Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #23

vectorial tracing the foot and leg embellishments 

I scanned those duct tape scribbles and traced them in Freehand, adapting pieces of the already traced foot and leg embellishment, based on the illustration.

the printed embellishments 

(sort of) testing it over the shoe

I printed one copy, in large format, to test it on the shoe. I cut it with scissors, and tried it on the shoe. It doesn't exactly match the artwork, but the shoe shape is very different. It still looks cool, so I'll go ahead with it.

EVA foam cut swirls

I temporarily glued it with glue stick to a 2mm black EVA foam sheet, and traced it with an awl. I used an awl because the line is very thin and I don't have any good enough light coloured pen to do it. I chose black foam, because the modelling clay I've got is also black. I unglued it, mirrored it and traced only the foot part to more EVA foam, for the right foot.

+ Tracing the shapes was puzzle solving, it involved a lot of reshaping, copying and adapting.

- I can't really test it properly, I can't be very perfectionist with this, but as the shoe shape is so different, basically anything goes.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Glue wire to make the shapes adaptable to the legs and make them stay vertical.

Yuuko Ichihara - Baseball Bat #2

the dress' skirt, rose, facemask and Mokona (from April 1st)

Last Saturday, I attended Lisboa Games Week, wearing Yuuko's Baseball Bat and Rose dress. LGW offers free entry for cosplayers, but we have to prove our cosplay origins. I was probably the only one who showed a book, xxxHOLiC vol.3, to enter the event.

I chose this costume for mostly the same reasons I took it to Porto on April 1st, for the opening of the xxxHOLiC film. It's easy to wear, even if those chicken mesh tights are a pain to put on, you hardly notice them once they're on, and I can no longer endure the boots very long. The boots are quite comfortable, but the toes space is a bit narrow, and it starts to hurt after a while. As I really don't dare to go out in public wearing a black mini dress, mesh tights and over the knee boots, I usually put some leggings on top of the tights and change from sneakers to the boots at the venue. I also took Mokona, but not the baseball bat, fearing it would be confiscated by security, and I wouldn't get it back, for the lack of a cloak room at the event.

Lisboa Games Week was really busy, it was a bit hard to get around, but actually fun. Tiresome, but fun. The most fun part was to finally meet old friends that have been mostly recluse due to the pandemic. I ended up not taking many photos, as it was very difficult to take decent cosplay photos in such a crowded event. I also didn't record any interviews, it was impossible in that very noisy event.

Cloud and Tifa, from Final Fantasy, cosplays 

I managed to watch part of the cosplayers panel, with a few older faces and some of the girls that were at the panel at Anisama. The Cosplay Skit Competition was nice, not the best quality skits, but a few good ones, namely he group winner, with Mermaid Melody Pitchi Pitchi.

Now I need to comb and take care of my wig, as I'll need it for ComicCon, and wash and repair a few details on the costume. As I said, it's an easy costume, but I don't feel very comfortable in it anymore. It also doesn't fit as it did, I gained a few pounds during the pandemic. I also realised that I still have the same amount of fun making costumes, but not so much having to wear them. Waking up really early, putting elaborate make-up on, putting a lot of layers on, not wearing the most comfortable items, the weight of the wig. Before I left the house, all I wanted was to stay in my pajamas all day. It was meeting some of my friends again, what made me go on and leave the house.

+ This is a practical costume, made for that purpose, which still functions as such.

- Even if it's mostly comfortable, I guess I'm getting too old for this. I don't know, maybe I need to be in a better headspace to wear this cosplay again.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Take care of the wig and repair what needs repairing. Finish hand sewing the actual scarf's hems. The scarf I've been wearing lately, is a fringed bought scarf. This time I took it because I don't remember where I put the original scarf.

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #22

EVA foam cuffs and collar on white cotton

After finishing cutting the EVA foam for the embroidery, I glued it, with glue stick, to a piece of white cotton. The EVA foam is to give volume to the embroidery, and the fabric is to give it stability.

I separated all pieces, and started to embroider. I'm using the foam as a guide, but I'm not using an embroidery hoop, to not to kink the foam wih it. I drew the middle lines with the awl, as a guide for the indentations.

about 1/3 of the cuff embroidered so far

As usual, embroidery takes a while. At first I embroidered every day, but now the deadline for ComicCon's Cosplay Maker competition is over, and I ended up not entering. They were asking for the skit video already, but I only have a vague idea of what I would do, and when my friend Carol told me, it was a bit too late to think about it. So, the strategy changed a bit, I'll try to have all the fundamental pieces finished, like the blouse, dress (and corset), ears and shoes, and meanwhile I'll be embroidering. I'm leaving the petticoat and cane for later, as the outfit is wearable without them. I'm still aiming to have it finished, or partially finished before ComicCon, but I won't con crunch it.

