that is left to do with these is to paint them purple. Rock.
Next I went to tackle the skirt, which *seemed* easy enough. But I was soon distracted with visions of an original design so I drafted a pattern for that while it was in my head. Simple, but cute. :) I also, was a complete nub and forgot to include seam allowances so it is TOO SMALL and will have to be redone. I though I could fudge the design a bit and wasted much time trying to accommodate this, but in the end... it will just have to be re-done. Gah! At least I have a surplus of fabric and it is a very simple skirt to make. It would be faster if I had my serger, but alas...... /cry
The last part I worked on was the fur coverings for the boots. Lime green faux fur! I love it! Simple enough process for these. I laid the boot down on the fabric and measured the length and width in the necessary places and got to cutting. It turned out great. :) My only gripe is that the boots I have are white and they, too should be lime green. I have seen them around Hollywood Blvd and will probably just break down and buy a pair for it.
Remaining Tasks
I have been so caught up in posting about my Street Fighter costumes that I have been neglecting my other various projects. That having been said, it is time to introduce my up and coming Rei Ayanyaami costume!
Initially I was a little concerned with finding a pair of shoes to use as a base for this because generally vinyl shoes are used for fetish and such and tend to come with gigantic heels. Luckily, I came across a pair of flat-heeled go-go dancer shoes in white vinyl that fit my needs splendidly. :) I initially attempted to just get away with using a mid-calf boot, but quickly concluded after trying them on only once that that was just being lazy and all around lame. :P So the work of modification began.
The first thing I did was cut it down to size. This made me a little nervous because I had spent $40 on the shoes and didn't want to have to re-buy them. It's not like I had the option of doing a muslin mock-up for a pair of shoes, so I made sure to implement my grandfather's sound advice of: "measure twice; cut once". I found utilizing both a ruler AND my rollout measuring tape to be useful in this. I measured from the ground to the ankle with the ruler and marked the height with a water soluble pen. Next I wrapped the measuring tape around the dots that I had made as markers and filled in the lines making sure that it was even on all sides. Before I knew it, the lines had been checked and rechecked and it was time for cutting! Snip! Snip!
.......
They came out great! Nice and even all around. Phew! Clearly, I had to cut through the zipper, which I am getting replaced at a shoe repair shop. I decided to have them go ahead and put in a black zipper to simulate the stripe. It is a little too thick and far forward to be flawless, but I still thought it a clever idea and in my best interest. All I had to do then was to match the stripe on the out step and add the triangle notches at the toes and my main detailing was complete. The measuring on this took a little longer. As I'm sure you can imagine, adding perfectly straight lines and making amazingly even triangles on the curve of the toes is quite the arduous task! But a little patience and a LOT of double-checking and I was soon ready to make my final mark and fill in the color on the heel.
The only thing left to do at that point was to grab my Permanent Sharpie and get to work! Of course, the thought of using a sharpie on vinyl immediately conjured up images of purple fading and all around lamitude, but I figured that I could at least get a solid dark foundation laid out before covering it up with a more suitable means of coloring. However, much to my surprise, I found that the Sharpie did NOT fade to purple. Nor did it smudge what so ever! I am still debating as to whether or not I want to go over the Sharpie with something a little more, shall we say, sound. But as of now, I am satisfied with the progress. :)
I was sure to tape off the edges because I did not want a slip of my hand or ruler to cause a jagged line to go shooting across my carefully prepared boots. It was a likely event to occur and I knew the frustration over having that happen without taking any precautions would have been maddening.
