(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! :)