Still Working on Koujaku!

Hi Peeps!

Sorry for not keeping updated- so much work has gone off it's been unbelievable! Since the last post I've been working on Koujaku as my main cosplay project and even now I'm not half way done! Plus I'll be cosplaying this guy for November's Birmingham MCM with one of my friends who will be cosplaying Clear from DRAMAtical Murder also!

So what have I done?

Going from the last post, I had opted to start the whole thing again because the first attempt didn't work out quite right- but I had enough fabric to make another right? Haha! Wrong! I'll get to that later though...

So far I've completed his arm guards, just need to attach red thread to my two white bead bracelets. The neck collar is almost finished as I now have two to decide which one will be the one I wear. All that's left to do with these are attach two silver buttons at the sides, add clips for back (so it slots onto my neck better), making that red flower piece and last ordering a vintage flower button which for some reason I can't find on Ebay! One day! I'll pounce on the bid like a tiger!

After this I thought it's about time I made my obi. Now you can buy ready made obis online but Koujaku has to be awkward and wear based obi with dark brown hexagonal markings with flowers in the middle. All I've done is buy a sandy-stained poly cotton fabric, cut it into eight equal strips and then sewn two on top of one another so you have four equal strips- and why? It's because we'll be painting on top of the yukata and it's got to go tightly around your waist. So because the fabric has been doubled there's less chance of the paint going right through the material horrible, plus there's less chance of the obi breaking or fraying when wrapped around your waist! Make sure you sew the pieces together by the edges so it creates one long strip! Next get a hold of some foamboard and cut out a hexagonal shape that should fit onto the obi twice to make decent pattern, cover the template in Brown acrylic and being stamping on the obi. It may be after you stamped the pattern on you have to go over the lines again in more paint- but it's worth it! All that's left is to paint on the flowers and wrap it around you.

So....the yukata itself....well.... Actually it's not turned out too bad this time, as the last attempt I rushed part of it and sewed the wrong piece onto the wrong side of the back piece? Either way I had some trouble with the shoulder and armpit pieces for the template I used to cut this out, wasn't equally done either so my advice is don't buy Sainsbury's dressing gowns as templates for a kimono or yukata because whoever makes them hasn't cut the fabric out equally either! So after a few attempts of rearranging tacking pins to fold the fabric together at different angles, whilst stabbing myself in process, I finally managed to get both sides equally and looking pretty decent ready for the arms to be attached!

One thing I'd like to point out when making a kimono or yukata is be aware of your body shape, as this can lead to frustration also. Me personally, I'm a pear  which means my hips are quite big but not as much as a spoons. I also have a little bit of weight on, so when taking this into consideration make sure you measure your hips and if possible either draw curves into the material to fit better or add a couple of inches on the sides for seams to fit better!

Currently I'm painting the bottom of the red material with a pale green (Emerald Green and White Acrylic mixed!), to create the same shades of colour on Koujaku's design. Now I've painted acrylic on fabric before (Wii U Link), and it does stay on in the wash but only if it's dried for a few days and you've applied a decent amount of layers on top (3-5 layers of paint is fine!) Another thing is, don't put anything else in the wash when you come to wash cosplay with paint on just to protect your other clothes! If some does come out the wash however, all you have to do is repaint over the patches missing and you'll be fine!  I will point out if you're painting on something that's white, I can't guarantee the paint won't stain the fabric so add a colour catcher to the wash!  After all this green has eventually dried out the layers added, I can begin to draw in the crythanthiums and birds around the yukata.

So what was the previous problem? Well because I thought I had enough fabric I assumed I wouldn't need to order anymore, which is partially correct yet it basically means I had enough fabric to create the body of the yukata but not enough for the sleeves or collar! So going back through all my online orders since January 2015, I finally find the supplier I first ordered of and ordered some more which is fine until it arrives at my door being the wrong shade of red! So after messaging the seller I had to return it back, luckily he was nice guy who said I could swap the fabric but after showing him what shade I needed he said he didn't have that shade anymore- a crisis has struck! My options are by some miracle search through Ebay and look for a similar shade to the red I have, use a completely different shade of red, start the whole thing again or go into town and see if anyone has a similar shade. So far options 1 and 4 are seeming the best, but at the minute I just want to concentrate on painting on the main body of yukata which ok is little backwards- but that's me...

Until next time Peeps!
~KawaiixFukuro

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is mainly to keep people updated on what I'm currently doing that's related to the cosplay world. So far I have attend five conventions, three Manga Nights and countless of meet-ups around where I live. With the actual costumes themselves I mix between handmade and brought cosplay, meaning I'll only take one handmade costume at a time and that's usually the one that attends conventions.  So what's in store from now?

Currently I'm working on making Koujaku's cosplay from DRAMAtical Murder which has been debated over whether it's a man or woman's yukata. Sadly I've to restart the whole costume because I felt the original had been rushed and looked quite poor, if I'm being honest I did rush quite a few things due to other responsibilities in my life. So now that I'm taking my time with the whole thing - it should be miles better!

For the next convention I'm to attend is J-Con, where I'll be going as Makoto Tachibana from Free! in the season 1, ending 1 sequence (Yay no swim-leggings for me!) I'll hopefully be going with some more Free! members as we have a Rei, Nagisa, Rin , Gou and possibly Haru for the day! After that I'll be going to Birmingham MCM November again as Makoto with my friend who's cosplaying Rei!

I think all that's left to share before I start working on Koujaku again, later, is that I'll be attending another cosplay meet-up soon possibly as Gray Fullbuster from Fairytail.

Until then peeps!
~ Sayonara!