cosplay completion

Finished my doll cosplay of the Kun version of the 화양연화/花 样年华 “In the Mood for Love” outfit from Blade & Soul! Fully handsewn and all patterns drafted by yours truly. If you’re going to Fanime in San Jose, California, I’ll be there from May 23-25th with Polaire so come find us! ^_^

And if you haven't heard of Blade & Soul, it's a Korean MMORPG with art direction formerly headed by Hyung-tae Kim. He's pretty famous in digital art circles, and chances are you've probably seen some of his work! I can't say much about how he proportions his characters, but I can appreciate his clear direction of style in the illustrations he makes.

 
❤ mura

cosplay update!!

Not that long since my last Porii update but here's what's new: shortly after I finished that last faceup on her, she fell and not only managed to chip off that BRAND NEW faceup I finished, but also acquired a very deep scratch in her leg. I'm looking into sanding options but as I am still at school right now I don't have access to a lot of things. Thankfully it's not that noticeable since it's in the middle of the thigh and I have her wearing socks/tights almost all the time =3=

I decided to give her yet another faceup, so here's how she looks like right now:

I'd say it's kind of in between the very first faceup and the last faceup I did on her. Still looking much less innocent than the first faceup (which is good!!). Anyway, here's the cosplay progress! I'm about 60% done - I finally got the materials to finish fitting and lacing the corset piece, and now I just need to finish the neckpiece and draft/sew the wrist guards.

Fanime is in 2 weeks! I gotta hurry =3=

❤ mura

杏眼桃腮

The title of this blog post is a Chinese phrase literally meaning almond eyes and peach cheeks, and as you can probably guess, it's referring to a girl's beauty! I thought it would perfectly describe my lovely girl Polaire, who's the subject of my post today. I've been working on a project that I started almost a month ago, and only recently have I made some serious progress with it. If you refer to some of my previous posts, I've mentioned things about the origin of Polaire as an MMO avatar that I used for various game, the most recent being a game called Blade & Soul. Here's how she looks in game, if you haven't seen my post from earlier - and it just so happens that the outfit that I'm trying to recreate is the outfit she's wearing in that screencap!

Here's a stack of materials I've collected for this project:

A rigid satin taffeta, a white chiffon-like fabric, some shiny black stretch lycra, and braided elastic.

The outfit as I've adapted it consists of a corset/leotard piece, a shirt with balloon sleeves, two wristguards, a neckpiece, and a set of leggings with a lace inset. Some of the items in the original game outfit can't be translated into a practical sewing design, so I've made changes accordingly. For instance, I've omitted some of the detailing on the leggings and corset simply because it's impossible to create 3D details in such a small scale/I simply don't have the materials or skills to do so. Without further ado, here's my progress so far! I've completed the corset and the shirt.

The corset consists of 13 pieces (and 12 identical pieces for the lining) and is completely handsewn because I'm at school and I don't have access to a sewing machine (I also suck at sewing with the machine, so I'd rather just not). My first few attempts were with the machine and they didn't work out, so this is actually Mark III of the corset =3= I'm still waiting on my black ribbon for the fastening so I'm temporarily lacing it up in the back with a few loose stitches.

 

Here's my most recent update! I finished the shirt just yesterday, and I just edited the shoulder ties a bit today, but I don't have pictures of that right now. The shirt closes up in the back with snap closures, and the sleeves have elastic stitched into them at the cuffs. So far progress is going really well considering it's only my second time sewing an outfit (the only other time I've sewn a major project is a red Christmas dress I made for Lenny)... I'm going to start drafting the other pieces soon!

❤ mura

i'm home!

I feel like the title is rather self-explanatory. I'm going to be crafting all summer making prototypes for dolly t-shirts and accessories (including all those flower crowns I haven't had time to make yet!) I've already started drafting patterns for some of the shirts... If they turn out well, I might be selling a few in my Etsy store!

I'm using paper towels for drafting because they're cheaper than wasting fabric. Go me. I'm basing my t-shirt design off this cute shirt from Japanese brand Candy Stripper, except I'm using real yarn braids instead of iron-on graphics. Figuring out how to make the collar and sleeves fit is currently proving to be quite the challenge... :(

And here's an obligatory picture of Lenny. I tried to mix some of her outfits up a little ... Did it work out?

❤ mura

new projects for winter!

It's finally break and I'm back home at last :) I'm going to be busy working on a few projects for Lenny and my Etsy store, so please stay tuned for progress photos! Here's a little hint as to what may be showing up soon:

Flower wreaths! I'm still gathering inspiration and materials and pattern drafting a winter dress for Lenny. Wish me luck! I'm no good with sewing machines :(

❤ muramin