Kin-Yoobi Con 2011 Cosplay Report (Days 576 - 583)

(Read my full convention writeup here.)



I wore a cosplay of time-skip Yoko from Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann to Kin-Yoobi Con. While the cosplay is not 100% finished, I was quite happy with it. I was initially worried that security would tell me that it was too revealing and ask me to change, so I did have a backup, but luckily there were no issues. I did doubt that they would ask, since I was properly covered and taped in, but it didn't hurt to have a backup.



On Day 1, I woke up freezing cold and thinking "There's no was I'm going to wear a bikini today!" So I dressed in my backup cosplay, an alternate version of Yoko (from Episode 5) with a robe, which I made to come down to my knees. Under it, I wore a pair of comfortable black shorts and a black tank top. Once I got into the main hall of the convention, I immediately thought "Oh, I am most definitely wearing a bikini today." I couldn't believe how hot it was in there! My mom was coming by later to watch my Artists' Alley booth while my boyfriend and hosted a panel (the two friends that I had watching my booth wanted to see the panel), so I called my mom and asked her to bring the rest of my cosplay things.



I took off the robe while I was setting up my booth and changed immediately after the panel.



Throughout the first day, the red "zippers" on my boots kept coming apart (the Velcro holding them on was hot-glued on). Luckily I brought my hot glue gun with me, but by the end of the day, I was out of hot glue! The zipper on the left shoe came apart almost completely, from my ankle (exposing the black boot I used as a base) to just above my knee. I had no hot glue to fix it, but all I had left to do at that point was sit behind my booth and then pack up and leave. The sole of my shoe kept coming off too (and it got all scuffed up), but I just hot glued that back on a couple of times and picked up my feet more when I walked, and it stayed on.



That night, I sewed the Velcro to the boot, which helped immensely the next day.



I had a little bit of difficulty taping myself into my top both days. Since I was sick, I got really nauseous when I looked down, and the tape is ridiculously hard to put on. You have to stick it to your skin, then peel off the paper layer over it and attach it to your clothing. It was the second step that gave me trouble. I was really in a hurry on Day 1, changing in the bathroom with my friend in the stall with me to help, so I only got four pieces on (two on the bottom and one on each side). On Day 2, I got sick in the morning (early onset of Con Plague, I believe), so I slept in and then took my time getting ready, so I managed to get all 6 pieces on where I wanted them.



My belt first off wasn't accurate, I didn't have time to make the one that I wanted. Also, it didn't stay where I wanted it to. As I said, I intended to make an accurate belt, and I was waiting until then to put belt loops on the shorts to keep it where I wanted. However, without the accurate belt, I never attached the loops, so the belt that I had didn't stay where I wanted it. Ah well. The shorts also didn't entirely do what I wanted them to, but they made my butt look good, so I won't complain.



My jacket fit a little odd, but it was really hard to tell with all of that hair in the way. The iron-on details began peeling off at some point too, hopefully I can just iron those back on more carefully and they'll stay. If not, there's always hot glue! (I hate that this costume is so dependent on hot glue though.) The hidden pocket that I made for my cell phone was a little big, and my phone fell out of it several times, which I now blame for the phone's weak vibrating tone (it sounds sickly).



The wig was very heavy, I had to wear the ponytail over my shoulder the entire time, and the wig still slid backward all the time. I need more bobby pins, I think. I also recently read up on the best ways to secure a heavy wig, so I'm going to try those as well. Toward the end of Day 1, I actually ended up buying pain killers from a vending machine because the weight of the wig made my neck hurt so badly. I secured it better on Day 2, I still had to readjust it once, but I didn't end up with a head/neck-ache at least.



It was also a bit of a pain to keep constantly combing the wig out. I was advised to comb it with a wide-toothed comb every hour, which I tried to do, but by the end of Day 1, it was a mess. When I got home that night, I brushed it and was half-way finished when it fell off of the table and sent me back to Square One. Apparently my cursing and angrily throwing the comb down scared my friends a bit. I really need to get silicone spray, and I also now keep all of my long wigs in loose braids, because it's just too frustrating to have to comb them out constantly.



