HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII :) i know i am writing this about 1 month after A-kon has been over, but i'm super lucky that christine is so very organized and a detailed account of our days at A-kon 22 :P
well, in case anyone is curious as to how christine and i spammed our costumes for FFXIII, here goes!
Tifa Lockhart
So yeah, i made this in two weeks, which is not as impressive as christine's 3 days, but considering i was working with vinyl, i'll give myself a small pat on the back >__<
from an overall point of view, tifa's costume is very simple. It consists of a white tank, black vest, black knee-length shorts, and a front-back apron piece. in total, the costume cost about $60.
White Tank: I bought a cheap white cotton tee from michael's and cut it up to bare a small section of midriff (scandalous i know!) and have enough sleeve to show past the vest. pretty simple.
Vest, Shorts and Apron: I made these pieces using a black vinyl from Hancock's Fabrics's upholstery/outdoor fabrics section during a 50% off sale. It gave off a good leather look but was still thin enough to work with. My only complaint is that if you look close enough at the vinyl, it has the words SURECHEK printed all over it -____- Even though it was "thin", this has to be the hardest thing i've ever worked with! AND since it was vinyl, it didn't breathe so i'm glad i fully lined everything otherwise, walking around the con would've been more awful than it already was lol
for the vest, i made a pattern from a tank top that i liked and proceeded to use myself as a sewing mannequin (bleeeeh). I used a silver coat zipper for the front and followed online instructions for the darts around the bust and back.
shorts: the shorts intimidated me the most about costume, just because i've never had to make anything tailored before. i initially made a free-form pattern based on my measurements but that was awful lol so i ended up doing the same thing as the vest -- i made a pattern based on my favorite knee high dickies shorts and followed tips from this blog. it turned out pretty well except i didn't sew a waistband (which i should've!!!!) i kept fearing the pants would just slide off -____- i ended up adding an invisible zipper in the front and elastic bands in the back to make the waist tighter. I sewed the belt loops on by hand (2 per leg and 2 on each side of the hip) and 1 buttonhole was made at each hip.
apron: the apron was the easiest and my favorite part. The front piece was just one piece of lined vinyl with another piece of vinyl in the front. the pockets were created through strategic sewing :P it was so convenient throughout the con bc unlike last year with noel's costume, i had a place to keep my phone and money! I finished it off with 6 black buttons. I made a 2 loops at the sides of the apron to attached the silver buckles.
accessories:
earring: i made her left teardrop earring from sculpting clay, craft wire and silver spray paint. I took a rounded stud and looped a piece of wire around it. I sculpted a teardrop shape and baked it in the toaster oven. After sanding, i spray painted with metallic silver paint and clear gloss for finish.
I decided not to buy a cloudy wolf ring but i bought leather gloves when i was in china for like $8? that was awesome :)
shoes: i wore black high-top converse that i already owned. i just covered the converse symbol with black lining and used black ribbon for the shoelaces and knee ties.
armband: i used a strip of christine's costume to match :)
Aerith Gainsborough
Sorry for the suuuuuuuuper late update on mine! I actually don't have any in-the-making pictures, and I don't remember much of the time I spent making it except for arduous pain, so :P Still, mine is definitely not as impressive as Tiffy's; I could never had made a costume that complex in just 2 weeks. Lucky for me, mine was pretty easy :) (Though it didn't feel like it at that time.)
Dress
I used a light pink linen material for the dress. It was thin and flowy, but very comfortable, and had the same look as Aerith's dress. Around the edges, I used a darker pink cotton that I folded over and sewed on top. For the dress pattern, I used a cocktail dress that I already owned that had a very similar cut to that of Aerith's dress.
I sewed buttons up the front, but I didn't actually use that as the means of holding the dress together. I still haven't figured out how to make button holes yet, so I cheated and used a zipper on the side.
Jacket
I used dress shirt pattern that I've grown very fond of for the jacket, but trimmed off the bottoms so that it was a half-length. Just for future reference, dress shirt patterns are very useful. I used the same pattern for my Rachel shirt and jacket.
