New Year, New Project

Wow, new post since like 2016 and nearly too the date! XD Well, for LVLUP Expo in a few weeks I’ll be competing as Amajiki Ttamaki’s hero identity, Suneater. So I thought, why not post a tutorial about my journey and experience? I can’t believe that I haven’t posted in like three years and a few days though. XD So I’ll try to post and keep y’all updated as much as possible with the extremely limited time I have before Lvlup in like two weeks. ^_^;;;

New Project!!

Now that Fannatiku Fest is over I can work on new projects! My next few projects will deal with the cartoon Steven Universe. The first project is Rose Quartz. Ever since I saw her I knew that I wanted to cosplay as Rose. I'm such a sucker for dresses, especially ones that are super long and flowy or require a hoop skirt. I will be making the Rose Quartz cosplay in three parts.

1) The underthings

2) The layered skirt

3) The top/bodice

This will probably take up quite a bit of time and space but I'm so pumped for this project!! XD I can't wait to see how everything turns out! So watch for my next tutorial!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

I know that I haven't posted for a while, but I've started five separate projects within the past month or so. ^_^;; I haven't finished any of them yet so hopefully I'll have a tutorial up for you by the end of the year. :3 Thank you for all of the support that you have given me over the past couple of years! So Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone and an awesome rest of the year too! ^w^

~Animefangirl1221

Nico Yazawa Skirt

Yay! Another tutorial! :D For this tutorial I'll be making the skirt that goes with the choker from the previous tutorial. This cosplay is for Nico Yazawa from the Love Live! song Bokura wa Ima no Naka, which is the opening for the first season of the anime Love Live! School Idol Project. Like I said in the choker tutorial, I will be showcasing this cosplay at Fannatiku Fest 2016. I may wear to Banzai if I get it finished early enough. Now onto the tutorial! XD

STEP 1: Reference Pic

This reference pic only shows the front, but in the back there is another black bow about twice as big as the one in front.

STEP 2: Gathering Materials

Fabric and Notions:

• 2 yards of Black fabric
• 4 yards of Red fabric (cut into two 2 yard pieces)
• Thin black ribbon
• A black hidden zipper (7-9 inches)
• Hook and eye
• Black and red thread
• 1/4 yard of Interfacing (iron on kind)
• Gold chain (you can find them in the jewelry aisle of any craft store)

Tools:

• Sewing shears
• Sewing machine
• Needle and thread
• Rotary cutter and mat (optional)
• Flexible measuring tape
• Taylor's chalk (I used just the sidewalk kind)
• Chain cutter
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

STEP 3: First you want to get the measurements for your skirt. I will be using part of this tutorial: DIY Circle Skirt Tutorial or you can watch any of Yumi King's videos on YouTube. To get the measurements for the 'smaller' circle measure the circumference of your hips then divide that by 3.14, take that number and divide it by 2. And you've got your first measurement! (Ex. Hip measurement is 37 inches.  37/3.14=11.78 rounded up to 12, 12/2=6. Smaller circle measurement is 6 inches.) Once you have your smaller circle measurement find the one for your larger circle, which will be the length of the skirt. To find this measurement, measure from where that waistband will be to where you are comfortable having the end of your skirt. Mine will be just below where my fingertips naturally end.

STEP 4: Now that you have your measurements fold your yard of fabric in half, if you have a rectangle cut it so it becomes square. The easiest way to do this is to measure the width of your fabric (from selvage to selvage) and you'll find out how long your fabric needs to be. The fabric that I'm using is 44 inches wide, so just over a yard. Fold your squared fabric piece twice, once lengthwise and once widthwise, or hotdog and hamburger. Now take your chalk and flexible measuring tape (or a ruler) and mark the two circles. Make sure to start measuring at the 'folded' corner. Mark your fabric with several dashes of the same measurement so that you have two dashed lines where you will cut the fabric. Then cut the fabric and unfold, if you have two skirt cutouts then that just means that you folded it a couple more times than necessary.

STEP 5: Unfold your skirt and lay it flat. Cut a straight line so that you can open your circle. This will be where the zipper will be placed.

