6 of Spades ♠︎ - #11

bus selfie with extra ♡ sunglasses

 One week ago, I finally wore my 6 of Spades ♠︎ Card Girl cosplay to Festa do Japão. I avoided making the petticoat until the last minute, I eventually sewed each panel together on the eve of the event, but didn't even start gathering any... Anyway, I knew I wouldn't finish it in 4 to 5 hours. Now I'll only finish it after I move, and after I made the Miss Piggy dress, and maybe even after I finished the Mad Hatter and the Foxy Lady, which are the priority now.

the state of the petticoat.

It was very hot on the festival day, and I met some cosplayer friends for a picnic under a tree. The picnic ended up being sort of a base, while I and other cosplayers sometimes made a stroll around the event. As usual, I didn't take any pictures, even though there are a few group selfies.

the shoes with the ♤ buckles

About the costume. Almost all the pieces worked, the crocodile clips on the hat were very efficient, so it will be the method to adopt for hats henceforward. The apron also worked well, but I pinned the cord on the neck to my top, so it wouldn't be drenched by sweat and itchy on my neck, and it was a good idea (it was THAT hot!). The skirt is the item that needs correcting. I need to shorten it about at least 3-4cm, but I'll do it after I finish the petticoat, to use it as a length reference. The waist elastic also needs tightening. I plan to shorten it by the waist, removing the waistband, and gathering it again, then applying the waistband again. Meanwhile I'll shorten the elastic too, and maybe add some stabilizing ribbon to the straight part. Tacking the tigh highs in four places to the skin colour shorts was a great idea, it held up very well the whole day. The shoes are the only uncomfortable piece, but the silicone pad on top of my bunion helped and I took backup shoes to the event, and only wore the shoes at the venue. Both props, the bucket and the paintbrush, worked very well, and didn't get damaged at all!

Now, wearing and almost 100% white outfit isn't my thing, and all the pieces needed washing. The sweaty skin coloured top, the shorts+tights and the skirt went straight to the washing machine, but fearing some bleeding of the black cotton cord, I didn't wash the apron yet, I need to test it first.

+ It's a comfortable cosplay for hot days, easy to wear and easy to do maintenance.

- the skirt length was a miss, but easy to correct. I should have tested the bleeding on the black cord before finishing the apron.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Leave any alterations until next spring, but still bleed test the cord and wash the apron now. Next spring, finish the petticoat and shorten the skirt.

Miss Piggy - Kermit Dress #5

matte varnish, white and black spray paint,
the ball halves, and the pupil pattern.
And Kermit inspector. 

The making of the eyes. Kermit's eyes are made from a pingpong ball, cut in half, but there is a scale problem, pingpong balls ratio to the human head are too small, compared to Kermit's or Piggy's heads. Another solution was needed. I found 6cm diameter transparent xmas balls, which size seemed quite right.

First, I cut the tabs on each half and filed out the extra lip. Meanwhile, Lidl had a spray paint promotion, I've used their spray paints before, and I like them. Pretty sturdy. Unfortunately the colour variety is very limited to primary colours and black, white and grey. But I only needed black and white, and I also got a matte varnish. Ball, ckeck; paints, check.

outside of the ball halves, taped to the cereal box. 

inside of the ball halves, taped to the cereal box.

I traced the balls and cut two circles out of a cereal box with a box cutter, and taped the ball halves to the holes. Ideally, I'd use paper tape, but most of those materials are already at the new flat, so I taped them with normal scotch tape. More on that later.

the ball insides, spray painted white.

I spray painted three coats of white to the insides. When I was taking off the tape, it left a bit of residue. I tried to wash it off with dishwashing liquid, but it wasn't enough, so I rubbed it off with a cotton wipe with alcohol.

shiny xmas balls, painted white on the inside.

matted, formerly shiny, xmas balls.

Pingpong balls are matte, but perspex xmas balls are shiny. So I sprayed them with a matte varnish/sealant, to achieve the satiny matte texture of pingpong balls.

pupil masks.

Kermit eyeballs with Kermit supervisor. 

I traced the pupil pattern onto scraps of sticker paper, leftover from another project and traced it twice. Then I carefully applied the masks to the eyeballs, and spray painted three coats of black. The next day I removed the masks, and I love them! They're not perfect, not as glossy as I would like, and one of them isn't completely saturated on one of the sides. But it's hardly noticeable, if I try to fix it, I'll probably ruin it.

+ It was great fun making a pair of Kermit eyes, I love them!

- Pity the pupils aren't 100% like I planned, but I can live with their imperfections.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Pattern the ears and snout, and make them out of the foam.

Miss Piggy - Kermit Dress #4

Kermit collar closed and pressed.

