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 >.<

Mine: Confusing shoe sizes and learning japanese

Yesterday I had my first lesson in japanese! Yay! Finally, through the charity of my BFF (and cosplay partner) I have started a beginner's course in japanese. I am very excited to finally be learning japanese as I have been interested in japanese culture for over ten years now, and I don't think you'll ever be able to understand a culture fully withut learning the language. It was a fun introduction lesson where we were taught to say our name and write it in katakana, I am looking forward to the next lesson in two weeks (next week is cancelled because of 'winter vacation').

Besides learning nihongo I have been prepping Mine's shoes for fabric. The seller I bought them of off Ebay didn't clarify which shoe size chart she used, so they ended up being way too small for my big feet. But after a couple of cuts and a lot of tape, they are ready for fabric to be glued on. Unfortunately I spent all of my money on Electabuzz this month, so I will not be able to buy the fabric until March *Sits in a corner and cries*.

My BFF have finished the skirt for Mine for me - we only got half of it done last time - and when I get pictures of it I will share them with you. Next Wednesday I am planning on starting on the Electabuzz mock suit so I'll have som pictures around then. The other thing I'll be doing this month is the foam for the head of Electabuzz, I plan on having some pictures ready on sunday.
Until then - have fun!

- Miliyia

DTD - Duck tape dummy and failed leggings

Hello everyone, just a small update and what to expect next week.

Today I tried to sew up Mine's leggings by hand, but as I was soon to discover, the thread pulled the fabric so when I tried them on they ripped. *Sigh*. So the new plan is to use my newly made Duct tape dummy of my leg (see later) and buy a pair of nylon and a pair of thicker leggings and glue them together when they are stretched to their maximum. I really hope this works, as I can't really finish the costume without the leggings.

The other thing I did today was a dummy of my head and a dummy of my leg with help from my bf. I hope to build the head of Electabuzz and the leggings - including painting them - of Mine on these, when I manage to get them home with me ;-)


I am unsure how much I will be making cosplays next week and thus unsure how much I will post as I will be really busy with school and such.
Hope you've enjoyed this small update.


Best Regards
- Miliyia

Progress and rookie mistakes

I am sorry this post is late but things didn't go along as fast as I hoped they would, but I have worked on the cosplays as much as I have been able to =)

Electabuzz: 
Last weekend I made the electabuzz gijinka dress and as it was the first time I ever really used a sewing machine I am very proud of myself. I managed to plop out the whole dress and underskirt in a day - and in time for dinner too ^_^
But shortly afterwards I realized I made a rookie mistake on the tulle underskirt and I will be re-making that and then uploading some better pictures. But the main part of the dress is finished.

I know that the lightning looks crooked when the dress is flat, but when I wear it, it looks perfect :-)
Mine: 
I have received the leggings and am in the middle of modifying them - but as it requires a good deal of hand sewing it goes slowly as I find the job tedious, but they will be done soon, I promise. I have also received the wig - it was really damaged at the top when I got it and I am trying to save it, but it is difficult to brush it through as it has a lot of curls and I don't wanna damage them.

Damaged wig x(

I also have to cut the bangs a bit - I will upload a picture when I finish the main part- I am probably not gonna style it 100% before March as I have limited space and I need my mannequin head for Walter and Electabuzz.
My cosplay partner and I are in the middle of making the skirt for Mine, but we only got half ways yesterday (and I forgot to take pictures. Baka!) and we have yet to plan another sewing date - more info on that below.
I have received the circle lenses I will be using, and plan on making a review for youtube, but I expect it won't be done until the middle of next week.
I have also bought new makeup for Mine, and I did try it out, but wasn't 100% happy with the result, so I will try again and then show you.


Walter: 
While sewing with my cosplay partner this Tuesday, we managed to finish the vest for Walter, who my boyfriend is cosplaying. As he had to leave in the middle of making it, we still have some finishing touches to do before the con.
I have also worked on the monocle, as I received the glasses yesterday. It is still a bit crude, but the last touches will be made when my boyfriend comes over again so I can fit it to his nose instead of my own.

As for the progress form now on, I am unsure when I will have time to do a lot in one day. This week I am on break from Uni so I have been able to work on the cosplays a lot, but from next Monday I have afternoon/evening classes every day and as I have told you guys before, I currently do not own a sewing machine, so I am fully dependent on my cosplay partner (and seamstress). This sucks, not because I don't like spending time with her - I do, she's my bestie - but our schedules are not really compatible so it is difficult to meet up, unfortunately and I also wanna hang out with her, without sewing! But we will definitely do our best and try and avoid stress right before the con.

Best wishes.

- Miliyia