Summer Costumes

Its that time of year again, summer is fast approaching and its time to plan cosplays for the conventions :) I have a couple of costumes I made before falling pregnant, and some could be modified. I am keen to début my Kaylee overalls which could be adapted for bump, if I get a waist coat and stethoscope for my baby Daddy "Simon" it could be quite funny :)

I haven't worked on it but I have a nearly finished "Ponyos Mother" who is a beautiful sea goddess with long red hair. If Dave will let me I can dress him as Ponyos father, the human wizard who resides in a submarine and we can be the perfect prequel pair, he certainly fits the kooky character ;)

Also I have a dress that is very close to that of an extra in the first episode of my all time favourite anime Cowboy Bebop. I have on the top of my cosplay wish list a Spike and Faye costume, the later of which has been struck right off! I can make trousers and buy a sombrero and poncho for Spike should the Jacket be too complex or time consuming.


In the past its been me motivating and pushing DH into costumes, or (due to work) been left till the last minute or he couldn't decide on a costume. David is for the first time excited about a cosplay! He isn't a massive fan of resident evil but after researching a Jill Valentine cosplay (as I am want to do in my spare time) he would love the chance to get kitted up and be Chris Redfield for the day. Looking badass has never felt so right!

He has a lot of options for the combat waistcoat with plenty of army barmy mates it shouldn't bee too hard to find something suitable. He is also keen to try his hand at prop making for Chris' machete, not to mention nagging me into learning leather working to make him holsters not only for cosplay but also his military past times. Is there no end to the demand on my talents??

Chris Redfield

Chris Redfield is a S.T.A.R.S operative from Raccoon City from the popular (and my favourite zombie basher) Resident Evil games franchise. I have often wanted to cosplay Resident Evil and have researched a Jill Valentine in her S.T.A.R.S uniform from the first game but can't wear it this year due to the baby incubating in my womb! This year I can just be a preggers zombie and next year will be something to look forward to, and also our German Shepard dog, Monty, (who loves cosplay btw) can join in : D if he's not too old by then he is already showing his age!
So my DH is finally excited about a cosplay, huzzah! He is researching the costume thoroughly, particularly the different versions of costume and is already thinking about where to get items and looking up how to make props and weapons. A lot of it Dave wears for work anyway (he wears SWAT uniform and jumps out of helicopters) but the way computer games go its all exaggerated, plus the fact that its a zombie apocalypse so OFC you need some kick ass weapons.
Essentially its a green waistcoat with combats and accessories. I can make most of those with webbing (have done custom webbing before) and he can borrow many of the pouches and gadgets from friends. Most folks round here are Army Barmy and have collections of body armour, webbing, weapons and survival gadgets, so its a bonus for the costing :)

Kaylee

I have now finished my fabulous Kaylee costume!

I am very please with the distressing and ageing, it took a while to get the oil stains right. My husband dryly commented "why don't you just use engine oil?" Well that might have been a good idea but by then I had spent a long time mixing wd40, vegetable oil and dye to try and make it greasy and permanent, so I had to see it through to the end.
A lot of fine detail has gone into this costume, I hand stitched the patches with embroiders thread and put dirty wear marks on the pockets and high use areas, ie knees and bum :) I have seen several other bear overall cosplays but modest though I am mine is by far the best! There are 2 things I am not 100% happy about but they barely shadow how please I am with the overall result : D

I also made a little bag from some left over materials, its not that large but just big enough to hold my purse, phone, keys and con badge etc.

I hope you enjoy the photos taken by my good friend Mr Abe, he came down especially before I get too big to fit in them any more! I am thinking I might still wear this costume over the summer, I could just leave the top half of overalls around my waist but that would only be funny with my baby daddy dressed as Simon to tag along. Lets see if we can convince him!

Bridesmaid dresses

I had 2 weeks full of stress and hard work but in the end everything worked out beautifully, my mother in now finally an honest women and the whole day went off without a hitch!

I started with the smallest bridesmaid, she is only 10 so I had to totally remodel her adult sized dress, putting in a simpler line than the adult bridesmaids and customising it to her size. At such short notice the dress company only had one size 12 and another size 14 so it took almost as much work to bring my dress down to size. As I am a size 10 and my now new cousin (^_^) was not around for modelling and sizing I changed the 14 to fit me and my little swollen tummy - I was only 13 weeks so it was not too obvious but still my size 10 clothes dont fit so well any more!
It took a lot of work and I was taking up the child's dress the night before the wedding but they came out lovely and everyone adored them.