STEP 6: Hem the inner and outer (smaller and larger) circles by folding the edges over once. You want to make a 1/8 inch hem. Fold the hem so that the chalk markings are on the inside of the skirt.

STEP 7: Repeat steps 4-6 to make two red skirts. One of the skirts should be three inches shorter than the other.

STEP 8: Now to make the ruffles! The ruffles are on the black skirt only. Cut six or seven 3" wide black strips and hem them all. It took five for my skirt but you may need more. Hem all of your fabric strips with a 1/8" seam. When all of the strips are hemmed take your strips and sew them so that you have two sets of two strips sewn together and then the extra strip left over. Then sew a baste stitch along one of the edges, use a 5/8" seam, then pull the top thread and gather the fabric! This is a very easy method and can be done with a little sewing experience and know-how. Now take your ruffles and pin them to the bottom edge of the black skirt. The seam should be 5/8" from the edge of the skirt. Once you have all of the ruffles sewn on, sew on the zipper. To insert the zipper, use the instructions printed on the inside of the package or google it.

STEP 9: Now onto the two overskirts! You're going to hem them with a 1/8" hem, just like the black skirt. Once they're hemmed sew a baste stitch along the tops of both skirts. You're going to do exactly what you did with the ruffles, but this time you'll need to adjust the skirt so that it looks the way it does in the reference photo. These skirts are placed on the left side, covering most of the front and back. Adjust both red skirts while wearing the black one. When finished stitch the ends of the baste stitch into place using the extra thread from gathering the fabric.

STEP 10: Now to sew the black ribbon onto the shortest skirt! Take a ruler and mark 3" spaces along the top of the skirt. Along each of those marks draw a line all the way down the skirt. Next measure 3" down from the top of the skirt and make a mark all the way around the skirt. Do this again at 6". When you have all of your marks on your skirt sew the black ribbon to the skirt following the marks you made. Make sure to fold the ends of the ribbon under the skirt to give it that nice finished look.

STEP 11: Once you have the ribbon sewn onto the shorter skirt sew the two skirts to each other. Then you'll put on the black skirt and pin the red skirts to the black one so that it looks how you want it to be and how it looks in the reference pic. Pin it in place and then sew it to the black skirt along the waist band. I sewed them on so that it covered the zipper. If this happens then sew the red skirts to the black skirt til you reach the one side of the zippered sides of the skirt. When you reach the zipper stop sewing or else you'll sew over your zipper and then your zipper won't work anymore. Next sew a hook and eye to the edges of the overlapping skirts. This will keep the skirts attached and cover the zipper.

STEP 12: Now to make the black bow that is on the hip. I used the same method as I did to make the pink bow on the shirt. The only difference that it has is that I made the middle strip 2" instead of the original 4". I also added interfacing to the top part of the bow and it looks so much better! I'm thinking of remaking my shirt bow so that it will look better than my original design. :) The top part of the bow is 15.5 x 10 inches and the 'tails' part is 5 x 20 inches. Apply interfacing to the top part only. ^w^

STEP 13: After you've sewn your bow take out your chain and put on your skirt and shirt. Line the ends up with the buttons, adjust to your liking and then cut it. Now you can do this one of two ways; you can hot glue it or you can sew it. I used the hot glue method because I was in a rush to get it finished for a cosplay contest at my local county fair. After you've sewn or hot glued your chain to your skirt hot glue the bow into place jus below where the end of the chain is on the red skirt.

And there you go! All done! ^w^ hopefully I will be able to get my gloves, hair bows, and stockings/thigh highs done soon! Thank you for reading and commenting!! X3

Nico Yazawa Shirt/Blouse

Hello hello hello! I'm back with another tutorial!! XD I have completed another piece of my Nico Yazawa cosplay! I'll warn you now, this is a super long tutorial. >~< I'll try to make my instructions as clear as possible and my pics should help with explaining some more stuff. Whelp, let's get to it!

STEP 1: Reference Pic

STEP 2: Gathering Materials: I'm sorry that I don't have exact measurements of everything!

