It's time for my annual Connichi WIP post!
Connichi 2011, one of the biggest conventions in Germany, is still 2 1/2 weeks away, but already I'm feeling a little bit stressed out, because this year not only uni but also work keep me away from my favourite hobby.
I guess I should be upset about that, if it wasn't for the fact that I love my job: I'm working at the Japanese-German Centre Berlin as a librarian. It's exactly the kind of job I'd want to do after graduating, because it combines my two majors -library science and Japanese studies- so well, but unfortunately they can only afford student assistants, so once I graduate (which should be around next March/April) I'll have to say good-bye to the wonderful people there.
Anyways, let's move on to this year's costumes for Connichi.
| Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
From left to right:
Friday: Fuu Hououji (Magic Knight Rayearth OVA) with Maddi as Hikaru Shidou and my sister as Umi Ryuuzaki. (old)
Saturday: Terra/Tina Branford (Final Fantasy VI) with Maddi as Relm Arrowny and my sister as Kefka. (new)
Sunday: Howl Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle) with Maddi as Sophie Hatter and (maybe) my sister as Michael/Markl. (new)
Fuu is 100% finished of course; it already debuted at Bookfair Leipzig this spring.
On to the new costumes:
I - Terra
First, I have to admit that I'd never cosplay Terra if it wasn't for my sister, who' s been constantly pestering me with pleas about how much she'd love to cosplay Kefka one day. Two years ago, I drafted a pattern for Kefka as a birthday present for her, but it wasn't until this year that we've finally found the time to make a start on this project. We've decided to use Yoshitaka Amano artwork and in-game graphics as referende rather than the Dissidia designs by Tetsuya Nomura, simply because that leaves us with more creative leeway.
Nonetheless, Terra is a challenge. Not only because of the ridiculous amount of detail (which looks different on every other artwork!) and colours, but also, because I've decided to combine the cape she has on most of the Amano artworks with the shoulder armour parts she has in the game. Just because I've never done any kind of armour before.
Here are some WIP pictures:
The left one was taken about two weeks ago. Never mind the carelessly draped scarf/belt thingies and the cape. They weren't finished yet and I just put them on for visualisation purposes only. Please note my beautiful bed hair. As you can see, I chose burgundy red tafetta for the dress, which I lined with twill because it was too thin. The vent is not only for aesthetic purposes but also an admission to my mobility, because the dress is very close fitting.
On the right are more recent pictures: The gradient dyeing on the capes (I love it!) and the painting are finished and I attached golden braid along the hems. Later on, I will paint the boots, as well.
My sister is helping me a great deal with these, because I'm busy sewing her Kefka costume. I'm currently contemplating attaching some small gems on the flowers, but for now I'd rather wait until I know what it all looks like with the capes and scarfs on. I definitely don't want to end up looking like an art supplies shop threw up on me.
These are the shoulder armour pieces. As I said, first time doing this and it's mostly trial and error. I've read several tutorials but still I have no idea, what exactly I'm doing. I just hope it will work out somehow in the end. The armour is made of craft foam and coated with papier mâché for better durability.
The wig. I wasn't sure whether to use a blond or a turquoise wig, but I went with turquoise in the end, because I love how it looks together with the brugundy red of the dress. This was my first attempt on pulling up a wig into a ponytail and I was surprised how well it came out.
These are the most recent pictures of my Terra costume. What's still missing are the scarfes, the shoulder armour parts, some jewellery and some red and gold paint on the shoes.
Don't I have the most lovely animu face you've ever seen?
I also want to do Terra's sabre. I've actually already bought wood and paint for that, but I don't know if I can make it in time. For now, there are more important things to finish.
II - Kefka
As I said before, this costume is meant for my Kefka-crazy sister. She even bleached her hair for this.
I drafted the pattern for this about 2 years ago, so I could start sewing right away now. Luckily, my sister didn't gain nor lose any weight in those month, so the measurements are still correct.
WIP picture from a couple of days ago (left) and more recent close-ups of the paintings on the pants, the collar and the sleeves (right).