Around 4:30pm on Day 2, the rest of my TTGL group showed up for the cosplay contest. I think they all looked fantastic, and I'm so proud of what little work I did to help with the prop (appropriately named "Dead Kamina"). They took Best In Show in the cosplay contest, though I couldn't compete because I was Emcee. (I'd like to take a minute here to clarify that, yes, these are my good friends, and yes, I'm staff and Emcee of the cosplay contest, but I am not a judge, and I did not talk with any of the judges about contestants at any point of the day.) I wish that they could have been there for more time, or at least that I could have spent more time with them, but it was a very busy day.



At the end of the weekend, Yoko came out a little worse-for-wear, but I more or less know what needs to be done before the next time I wear it.

READ MORE - Kin-Yoobi Con 2011 Cosplay Report (Days 576 - 583)

As Good as it Gets (Days 562 - 566)

So Yoko definitely isn't 100% finished. She's maybe 95% finished, and I'm not happy with one of the boots at all, but she's wearable enough for Kin-Yoobi Con. No pics yet, you'll have to wait until post-con for that. You'll also have to wait until post-con for information about making the cosplay because I just can't be bothered to do a write-up right now.

Basically, I've been freaking out over everything; finishing my cosplay, finishing commissions, making hats, updating the panel, and finishing things for the actual convention. This will most likely be my last blog post before the convention. So here's a summary of the con and the stuff I'm doing at it.

Kin-Yoobi Con ~ Friday - Saturday, August 5th - 6th, 10am - 9pm
We're celebrating our fifth anniversary this year which means even more fun-filled fandom-based events and big name special guests."
I'll be staffing the convention, running several events including Anime Jeopardy and the Cosplay Contest as well as participating in the Anime Date Auction.

'Magikarp: A History' at Kin-Yoobi Con ~ Friday, 11am
"Hit 'em with a splash attack! Join us to learn everything that you never knew that you wanted to know about Magikarp. We'll give you an in-depth look at Magikarp's behavior, anime appearances, in-game capabilities, and more!"
My boyfriend and I are hosting this panel, we have hosted it twice before, once at Animation on Display, and once at Fanime. It is exactly what it sounds like: a panel about the Pokemon Magikarp.

Rose's Fleece Hats at Kin-Yoobi Con ~ All day, both days
Rose's Fleece Hats is the name I use to promote the fleece hats that I make and sell. I will have an Artist's Alley booth to sell these, necklaces, hair ribbons, bracelets, and earrings.

BAC at Kin-Yoobi Con ~ Friday, 2pm & Saturday, 3pm
Bay Area Conventions (BAC) is a group that has interest in conventions, photography, and cosplay. Meetups and gatherings are set up as social events. The group includes people from all over the San Fransisco Bay Area.

Ratgirl and Para~Somnia at Kin-Yoobi 2011! ~ All day, both days
My friend Tricia (Ratgirl) and a friend of hers will also have an Artist's Alley booth there!

Dai Gurren Dan at Kin-Yoobi Con ~ Saturday
My friend's Gurren Lagann group (including myself, of course) will be chillin' at Kin-Yoobi this Saturday as well. No link to the Facebook event itself because it's a private event, but we'll be there!

I do believe you can now understand exactly why I feel so swamped, haha. You'll hear from me after the convention~!

READ MORE - As Good as it Gets (Days 562 - 566)

Some Thoughts (Days 553 - 561)

I haven't posted in a while, but I don't really feel like giving a full run-down of my progress right now, so here are some thoughts that have recently run through my head while working on something.

Sometimes when I'm working on something, I like to imagine writing a tutorial about it or explaining it to someone as I'm working. I find it helps me think clearer about what I'm doing.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of doing a massive cleaning of your sewing space after completely finishing a large or particularly difficult project.

