Iron-On Vinyl Notes

I'm hoping that I'll come back and edit this to make it make more sense. Right now, it's just notes to help me get through the pricess of applying this stuff for the first time.

I bought my iron-on vinyl from Specialty-Graphics.com. I bought two different types, Sister EasyWeed Stretch and Siser EasyWeed Extra. "Stretch" is used to put on stretchy fabrics, mostly sports jerseys, and "Extra" is used for nylon, leather, and "other tough fabrics."

Instructrions from Specialty-Graphics.com:

Sister WasyWeed Stretch & Extra • All designs must be cut in reverse • Weed away excess material • Preheat garment on heat press for a few seconds to remove moisture and wrinkles • Position EasyWeed Stretch design on garment • Cover with a Teflon sheet to prevent scorching Stretch • Peel HOT or COLD • Heat apply at 305°F for 15 seconds, MEDIUM pressure Extra • Heat apply at 320 degrees F for 10 - 15 seconds, LIGHT pressure • Peel HOT

My Notes:

Sister WasyWeed Stretch & Extra • Can be cut with normal scissors. • Use pin tip to help peel the plastic off (especially when hot). Stretch • Can draw on the shiny side with permanent marker before ironing onto fabric (shiny part gets peeled off). • Difficult to cut shiny-side-up because light reflects, can't see the lines you drew to cut. • Iron on shiny-side up. • Wait until cool to stretch/pull/move. • Highest heat setting on my iron (LINEN/MAX). • Don't over-stretch (doesn't stretch as far as dance/bathing suit fabric). Extra • Some stretch, but causes warp. Can be fixed with ironing. • Crumple fabric while hot to create very light weathered effect.

READ MORE - Iron-On Vinyl Notes

Yoko Stuff (Days 543 - 547)

So, yeah, I got my Yoko wig, and I still love it. A friend of mine tried styling it, to almost no avail, but I'm gonna give it a shot with my favorite hang-it-upside-down-and-hairspray-it method.

I started on my shorts, altered the pattern (which took forever) and cut out all of the pieces. I also stay-stitched both layers to each-other, so that I can work with them without them sliding everywhere. I figured out that, with the stretch fabric needle, I don't need the special elastic string (much the the dismay of my wallet). It's fine though, considering I couldn't even thread the elastic string through the stretch needle because the string was too thick.

The fabric swatches that I ordered also came in, they were my choices for my jacket fabric. After careful deliberation, I chose one, now I just have to order it. I'll also be ordering four or five different kinds of iron-on vinyl for all of the details. Part of me is really looking forward to using it, the other part of me is terrified of accidentally melting my fabrics. I'll be doing test iron-ons on all of my fabrics.

I decided that I want to make Yoko's little orange communicator thing as a cell phone pouch. Shouldn't take much time/fabric/money, since it's small and simple, and I'll have a place to put my phone, since apparently the pant pattern that I got doesn't have pockets, and I can't be bothered to alter it any more than I already have. In the show, the communicator's mouth opens up to reveal a screen, but I'm not even getting that fancy with it, I may just even make a cover for a cell phone pouch that I already have (assuming my phone fits in it).

READ MORE - Yoko Stuff (Days 543 - 547)

New Cosplay Plans & Material Research (Days 514 - 525)

So! A little while back, I was asked to join a Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann cosplay group for Kin-Yoobi Con's cosplay contest, and even though I can't compete (because I staff and emcee the contest), I decided to join the group, agreeing that, even if I couldn't wear it, I would finish the cosplay by Kin-Yoobi. In the past, I have been asked to cosplay Yoko, but I never had a real reason too, having never seen Gurren Lagann and not even having a group, so now that I was with a group, I decided to cosplay her. Originally, I had planned to cosplay her first, most recognizable outfit, because, well, it was the most recognizable, but after doing a little more research, I decided to cosplay what I have come to know as "Bounty Hunter Yoko" (shown above). I chose this outfit because it looks extremely similar to her original outfit, but is more covered-up, so that hopefully I won't run into issues with convention staff. If I do run into issues with staff, I have a backup plan (in Ep. 5, she wears a robe that completely covers her body, and I find it amusing).

I began researching materials and reference pictures as soon as I had chosen an outfit, as well as started actually watching TTGL. I haven't watched a new anime in a long time (since Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt finished), and of course I find myself completely in love with the series. Now, I'm not sure if this was because I was already slated to cosplay her, but I also find myself completely in love with Yoko. The moment she sat on Kamina's head for saying she had a big butt, I knew I loved her. I might not love her so much if I wasn't going to already cosplayer her, but I'd like to think that things just worked out really well in that regard, and that I would have loved her and cosplayed her anyway.

My first worry about the costume was the materials. With a ridiculously wide variety of materials to choose from, I've seen Yoko cosplayers use everything imaginable, and sometimes, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwell, it just doesn't work out. The bikini top is an easy one, bikini fabric. I was fortunate enough to find that JoAnn's sells dance/swim knit fabric. Originally, I was going to buy a bikini top and alter it, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a plain, black bikini in the right style. I was also surprised to see how easy it seems to be to make your own bikini. The tutorials on YouTube seem so simple, however, they all forget to put any kind of padding in, and a majority of them, they use t-shirts as material.