+ it is turning out really pretty, I love the effect.

- it takes a long time even to embroider these small pieces, so I'll have to be patient.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Keep making the other pieces, and embroider a bit in between.

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #21

thin French seam

I sewed the only sleeve seam with a thin, about 5mm wide, French seam, leaving an opening at the bottom, to be able to put the sleeve through the hand.

hand sewn rolled hem

Then I hemmed it, except the collar and cuffs seams. I sewed a thin rolled hem by hand, so that there is no visible top stitching. I hemmed the front and back underarm, the side seam and the cuff opening. They still need to be ironed flat.

collar frills

Meanwhile I also hand sewed the collar frills. I first counted how many visible spikes there were in the picture. There were seven. But I decided to make twelve (6 + 6), as it's an even count. Then I divided the collar length by twelve, and drafted an equilateral triangle, with that measurement.

I traced the triangle twelve times, making twelve lozenges and cut them on the satin. Then I started to handsew them into triangles. Why didn't I machine sew them? The fabric is rather flimsy and slippery, I have more control hand sewing those small pieces, and it's quick enough not to put a toll on the over all timing.

the cuffs and collar

I also traced and cut the collar and cuffs both in the satin and the stiff interfacing. It is fusible interfacing, so I ironed it to one of the cuffs/collar pieces.

And in between, I keep embroidering the gold.

+ It is going really well, and I like the no visible stitching on the hems. It looks more sophisticated. 

- Although I became rather quick hand sewing rolled hems, it still takes some time to sew those.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Finish the sleeves/blouse as soon as possible, so I can start with the corset, and then the dress.

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #20

the two cuffs, with the pattern paper, and half cut swirls

From now on, I need to work on this costume a little bit every day.

I had already started cutting out the swirls in the EVA foam, for the puff embroidery, but it was coming out very rugged, and taking too long. I then remembered I could somehow mark the foam, sharpen my box cutter and cut directly on the foam. So, I sharpened the box cutter blade, with a knife sharpener I swiped from my ex-stepfather ages ago and hardly ever used before, took my awl and started punching holes along the swirl lines. It worked! And the process was so much quicker that I already cut the two cuffs and punched the collar. If it all works well, tomorrow I'll start embroidering.

one cut out cuff, and a punched cuff

the cut out cuffs, and punched collar

+ Good that I made this decision, this way I'll keep the (sort of) scheduled plan I initially had.

- I wish I thought about this earlier.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Cut out the collar swirls, and start embroidering ASAP. Sew the "blouse".

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #19

sleeve paper pattern

I finally drafted the sleeves, on IKEA Måla paper. I was a bit confused by the length at first, so I cut the paper a bit short, but then I double measured it, added a strip of paper before cutting, and it's fine now. I only drafted half of the sleeve because it's already in two pieces, but the collar part is a bit shorter in the front.

the cut sleeves in the white satin

Then I proceeded to trace and cut the sleeves on the silky satin, with my grafite pen. I left around 2,5cm seam allowance, as usual. The seam will be a French seam, and all the open parts will be a hand sewn thin rolled hem, like in silk scarves. I thought about sewing them by machine, but there are a few reasons that made me choosing doing them by hand:

1. I don't like visible top stitching in this kind of silky fabric, especially in this chic "blouse" style.

2. I don't really trust my roll hem foot, well, my ability to properly work with the roll hem foot, and I do it fairly quickly by hand.

Unfortunately, I forgot the collar and cuffs pattern at the Batcave and didn't bring a piece of fabric with me, so I didn't cut them. I also forgot to buy some interfacing, and I'm not sure I have enough leftover from the Hokuto shirt. I also realised I forgot to buy the white lining, for the petticoat, so I need to go downtown soon to get both.

+ This process is now flowing, although I'm tackling more than one piece to make at the time, which isn'tmy usual method. I need to focus on the embroidery and the white satin hems, which are what will take longer to make.

- It's a little bit unfortunate that I forgot to buy those basic things, I wasn't planning to go back downtown I the next few months. Oh well...