Hurrah for clever foresight (or is that common sense?). :P The blue lines that you see are from the water soluble marker. In case you have not yet been introduced to that dandy little tool, it can be easily found in any notions section of your local fabric store. This will most likely JoAnn's Fabric if you are not fortunate enough to have handy access to large cities with Fabric Districts and/or fancy pants fabric shops. ; )
You can see on the edges of the tape how the pen bled slightly. Had not the tape been in place, it would have made for some nasty looking edges! No wavy lines accepted! Finishing off the easier task of matching the out step to the zipper, I moved on to use the same process on the "toe triangles". The measuring for this took substantially longer, but was well worth the time! It came out extremely even and was a well made shape. You wouldn't think that triangles would be an issue, but woo boy when it is on the curve of the toe of a boot, it changes things a bit. So keep that in mind if you are ever detailing a set of cosplay shoes. ALWAYS keep in mind the 3-Dimensional aspects of whatever it is that you are working on!
A few more moments of measuring and I was ready to draft a mini-pattern for the red finishing at the top of the shoe. I chose to use graph paper this time instead of muslin because it was stiffer (clearly) and considering it was graph paper, it was very easy to get it all even with no doubt in my mind. Next I pinned the pattern to my red vinyl and began cutting. MAKE SURE to leave enough room for seam allowances. Never forget that in order to have clean and professional looking finishes, you must ALWAYS pay attention to the edges of your fabric and NEVER leave any raw edges visible. At the very least do a simple fold under followed by a top stitch.
- Ears (10% Completed)
- Tail
- Glove Detailing
- Bodysuit Detailing (10% Completed)
- Stocking Detailing
- Plushie
- Boots (80% Completed)
I have been so caught up in posting about my Street Fighter costumes that I have been neglecting my other various projects. That having been said, it is time to introduce my up and coming Rei Ayanyaami costume!
Initially I was a little concerned with finding a pair of shoes to use as a base for this because generally vinyl shoes are used for fetish and such and tend to come with gigantic heels. Luckily, I came across a pair of flat-heeled go-go dancer shoes in white vinyl that fit my needs splendidly. :) I initially attempted to just get away with using a mid-calf boot, but quickly concluded after trying them on only once that that was just being lazy and all around lame. :P So the work of modification began.
The first thing I did was cut it down to size. This made me a little nervous because I had spent $40 on the shoes and didn't want to have to re-buy them. It's not like I had the option of doing a muslin mock-up for a pair of shoes, so I made sure to implement my grandfather's sound advice of: "measure twice; cut once". I found utilizing both a ruler AND my rollout measuring tape to be useful in this. I measured from the ground to the ankle with the ruler and marked the height with a water soluble pen. Next I wrapped the measuring tape around the dots that I had made as markers and filled in the lines making sure that it was even on all sides. Before I knew it, the lines had been checked and rechecked and it was time for cutting! Snip! Snip!
.......
They came out great! Nice and even all around. Phew! Clearly, I had to cut through the zipper, which I am getting replaced at a shoe repair shop. I decided to have them go ahead and put in a black zipper to simulate the stripe. It is a little too thick and far forward to be flawless, but I still thought it a clever idea and in my best interest. All I had to do then was to match the stripe on the out step and add the triangle notches at the toes and my main detailing was complete. The measuring on this took a little longer. As I'm sure you can imagine, adding perfectly straight lines and making amazingly even triangles on the curve of the toes is quite the arduous task! But a little patience and a LOT of double-checking and I was soon ready to make my final mark and fill in the color on the heel.
The only thing left to do at that point was to grab my Permanent Sharpie and get to work! Of course, the thought of using a sharpie on vinyl immediately conjured up images of purple fading and all around lamitude, but I figured that I could at least get a solid dark foundation laid out before covering it up with a more suitable means of coloring. However, much to my surprise, I found that the Sharpie did NOT fade to purple. Nor did it smudge what so ever! I am still debating as to whether or not I want to go over the Sharpie with something a little more, shall we say, sound. But as of now, I am satisfied with the progress. :)
I was sure to tape off the edges because I did not want a slip of my hand or ruler to cause a jagged line to go shooting across my carefully prepared boots. It was a likely event to occur and I knew the frustration over having that happen without taking any precautions would have been maddening.