The stripes are bias tape I sewed onto the shirt. I usually like working with bias tape, but lately, my sewing machine is having trouble with the thread tension so this time around it was just hugely unnerving and frustrating. The pants looked like tracksuit pants first, I know. The costume ist still missing the gazillion scarfs and the ridiculously huge collar. And a lot of paintings.
Close-up of the shirt. We mainly used tafetta for Kefka, as well. We're a group after all and want everything to match, don't we? I love the blue fabric with the check tucks. It kind of reminds me of fish scales and the interesting texture really adds to the overall impression of the shirt.
The Kefka costume is currently about 55% finished. The main parts are finished, but the many (painted) capes and scarfes still leave us with a lot to do.
-----UNHELPFULLY CURIOUS CAT INTERMISSION-----
These are some of the things are still waiting to get used on our Final Fantasy costumes: More colourful fabrics, beads, gems and even some feathers for Kefka's hairdo.
III Howl
Howl, on the other hand is nearly finished.
But let's start with some WIP pictures:
Sewing the jacket. NEVER AGAIN will I sew patchwork diamonds. It's such an unrewarding thing to do. I mean, overall, Howl's costume looks really simple, right? Before sewing this I couldn't even fathom how difficult it really is - at least for me, who simply sucks at sewing neatly
To crown it all, I kind of messed up the sleeves. I already sewed in some shoulder pads, but the jacket still looks ... strange. Which really bugs me, because the jacket looks just fine when I wear it properly. Unfortunately, however, Howl doesn't wear his jacket as such, but more like a coat and that's where it starts looking baggy.
I really do like the collar, on the other hand. And the overall impression of the different colours, fabrics and proportions.
The blouse was really, really easy to sew - I finished it in one afternoon. It's really comfortable! I'd wear it everyday if it didn't have huge press buttons on its shoulders. (I had to attach these to keep the jacket from slipping down.)
Close-up of the jewelery I did. I really like the outcome. As you can see, I also did the rings. It's just a tiny detail, but I really wanted to have them.
Howl's costume was 80% finished and only missing the pants, when Maddi and I wanted to have some pictures of the (yet slightly unfinished) costumes for promotional purposes. If we pass the interview on Connichi Saturday, these'll be our costumes for the German WCS prelim and we thought it wouldn't hurt to have some pictures of these costumes in our portfolio. So, two weeks ago, we climbed up a nearby hill to take some pictures:
I have to say I really like us. I think we look good together and do the characters justice. Especially Maddi is such an adorable Sophie. I really look forward to our skit, I hope we get the chance to perform on stage. BTW, I lovelovelove my wig. It's so soft and full and has exactly the right shade of blond. When it arrived it had some lovely little curls in it and it almost broke my heart when I had to straighten the wig.
Oh, some of you might've already seen this:
Demon Within by ~y-o-s-s-i on deviantART
While we were at it (putting on our costumes and having pictures, that is), I thought it'd be nice to have some dark Howl pictures as well.
So I sewed a hooded cloak with feathers on it and pasted even more feathers on my face with spirit gum (which is not as fun as I'd have imagined, BTW).
One thing on Howl's make-up: I know, he's a guy (duh), but with his feminine traits and huge, shiny blue eyes "normal" guy make-up (read: contouring) wouldn't suffice. So, after I put a lot of shadows and highlights on my face (which are all but invisible on pictures it seems...), I put on (short) false lashes and bright blue circle lenses. How do you like it?
I finished the pants two days ago. And I love them! They fit really nicely and are super comfortable. I even wore them at work yesterday. And yes, that's my sexy face.
Not WIP related, but it might still interest you:
(Clicking on the pictures will take you to the respective gallery on Animexx.)
On to something else:
Some of you already know this, but I've started using tumblr a few weeks ago. I will use my tumblr blog for general nerdage and cosplay (WIP) pictures, so if you're on tumblr, please follow me. It's a lot more up-to-date than this journal (well, it's hard not to be...). Here's the link: Picture this
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