It's been a long time coming...

I have been mighty quiet of late so please accept my apologies. I have been so busy with my modelling that I haven't had time for updating my blog. The shame!

In light of this, I bring to you a MAMMOTH of an update just to let you know where I'm up to now.

Last time I blogged that I was making my first attempt at the catsuit, which I did. Oh boy did we learn from our very many many mistakes.

It all started out very well, cutting the pattern down to size etc etc...

Once it was all stitched together it looked great! Except numpty nuts here had decided she was so tall it needed a few extra inches, and it ended up really long in the middle. Woops. We shortened it and tightened it around the waist and legs and eventually got it fitting a lot better so moved on to the design features which we knew we needed to work out how to do before we begin the final piece.

First we started with the back. She has a sort of diamond shaped section missing from the back of the catsuit so we decided to try and pin it back and get to the right kind of shape this way...

Please excuse the bra strap, but you get the idea. We are working on a way of securing this so it keeps its shape when I move around so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

Once we had the general outline for the back done we decided to work out how to do the *ahem* "boob window". We measured the right size, cut it out nicely, and I tried it on. Oops. Again numpty nuts had made a big old FUBAR. This time we hadn't accounted for the 75% stretch in the fabric we were using, and when I put the catsuit back on it stretched a whoooole lot bigger than it needed to be.

It looks like I have a bum on my chest...

And that was with it pulled smaller! Oh dear. Next time we know we need to cut it to about half the size, and we're going to use some cord to hem it with so the hole doesn't gape quite so much.

So after that fiasco... Or "learning curve" as it shall henceforth be known... It was such a relief that starting the guns with Miss Muca went so smoothly! We had a great day chowing down on chocolate brownies and pizza whilst I drank all the tea ever and watched Doctor Who. Miss Muca is an absolute genius when it comes to things like this and I'm afraid I wasn't much help, but I'm really pleased with the progress from the day...

As an aside, that wire cutter thing is a godsend. It feels really ghetto as you plug it right in to a battery but it slides right through the foam as if it were butter.

They look badass already and they don't even have the barrels on them yet!

So that's where I'm up to now. I've done a bit more shopping since last time so I'll try and get the next stage of my "Purchases" up soon too. Hope y'all are keeping well, until next time!

Catsuit v.1

This weekend is going to be a very busy one for me. On Friday I'm starting my first version of the catsuit, I mentioned before that I bought some cheap fabric to do a trial run with and this is exactly what I'm going to do.

I'll be using the pattern I bought and making it exactly to the design on the cover, which means it'll be a long sleeved, long legged catsuit with a high neck. Once I've got that done and made sure the fit is right etc, made any necessary adjustments to the size, yadda yadda, I'll be cutting the low back and the circular gap on the front out of the catsuit so the test version can be used as a template/pattern for my final (all being well) piece. Hopefully this will be a walk in the park compared to Saturday...

As on Saturday the building of the guns commences. Miss Muca and I finally have all the bits and piueces we ordered to get cracking and we'll be busy little worker bees this weekend making some epic guns and testing them whilst strapped to my boots too. Seriously very excited to finally see a long term dream coming to fruition! Squuueeeee!

As always... Wish me luck!

Purchases Part 3 - Material for Guns

I haven't updated this in a while thanks to one thing and another and life getting on top of me but I'm back in full force now. The fated shopping trip into town in which I expected to get all the bits I needed for the guns didn't quite go as plan... Nothing on my shopping list seemed to be for sale in Manchester so we had to go online in the end.

This is what I have bought so far:

Fimo Air-Dry Clay x 2 packs

This will be used for fiddly detail and for making the charms that hang from the guns/hair. Miss Muca is in the process of making some mock ups for the charms at the moment and I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome.

Black Foam Core Board - 5mm A3 x 5 sheets

This is for adding detail as well, but this will be for the less fiddly stuff.

Blue Styrofoam - 2x12x24" x 1 sheet

This will make up the bulk of the guns and may be too thick so might need cutting down to a more hand-friendly width, unfortunately the only 1 inch thick styrofoam we could find was collection only from Essex, which wasn't exactly ideal.

Hot Wire Polystyrene/Foam Cutter

This is quite simply for cutting everything down to size and making it a bit easier for Miss Muca who will be helping... Ok, who will be making the guns for me whilst I try to do my best to help!