Materials:

•White fabric and thread

•Black fabric and thread

•Pink fabric and thread

•Red ribbon and thread

•Two gold buttons

•Velcro or hook and eyes

•Interfacing (optional)

Tools:

•Sewing machine

•Fabric shears

•Straight pins

•Simplicity pattern 1558 (steampunk)

•Sewing needle

•Iron and ironing board

•Rotary cutter and mat (optional)

•Hot glue gun and glue

STEP 3: First we're going to make the very base, or the "shell", of the blouse. For this you will be using Shirt B from the Simpicity pattern listed above. Follow steps 1, 2, and 8. When you get to step 8 cut out four 3" wide strips of fabric.

STEP 4: Hem the strips with a 1/8" seam and then sew a basting stitch at 5/8". These strips will be your ruffles. To gather the material, pull the top thread on the wrong side (non patterned/ugly side) of the fabric. Continue to pull this thread until the material is gathered to your satisfaction. Refer back to this step whenever you need to make ruffles.

STEP 5: Now do the first part of step 9, applying the interfacing. Then take your ruffles and adjust them so that they line up with the edge of sleeve band from end to end. Sew them so that right sides are together, sew a 5/8" seam. Do this with both sides (the long ones) of sleeve bands. Take the side without the triangle tab and fold it under so that the ruffle is extended away from the sleeve band. Sew it down with a 5/8" seam, this will prevent the ruffles from flipping up whenever you put the shirt on and when you're wearing it.

STEP 6: Sew the ends of each sleeve band with a 5/8" seam, make sure not to accidentally sew the top ruffle into this seam or else your ruffle will look horribly uneven. Now turn the sleeves inside out and the sleeve bands rightside out. Line the sleeve band up with the bottom of the sleeve. Now stitch the sleeve bands to the sleeves, match up the triangle tabs and the seams and sew. Be careful when sewing the sleeve band to the sleeve, the ruffles will cause just a bit of a problem for you. (I'm sorry I don't have a picture for you! I forgot to take one for this step! >~< )

STEP 7: To sew the sleeves to the shirt follow step 11 on the pattern instructions.  Do this for both sleeves.

STEP 8: Cut out another strip of fabric 4" wide. This will be used to hem your shirt collar. To sew, fold under once on both sides, pin in place, and sew a 1/8" seam. I ran into a problem when I finished making the base, it was very hard to put on and take off. So what I did was unpick the front seam and hemmed it. That way I could put it on and take it off with more ease. Before you hem the bottom of your shirt try it on so to see if you can put it on and take it off easily, if you can do that with the front seam sewed, then unpick it anyway, there are later steps that will be impossible with the front seam sewn. Once you've finished with that then hem the bottom of the blouse.

STEP 9: When you look at the reference picture I have provided you'll see that the front of the blouse is altered so that you can see her stomach. To get this effect fold the bottom front edges so that you get a slanted edge. Pin in place and try it on to see if that is where you want it to be. Adjust until it is the way to want and pin in place. Once you've gotten your blouse to look how you want sew the slanted edge with a 5/8" seam. Cut off extra fabric from the inside.

STEP 10: Onto the collar! This was a ton of guesswork. It was my second time ever making a collar/sailor fuku. I had to draft the pattern at least three times before I found one that was somewhat satisfactory. Use this tutorial for a general idea of how to make it: Sailor Fuku Tutorial When you've finally drafted a pattern that you like cut it out like how the tutorial says and then hem it.

STEP 11: More ruffles! Cut out white and black fabric strips. The white is 3" wide and the black is 4". Look at step 4 for a refresher. Once you have the ruffles finished line the bottoms of the ruffles and sew them together then sew the ruffles to the collar just like in the picture below.

STEP 12: Now that the collar is finished sew it to your blouse. I had to sew it twice before I liked it.

STEP 13: Now to make lots of ruffles!! You'll need to cut at least four 3" strips of fabric. These strips should be cut from your fabric so that they are the length of the fabric unfolded. You may need to sew the strips together to make a longer strip/ruffle. Go to step 4 if you need a refresher on ruffle making. When you've finished making your ruffle, pin them to the bottom of your shirt. Making sure that there are enough ruffles to go around the bottom. Once you have enough ruffles, sew them so that they are attached to the bottom on the inside. Line the baste stitch line up with the bottom of your blouse.