You can see on the edges of the tape how the pen bled slightly. Had not the tape been in place, it would have made for some nasty looking edges! No wavy lines accepted! Finishing off the easier task of matching the out step to the zipper, I moved on to use the same process on the "toe triangles". The measuring for this took substantially longer, but was well worth the time! It came out extremely even and was a well made shape. You wouldn't think that triangles would be an issue, but woo boy when it is on the curve of the toe of a boot, it changes things a bit. So keep that in mind if you are ever detailing a set of cosplay shoes. ALWAYS keep in mind the 3-Dimensional aspects of whatever it is that you are working on!
A few more moments of measuring and I was ready to draft a mini-pattern for the red finishing at the top of the shoe. I chose to use graph paper this time instead of muslin because it was stiffer (clearly) and considering it was graph paper, it was very easy to get it all even with no doubt in my mind. Next I pinned the pattern to my red vinyl and began cutting. MAKE SURE to leave enough room for seam allowances. Never forget that in order to have clean and professional looking finishes, you must ALWAYS pay attention to the edges of your fabric and NEVER leave any raw edges visible. At the very least do a simple fold under followed by a top stitch.
And currently that is where progress stands on my Rei Ayanyaami boots! I cannot attach the red vinyl until I get the black zipper installed. I wish my sewing machine could handle the thickness of the shoes, but I don't want to ruin my machine AND my boots by a fruitless attempt, so to the Shoe Repair Shop it is! I think I will be dropping those off tonight after work if I can make it in time, but sadly I am staying an hour later than usual and am not sure when the shop closes. Failing that, I'll just take care of it tomorrow, yes? ; )
Not bad for a Sharpie finish, eh? Can't wait until my zipper is installed so I can further my progress on these shoes as I am totally pleased with the way they are looking so far.
Remaining Tasks
Yesterday our Juli (Serina Reitz) came over to take some progress shots as well as get some more work done on her costume. I was very pleased to see that the boots I ordered for her fit her so splendidly. I am extremely satisfied with the color of the tie that we ordered. Ivy and I have been toiling over which color of ties to purchase and alter. She came across a Tie Seller Online with an excellent selection as well as great prices. The ties themselves are around $5 including shipping. The choices that we had initially narrowed it down to were: Rust, Cinnamon, and Orange. There was some debate as to which color to use because, as you can see in the image to the right, the ties come in three different colors depending on the doll. However, this apparently is just in video game mode because if you take a look at an image scan from the
comic, you will see that they are all a uniform color; and yellow, to boot!
In the end, we decided to go ahead with the Cinnamon colored tie for all twelve of the Dolls because we wanted to maintain the unity as much as possible. And while we could have ordered the yellow ties, we thought it better to leave the yellow tie for Cammy White so she would be set aside a little bit. As of right now, the tie that you see pictured above has been untouched in every way. Before I start modifying her tie I would like to consider the option of getting zipper ties, but still have my doubts as to whether or not it would be better than just sewing on the faux tie as I did with my Cammy White Prototype.
Setting the subject of ties aside, I shortened her gloves because they were meant for burly man-fighter hands as opposed to dainty she-assassin hands. This was easily remedied; I had preformed the same operation with my own gloves and will undoubtedly be repeating the procedure for our Santum (Cheri Dozier) in coming days. I also tidied up the prototype hat that Ivy had made during our last sewing session. No real major changes. Just a change in the thread color and finishing up the bottom hem. :)
- Hat (prototype complete)
- Gloves (attach gauntlets)
- Tie (prototype complete)
- Armband (40% complete)
Yesterday our Juli (Serina Reitz) came over to take some progress shots as well as get some more work done on her costume. I was very pleased to see that the boots I ordered for her fit her so splendidly. I am extremely satisfied with the color of the tie that we ordered. Ivy and I have been toiling over which color of ties to purchase and alter. She came across a Tie Seller Online with an excellent selection as well as great prices. The ties themselves are around $5 including shipping. The choices that we had initially narrowed it down to were: Rust, Cinnamon, and Orange. There was some debate as to which color to use because, as you can see in the image to the right, the ties come in three different colors depending on the doll. However, this apparently is just in video game mode because if you take a look at an image scan from the
In the end, we decided to go ahead with the Cinnamon colored tie for all twelve of the Dolls because we wanted to maintain the unity as much as possible. And while we could have ordered the yellow ties, we thought it better to leave the yellow tie for Cammy White so she would be set aside a little bit. As of right now, the tie that you see pictured above has been untouched in every way. Before I start modifying her tie I would like to consider the option of getting zipper ties, but still have my doubts as to whether or not it would be better than just sewing on the faux tie as I did with my Cammy White Prototype.
