(Another) Long-Expected Update

It's been over a year since my last update. *allows that to sink in* Yeah. I'm probably the worst blogger ever. I probably don't even qualify as a blogger, but merely a "blog-dabbler."

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, how 'bout an update? Er, more like a photo dump, but let's face it, those are more fun.

Despite the longstanding appearance of death on both this blog and my Facebook cosplay profile, the reality has been a lot more lively. Frenzied at times. I've continued (and actually completed) my campaign to overhaul all my old costumes, photograph them, and find them new homes. At long last, I've pared my wardrobe down to a very manageable assortment of favorites that only takes up a small portion of my closet.

The rest have already either been sold, are currently being sold, or will eventually be donated (possibly to a local theater company).

In one of my prouder achievements, I dismantled my entire Kili BotFA cosplay, an unfinished Tauriel bodice from 2014, and a tooled leather collar I made for my Australian short film, then combined, recycled, and reused their components into a fun Egyptian-style costume with an impressive headdress.

The detail in this is next level, as the tooling alone originally took me days straight. I still need to do a proper photoshoot for this ensemble, but I'm probably going to wait until I finish the cape and dress that will go underneath these pieces.

Other projects I've brought up to par are past commissions, some stuff from wayyyy back (circa 2004), Thorin bracers I started in 2014, and even a pair of drop front trousers. From about November 2019 until mid-February of this year (2020), I was constantly busy, working on clearing out totes of fabric, half-finished projects, costumes stuck in limbo (too badly made to be sold, too much invested to be discarded), and dealing with them all. I'm really pleased with all the progress I made.

Here are some of the things I finished during that time that are now ready to go into my long-term collection, or be sold/donated.

• Bard DoS Coat - intensive repair and redesign of the front (painstaking process involving many invisible patches and a lot of leather glue; also required stitching together bits of goat fur to create a better collar for the front)

• Blue Crossover Elven Gown (2017) - finishing touches (mainly hand stitching the belt in place) 

• Blue and Silver Thranduil-Inspired Gown (2017) - progress pictures of this one shown previously; I finally completed it, which meant hemming, plus the silver clasps on the front.

• My Fem!Smaug Ensemble (circa 2015) - just basic repairs (I'll probably be hanging on to this one; bit of a niche in any case). 

• Ranger-Inspired Coat Dress (2020) - I would probably actually live in this (made from scratch this year); wool-blend fabric with handmade veg tan leather ties

• Elven Sorceress Dress (2004; updated 2017 and 2020) - added lots of pretties in 2017; finished in 2020, or at least I will tack the final stitches in place as soon as it sells. 

• Finally - a few pictures of other things I made or finished this year:
  

  

  Loki-Inspired Earrings

  
  
  
  

  

  Loki-inspired cuff

  
  

  

  Wedding Cloak

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Velvet Ranger Cloak (Short)

  

  Velvet Ranger Cloak (Long)

  

  Embroidered Ranger Cloak

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Embroidered Water Bottle / Keep Cup Sleeves

I'll have another post soon for the progress on my Bard BotFA cosplay, which has been in progress for a while. It's set to be debuted at DragonCon 2020 (if Covid 19 is under control by then). *fingers crossed* 

Until then, stay well out there! :) 

Thor: the Dark World Photoshoot - Thor and Loki

Nailed it.

Lots of preparations to be made before my flight to Australia tomorrow, where I'll be attending AFTT for the year, but I wanted to update my blog. Just edited some photos from a recent Thor photoshoot, in which my good friend Airra Faih cosplayed Loki.

This was the culmination of a six-month project, debuted at Denver Comic-Con. We were also able to participate in the cosplay catwalk. Loki, as expected, hammed it up in front of the audience and literally stole my thunder. 

Now, on to the costumes themselves.

Thor's armor and accessories required the better portion of 6 months to complete, amidst a relentless onslaught of other busy-ness. I have to admit I've never before experienced such a claustrophobic schedule during the summer, one event bleeding into the next and the next and the next.

That being said, I'm pleased everything turned out as well as it did. The armor and all other related components are entirely in leather. To do otherwise would not have sat well with me. I'm just too extra.

So hundreds of hours of pattern-making, cutting, shaping, tooling, dyeing, sealing, gluing, burnishing, and painting later, the armor was finished. (If you're attempting a similar project, feel free to contact me. I'm happy to provide some pointers that may save you a bit of frustration.) The nice thing about making this cosplay in natural, durable materials was that it will hold up basically indefinitely.

The rondels are 3D modeled and printed. An awesome guy I met through the RPF forums kindly did the printing for me, and then I sanded, smoothed, and painted them. They're also screwed into the leather from the inside, so there's no way they're coming out. (Incidentally, I'm also screwed into the armor on one shoulder, so I can't escape without assistance. My Loki found this terribly amusing.)

Loki's cosplay is also entirely in natural materials, the coat in black deerskin. The design on the front is hand stamped. It took us four days to complete, and we were still working on it in our airbnb before the con. (Typical, I know.)

During the photoshoot, we decided to try to recreate some of the Thor: the Dark World posters. We elected to put Loki in Jane's poses, because c'mon... it was too good.

Loki looks like he's dabbing.

"Loki... NO."

So this will likely be my last post for a while. I'll be back in business next year, and ready for my next project. For now, my life will be film school. And Australia. And avoiding spiders, snakes, and sharks. *glances around warily*

Major Work - Thor: The Dark World Cosplay WIP

Other insanity I've been up to in the last month or two includes:

-Thor's armor ensemble from Thor: The Dark World
-Loki prison cell costume (for Lisa, both for Denver Comic-Con)
-camping road trip to Maui with my mom
-5-day wedding adventure in Idaho (never moving there; sorry, spuds)
-full-scale remodel of our local Sunglass Hut, starring large, rectangular grey tiles and badly designed cabinets full of glass
-keeping my Grandpa in line
-clearing out my costume inventory (I've sold about 60% of my costumes so far, and about 90% of what I had listed)

Thought I'd post a bit about my Thor cosplay, since that's been in-progress for about 5 months now. The chest armor took forever, otherwise I'd definitely have been done by now. Stare at the designs for too long and you go cross-eyed. Everything looks like pretzels.

Chest armor:
-tooling leather, leather glue, rivets, copious amounts of patience

Front

Back

Pattern

Pants / kilt:
-garment leather, industrial sewing machine, leather adhesive, metallic paint, double-sided hem tape, 500 hours spent online looking for the right metal buckles, blue linen, metal zipper stops, pliers

Cloak:
-red wool, red linen, going crazy with pleats, patience to tack everything properly

Rondels (3D printed; before smoothing: left, after smoothing: right)