I pinned both satin pieces to each other, good side to good side, on each spike, and a few pins on the neck opening. First I hand sewed, with a backstitch, the side back seam, on each piece. Then I opened up the seams, and pinned both pieces together on that seam. I started hand sewing, also with a backstitch, both pieces together, on the outside seam, with the spikes. When it was completely sewn, I trimmed and scored the edges, and turned it. It was a patience step, and it took a while. Then I test inserted the foam collar, to realise, half way, that it was a bit too big. So, I took it off, and trimmed the EVA foam about 1mm on the spikes side and side/shoulder seams. I glued the shoulder seams back together, with contact glue, and proceeded to insert the foam inside the satin. I did this spike by spike. About half way, I realised I was inserting the foam front to the satin back, so I had to take it all off and start again. Double checking if the foam was matching the satin, I started to insert each spike again. I ended up using a method where I folded the spikes upwards, matched the inner corners, and then carefully, with the help of a bamboo spatula and a bamboo skewer (the rounded side), I rolled each spike inside the satin. Some worked better than others, but they all look fine. I should have rounded the foam spike ends by 1cm, as the point added a bit too much bulk and was harder to insert. After a while, a bit too long, I finally inserted all 10 spikes. Then I adjusted and reajusted all, until I was happy with it, and pressed each spike and the whole collar. One of the inner corners frayed a bit, but I added a drop of UHU glue to it, and it worked. I've been out of Fray Check for ages... Then I scored the satin neck opening and turned it, both sides, to the inside, keeping, like with the spikes, the fabric folds to the bottom part. I pinned them together and started hand closing them, with a ladder invisible stitch, straightening and flattening the satin in each spike as I went.

Beaded Kermit collar. 

Looking at the reference picture, I marked where the half spheres would go. As only about three spikes are visible in the available pictures (and I wasn't in the mood to watch the film for such a small and random detail),  I based the bead placement on the others on those three. One thing they had in common were one bead on each spine point, alternating between one green, and one yellow. Then I put a glue bead on each dot, a few at a time, and proceeded to glue all of them, usually starting with the yellows, as there are less of them, and then filling in the greens. I made one or two blunders, where the glue is noticeable, but it's mostly OK. I used super glue, because my E6000 is almost dry. I hope they will keep steady, but on futher inspection, I think i even hlued them to the foam inside, so, I think it's OK.

Meanwhile there was a spray paint promotion at Lidl, so I got a matte clear varnish, a white and a black paint. I also sanded the Xmas ball edges. I'm now trying to figure out how I'm going to attach the eyes to the hood.

So far, this costume has been a bit off, as far as materials and colours is concerned. The satin should have a bit more blue in it, the velvet should be a little less bright, and the beads should have been crystals. Jit to talk about Miss Piggy's ears and snout, which won't be made like a Muppet's, and pingpong balls are too small for a human sized Kermit hoodie. But it's fine as long as the overall result works well together.

+ I was very eager to make this, and it looks awesome. It wasn't hard to make,  even if there were a few blunders, and if it tried my patience at times.

- Having to insert, and reinsert the foam inside the satin 3 times, wasn't fun. I also should have rounded the spike points in the foam, it would make them easier to insert, and add less bulk to the points.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Cut the velvet parts, and make the gloves pattern. Also make the Kermit eyes, and Piggy ears and nose.

6 of Spades ♠︎ - #10

eyelash applicator, heel shields, gel spots, tigh high tights,
and skin coloured shorts (which happen to be shapewear too)

Let's talk about comfort, OK? Even the most comfortable costumes usually have an uncomfortable aspect, be it the infamous shoes, tge cosplayers bane of existance, or a long heavy wig. My most comfortable costume is La Andromeda Promethium, even if I wear shapewear and a long heavy wig. But the dress is floor length (I can wear the shoes I want), in a knit fabric, and the crown really stays put on my head.

This Card Girl is simple and supposedly comfortable, but there are a few issues. The tigh high tights and the shoes.

I'm tall, so most tigh highs I've owned, end above my knees. And I have thick thighs, and tigh high socks or stockings tend to roll down. Besides, I chafe between my tighs. For this costume, I didn't want mousse tights, more of a sock knit, but long, very long. At the second try, I managed to find very long cotton knit tigh highs.  The first ones I bought were mousse, and not that long, but these were advertised for 1,85m tall men. So I risked it. They are indeed high, sadly a bit too tight on my thick tighs... But its solvable. I own a shorts skin coloured garter, but I never liked them very much, the waist elastic cuts through my skin. I avoid chafing on my inner tighs, but end up chafed on my waist... And it's a pain to put on. I also recently bought two pairs of XL dance tights, which are even big for me. But I don't want to ruin them for thigh highs (need to buy on pair of white ones). Who would have thought these things would be available at AliExpress, where a while ago all clothing items were in tiny Chinese sizes? Even shoes, would end at size 38, 39, the most. So, AliExpress to the rescue on the tigh highs, and I will eventually order a black pair too. The new shapewear shorts (the only ones that come in skin colour, I found at Primark, finally! These are thick mousse bum lifters, hahaha! But they are good for anti-chafing and for pinning tigh highs. I'll explain. Primark also had some "anti-chafing" shorts, but only in size S. Yeah, the size that has the most inner tigh chafing xD, and also only in black... I still prefer these thicker ones, and they had them in many skin tones too, which is unusual. So these will be good for keeping my inner tights safe, and I'll tack the tigh high socks to them, so they will stay put and not roll down. I'm not going to completely sew them to the shorts for two reasons, 1, I'll eventually need the shorts for other costumes; 2. It's likely the seam would rip while I'm wearing them, so I'd rather have gaps, but keep the socks up.