Setting the subject of ties aside, I shortened her gloves because they were meant for burly man-fighter hands as opposed to dainty she-assassin hands. This was easily remedied; I had preformed the same operation with my own gloves and will undoubtedly be repeating the procedure for our Santum (Cheri Dozier) in coming days. I also tidied up the prototype hat that Ivy had made during our last sewing session. No real major changes. Just a change in the thread color and finishing up the bottom hem. :)
Remaining Tasks
So here is the very 1st full body progress shot of my Cammy White. I am very pleased with how it is turning out, but there is still so much more that I want to do to it until I will be satisfied. I can't wait until our entire group of Dolls and Minions debut together. :D I know that my pigtails are short and inadequate in these shots, but as I said: Progress! My completed version will come equipped with ultra-long extensions that I will be braiding in. For some reason, my hair looks much darker than usual. Odd. At any rate, the main thing that I worked on for this costume last night was taking in the boots. Whenever I buy boots, they never seem to fit the way I like around my calves so I just took them in about an inch. Next comes the fabric staining! These boots need to be darker still. I do like how the tan looks, but it is not accurate to Cammy's shoes, so they must be further altered.
The last thing that we worked on was cutting out the pattern for another Street Fighter Alpha 3 character, Sakura, who will also be cosplayed by our ever lovely Serina Reitz. I think she will be an utterly fabulous Sakura. Tonight, she is coming over again and I am teaching her how to do a muslin mock-up. I don't anticipate getting the mock-up sewed together entirely seeing as I am still *very* low stamina these days as a result of my pneumonia relapsing, but at the very least I would like to have the muslin pieces cut out and labeled so they will be waiting for me whenever I am feeling up to par. :)
- Hat (prototype complete)
- Gloves (attach gauntlets) PENDING MATERIALS
- Tie (prototype complete) PENDING SHIPMENT
- Armband (40% complete)
- Boots (dye)
- "Lightening Bolts"
So here is the very 1st full body progress shot of my Cammy White. I am very pleased with how it is turning out, but there is still so much more that I want to do to it until I will be satisfied. I can't wait until our entire group of Dolls and Minions debut together. :D I know that my pigtails are short and inadequate in these shots, but as I said: Progress! My completed version will come equipped with ultra-long extensions that I will be braiding in. For some reason, my hair looks much darker than usual. Odd. At any rate, the main thing that I worked on for this costume last night was taking in the boots. Whenever I buy boots, they never seem to fit the way I like around my calves so I just took them in about an inch. Next comes the fabric staining! These boots need to be darker still. I do like how the tan looks, but it is not accurate to Cammy's shoes, so they must be further altered.
The last thing that we worked on was cutting out the pattern for another Street Fighter Alpha 3 character, Sakura, who will also be cosplayed by our ever lovely Serina Reitz. I think she will be an utterly fabulous Sakura. Tonight, she is coming over again and I am teaching her how to do a muslin mock-up. I don't anticipate getting the mock-up sewed together entirely seeing as I am still *very* low stamina these days as a result of my pneumonia relapsing, but at the very least I would like to have the muslin pieces cut out and labeled so they will be waiting for me whenever I am feeling up to par. :)
