This is my online cosplay portfolio. After clicking on the thumbnails, just hit your browser's "back" button to get back to this page. I'll be adding to this page as things get organized and finished, so check back once a week. (Want to see my current project?)

AX06 - queenie goth-type outfit, the pictures of which I still need to fadiddle with and upload. I've just been lazy. :D

Mao, battle outfit; from Angelic Layer - Fanime 2006
- Man, this costume was a challenge! First the tail, then the outsized shoulders. I like to think I pulled through quite nicely, thankyouverymuch. :)
- Building the top and pants: I used two separate patterns - McCall's M4301 for the pants, and McCall's M4381 for the top. The top had the design lines I was looking for, so I just split the pattern as necessary for the different-colored sections. Trim is white grosgrain. I wanted just plain white bias, but it was too sheer, and making my own is too time-consuming.
- I was concerned about the shoulders getting crunched while in action on stage, and ease of movement while wearing them. Well, they passed the test in our masq skit, but I can't raise my arms above my shoulders due to the shape and position. Plastic canvas helped shape the shoulders, and they don't get crunched. Yay! I'm really glad they worked - they took ten hours to build: two for drafting and mock-ups, and eight for the build itself. YIKES. I wound up leaving the underarm open for movement, because the plastic canvas has simply no give to it. It works. :)
- The tail was a whole different challenge: I wanted spring and movement without sacrificing shape or light weight. I went through three different mock-ups, and ended with a spring steel (like for hoopskirts) spine and spiral boning ribs. The tail's ball is just felt stuffed with poly batting. I'd like to make it more globular at some point, though. I also attached it to a waist belt, so I could feed it through both the pants and a top, like a real tail would do. It works great, but peeing is a challenge!
- You can't really see it, but I used metallic gold leather as the tail base detailing as well as for both the front and back torso triangles. The ears were sooper-EZ, and I put them on a plastic canvas base to pin into my wig because I couldn't find horsehair in time. Hey, it works. :)
- I wore this to Anime Expo 2006, in honor of CLAMP's visit!

Noel, idol costume; from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch - Fanime 2005 (First three pictures taken by Conplayers in a private shoot. You can see the full shoot here.)
- This outfit is mostly constructed from poly Casa satin, with tissue lame (sorry about the lack of an accent on the "e") for the piping and bow. Tissue lame is far too delicate and shreddy - next time I'm using the liquid metallics. They're sturdier and don't shred. Fabrics are purchased from Joanne's, boots and gloves from a local costume store (Jenny got those for us). Jenny stitched the bow, and painted and strung the wrist and ankle beads. Kimiko dyed and styled the wig, and Cheryl cast and painted the shell necklace. I made the earrings and hair comb and everything else.
- The fully-lined and boned (used both 1/4" spiral and 1/4" spring on me) sheath dress is based on Simplicity 5095. It's shortened and the front ruffle inserted into the princess seam. There's also a set of clear elastic straps to insure no fanservice. That's it, folx. The piping, though, has to be hand-stitched on. To stuff, I used the 1" cotton home dec piping you can find at any reputable home dec or home yardage store.
- Glove and boot ruffs: The gloves are shortened to about 2" below the elbow, and the ruffs snap on and off for cleaning. They're heavily interfaced to stay up while bouncing around. The boots are also shortened and shaped to follow the ruff line. The ruff is tacked to the boot in several places as well as to itself for added support, then snaps to the boot for ease of putting on.
- Noel's glove ruffs need redoing - they need a deeper V at the inside wrist to mimic the boot ruffs.

