@@

8 more hours until we leave for the airport and I'm feeling a bit frazzled. I managed to forget my Katara tunic when I was packing initially. I don't even know how.

Progress towards July

So taking two accelerated grad classes in the month of June while working on the majority of my costumes is probably not the best idea ever. But I'd like to be done with school by next Spring so them's the breaks.

Since the last time I updated, I finished a bunch of pieces for the con.
Lots of pictures below the cut.

Updated to do list

So the boy is taking a math class and my commission is bigger than I thought it was (because people weren't clear at the number of girls). I'm revising my to do list because I get asked to explain problems in the midst of sewing.

Rainbow Dash:
- Finish dyeing feathers
- Assemble wings 
- Finish coloring wig
- Add elastic to waist and ankles
- cutie mark stencil!

Articuno:
- Add snaps to overskirt, belt and tabards
- Make hair accessories

Ash (gen 1 variant):
- Make doofy shirt/vest
- Find and alter green gloves

Zuko (Blue Spirit variant):
- Add zipper, hem and fit shirt
- Add elastic and hem pants
- Add bracers and shin pieces 
- Bandolier
- hood
- mask ties
- Sculpt, mold and slush cast mask 
- paint swords

Zuko (Team Avatar variant):
- Add snaps to belt and shirt
- Add elastic and hem pants

Katara (Battle/Invasion variant):
- Bending Pouches
- Finish gloves (sort of; Finished wraps. need to buy gloves)
- Finish pants (hem and waist band)
- Finish tunic (all of the white parts)
- Make greaves and gauntlets - needs painting and elastics attached
- necklace - needs painting both to be attached together

Katara (Fire Nation variant):
- Add snaps to tabard, bracers and necklace
- Find gems for necklace
- Finish altering shoes
- Make bicep and ankle rings
- style wig

Bloo (Human closet variant):
- Stencil shirt (bought shirt!)
- Find wig

Commission
- Finish cutting and serging fabric parts
- Assemble armor
- Order hardware

Can I do all of this in less than three weeks? I sure hope so.

I.. Uh.. WHAT?!

I just got the "Your trip is around the corner!" notification from my friendly neighborhood airline.

Shit just got real @@

It's about a month away from the con and I'm quietly panicking inside. I don't know if this is a good change or a bad change from the "I can get everything done!" mentality. I've been freaking out privately to Akira (and I'm pretty sure she's pretty tired of listening to me go "I HAVE THIS LEFT TO DO.")

(P.S. THIS WOMAN IS A SERIOUS BEAST.)

Her suggestion was to list everything that I have left, as it is helping her time manage between her insane workload for grad school. I really don't have any excuses as to why I'm not further along, aside from working a full time job and my various physical activities to get me into con shape.

Every year I tend to start out ambitious and things change. This year was no different. Instead of Connor from ACIII and Alita, the boy and I are going as Zuko and Katara from Avatar: the last airbender. Two costumes each, though. And I also got a commission from my dance teacher who will be performing at Massive this year at the same time as AX.

Wooooo boy. So here's my seriously scary to do list.. With an approximate time required

For myself:

Katara (Fire Nation Disguise)

- Top (30 to 45 min):
 - Sew top seam
 - Add rib cage band and "ties"
 - Sew snaps  (Finished 6/6. I ended up having to remake this damn thing and it ended up being two hours)

- Skirts:
 - Finish adding on the swirly decoration (10 minutes)
 - Hand beads the swirl (... 2 hours total?)
 - Waist band/assemble everything (20 minutes)

- Pants:
 - Add Snap (less than 5 minutes)
 - Hem (see above)

- Accessories:
 - Make necklace (1 hour)
 - make gauntlets (20 minutes)
 - Make bicep rings (20 minutes)
 - Make ankle decorations (20 minutes)
 - Buy flip flops and modify (1 hour)

- Style wig (a day?)

Katara (Water tribe/invasion battle outfit)

- Robe:
 - Finish hemming (5 minutes)
 - Add white lapels (30 to 45 minutes)
 - Add bottom white border and swirl design (30 to 45 minutes)

- Pants:
 - pattern, sew and hem (1.5 to 2 hours)

- Gloves:
 - pattern and sew (2 to 3 hours)

- Boot covers:
 - pattern and sew (2 to 3 hours)

- bending water pouches
 - pattern and sew (2 to 3 hours)

- hardware (gauntlets and greaves):
 - pattern, make and paint (4 to 5 hours)

Articuno Gijinka:

- Overskirt (an hour total, depending on if they cooperate):
 - Sew petals together and iron
 - Add snap to waist band

- Top:
 - Pattern (20 minutes)
 - cut and sew (1 hour)

- Tabards:
 - Pattern (30 minutes)
 - cut and sew (2 to 3 hours)

- Waistband:
 - pattern (10 minutes)
 - cut (20 minutes)
 - sew (2 hours)

- wig and hair accessories:
 - buy/figure out if I can get away with using my own hair
 - make hair doo-dad with three long trailing pieces for the forehead feathers (2 hours?)

Rainbow Dash
 - Finish coloring wig (4 hours if I'm diligent)
 - Make and assemble wings (maybe a day including drying time)
 - make tails for all four people (idk)


Bloo

- Closet version;
 - Find a blue shit and stencil "sly bloo" face on the front and "BLOO" across the butt of the shirt
 - Find a blue wig
 - make crazy blue accessories/blue arm warmers.

For the boy:

Zuko (team avatar variant)
- Overrobe:
 - hem and finish decoration on the bottom (and iron) (20 minutes)

- Pants:
 - hem and add elastic (5 minutes)

- Belt and shirt:
 - add snaps (10 minutes, but I need to fit to boy)

- Boot covers:
 - Pattern and sew (an hour)

Zuko (blue spirit variant)

- Shirt, belt, hood and pants:
 - Pattern and sew (total of ten hours)

- Hardware (gauntlets and greaves?):
 - Pattern and make (total of two hours active)

- Mask
 - sculpt, mold and slush cast (1 hour to sculpt, 1 hour to cast, idk how long down time)
 - Paint mask
 - Add ties. (5 minutes?)

Special commission:
- Pattern harness and hardware (maybe 30 minutes)
- make above (maybe an hour for the harness and who knows for the hardware)
- prime hardware (maybe two hours?)
- make sure that everything fits.

My goal is to at least get all of the stuff that requires the machine done before the middle of the month, which will leave me a little more than two weeks to work on the hardware, wigs and what not. Push comes to shove, I can leave the painting of the Blue Spirit mask to the night before the con. I'm more worried about not being able to finish everything and panic at the last minute like last year (though, last year I managed to whip out two sets of simple armor within a week) or the year before (that was a shit show).

.... I'm going to go stare at the wall and whimper some more (or pattern like a mad woman and try and get the patterns I need traced out at least).

Anime Expo in a Month!!!

As usual, real life reared its ugly head these past few months. Since I started grad school, I was extremely busy with papers, readings, and presentations. Only these past two weeks have I been able to make everything in lightning speed.

Picture heavy post below the cut.

Progress for PAX East 2013

Goose and I are attending PAX East this year and one of our friends had asked if I would put together some Jedi Robes for him, specifically Obi-wan Kenobi from Episode 2. I said that I would make them for him as a belated Christmas gift.

From http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c5/Obiwan1.jpg

Picture Heavy Post after the break

AX Wig Progress Shots

Akira has made some progress on the wigs for Moltres and Twilight Sparkle for AX.

Progress shots after the jump...