This has been a long time coming. I, forever, had wanted to dedicate a single blog to my sewing adventures. It had always been on the backlog of my to-do list for too many years. Now, that six years has past since I had became a seamstress; I thought it was well past due to sit down and start this blog. Many of you out there are probably wondering why anyone would want to blog about crafts or sewing in general, but sewing is a big part of my life. It is more then just a hobby now. It is my passion.
I had always been interested in arts and crafts since I was a little girl. I was lucky enough to have the "talent" for it, but sewing was one thing I never had the chance to learn until my early adulthood. I never had a home economics class nor a fashion design class in my life. I had never even taken a single sewing class either. My school schedule and work schedules had always conflicted with such. It was difficult to find the time to sit down to sew, even though I had been interested in the hobby since well before high school. Since I had began to get interested in anime and the hobby of cosplaying, in my later high school years - I wanted to learn how to sew for one reason and one reason only.
Cosplay.
Cosplaying is an unique art. For those that do not know what this term means, from urbandictionary.com: Literally "Costume Play." Dressing up and pretending to be a fictional character (usually a sci-fi, comic book or anime character). I had always loved Halloween as a kid, but this takes it far beyond just Halloween. Cosplaying takes it to a whole new level. You get to dress up and act like your favorite characters, more then just one time a year (depending on how many conventions you go to).
When it comes to cosplaying these days, there are four choices on how to go about getting a costume:
1. sew it your self
2. hire a seamstress/tailor
3. buy a cosplay off of ebay
4. "thrift" or "closet" cosplay
Number one was out. Before 2006, I only really knew the basics of hand sewing. I am a horrible hand sewer. There was no way I was sewing a costume by hand. Then there is number two. I have heard so many horror stories about commissioning from random strangers online. There was no way I was doing that. Then, I had tried ebay. I had tried ebay twice. The first time, I had bought a costume, the quality was so-so. But the second time I had ordered a costume from ebay, I was so frightened by what I got - it was never seen the light of day. I immediately threw it out because it was just horrible. The coloring was so off, the sizing was terrible (it barely fit, it was so tight) and it was made of a spandex material. UGH. What a waist of money. I was so upset by it, that I refused to buy any more off of ebay from that point on. And of course, I had my share of "thrifted" or "closet" cosplays, but anime does not always translate well into real life. It can only get you so far with certain characters.
That , I had taken upon my self to learn how to finally sew. Originally, I was going to get help from my mother with cosplays. She has never been a great seamstress, but she knew the basics. Of the two or three "cosplays" she had helped me with in the past, it was nothing up to par that I liked. I had asked and begged her to help me learn how to use the sewing machine, but she just never had the time to sit down to teach me after the one "lesson" I had with her of learning the basics of a sewing machine and how it operated.
That was the beginning. I had been officially sewing now for over six years. I've lost count of how many cosplays I had made for my self. I had expanded my talents to commissioning for those that can not sew. I had advanced to the point of no longer of being a novice seamstress, but a journeyman in convention masquerades. Last year, I had won "Best-in-Show" at Shinbokucon for my Black (Trainer) from Pokemon Black costume. This year at Animarathon, I had just recently won my second award, "Honorable Mention" for my Red (Trainer) from Pokemon. I never thought in my life, that I would of progress this far to winning even a single competition.
I am far more excited though for this year's cosplay list. I will be cosplaying as some of my all-time favorite characters that I had been dying to cosplay, since I discovered the hobby. I had been cosplaying officially now for over ten years, but it had only been since 2006 since I had been making my own. I feel pretty confident after last weekend, that I would be able to cosplay these characters to justice. Now, to only find the time to actually get around to starting them!
I had always been interested in arts and crafts since I was a little girl. I was lucky enough to have the "talent" for it, but sewing was one thing I never had the chance to learn until my early adulthood. I never had a home economics class nor a fashion design class in my life. I had never even taken a single sewing class either. My school schedule and work schedules had always conflicted with such. It was difficult to find the time to sit down to sew, even though I had been interested in the hobby since well before high school. Since I had began to get interested in anime and the hobby of cosplaying, in my later high school years - I wanted to learn how to sew for one reason and one reason only.
Cosplay.
Cosplaying is an unique art. For those that do not know what this term means, from urbandictionary.com: Literally "Costume Play." Dressing up and pretending to be a fictional character (usually a sci-fi, comic book or anime character). I had always loved Halloween as a kid, but this takes it far beyond just Halloween. Cosplaying takes it to a whole new level. You get to dress up and act like your favorite characters, more then just one time a year (depending on how many conventions you go to).
When it comes to cosplaying these days, there are four choices on how to go about getting a costume:
1. sew it your self
2. hire a seamstress/tailor
3. buy a cosplay off of ebay
4. "thrift" or "closet" cosplay
Number one was out. Before 2006, I only really knew the basics of hand sewing. I am a horrible hand sewer. There was no way I was sewing a costume by hand. Then there is number two. I have heard so many horror stories about commissioning from random strangers online. There was no way I was doing that. Then, I had tried ebay. I had tried ebay twice. The first time, I had bought a costume, the quality was so-so. But the second time I had ordered a costume from ebay, I was so frightened by what I got - it was never seen the light of day. I immediately threw it out because it was just horrible. The coloring was so off, the sizing was terrible (it barely fit, it was so tight) and it was made of a spandex material. UGH. What a waist of money. I was so upset by it, that I refused to buy any more off of ebay from that point on. And of course, I had my share of "thrifted" or "closet" cosplays, but anime does not always translate well into real life. It can only get you so far with certain characters.
That , I had taken upon my self to learn how to finally sew. Originally, I was going to get help from my mother with cosplays. She has never been a great seamstress, but she knew the basics. Of the two or three "cosplays" she had helped me with in the past, it was nothing up to par that I liked. I had asked and begged her to help me learn how to use the sewing machine, but she just never had the time to sit down to teach me after the one "lesson" I had with her of learning the basics of a sewing machine and how it operated.
That was the beginning. I had been officially sewing now for over six years. I've lost count of how many cosplays I had made for my self. I had expanded my talents to commissioning for those that can not sew. I had advanced to the point of no longer of being a novice seamstress, but a journeyman in convention masquerades. Last year, I had won "Best-in-Show" at Shinbokucon for my Black (Trainer) from Pokemon Black costume. This year at Animarathon, I had just recently won my second award, "Honorable Mention" for my Red (Trainer) from Pokemon. I never thought in my life, that I would of progress this far to winning even a single competition.
I am far more excited though for this year's cosplay list. I will be cosplaying as some of my all-time favorite characters that I had been dying to cosplay, since I discovered the hobby. I had been cosplaying officially now for over ten years, but it had only been since 2006 since I had been making my own. I feel pretty confident after last weekend, that I would be able to cosplay these characters to justice. Now, to only find the time to actually get around to starting them!
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