When I finish working on something for the night, I find it satisfying to take all of the pins from the magnetic holder and put them back into the pin cushion. It makes the work feel completed.

READ MORE - Some Thoughts (Days 553 - 561)

Dai Gurren Dan (Day 552)

This is a little late, but a couple of days ago, the leader of the Gurren Lagann cosplay group that I'm in hosted a get-together at her house. The intent was to watch the Gurren Lagann movies and work on cosplay. However, we are the worst group of procrastinators, so very little got done.

I brought over a ton of my sewing stuff and worked on my Yoko shorts. I thought that they were almost finished, but then I realized that I altered the pattern wrong. The good news is that it was fixable, and I know exactly what I did wrong, so I know what not to do next time. Of course now, I've given up on making shorts entirely, they're always a nightmare.

The rest of the group started working on Kamina's cape. It's really simple, but it looks glorious.

Of course, we ended up not watching either of the movies. We started to watch one, but then we decided to wait for someone. Then we realized that there wasn't enough room for everyone to sit around the computer, and we couldn't watch it on the TV for whatever reason, I don't always understand technical talk. We're going to try again this week.

READ MORE - Dai Gurren Dan (Day 552)

Shorts (Days 548 - 554)

I'm trying ridiculously hard not to procrastinate on my Yoko cosplay, because I'm with a group, and I don't want to let anyone down. Also, I have to plan for the convention itself still. It's a little stressful, to be honest, which I think makes me work on things less, but I am getting things done on both fronts.

A friend hosted a meet at her house where I got some stuff done. Then I finished my shorts at home. I really hate those things. They look alright, but they were so hard to make, and I still don't think they're perfect, so I hate them. I still need to get the right belt, which at this rate, I'm not going to find.

I also made as much of the bikini as I could with the materials that I have, which wasn't much. I cut out the main breast pieces and cut and sewed the top strings (the ones that go behind the neck). I didn't cut and sew the bottom string because it's red, and unfortunately, I don't have the red fabric that I need. My friend that hosted the meet got the same fabric for the cape (in red), but I forgot to take the scraps on Saturday, so I can't do anything.

I also cut out the cardboard pieces for Yoko's communicator. I can't finish it because I don't have the vinyl to cover it. I would probably have it if JoAnn's carried it in orange. Dunno where I'm gonna get that now, I can't even find it online.

Finally yesterday, my boyfriend ordered the fabric for my jacket and the iron-on vinyl for all the details on things, because I'm really now on cash. After I sell some hats at Kin-Yoobi, I'm going to pay him back, but I really am ridiculously grateful. Now I just hope I have enough to cover the rest of the vinyl and the zippers that I need.

READ MORE - Shorts (Days 548 - 554)

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)

It's Here! (Day 542)

I woke up to my Yoko wig being delivered today! It's gorgeous, I love it. It's a little small (and heavy o.o), but bobby pins remedy that (except the weight, holy cow). I threw together a "closet Yoko" for teh lulz. The only things in this photo that are a part of the actual cosplay are the wig and the chopsticks. Also, this photo does not show the color well at all. It's a dark red-orange. I bought it from fashiongarden300 on eBay. I'll do a full write-up later.

EDIT: Here is a picture of the color of the wig and the chopsticks.
On a side-note, relating to the first picture, yes, as I'm sure I mentioned before, I do have my naval pierced. I have been keeping an eye out for flesh-colored or clear naval rings, as I can't take the ring out for more than an hour without it starting to heal over. However, if I can't find one, or if they're just ridiculously expensive ($20+ is ridiculous for a ring in my opinion), I'm just going to wear the smallest, least noticeable one that I own. If people have a problem with that, well, that's just too bad.

