Everyone starts from somewhere.
It makes me feel so nostalgic~~ My first cosplay/costume was "BB Hood" from Darkstalkers--back in 2011. I was 19, and I didn't know how to sew...but I helped cut out the patterns from a pre-made one for Red Riding Hood and my dad, a retired professional tailor, helped sew it together for me. We had to make tons of adjustment though because I'm a small person.---and I didn't have a good weapon prop because I didn't know anyone who could help me make a huge prop or where to buy one.
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| Photo source to darkstalkers.wikia.com |
Through attending anime and comic-related conventions--I finally felt normal. Everyone there loved the same shows and the same interesting range of people--just like me. I was finally not a "freak." I'm a girl who loves to play video games, read manga, watch anime, talk about different cultures and different people--pick action movies over romantic comedies in a heartbeat--stuff like that. So, in time, I began making friends through this hobby--and we would host "sewing parties" or "sewing sleepovers"--when really, half of our age group was probably partying up in the club somewhere else or doing something else.
Eventually, I went from a shy, quiet girl who spent time alone with reading and drawing--to someone who went out, showing the world: "Hey, look at what I made!"
Someone would say, "Oh, you're that character from this so-and-so video game/anime series/comic! I like that character too!" and we'd talk excitedly over the next upcoming volume or streaming episode and the story of this character, etc.
And then, there's the winter convention in 2012:
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Kisa Soma from "Fruits Basket."
Photo source to http://i175.photobucket.com/ |
From the images above, I began to teach myself hand-sewing and how to make patterns on the whim, fitting the school uniform top on myself, and so on forth--adding the ribbons, etc. I didn't make the skirt--and I didn't know how to manage or take care of pleated skirts back then either, unfortunately. Then, that summer, I made Rhyme's cosplay (the top) and borrowed one of my brother's cargo shorts.
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| Rhyme from "The World Ends with You" video game. |
In 2013, I started making rapid progress through hand sewing and challenging myself to focus on more and more difficult costumes:
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| Photo credit to OneShot Photography. |
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Spring 2013.
Me with a cosplayer, Kiki Kabuki, and a stuffed animal--
the cosplay prop, Tokunaga, in my arms. |
I was determined enough to start learning how to sew a stuffed toy that year. It was my first time making something like that, and I was really proud of how similar it had looked to the official merchandise! I was also forced to figure out how to make tights from scratch though. Painful process from all the pins I had to put in the fabric...
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I attended a cosplay gathering where I met other people
who wore/made costumes from the the video game series (Tale of)
I picked out from. Photo credit to Takuya Fujikawa. |
I also made a successful ball gown from the Vocalicoid series, based on the song, Romeo Cinderella featuring Rin Kagamine. Before that though, I bought a 5-ring hoop skirt from online. I learned that it was an essential based on my past mistake in 2012 when I attempted to create a ballgown, miscalculating how much fabric I needed for the overall costume and etc.
There's much more to cover--and more photos to share, but I learned that for something like this, something like costume-making or dress-making, it takes time and lots of practice. You'd have to go through sweat and tears and frustration--trials and trials of experimentation--the courage and will to push your limit even if people tell you "good luck." Sometimes, channeling other people's negative energy into creating clothes--is a good thing
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| Photo credit to Alex Halcyon. |
"The thing that's great about being a costume designer is you never know what's going to be next; you never know what world you are going to enter."
- Colleen Atwood
