Not a Three Hour Shirt

Chugging along on the cosplay. This is Baltar's shirt, inspired by this picture. I used McCall's 4079, a so-called "three hour shirt." Not! I admit this is the first time I've used an official, commercial, tissue paper pattern, but this wasn't even close to three hours.

Using a pattern was very helpful. I don't think I could have done the collar without it (and I barely managed with it). But the fit on this was a bit silly. The collar fit perfectly, but I had to cut several inches off the side. What kind of weirdly proportioned, tiny necked, huge chested person is this designed for...? I guess that's the unisex aspect.



A note on buttons: I am a crazy person! When Geoff was trying on the shirt, he said, "It's a little hard to button what with the holes being sideways." And I realized that I have always made button holes the wrong way. I don't know why, but for some reason I've never noticed that button holes run vertically. Ah, so that's the button hole guide has two lines. And that's why the buttons are always bunching (see above). Yes, I repeat: I am a crazy person.

Bag First

An awkward reality of conventions is that you need a bag, because unlike people on TV, you need to have a wallet and a phone and a camera and stuff on your person when walking around all day. Your costume may not provide one. Calliel on Craftster sums up the dilemma well here (and solves it pretty fantastically, too).

The character I'm doing this year* does at one point carry a briefcase, but never with this costume, so I decided to just go the matching bag route. Last year I did a matching bag (you can see it here) but I did it very last minute. This year I decided to do the bag first.



(Wow, this red is really hard to photograph!)

It's not perfect by any means. I was having much trouble with my bobbins-- turns out, do NOT use Class 66 bobbins with a Brother machine-- so there are tangled threads and bad tension problems all over the place, but I'm fairly happy with it. This is the first bag I've really tried to construct. It has a zipper and stabilizer and lining and all that good stuff - whereas last year I just made a fold-over tote with a cardboard magazine file in it for structure (I'm serious).



Check it out, shiny lining and all. No magazine file this year. Now I just need to get on with the dress and the jewelry and stuff. You know, the actual costume...

*No I haven't told you what character - you can guess if you want ;)

Luna Lovegood Scarf

Found this absolutely adorable pattern for Luna's scarf (above). Click here.

Long Throw Pillows

So thanks to Jelly Wares, I felt confident making these two pillows not match. I think it actually works pretty well. Anyway, I am too busy working on my next cosplay to fix it right now, so I stuffed them this weekend and this is how they will stay.

Inspired by images of Chinese dragons chasing pearls, I made these appliques to dress up my lackluster Target pillows. I've never made an applique before... this may be apparent. I used an awesome calico quilting fabric from Joann called Snakeskin. It looks like scales up close. The satin pearl is made from my scraps pile, and it is exactly the size of a spool of thread, imagine why.

Some people like to call Chinese dragons long, the Chinese word, to separate them from Western dragons. Although similar in appearance, they are very different mythologically. The long is not villainous or frightful, it is a symbol of power. The pearl it chases symbolizes prosperity. My husband would also like to point out that the one on the left is an "S" so he thinks that this design is now our family crest or something.

I added some more stuffing to the pillows while I was at it, because they were a little flat, and inserted a zipper, because these pillows were pretty tough to make, I want to be able to wash them.

Flesh Tank! TP Cozy

I've demonstrated a fondness for kitschy cozies, so add this one to the list.

I made this one for a friend who is a huge Narutard Naruto fan. I made it for Christmas but I only got around to photographing it now. It was kind of hurried, so I had to give it to him before I got to photograph it, and also before I was able to, um, buy thread in matching colors. Yeah.

This character's name is Choji. Choji is a kid that everyone underestimates because he is fat and sweet natured, but he is a tough cookie. His main attack is called Flesh Tank in the Hong Kong version I've been watching; he can turn his body into a giant bowling ball and steamroll his foes. I think it is translated as something else in the Cartoon Network version but you get the idea.


So it's his giant bowling ball form that conceals the toilet paper. His body is made out of various scraps from the remnant bin. His hair is made out of the same yarn as the White Mage above. His face, feet, hands, and Leaf village symbol are made out of polymer clay. Have I mentioned how awesome Fimo is?

Craftster Challenger

I just entered the latest Craftster challenge, the Dollar Store Round 2. My entry is here.

Craftster is addicting. Consider yourself warned!

UPDATE: Voting is now open. Vote here.

UPDATE 2: Voting is over. The dollar store wedding dress won, clearly. Wow! I'm so proud that 15 people voted for me when stuff like this was in the running. Congrats to everyone, and thank you!