The shoes. They're flat, which is fine and less tiresome than heels. Flat shoes also behave better in the Portuguese cobblestones, sometimes known as "heel killers". And I'm also very clumsy with my shoes. So, they're comfortanle, right? Not entirely. They're patent leather, which is cuter but less flexible, so they hurt me a bit on my heels, and the right shoe bites my feet where my bunion is. Again, Primark to the rescue! They're the only shop that regularly and consistently carries silicone feet protectors. Pharmacies sometimes also carry them, but not always, and Chinese stores sometimes do too, but again, not always. Plus, they're cheap, as they usually don't last long glued to the shoes. But they'll be life savers, even if my new socks are a bit thicker and will protect my feet more than mousse tights.

And, I bought a "false eyelash applicator" too, for me and one for Carol, as she's very clumsy applying eyelashes. I need to give her a crash course on putting fake lashes on. I never tried these, I usually use normal tweezers, but I was always curious if they really help. The weekend before next I'm going to visit Carol, I guess besides helping her with the finishing touches on her Bianca costume, I'll teach her how to put fake lashes on.

+ All the things that go underneath of even a simple costume.

- There are a lot of layers, and I'll eventually be hot. But better a bit hot than bleeding.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Tack the shorts to the stockings, glue the silicone pads to the shoes, and sew the ♠︎ buckles to the shoes.

6 of Spades ♠︎ - #9

ruffling the skirt waist

Finally tackled the dreaded gathering (even though it's now much less of a burden, after i got the gathering foot), but still avoiding the tulle monster...

But, before that, I made a thin hand sewn rolled hem. I did it with an invisible stitch. I'm not a hand sewing masochist, but I thought top stitching the satin wouldn't look nice, and it didn't take that long to do it. It looks neater this way.

Then I pressed the hem and the skirt, before adding the waistband. 

After machine gathering the waist, I measured my waist, divided the measurement by 2, and measured it at my waistband. Pinned half of the waistband to the back half of the skirt, and then measured half of my waist measure on the partially stretched recycled elastic. Pinned the front of the waistband to the skirt, leaving it loosely gathered. Sewed the waistband shut at the sides and, starting with the back, folded it twice and hand sewed it shut with an invisible stitch. Before I started closing the front of the waistband, I sewed the elastic to the waistband's side seams. Then, shuffling the waistband over the elastic, so it stays straight where I'm sewing, I also folded twice and sewed shut the waistband at the front half. This way, I have a half straight, half gathered waistband, for comfort and ease of wear. Usually the elastic part is at the back, but because most of it is hidden by the apron at the front, I decided to put the elastic at the front, and the visible straight waistband at the back. I didn't insert any kind of interfacing at the waist, mostly because all my wider grosgrain ribbon, which I normally use for these things, is at the new house, and I wasn't in the mood to cut a bit of twill instead. Maybe I'll add one later, if I'm unhappy with it.

the finished skirt

As the skirt has three panels, none of the seams could be at the sides, so two of them are partially at the back, and there is one at the middle front. Again, I decided this because it will be hidden by the apron on top.

+ Apart from the hand sewn hem, I could have made this skirt in one day. But I procrastinated...

- The dreaded gathering... At least now I have a gathering foot.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Yeah... the tulle petticoat. And sewing the stockings to skin coloured shorts, which hopefully I'll find tomorrow, together with sillicone shoe patches.

Miss Piggy - Kermit Dress #3

Kermit collar, but make it fancy

I'm really itching to make this Kermit hood! I needed to do some errands, and go grocery shopping, and, on the way, I went to a Chinese store to get sheer black socks, for a Blythe project, and also got light green EVA foam. I'm glad I bought two sheets, as I couldn't fit the collar in one.

I tried to cut the foam about 2mm inside the lines, to add room for the fabric seams. I made that mistake on the Card Girl's hat, don't want to make it again so soon after.

Then I glued each side, side to side, with contact glue, and it's done. It fits through my head, which is what's most important.

glued seam

I traced the pattern to the satin once, but because it's a bit soft and drapey, I decided not to trace it twice, but pin it to the fabric, and, after sewing, I will trim the seam allowances. I traced it with pencil, not my trusty graphite pen, so I have very clean lines, easier to follow with the sewing machine.

Contrary to the foam, there will be only one joint seam on the fabric, which I decided would be one of the shorter sides in the back. The hair will cover most of it later anyway. I'll leave the neck open, so I can turn it and shuffle the foam inside. Then I'll sew it closed by hand.

I also picked up the wig, the Cyborg 003 wig I bought ages ago, from the wig box, and the colour almost matches Piggy's hair colour perfectly! Just a bit of styling, and I'm good to go.

+ Cutting both the foam and the fabric was a pretty straightforward job, and I'm really happy I now have a cutting table, makes these jobs go exponentially quicker.

- I just hope it fits at first try, whout any warbling.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

After I'm done with the white sewing, for the Foxy Lady, and the Card Girl, sew the collar and stuff it with the foam.