READ MORE - It's Here! (Day 542)

Trying... (Days 540 & 541)

I'd like to try to get back into daily blogging again, and it should be easier since I have my laptop back (it was busted for a while). Of course, my lack of blogging and my lack of cosplay accomplishments are directly related. When I don't blog, I don't realize how much I'm not doing, so I continue to do nothing, and when I do nothing, I have nothing to blog about, so I don't blog! It's a vicious cycle, really.

So. Yeah. I've done nothing. I'm still waiting on my Yoko wig and fabric swatches. Still haven't touched the fabric for the bikini/shorts, though I did look at the pant pattern that I picked up. It's pretty cool, it has three separate patterns for three different sizes of pant (petite, average, and curvy), which it probably why it cost about seven bucks. I can't decide if I want to modify the pattern at all. It's for high-waisted pants, while Yoko's shorts are actually low-rise, but the overall shape is the same, and I don't want to ruin that.

I also still haven't decided what to do with the bikini top really. Feh. Yeah. That's all!

READ MORE - Trying... (Days 540 & 541)

More Yoko Stuff (Days 534 - 539)

So I finally bought the fabric for my Yoko bikini, which I also decided that I'm going to try to use it for my shorts also. If it doesn't work, well, then I'll have some nice swimsuit shorts to swim in. I also bought a pattern for pants, which I'm just going to shorten for shorts. I bought a needle for stretch fabric and stretchy string (which I found out is just very, very thin elastic) too. I haven't actually worked on anything yet though.

After rigorous searching online, I came across Fabric.com, which, while having the least creative name I've ever heard, turned out to be quite useful. I browsed their faux leathers (mostly poly and vinyl blends) and found two colors that might work for Yoko's awkward-colored purple-brown jacket. Luckily, you can order fabric swatches from Fabric.com relatively cheap ($0.75 each + $1.50 shipping), so I ordered one swatch of each.

My Yoko wig was also just shipped, and I am eagerly awaiting it, I just hope that it's good quality. I'll write more about it (where I bought it, what price, etc.) after it arrives.

I also bought yellow chopsticks for Yoko's hair. I really like them a lot, despite them being a little more rounded-off than I had originally hoped for. However, they looked stained yellow, as opposed to painted, so you can still see the natural wood grain on them, and they don't look harsh or too bright.

So, I need to buy fabric for the jacket and boots and iron-on vinyl for the boots, bikini, and jacket. I also need to find a belt and buckle, which I would just make myself if I knew where to get loose square, metal studs. I also need to decide how I'm going to make the bikini, if I want to go for the underboob, sideboob, or cleavage. I think I can only get two out of the three. I'm actually thinking of going for the cleavage and sideboob, but I'm worried that that will make it look too much like a bra, plus I'll have to spend more money buying push-up pads. It's looking like the bikini will be the last thing that I make, haha. Or I might just end up with three of them.

READ MORE - More Yoko Stuff (Days 534 - 539)

No Progress (Days 526 - 533)

So I have been doing nothing to forward my progress (or lack thereof) on my Yoko cosplay, except for staring at the eBay search results for "Yoko Wig" on and off for what's probably a total of 3 hours. I really cannot choose one, I've heard equal amounts of good and bad reviews about all of the sellers that I'm considering buying from. Basically, I have to decide if it's worth the risk on the cheapest one, wasting less money if I don't like it, or if paying more increases the chances of me liking the wig. I'm also looking into which sellers offer returns and such. Oh, if only the girl selling hers on Cosplay.com would respond to my messages and upload an accurate photo!

So that's where I'm at. I still need to do everything else that I talked about in my last post. Oh, well, I looked at bra pads at JoAnn's and decided that I would get one that fits me and make the bikini to fit over it. I'm sacrificing the accuracy of underboob (and some side-boob) for the comfort of support, cleavage, and coverage. People obsessed with accuracy (including a tiny bit of myself) might hate me for it, but I'm thinking it's a fair trade. I can't convince myself that underboob is a good look anyway, even if it is cannon.

READ MORE - No Progress (Days 526 - 533)

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)