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AnimeFreakKai

Utterly Epictastic
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I'm still aliveeeee. 
Gonna work on updating with new costumes here today so get ready for some spam!

-Kai
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Throwing this quick write up of my newest cosplay, the Puppeteer/Felicia Moreno from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, here on DA since my website is kinda dead at the moment. Feel free to ask questions either on here or on my facebook page if you need to.

Tricorn, Mask, and Jewelry:
The tricorn hat is made from the Butterick pattern 3072. I pretty much followed the pattern aside from adding a lining to cut down on thickness. It's made from the same black stretch vinyl as the leggings. I picked up the lace on Etsy and gave it a quick dye bath in wine dye to tone down the red. The "yoyos" were made from red silky fabric to match the sash, they were hand sewn on with a flat button then a cover button was glued over the button. White bias tape was sewn onto the rim, satin-stitched to anchor the tape and lace, and then thick wire was added for shaping. I ordered the mask from venicebuys.com. It's a columbia mask and I totally recommend that site to get great quality masks! I trimmed up the nose a bit then spray-painted it black, lace was stretched over the top and sealed with a few coats of modge podge. The detailing around the eyes was done with plastic cord and a bit of paperclay to seal the edges. Finally the whole mask was painted with sequin black acrylic, varnished, and then the trim was added along the bottom. I picked up most of the jewelry findings off Etsy which includes: the faceted fake opals, all five settings, and the long silver beads on the earrings. Everything else was from a hobby store then put all together by hand. (many hours of counting chain links on the necklace ugh) I made the mask and jewelry before the really good refs for the Puppeteer came out so they're not completely accurate. But honestly I loved the mask and necklace too much to change it.

Gloves:
This was the first time I ever made gloves so these were quite the experience and I'm really proud of them. I used the Butterick pattern 5037 as a base. I wanted to make the flap and glove be all one piece like in the game so the pattern was slightly modified with another crazy seam. I used taupe moleskin for the fabric to match the waist cincher. The seams and buttonholes were sewn with dark brown thread and slightly weathered to make them pop in photos. The eyelet lace was hand sewn to the gloves and the buttons were added using my favorite "cover button glued over a flat button" technique.   

Cincher, Sash, and Belt:
The waist cincher was made to look like a real corset...but it's not at all! I patterned the cincher to fit and then cut it from 3mm craft foam. I cut the moleskin with the same pattern but added and extra inch or two on the sides to it could be glued over the foam. Seams were sewn into the fabric to replicate boning and then the whole thing was stretched and light glued over the craft foam. I stitched along the edge of the cincher to help secure it to the foam once the glue was dry. Vinyl was sewn into the back for added support and the grommets were added. The sash was patterned to be thicker on one side so it pokes out from underneath the belt like it should. It was made from the same red silky fabric as the yoyos. Snaps were added on the ends to the sash to attach it to the waist cincher and keep it from moving. The main belt was made much like the cincher, with craft and vinyl. I carefully chose a nice vinyl that complimented the cincher rather than make it all from the same material to give it some contrast. The belt attaches via snaps because the buckle it totally fake as well. Much like most Assassin's Creed designs, the Puppeteer's buckle is backwards. To make it accurate I cut the basic buckle shape from clipboard and then sculpted the rest with paperclay. It was painted silver then slightly weathered, the prong is simply painted wire. And the whole thing is glued to the belt. The vials were cut from balsa wood and darker vinyl to keep them nice and light. They were painted and weathered, then glued to the belt as well. All the metal accents were added for detail. The belt is amazingly lightweight so it doesn't move on the waist at all.

Pants and Leggings:
The pants were made from a taupe cotton knit and were made to be high-waisted. I used a decorative stitch on my machine with a darker thread to add that weird detail on the crouch. The leggings are sewn to the pants to ensure that they stay up in place. They were made with the same black stretch vinyl as the hat. I patterned the leggings using a duct tape pattern and just did the whole trying them on then adjusting thing to get them tight. Thin elastic was added to the bottom of the leggings so they could be secured to my heels. I picked up black suede heels to give me extra height and a nice contrast with the vinyl. The buttons were carefully measured and then sewn on along the double-stitched outer seam. And finally a strap of vinyl was added to the top and satin-stitched for more detail. The strap is craft foam and vinyl, it attaches to the pants with snaps to keep it up. The vials are filled with color water, though I have to find something else to substitute that. This costume isn't finished so I haven't had the chance to make the red sash for the ankle. 

Coat: 
This coat is my pride and joy, and also my most labor intensive endeavor pattern-wise. I used a faded black stretch denim for the base, black broadcloth for lining, a floral red upholstery material, and a black lace I picked up from Etsy for the seams. I suggest to first make a mock-up, it will save you time, money, and frustration. I first started with two patterns as a base for the topcoat, Butterick 6630 and Mccalls 6740. I used 6630 for the sleeves and followed the basic pattern, I only modified it by adding the extra strip between the poof and sleeve. An extra seam was added to the black sections of the lower sleeve to stay accurate to the game. 6740 was completely modified and looks nothing like the original pattern. I wanted all the red accents on the coat to be sewn into the actual pattern, not just laid over and sewn on. So I changed the angle in the skirt pattern and added/removed panels and such. The skirt is also fully lined and heavily interfaced, so it flares without the use of an underskirt already. The mock-up I made really helped me out with this thing, seriously. I did run into a few issues with the pleats on the back. Since the red upholstery fabric was so thick it refused to corporate with the lace around the pleats. So I had to sew the whole skirt together without the red inlays for the pleats, then iron in the creases and finally hand sew the inlays onto the skirt. This allowed the pleats to sit flat and pretty. The large buttonholes along the front of the coat were sewn manually by machine using a burgundy thread, and the ruffles were handmade using ivory satin and a white lace. The ruffles are completely sewn into the coat, not just into the back of the panels. Once the skirt was basically together, I made the pattern for the bodice and collar completely by hand. I gave it the needed panels, heart-shaped front, and multiple darts to make it sit flat. I patterned the coat to stretch and help boost some...assets haha. So it's quite tight on me, which it why I chose a stretch material in the first place. The bodice and sleeve poofs are lined and the whole thing closes via a zipper. The zipper is hidden thanks to the front panel, which attaches with snaps. All the lace is sewn into the seams then top-stitched to keep them down. The collar is interfaced with craft foam to keep it totally stiff and some wire was added to the top to keep it's shape, more lace was sewn into the collar. All the buttons are button covers glued over flat buttons with E9000 glue. 