Mint, waitress costume; from Tokyo Mew Mew - Anime Expo 2004
- The outfit is constructed of cotton for the apron, top, bloomers, and skirt; poly for the bow and shirt cuffs; craft foam headpiece. All fabric for this (top, skirt, bloomers, bow) was purchased at Fabrics R Us in San Jose.
- The top is adapted from Butterick 3969, a basic fitted blouse. I simply shortened and poufed out the sleeves and added a mandarin collar. The trim is so cute! It's a heart-patterned poly/cotton I found at Joanne's, of all places. It fits in perfectly with the whole spirit of the costume. White nylon snaps run up the front for ease of closure since we couldn't find the right buttons as per the anime. (Which doesn't matter too much since the apron hides the front.) When I fixed up the outfit, I made the bowtie permanently tied, and added snaps to the neck strap so I could pop it off and on for washing.
- The skirt is Simplicity 9806, a cheerleader pattern. Ribbon trim was sewn on first, then all pleats stitched to prevent de-pleating when washed. CB closure is a hook and zip.
- The bloomers are swiped from any Halloween pattern which has a bloomers pattern. They're pretty basic. Ribbon bows are stitched in place. I should have used snaps to attach them so I can pop them off when the bloomers are washed, but it's easy enough to snip threads and restitch as necessary.
- The original apron was built by Jenny, but I rebuilt it for Animagic 2005 down in Lancaster, California. Not only did I strengthen the heart shapes, enlarge the shoulder ruffles and increase the strap angles; I also got Terribly Clever and put a very handy zip pocket on the underside of the heart panel. We could flip up the apron panel and access whatever we put in there.
- I'm wearing my new Mint wig. The color is a correct dark blue created by a 50/50 mix of cobalt and black hairs. I haven't tried to put it up in buns because I'm really bad at wig styling. I also gave the headpiece a sturdy base - I stitched black horsehair to the bottom edge after reinforcing the foam with 1/8" wide ribbon.

Freya, original design; from Chobits - Anime Expo 2004
- The whole outfit is constructed of patterned stretch vinyl purchased in Los Angeles. You can see the square pattern in the pictures when the sun hits the fabric at the right angle. Kimiko styled the wig, Jenny made the hair spools and ears.
- The bodice is based on Simplicity's Ladies' Matrix top. I simply cut out the smallest size and fitted it as necessary. Boning was vital to the fit as well since it was so tight. The boning gave the top the support it needed to shape to the body without wrinkling or shifting. Plain black vinyl piping (Los Angeles purchase) runs along all edges of the bodice. CF top and CB top bodice inserts are black stretch power net (scraps rescued from work). The bodice closes with a light-weight separating zip, while black satin-finish lingerie (Los Angeles purchase) elastic runs up the entire CF closure. Black opalescent square sequins (yup - LA again) are hand-stitched on. The collar wrinkles because it's meant to stretch around the wearer's neck.
- The skirt is your basic circle skirt - I simply gave it a trim so it was shorter in front. Plain black vinyl piping runs around the hem to give it weight and shape. Under the vinyl skirt is a net layer to add a bit of fluff. The skirt's waistband is black grosgrain. I tried using the vinyl, but it stretched far too much. It's better to go with a non-stretch material for certain things. CB closes with a hook and zip.
- Mitts and boots are also of stretch vinyl. The mitts are simply opera-length gloves without the hands, and the boot tops cover the shoe base completely. I glued the fabric to the shoe to keep it in place, but the toe is really a pocket of fabric. I traced the front end of the shoe onto leather, cut it out, and stitched it to the toe end of the boot cover. It slips right over the toe of the shoe and stays in place. The one thing I need to do, though, is add elastic to the top of the mitts and boots so they stay in place.

Stuff I've built for other people:

Caren, idol costume; from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch - Fanime 2005 (First four and last two pix taken by Consplayers in a private shoot.)
- Cheryl loves this dress because it gives her a figure - I built it along the lines of a corset so it squoozes her at all the right spots. Same costume info as for Noel's, except for Cheryl I used 1/2" spring boning all around. She needed it for bust support and more squoozing power.

Kaito, prince costume; from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch - Fanime 2005
- I only built the blue robe, and it needs redoing. It's too short, and the trim needs to be redone so it looks more like the anime. Well, whaddya expect from an all-night sewing frenzy? I got all of about three hours of sleep the week before con, and this robe was stitched in one hour at 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
- Fabrics purchased at Joann's, don't remember what pattern it was based off of...I think one of the LotR Simplicity patterns. Travis made his own shoulder armor, and the cape is simply two artfully draped rectangles of fabric. Wig styled by Kimiko, belt by Jenny.

Or do you think I'm just a freak? :) andrea at nekowafer dot net