For the bands, I used a brown leather material that I got out of the furnishings section of Joann's. It's a really nice, thick material that I like. I didn't know have time to figure out the buckles, so I just sewed the ends together.
I also haven't figured out how to use the thing that makes the other kind of button/clasp that you usually find on jeans or jackets, so I just sewed vaguely correct looking buttons on the front of the jacket.
Accessories
Wig: I got my beautiful wig from ImageAnime, luckily straight from their shop in New York (as their site is very not up-to-date) for $50 (+tax). It was a medium-length chestnut brown made of heat-resistant material, and it feels even better than real hair. I think I killed it by styling it for Aerith's wig, though :( For the bangs, I had to use a terrible-for-you method in which you spray the hair with hairspray and then immediately apply heat from a hair straightener to stiffen the spray on the hair. I used a similar method for the front curls. I just braided the back and pulled it over my shoulder to make it look vaguely convincingly long enough.
Contacts: The green contacts came from KoreaBigEyes.com. Their contacts are pretty excellent and not too expensive.
Necklace: I used a thin brown band that I got from Joann's and just tied it around my neck.
Bracelets: I purchased silver plastic bands from Joann's and just wore them as pretend bracelets. They looked pretty similar at a distance to what Aerith was wearing, and I didn't have time to make the bracelets, so they were sufficient.
Boots: I was looking for some brown Ugg-like shoes, but luckily my friend had some brown flat boots that looked similar, so I borrowed hers.
All in all, I think the costume turned out pretty well for my rushing. There are definitely things I could have done better (less cheating, for one). Hopefully my next costume will be better constructed > <
i think we all had a pretty good time again and look forward to our grand adventure next year as the characters from tales of symphonia and FFXIII at Anime Expo in LA! it's gonna be AWESOME! i can't wait!
Showcased: June 10-11, 2011
Tiffany: Tifa Lockhart Christine: Aeris Gainsborough
Tifa Lockhart
So yeah, i made this in two weeks, which is not as impressive as christine's 3 days, but considering i was working with vinyl, i'll give myself a small pat on the back >__<
from an overall point of view, tifa's costume is very simple. It consists of a white tank, black vest, black knee-length shorts, and a front-back apron piece. in total, the costume cost about $60.
White Tank: I bought a cheap white cotton tee from michael's and cut it up to bare a small section of midriff (scandalous i know!) and have enough sleeve to show past the vest. pretty simple.
Vest, Shorts and Apron: I made these pieces using a black vinyl from Hancock's Fabrics's upholstery/outdoor fabrics section during a 50% off sale. It gave off a good leather look but was still thin enough to work with. My only complaint is that if you look close enough at the vinyl, it has the words SURECHEK printed all over it -____- Even though it was "thin", this has to be the hardest thing i've ever worked with! AND since it was vinyl, it didn't breathe so i'm glad i fully lined everything otherwise, walking around the con would've been more awful than it already was lol
for the vest, i made a pattern from a tank top that i liked and proceeded to use myself as a sewing mannequin (bleeeeh). I used a silver coat zipper for the front and followed online instructions for the darts around the bust and back.
shorts: the shorts intimidated me the most about costume, just because i've never had to make anything tailored before. i initially made a free-form pattern based on my measurements but that was awful lol so i ended up doing the same thing as the vest -- i made a pattern based on my favorite knee high dickies shorts and followed tips from this blog. it turned out pretty well except i didn't sew a waistband (which i should've!!!!) i kept fearing the pants would just slide off -____- i ended up adding an invisible zipper in the front and elastic bands in the back to make the waist tighter. I sewed the belt loops on by hand (2 per leg and 2 on each side of the hip) and 1 buttonhole was made at each hip.
apron: the apron was the easiest and my favorite part. The front piece was just one piece of lined vinyl with another piece of vinyl in the front. the pockets were created through strategic sewing :P it was so convenient throughout the con bc unlike last year with noel's costume, i had a place to keep my phone and money! I finished it off with 6 black buttons. I made a 2 loops at the sides of the apron to attached the silver buckles.
the back of the apron was 2 pieces of vinyl. The bottom part of the apron was pleated into 6 box pleats that were left flared at the bottom. the top piece was just a trapezoidal piece of vinyl. i sewed both of them together to create that seam she has beneath her butt. 2 buttons were sewn at the top corners of the apron to flip over into the shorts and secure into the buttonholes
accessories:
earring: i made her left teardrop earring from sculpting clay, craft wire and silver spray paint. I took a rounded stud and looped a piece of wire around it. I sculpted a teardrop shape and baked it in the toaster oven. After sanding, i spray painted with metallic silver paint and clear gloss for finish.