Underskirt:
Made with ivory satin and cream colored lace. The underskirt has a total of 3 yards or 9 feet of fabric and is double-sided with satin. The skirt was patterned at a different angle compared to the overcoat skirt. Grey bias tape was sewn onto both sides of the skirt and the little flowers were hand-painted. (24 in all I think) The lace was carefully sewn in and horsehair braid was added to better define the gathers. When the skirt was sewn together and turned right side out, I pleated it to give it the defined ruffles. It was finished off with white bias tape then hand sewn to the coat. I'm pretty sure the whole coat weighs at least 2+ pounds haha. 

This cosplay took a little over 3 months to complete, no idea on the hours. I also kept it on a tight budget so it only costed around $250. 

Well, hopefully I covered everything! More photos of the Puppeteer are on my facebook page. Don't hesitate to ask any questions if you need more details!

 
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Neglect

1 min read
Wow, totally neglecting my DA lately..sorry about all those late replies everyone!

Anywho, I'm not dead. And some updates will be coming later. ~<3
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Otakon was fun this year, though it didn't come without a few disappointments. I'm too lazy to add usernames and such, but you guys know who you are. <3

Thursday- Our trip started out as usual, all-nighter on Wednesday night and ungodly long drive Thursday. Two more of my friends joined us this year so we traveled with a full car and ended up having to rent a small trailer. Despite my two all-nighters in a row and working myself constantly...I still had a bit of work to do on Shahkulu when we left, but I was confident that I could get him done. I also brought Grand Highblood along to finish, but I didn't expect to. We left Nashville around 9am and landed in Baltimore at about 10:30, just in time to get our badges. Our hotel room at the Hampton was super awesome this year, it was huge with a fridge, microwave, free coffee and tea all day, and free breakfast. It was a small walk to the Hilton from it, but totally worth it. I stayed up late this night working on Shahkulu.

Friday- Not much to say..and definitely one of days that I'm beating myself up for. I was stuck in the room all day working on my costume...totally missed the con and the first Assassin's Creed gathering. I did go out later at night and hung out with buddies for dinner. I would say that it was worth missing that day to finish Shahkulu...but I still wish I didn't.

Saturday- Finished Shahkulu around 1pm and threw him on, but ended up stuck in my room waiting for my roommates to finish getting dressed. We had to cross traffic to get to the Hilton, and I could not see very well with my mask or walk quickly...so I needed help. We ended up not leaving until 3pm and I had completely missed the shoot by the time I arrived which was a HUGE let down. Thankfully I still got the chance to chat with online friends and fellow AC cosplayers that were hanging around the area. As well as meet up with my awesome group for our photoshoot later. The day kind of flew by afterward. I had to get out of costume later that night due to being in pain, and then roamed around the con out of boredom since my roomies were at the Homestuck gathering. I finally met a long time online friend and hung around for awhile..eventually running into some of my group members. I pretty much passed out in my room after that.

Sunday- Finally got a full night sleep after weeks of practically none and felt good. I got up with my roomies and fixed up the wear damage on Shahkulu. We just hung around a little during the con, saying goodbye to friends who were leaving. I got the chance to visit the artist alley and dealers room to snag an AC print and car decal. After the con ended we changed and relaxed in our room for most of the day. I went down to the inner harbor for the first time to meet up with my AC group for dinner along with some of my roommates. It's nice to hang out outside of cosplay sometimes. I will admit when we spilt up that night I wanted to cry a little. I have no idea if I'll be able to make it up there next year, and even so only seeing them all once a year isn't enough. But I am very happy that they were all there, my con was so much better because of them. Love you guys. ~<33

Monday- Got up at 7am, packed, and left. My lovely roommates left for Memphis when we finally arrived in Nashville around 8pm.

Otakon is still the highlight of my year, mainly because of all my friends and my roommates who helped support me during the making of Shahkulu. I swear he wouldn't be done right now without them...and Otakon would have not have been so great. So a big thank you to my roommates, group members, new friends, and fellow AC cosplayers!
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AnimeBluesCon

1 min read
I'm leaving for ABC or Anime Blue Con down in Memphis this weekend. And due to lack of motivation and sickness Shahkulu isn't finished. Which is fine...I figured after MTAC I would need more time on him, but he will definitely be ready for Otakon along with Grand HighBlood. No doubt about that.

I plan to take a few of my smaller cosplays that I don't wear very often, I don't have any set days for them though.
-Shion (Magico)
-Rin (Blue Exorcist/Ao no Exorcist)
-Jack'o Lantern (original)

Anywho, nothing special for this con since I'll probably still be sick and mainly just want to relax. But I'll be sure to enjoy myself this time to make up for the stress-induced MTAC.

-AFK
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Featured

Long time no see! by AnimeFreakKai, journal

AC4: Puppeteer cosplay by AnimeFreakKai, journal

Neglect by AnimeFreakKai, journal

Otakon 2012 recap by AnimeFreakKai, journal

AnimeBluesCon by AnimeFreakKai, journal