Robe done!! And temporary life changes.

Hi!

Welcome back to my blog. I haven't posted in a while, as I've had nothing to post :P 

The reason I've had nothing to post is that my phone decicded to stop working last month which lead to me losing all of the pictures of the miraluka build :'( Whilst limited by my lack of phone, I have also been forced to move out of my apartment for the duration of September as it's being renovated - so I can't access all of my tools and equipment - but I will do what I can while living away.

As of now I have settled in where I'm gonna stay in September, and my phone has been repaired, so I have tried filming the rest of my build of the miraluka cosplay. 

I finally finished the robe today and I am so happy with the result! I will post pictures on this site tomorrow and I hope to have an edited 'making of' video ready in a week or so.

This has just been a quick update as I'm exited to be done with the robe and really looking forward to making the shirt and the skirt! Check in with me tomorrow for pictures or in a while for more progress updates. 

Thank you for reading this :) 

Best regards

- Miliyia 

I went to Genki... Kinda ;)

Heya everyone!

As you might remember I had opted out of going to Genki-con this year because of finances and unstable social relations. But late thursday evening my brother called me and said he and his girlfriend wanting me to go with them to Genki on friday. Of course I went and I had a great time. I had a great time with a bunchof friends.
I did not cosplay as I am repairing a lot of costumes at the moment and none were ready to put on with such short notice.
I did wear my '1 up outfit (Green Mushroom from Mario)' of which I have no pictures :'( but basically it is a large 1up 'shroom hat a 1 up t-shirt and a 1 up backpack. I will try and get some pictures the next time I wear it.


That's enough blabbering... Progress-wise I am still trying to finish my mock-up for the miraluka, but as I had an exam to study for, I didn't get much done in July. But as of now I am taking a break from studying so I hope I will be able to create a lot faster now. Fingers crossed!

Just a small update - if anyone wants a more detailed review of Genki, ask me and I will write a post on Genki as this was my 3rd or 4th year attending :)

Seeya!
- Miliyia

A cosplay identity crisis?

Hey guys. 

I know that I haven't posted much since my last convention in March and there is a reason for this. After the convention and what happened there (I will explain later in the text) I haven't really been feeling like cosplaying, working on costumes, or planning new ones.
Cosplay in general has just been filled with a lot of mixed feelings for me. On top of that, I have finished my last year of my bachelor's degree so I've been busy with school as well. I hope you can understand and forgive me.

Well then.. What happened at J-popcon?

Overall I had a wonderfull time as I always have, and I went to a lot of amazing events and saw a lot of amazing people. But in my little group of cosplay friends, emotions were stirring. It all escalated Saturday night, and the group was split into two, me and some friends and then my cosplay-partner and her boyfriend.

Without gossiping too much and without betraying my cosplay partner, I can say that she made the decision to attend cons later this year, with neither me nor anyone from the group as company.

This has left me with some mixed feelings
On one hand it does not bother me. I have a lot of people to meet up with at conventions, and I had started making my costumes alone anyway.
On the other hand, this takes off a lot of my motivation for going to the second big con I usually go to - Genki con, as travel time is more than an hour each way every day. This wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the people you generally meet on the train. There is, in my experience, a lot of harassment and enduring the ride can sometimes be difficult, even with a group of friends. So travelling can really ruin the whole day (or costume!!).

All this is something I have been thinking a lot about for the last few months, and my identity as a cosplayer has been a theme in my thoughts throughout. I have been considering if it was time for me to let go of this expensive hobby or if I should continue alone and see where it takes me?


I have decided to continue cosplaying - Yeah cosplay is expensive and who hasn't been living off of oatmeal a whole month because of a new supply of materials? ;-) But it is so worth it when I enjoy every minute of sewing, fabricating, showing off the costume and meeting new friends!

I am still dealing a bit with this, and have ultimately decided to skip genki this year - I would have gone alone, but money is low this month, and I'd rather focus on Copenhagen Comic Con this September as it is 5 minutes from where I live and I already have a ticket,

I am still in the progress of making my Weiss cosplay and I expect it to progress a lot faster this month. I will also be making my personal Star wars: TOR character for Comic Con.

I hope this has given you some insight as to why I haven't been posting lately and what can happen in the mind of a cosplayer, when motivation is suddenly on demand.

Best regards

- Miliyia 

Costumes done and worn!

Hey guys... I know it's been a week since I went to J-popcon, but things have been crazy. I finished both my costumes thursdag night a bit after twelve - and thus got around 6 hours of sleep. Which was way more than I expected :) The con was great, and I hope, at some point next week to write a full review on it. This post will be about my costumes and my thoughts about them. One of the main reasons this is late is because my laptop was attacked by Coca Cola and the keyboard has stopped working... Yeah, that sucks...