I decided not to buy a cloudy wolf ring but i bought leather gloves when i was in china for like $8? that was awesome :)
shoes: i wore black high-top converse that i already owned. i just covered the converse symbol with black lining and used black ribbon for the shoelaces and knee ties.
armband: i used a strip of christine's costume to match :)
Aerith Gainsborough
Sorry for the suuuuuuuuper late update on mine! I actually don't have any in-the-making pictures, and I don't remember much of the time I spent making it except for arduous pain, so :P Still, mine is definitely not as impressive as Tiffy's; I could never had made a costume that complex in just 2 weeks. Lucky for me, mine was pretty easy :) (Though it didn't feel like it at that time.)
Dress
I used a light pink linen material for the dress. It was thin and flowy, but very comfortable, and had the same look as Aerith's dress. Around the edges, I used a darker pink cotton that I folded over and sewed on top. For the dress pattern, I used a cocktail dress that I already owned that had a very similar cut to that of Aerith's dress.
I sewed buttons up the front, but I didn't actually use that as the means of holding the dress together. I still haven't figured out how to make button holes yet, so I cheated and used a zipper on the side.
Jacket
I used dress shirt pattern that I've grown very fond of for the jacket, but trimmed off the bottoms so that it was a half-length. Just for future reference, dress shirt patterns are very useful. I used the same pattern for my Rachel shirt and jacket.
For the bands, I used a brown leather material that I got out of the furnishings section of Joann's. It's a really nice, thick material that I like. I didn't know have time to figure out the buckles, so I just sewed the ends together.
I also haven't figured out how to use the thing that makes the other kind of button/clasp that you usually find on jeans or jackets, so I just sewed vaguely correct looking buttons on the front of the jacket.
Accessories
Wig: I got my beautiful wig from ImageAnime, luckily straight from their shop in New York (as their site is very not up-to-date) for $50 (+tax). It was a medium-length chestnut brown made of heat-resistant material, and it feels even better than real hair. I think I killed it by styling it for Aerith's wig, though :( For the bangs, I had to use a terrible-for-you method in which you spray the hair with hairspray and then immediately apply heat from a hair straightener to stiffen the spray on the hair. I used a similar method for the front curls. I just braided the back and pulled it over my shoulder to make it look vaguely convincingly long enough.
Contacts: The green contacts came from KoreaBigEyes.com. Their contacts are pretty excellent and not too expensive.
Necklace: I used a thin brown band that I got from Joann's and just tied it around my neck.
Bracelets: I purchased silver plastic bands from Joann's and just wore them as pretend bracelets. They looked pretty similar at a distance to what Aerith was wearing, and I didn't have time to make the bracelets, so they were sufficient.
Boots: I was looking for some brown Ugg-like shoes, but luckily my friend had some brown flat boots that looked similar, so I borrowed hers.
All in all, I think the costume turned out pretty well for my rushing. There are definitely things I could have done better (less cheating, for one). Hopefully my next costume will be better constructed > <
i think we all had a pretty good time again and look forward to our grand adventure next year as the characters from tales of symphonia and FFXIII at Anime Expo in LA! it's gonna be AWESOME! i can't wait!
Update on the Anime Expo costumes: Since a lot of people opted out of Tales of Symphonia, we're probably not doing a full group cosplay. Instead, Tiffy and I are going to do Kuroshitsuji, and see how many people will join in. So far, Jordan and Daniel have agreed to be part of the entourage. I'm looking forward to it!