Glue Gun Sticks

Luckily I didn't need to order a glue gun as Miss Muca already has one but it's only polite to stock up on these so she doesn't have to waste her own!

I also invested in a new pattern without the weird seam around the middle which should make it easier to create the right shape. When I was buying this the lady in the shop suggested making a trial run with some cheap nylon before making the final piece, which seemed sensible so I also bought some horrible grey nylon to make my first test run out of. Wish me luck!

In other news, a friend of mine who is a hairdresser has agreed to help me create the hair piece in the new year, so I'll let you know how it goes with that!


Running total cost:

Pattern 9.90
Wig 15.67
Gloves 7.98
Boots 17.99
Fimo Air-Dry Clay (2 packs) 4.14
Black Foam Core Board - 5mm A3 (5 sheets) 9.89
Blue Styrofoam - 2x12x24" (1 sheet) 10.45
Hot Wire Polystyrene/Foam Cutter 11.99
Glue Gun Sticks 3.39
New Pattern 8.99
Test Nylon 6.07

Total = 106.46

Boots aquired! (Or Purchases Part 2)

Today I set myself a mission ahead of starting to make the guns tomorrow, my mission (should I choose to accept it) was to find myself a pair of boots that I could wear comfortably and that wouldn't get in the way of the guns when they were strapped to my ankles.

I knew exactly what I wanted and I scoured the shops for a good hour - which for someone who HATES shopping is an absolute chore, let me tell you - and in the last possible shop I had on my list I found a few pairs that I liked. The first fit comfortably but had a really skinny kitten heel and I could barely stand in them, and really weren't suitable for the cosplay in question either as Bayonetta is a badass bitch, not an Essex girl out on the town. No offence to Essex girls of course.

The pair that I found had a sturdy heel, were kind of governess-ey which I feel is in tune with Bayonetta, and best of all are super comfy. I've been rocking out around my flat all day tidying and cooking and I've barely noticed them. Huzzah! I do love it when a plan comes together.

Running total cost:

Pattern 9.90
Wig 15.67
Gloves 7.98
Boots 17.99

Total = 51.54

It begins...

Right now I am super nervous but also super duper excited because on Saturday me and Miss Muca start making the guns. She has a shopping list for me and we're going to arm ourselves with the steeliest grins we can possibly muster before tackling Manchester city centre in the first week in December. We must be mad!

I seriously cannot wait to get started on these badboys.

A wild Rodin appears!

Too excited about this, my friend Tope from London has decided to come to MCM Expo with me in May as Rodin! I'll be helping him make his costume, which should be interesting considering the long distance, but definitely gonna be worth it! I'll post updates on his cosplay here too as we go along.

Luckily it isn't too complicated, I think the coat will be the most difficult aspect but with the right pattern we'll do good.

Huzzah!

So unbelievably badass

Purchases Part 1.

OK so my idea with this cosplay is to slowly buy the stuff I need to put it all together, my reasoning being that if I buy it all bit by bit and spread the cost over several months I can keep my wallet much happier!

First thing first... I needed a pattern to make the catsuit with - obviously there wasn't going to be an exact pattern out there but once I have the basic shape I can adapt it to what I want. I went with this one:

I reckon B is my best bet. The benefit of making the catsuit from scratch and not just buying one off the shelf is that I can now make this long enough to fit my frame... As a 6ft1 Amazonian lady there aren't many catsuits out there that are long enough in the arm or the leg for me!

I also bought a cheap black wig (39" long) to start building the hair with. Chances are I'll need more than one but I have to start somewhere!

Finally I found some long fingered white gloves (bear in mind the aforementioned loftiness of my stature and you'll understand why) - I got these quite long (22" length) as I can always chop them shorter if needed for the outfit but can't make them any longer!

I found all the above on Ebay and for reasonably cheap - the pattern was £9.90, the wig was £15.67 and the gloves were only £7.98. Bargain.

I've also started talking to the lady from Miss Muca's Cosplay Corner (find her on Facebook, she's amazing!) about the logistics of making the guns/gunboots, and I'm very excited about it. I'll keep you up to date on our progress on that! As always... Wish me luck!

Running total cost:

Pattern 9.90
Wig 15.67
Gloves 7.98

Total = 33.55