Mine was my cosplay on friday. This picture was taken 5 minutes after I arrived with full on stress so forgive me for the pose. The other was taken with a phone. I do realise I look a bit chubby in these pictures - but I swear I'm not in real life ;-) 
Overall I am happy with what I made in such a short time. The wig styling was pretty easy and took about 10 minutes, and the hair piece is just glued on. The white belt was fitted with velcro and the fur was hot glued to the bow. The shoes I made after several tries and they turned out okay.
Things I want to remake: The shoes were far too small and the fabric was too thick and stiff - and also, they broke, so I will need to remake them.
The white belt kept falling off because of the quality of the velcro, so that needs to be fixed.
I need to do some more details on the shirt
In consideration of the leggings I will have to figure out what to do, as I am not happy with how they turned out, but I am out of ideas.


Other than that I am happy with the costume - the next step is to actually learn to pose and get some pictures taken by a good photographer with a proper camera. If I decide to go to Genki-con this July I will wear Mine again, but I am still undecided - more about this in my upcoming review of J-popcon.



I wore Electabuzz saturday. Again, I am really not this fat in real life ;-) I decided not to wear a wig and no contacts. This was mainly because I had neither time nor inspiration for a wig and I had no time to buy contacts. My favourite part of this costume is most certainly my tail. I just love how big and fluffy it is. 
The tail is attached with a belt, which is put through holes in the back of the dress. I had to have it on really tight as the tail is quite heavy - but it was worth it. I decided not to have my hand light up with a 'thunder punch' as I didn't have time to sew a pocket for the battery pack. 
I don't know if you can see it on the picture but one foot is larger than the other. I really loved this cosplay and I think it is the perfect combination of cute and accurate for a Gijinka. I also tried the dress without the tulle underneath and it looked really cute but naturally lost the width of Electabuzz. 
Things I want to remake: I want to fix the back of the dress as it keeps sliding down and distorting the look.
I might change the shoes so they are more alike, if I find a method where I don't have to start completely over. 
I had made som earrings out of oven baked clay but I forgot them x(  - an easy one to correct. 

I am sorry for not having more or better pictures - but the one single thing I am really bad at is posing and finding photographers. I will try to do better the next time. 

As mentioned I plan on writing a post about the convention as a whole - this will propably include my thoughts about participating at Genki this summer. 

Until then - Have fun.

- Miliyia

Progress - getting ready to finish

Hello everyone. These last weeks have been weird for me. I haven't really been sick, nor heallthy so I have unfortunately been lacking in motivation and energy. But I have made some progress. I am getting ready to finish both of my costumes these days and I just need to endure!

 As you can see I have begun the headband for my Electabuzz-Gijinka, and I hope to finish it today or tomorrow. I have fastened two cheap knitting rods with some wire and a lot of hot glue, and now I need the spheres at the end and a second cover of fur. I have also been making the tulle undercoat for the gijinka-dress but I haven't got any pictures yet unfortunately.

This was my progress on the headpiece of Mine. It is made with self-adhesive craft foam and some regular glue. I think it turned out quite well in the end.


I am sorry for the short post, but I will head back to finishing the costumes and taking more pictures. See you soon.








- Miliyia

Decisions and failure

Hello everyone.

Yesterday I had to make a hard decision. Since I am still sick, and only might recover before the con, I have decided to postpone my big Electabuzz fursuit :'( I am doing this because there is no way I can finish it before the con when I also have Mine and Electabuzz-gijinka to make and I'd rather have 2 great costumes than 3 mediocre. I will hopefully attend Genki-con in July with the full Electabuzz-suit and I am looking forward to this.
I have started working on the tights of Mine and her shirt, but the sickness is delaying me, but pictures and progress should be up in the next couple of days :)

I just wanted to update you all on this. I'll se you in a few days. Have fun.

- Miliyia

Delay! God damn you health!

Hey everyone.

I know that I promised a new entry far earlier than this, but unfortunately I've been busy trying to cough my lungs out - not recommendable ;-) Just as I thought my body had fought the sickness I woke up yesterday with a sore throat - whch I hadn't had earlier and a different coughthan the last couple pf weeks . *Sigh*. I am sorry that you have had to wait this long, but I haven't really been able to think or work on my costumes. This leaves me with a lot of stress and not a whole lot of energy.
But I will try my best over the next weeks to update you as there will be a lot of progress (because 'm behind on everything) and I will be working my ass off.

I am in the middle of furring the feet of Electabuzz so pictures are soon to come. But some weeks ago my friend and I started the mock suit for Electabuzz, which I will try and finish this weekend. I have a few pictures from making the DTD of the feet, but I don't know yet whether or not I will actually be using it.

 So again I am sorry for not posting and that this post is short and pretty uneventful. But I will try my best to do a lot this week and to get a lot of pictures of it. Wish me luck.


- Miliyia

Ps. If this entry seems a little incoherent or off, it is because I still have a massive headache form coughing so much >.<