Wet t-shirt contest anyone?
In the defense of the video creators, their intent may have been to make bikinis for tanning/showing-off purposes only, but I have yet to come across a video that either says this or puts pads in. Regardless of that, though, most of the tutorials that I have seen are very good and easy to follow.

The next material issue that I had to tackle was the flames on the bikini. Originally, I thought I'd use bikini fabric and hand-sew it on, but then I didn't like the thought of all those stitches and the edges of the fabric showing, so I started researching more about applique materials and techniques. I frequently use Heat 'n' Bond for adding details, mostly ribbon detailing on projects such as Franziska, but the http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifkind I use gets very stiff when it's dry, so I wanted to see if there were more options. I was browsing the "bonding & stabilizers" category of JoAnn.com, when I came across iron-on vinyl, which led me to do a Google search which took me here then led me on a fantastical journey of knowledge.

Eventually, I ended up on Specialty-Graphics.com reading about Siser EasyWeed Stretch Vinyl, a thin, soft transfer material commonly used on sports uniforms. It can be applied to "Cotton, Polyester, Poly/Cotton Blends, Spandex, and Lycra", and seems generally easy to work with. At the moment, this is looking like my best option, but it just sounds too good to be true. Also, according to JoAnn.com, the dance/swim fabric isn't supposed to be ironed. So I'm eyeballing this, but also looking for other possibilities.

Another important part of the costume, for me at least, it the shorts. I intend to cosplay several versions of Yoko, and it seems like a lot of them use the same shorts, so I want them to look good. I've never been impressed with any Yoko shorts that I've ever seen. Granted, I have not seen many Yoko shorts, so maybe I just have to look harder. I've seen Yoko's shorts made out of vinyl or pleather, and I can see exactly why cosplayers would choose that material based on the artwork, but I just flat-out do not want to work with or wear pleather or vinyl. Ideally, I'd like leather shorts, but not only are they hard to find and expensive, I'm actually generally opposed to leather, and I'm not sure how ready I am to push my morals on this.

On an outing to JoAnn's, I browsed the fabric looking mainly for what fabric to use, not eliminating any possibilities until I had fully checked them out. Even though I know how taboo is is for cosplayers to use it, I was drawn toward the satin, and even though I knew I didn't want to use it, I will admit to looking at it. Located right next to it was a satin blend, which caught my attention and is shown left. I know it's hard to tell, but the top half of the image is the "right/correct" side of the fabric, and the bottom part of the picture is the "wrong" side of the fabric. Believe it or not, heh, the "wrong" side of the fabric is less shiny, but that picture was taken under JoAnn's bright fluorescent lights (no flash). At the moment, this is the fabric this is the fabric I'm considering. However, since I keep feeling like I have to defend it (it's not that shiny, it's bad lighting, it's darker in person), I'm still looking for something better. So we'll see.

I'm not even going to get into the jacket and boots right now, since I'm completely lost as to what material to make the jacket out of (I'm not even 100% sure what color it is), and the boots are seriously a whole post on their own. I have some vague ideas for the boots, but nothing concrete, so I'll just hold off on posting about them until I get more ideas.

READ MORE - New Cosplay Plans & Material Research (Days 514 - 525)

Waka Waka Waka Waka (Day 165)

After a trip to JoAnn's today, I finally got around to putting Pac-man into his final(ish) stages, or at least catching him up to Clyde. (Some of the pictures are funky colors or odd angles. Sorry D=)

Initially, I was shopping for iron-on letters, because to write both "CLYDE" and "PACMAN" I need two C's. However, I did not want to pay $9.99 for an entire package of letters, just to use one C. While looking at the letters in the store though, I realized that a C is just an O with a chunk cut out. I wish I had thought of that sooner. I still ended up walking out with a roll of fleece (requested by my mom), a bra extender (because I can't find the one my mom bought me, I think she stole it), two tubes of fabric paint (one blue, one white), and of course candy.

When I got home, I had my boyfriend try on the Pac-man shirt so that I could place the fruits, after which I began ironing on the letters to the back. For some reason, they did not want to stay on though. I ended up messing up a couple of them, but overall, it's not too bad..

While waiting for the letters to cool, I finished putting cardboard pieces together for the head and began covering it with fleece. I ran into a little snag though. Turns out yellow fleece is see-through. Who knew? The cardboard on the side I was covering was predominantly white, but had a navy blue oval and lettering on it. Luckily, I was able to cover both seamlessly with a sheet of printer paper cut to fit and hot glued in. Unfortunately, I'm not so lucky with the other side. In the process of making the head, I turned the cardboard into a grid with a black pen, and then drew where I wanted to cut with colored Crayola markers, both of which show through the fabric. Thanks to my mom's suggestion, though, I will be painting over it with white paint. It'll take a few layers though, because the marker bleeds through.

After messing with the lettering some more, I decided I was just making things worse and gave up. It's not like they're going to fall off, I just wish that the corners wouldn't peel so much. I tested out the fabric paint I bough on a piece of scrap fabric, and I rather like how it turned out. The white puffs up with steam, but I have to wait until it dries to test it. My boyfriend and I thought it would would look cool and give it a more intense 3D effect. I like the colors I ended up with too, I was worried that covering an entire pair of pants with an intricate design might be too distracting, but I think the colors are just dark enough to give a subtle effect, without blending into the black.

READ MORE - Waka Waka Waka Waka (Day 165)