This is the second time using my new cutting table, two IKEA Brör carts, that I will attach to each other with screws, after I painted the studio walls. I need them separated for now, or they won't fit through the door. But this is a blessing, makes me work much quicker, makes the task easier and more fun, while listening to the radio. 

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Sew the sleeves and hem them. After cutting the cuffs and collar, attach them and finish the sleeves.

Mental note: bring the white scraps, to make the triangular collar ruffles. DO NOT FORGET THE COLLAR RUFFLES!

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #18

white silky satin, red sateen, grey jacquard + golden beads, steel
headband, golden upholstery stud, golden embroidery thread 

So, I've got the grey fabric! Fearing not finding anything, I was willing to go to Parede (by train) to Bispos, a fabric shop I've never been to, but fortunately there was no need.

First I went to have the embroidery cuffs and collar pattern printed, at Zoom Cópia, then I took a bus downtown to take care of the fabrics.

I stepped out of the bus in Rossio, so I first went to Feira dos Tecidos, where there were two options, both in the €9/m budget: a fake faille, but very flat looking in grey, and a sateen. I wanted some texture, so I didn't buy anything there. Then I went to Tavares & Tavares, to buy the white flannel, the canvas and the dark grey lining taffeta. I got a bunch of flannel, because it was the end of the roll, and they gave me a discount. Finally, I went to Ouro Têxteis, and there it was, waiting for me, this rather nice polyester jacquard. It was cheap, €9,5/m, and it is 2,8m wide. Perfect! And it is the perfect shade of grey. I also bought metal snaps and more white cotton thread, but once again there weren't any of the bigger spools available.

Now there aren't any excuses not to start this costume! I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do about the corset. Either start again from scratch or adapt the existing one. I first need to draft the breast cups, and I'll go on from there. The existing corset is now too small on me (damned lockdown pounds), so, I have two options, either make a new one from scratch, and use the old boning and zipper on the new one, or add and eyelet strip, so it can be adjustable, besides the cup changes I was already planning to make. Buh, I forgot to buy the invisible zipper! No problem, I can buy one nearby (I hope). In any case, I can only draft the dress pattern after I remade the corset.

cuffs and collar embroidery patterns glued to EVA foam

When I arrived home, I cut the cuffs and collar patterns and glued them, with a glue stick, to 2mm white EVA foam. Now I'm cutting the open spaces, with a box cutter, and then I will glue it to some white cotton. The plan is to use the foam to give some volume to the embroidery, and try to make it look more like wooden gold work.

+ I was fortunate to find a nice looking fabric for less than it usually sells for, under €10/m, and a wider fabric too.

- Unfortunately, for that price, it is 100% polyester, but it looks more like a polycotton, which is nice. I would also prefer a medallion pattern, but this one matches the gold work pieces better.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Tomorrow, I'll draft the sleeves/blouse pattern, and hopefully have time to cut it in the fashion fabric. Keep cutting the cuffs/collar foam, to start embroidering as soon as possible.

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #17

mini bustle side view

mini bustle back view

Following the sleeve pattern drafting, I remembered there was another piece in this outfit I was unsure about, the bustle. First I google searched "bustle pattern" and "modern bustle", but then I remembered where I saw that bustle style before, in 1950's Cristobál Balenciaga's dresses. I came to the conclusion that most of those puffy dresses had either an A-line shape, or a rectangular shape. I also got inspired by the fabrics, they're either stiff taffetas, moirés or dupioni silks. So, I'll try to find similar fabrics next Thursday. If I can't find anything affordable in grey, there's always that fake grosgrain I used for Hokuto, provided I find some in grey. As for the bustle, I made another mini mock up, and I'll go for the trapeze A-line shape. But I'll have to make a horsehair interlining, so it keeps its stiffness. It shall be detachable, but I'm still deciding how. I'll probably use metal snaps or hooks and eyes, like in most high fashion dresses from the 50's.

+ Another example of a good way to make mock ups without wasting fabrics. As the bustle isn't fitted, I don't really need a 1/1 scale mock up.

- The density of the fabric makes it stiffer than in a bigger scale, but it's not a big issue here.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Go fabric hunting next Thursday. I need between 4 to 5m of the grey fabric, 1,5m white or cream denim for the corset, 1,5m wite or light grey flannel, 1m white lining taffeta and 1m grey lining taffeta, grey grosgrain ribbon, and I'll use the rigilene and horsehair I have stashed for another Yuuko cosplay, the 5th manga volume cover. Even if/when I go ahead with that costume, I won't be using those any longer.