Maid from the Netherworld - WIP

Närcon is getting closer, we're travelling there next Thursday. It's the first time I'm going to a cosplay convention outside Finland so I'm excited to see what's it like. We originally planned to go there to cheer on Päivi from Uruhara FC, but I ended up registering me and Minorea for Närcon's Cosplay Group Performance contest.. whoops! The contest is on Thursday, the 1st day of the con.

So, as I earlier revealed I'm going to cosplay Airi from Queen's Blade. I'm usually really shy about showing lots of skin, but it's starting to look like that as long as I'm going to compete with the costume, I can wear revealing cosplays... So Närcon's visitors are going to get some pantsu shots, wohoo!

I was the most worried about the scythe, but luckily we got help from a carpenter that Minorea knows. He let us use his tools and told us what to do with them so we wouldn't hurt ourselves. I used to study woodwork for 6 years in elementary and junior high school, so it was really fun to work with something like this after such many years (and with better tools too). I added details from Apoxie Sculpt and started the paint work. :3

It... it looks like a scythe! So pretty!

Sculpting the handle. I used Apoxie Sculpt because it's so handy! It's really soft to sculpt and dries in air in about 2-3 hours. It gets really hard and after that you can sand it, saw it or drill it! :) It also gets attached to pretty much anything, which is why I covered the scythe with sticky-backed plastic.

The handle is drying. I had to balance it with a cutting board (that I made in elementary school ;D).

The sticky-backed plastic worked and I could remove the handle! Yaaay! Now I can separate the prop into smaller pieces for easier transport. ^_^

Sanding the handle.

Priming paint!

Spray painted scythe. After it dries I will add darker paint to the edges for more contrast.

I also got the wig and cut the bangs right away. It was harder to get the piggy tails done than I expected, but they look rather nice. I still need to make the small tufts on top of them and add some fibers to the back side. But it's nice and red, red is always good! <3

Make up test.. I think I look really scary (and cross-eyed) like this! xD But Minorea told me it looks cute, lol.

The dress itself is more complex to make since I still have no idea how to sew clothes. I've managed to make the skirt and cut out all the fabrics. There's so much ruffles and little details everywhere, even though I thought it's a simple costume to make. Oh noes! Currently I feel like the time is running out and I even sewed at work at the hotel reception... orz

It's still not finished, but looking good so far! The last time I attempted a puffed sleeve it looked.. not so puffed. But this time I edited the pattern and it came out just perfect <3 Also, a piece of my ruffles..

I've never done a ribbon before, but it turned out pretty~

The underskirt weights a ton alone. It's going to be so hot wearing this costume... T__T

My cosplay at work. I didn't notice one customer coming to the reception and had to show him what I'm sewing. xD

I still feel kind of positive that I'll finish the costume in time, even though I had only one day off from work in two weeks before a convention. I have to say I'm really looking forward to finishing the costume and the contest, our performance is going to be awesome because our audio is great already (so great that even neighbours came to the backyard to see what the hell we are doing). x3

My little helper got tired of all the pieces of fabric and ruffles.

Alma the Husky

Hi everyone,

It's been a long time since my last entry! I had a blast at NordicFuzzCon 2014 and I'm already looking forward to the next NFC... :) I will write more about NFC later, I've been too lazy to get my pictures in order.

After NFC I started to work hard on a fursuit partial commission. It's a toony husky head for Twixs on FA, and it's the first toony head I've ever made. It was both challenging and fun, but I still prefer building realistic heads. I guess I made my record in building fursuit heads, it took me about 3 weeks to finish Alma instead of the months I've wasted with mu previous suits. x3

All started with a reference sheet. I drew it as a commission to Twixs. It was interesting to do since it's based on her dog!

After the reference picture was finished I started working on the base. It got done rather painlessly and I was happy with the over all shape and all. 

No I don't like Lapin Kulta or any other beer. It's an old shirt from work and I tend to wear old shirts when I work with fursuits. The foam and faux fur stick to anything! The nose was sculpted with Apoxey Sculpt.

The eyes were definitely the most challenging part of making this fursuit since I had no experience how to do them. I Googled for several "3D follow-me eyes"- tutorials and created these for the head! I used soft foam, buckram for the pupils and acrylic paints. They really have a nice effect and it looks like the eyes follow the viewer. :)

I was surprised how easy it was to fur this head because usually I've had a lot of problems with it. The pieces of fur are sewn together and glued on the head. The markings were quite challenging to do, but everything went well. :D

Before trimming.

After the first trim. I've cleaned all the edges around eyes, nose and mouth.

After final trim, it looks so much different than the first one without trimming! The black areas on the head were too narrow to be sewn on the fur pattern so instead I painted them on with acrylic paints. At this point the head missed neck piece, teeth, tongue and eyelids.

After finishing the head I added a neck piece and made a tail and hand paws for the suit. Alma got finished in time for Twixs and was shipped to her after my little photoshoot.

Meet Alma the Husky!

My dog Olia absolutely loved this fursuit. She just had to hug and kiss it. x3