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.

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

Swag, AX 2013 Plans, and Update

Finally an update! 
Goose and I got a ton of things from this year's Otakon.

SWAG!

 (Warning! Picture heavy post ahead!)

Last Minute Progress

Here's a quick list. I'll post pictures when I get a moment to breathe.

Kaylee's jumpsuit, pouch and belt are all complete and distressed.
Wash's jumpsuit just needs to have the patches, pocket and shoulder details hand-stitched on.
Wash's harness needs to have one more area stitched, then all of his details glued on.
Zoe's vest and pants are all done. All the pleather pieces are darkened and weathered, but I need more snaps for the shrug and to attach it to the vest. The holster is mostly complete, it just needs the parts where the gun holds on.
Zoe's gun needs one or two more coats of paint and all of the bullets are painted and drying.

18 hours until Goose, Madhouse and I are on the road. Still need to shop for supplies, do the laundry, make the apartment ready for the weekend for our fur-babies, and pack!
Running on less than 5 hours of sleep today, but it's all worth it in the end.
Can't wait for Otakon!

Changing Plans AGAIN

With all the progress Goose and I are making on our Firefly/Serenity cosplays, we feel bad if we sacrifice quality for quantity. I don't know why we try to plan more than one costume to build per year. Maybe if we get more diligent next year we can plan more, but for now, it would be better to stick to one costume each to work on. We are going to hold off Ilomilo for another con (especially since the weather looks like it will be very warm at Baltimore next week) and make our Kaylee, Wash and Zoe that much better.
Goose and I will post soon about our progress!

Massive Productive Weekend!

This past weekend was the only full weekend that Goose and I had for cosplay, so we made the most of it by working from 8 am to 10:30 pm on Saturday and 7 am to 10:45 pm on Sunday. Here's what we did!

(Warning! Image heavy post after the jump!)

Never Enough Time!

Once again, Goose and I are hurrying to the finish, despite goals of starting and ending sooner. I love reading the Otakon and cosplay.com boards, but since everyone is counting down to Otakon, it makes it hard to read. Just reminds me of my crunchy deadline.

This past weekend, I have finished the base for my Zoe capris. They still need to be fitted, hemmed and the details of the boot cuffs added. Goose has finished the frames for Ilo/Milo and the foam has been cut to size. They just need to be shaped and the pockets for the fabric made to fit in the foam. After that it's stamping the Ilo/Milo fabric, making the face, arms and legs, and Goose finishing the support system. I started working on Goose's Wash jumpsuit and have finished most of the torso base. I need to sew on one more sleeve, sew the pants, attach the pants and put in all the zippers. Goose is working on the patches for Wash (which is proving difficult without a proper drawing software).

What's left to be done: (Because I love lists...)
Firefly
Zoe
-Capri Details and fitting - Akira
-Vest (pleather for the vest, shrug and holster should arrive this week) - Akira
-Shrug - Akira
-Holster - Akira
-Mare's Leg - Goose
-Knife - Goose
-Darkening and distressing leather - Akira

Wash
-Jumpsuit - Akira
-Harness - Akira
-Patches - Goose

Kaylee
-Dye the fabric for the jumpsuit - Akira
-Jumpsuit - Akira
-Teddy bear patch (furry fabric should arrive this week) - Akira
-Details - Akira

IloMilo
Ilo and Milo
-Finishing securing the frame and supports - Goose
-Shape the foam - Akira
-Make the pockets for foam - Akira
-Sew together the skin - Akira
-Attach the skin to the frame - Akira
-Hands and Feet - Akira
-Face - Akira

If I'm really diligent, I'm sure I can get most of the sewing for Firefly done this week, depending on when my shipment of pleather arrives. And Goose has really been stepping it up for the mascots. I think we can get it done if we work really hard every day until the day we leave for Otakon. (*knock on wood*)
I'll post construction pictures if I remember to take them in the blur of the next few weeks.
Wish us luck!

More Progress

Since this weekend was a long weekend, Goose and I were extremely productive. After I finished cutting out the squares from the last post, I stitched together the panels for the four sides of Ilo and Milo.

(Picture heavy post after the jump. But all the stuff I've posted to Instagram.)

Mini progress update!

I finished cutting the squares for Ilo and Milo's checkered patterned fabric.
First I figured out the proportions for both Ilo and Milo versus my and Goose's measurements. That makes Goose's squares 13" and mine an even foot. With one inch on either side for the seams and a little give, Goose's squares were cut at 15" and mine at 14".

My cardboard template

I finished cutting all four colors in about a total of two movies and one season and one episode of Pushing Daisies. Then I'll need to work on sewing four panels for each side of both mascots. Here I go!

One night's work of tracing and cutting

The squares are done!

Let the Countdown Begin

We're in the middle of May and that leaves us a little over two months to get everything completed. *flail*
Now that Goose and I are done with our wedding stuff (yay, we got married in April *little fanfare*) we can finally get started on our costumes. Not a lot of time for five costumes to make, but we'll make do.

I just ordered parts for Zoe (contacts, wig, boots and Mare's Leg pieces) and a Hawaiian shirt for Wash. There are a lot of pieces that we need to build IloMilo and I'm still lacking all the fabric I need for the three Firefly characters.

I don't assume the clothing for Firefly will take very long at all. I've made jumpsuits for my Portal cosplay and both Goose and Madhouse are wearing jumpsuits. Zoe's vest, shrug and pants will probably take me one weekend of good solid work. Probably a week for all of Firefly's base construction, not including the props and details. Both Goose and Madhouse have a lot of patches, or little details hanging around. Then we'll have to construct my gun, holster, bullets, and Goose's harness. That will probably take another week or two.

The things that I'm more worried about are Ilo and Milo since they both are experiments and Goose and I will have to figure out support, framing, and the skin of the mascots. We have designs of what we think will work, but as of now, we only have theories. Ilo & Milo construction will take the better part of a month to complete if we work consistently and efficiently. This is all assuming that our theories and designs work out the way we're projecting them.

With a lot diligence and luck, we'll be able to get everything done by July 26th, but it'll be close. Again, we'll probably be working up until the day. But hopefully not working while at Otakon. Next year, we'll hopefully get started much sooner.

One More Thing!

Source: Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures

Or three more things...