(I got a bit ahead of myself and sewed the front ruffles on before the bottom ones. DO NOT DO THIS!)

STEP 14: Cut a 4" wide strip of fabric. This will be for the front ruffles. Fold the strip lengthwise and sew it so that only one side is open. Turn the fabric tube inside out then fold the open end so that I when sewed it will be hemmed and then sew it. Once it's sewn press it flat. Line up the fabric strip with the edge of your blouse from the collar to where the slanted edge begins. Cut the front piece if necessary. And now make more ruffles! Two 3" and two 4" white strips for a total of four fabric strips. Commence with the operation of step 4. Once the material is gathered adjust the ruffles until they are the right length of the pressed fabric strip. Sew the ruffles so that there is a 3" and a 4" ruffle together and then sew them.

STEP 15: Sew the ruffles on the right side to the pressed fabric tube and the other set of ruffles to the left side of the blouse. Then sew the fabric tube and ruffles to the other set of ruffles on the blouse.

(This pic has the bow attached but I forgot to take one without the bow. ^_^;;; )

STEP 16: Onto the bow! I used this tutorial to make the bow: Faux/non-working Bows Tutorial I didn't use interfacing and I really wish I would've. I attached the bow onto the blouse with hot glue because I really didn't want to hand sew it on. You can do it either way.

STEP 17: It's probably about time to make it to that we can actually wear it without having the front open or pinned in place. To close my blouse I used Velcro. Originally I was going to use hook and eyes but that took too long and I was getting quite impatient towards the end of this project. I made a mistake which is good for you guys cause then I can tell you not to do what I did. When applying/sewing your Velcro don't have it run the whole length of the blouse, because if you do this and you bend over or raise your arms the front will bunch and bend and it'll just look all wonky. So instead cut small squares (or strips, max length 1") and place them between 2-3 1/2" apart. This will allow bendability and not make your blouse look all wonky.

STEP 18: Yay! Almost done!! Now to sew on the suspender looking things. I used my mannequin for this part so you may need someone to help you with this part. Take your red ribbon and line it up with the end of the slanted seam on the front then over your shoulder and end on the opposite side of the blouse. Make sure that you are also lining the edge of the ribbon to the edge of the bottom ruffles, this way it will give you a bit of leeway if you don't measure it quite correctly. After you've cut the ribbon burn or singe the ends. By doing this it "seals" the ribbon and keeps it from unraveling. Then place the back on the blouse the way you had it before and pin in place. You'll want to pin/sew in three places. The front, back, and shoulder seams. 

(My ribbon in the back is a bit off but that's ok. :3 )

STEP 19: YAAAAAAAY!!!! Last step!!!!! Now take your gold buttons and sew them to the front on the ribbon and you're done!!! XXXDDD

Here is pics of the final finished product!!

Thank you so much for viewing this tutorial! Every view counts! This project and tutorial took me about a week and a half to complete. Not to mention that I almost died from ruffleitus. XP Sorry for the lack of explanatory pics in some places. ^_^;;;; I was either really focused on sewing or just too lazy to take them. ^w^;;; please check out all of my other tutorials!! ;3

Nico Yazawa Choker

Heyllo!! This tutorial will be one of many for my Nico Yazawa cosplay that I will be showcasing at Fannatiku Fest 2016 along with the rest of my Love Live group. :3 this is a fairly easy tutorial and I completed it in about an hour. :)

STEP 1: Reference Pic!!

STEP 2: Gathering Materials:

• White fabric and thread
• Red ribbon and thread
• Straight pins
• A pencil
• Velcro
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Flexible measuring tape
• Rotary cutter and mat (optional)

STEP 3: First you're going to measure the circumference of your neck. Once you've got that number double it and you have the length of your white fabric piece. The height of your white fabric will be about 3-3 1/2 inches. Cut out your fabric using either your scissors or rotary cutter and mat, to get straight edges use your ruler to draw a line on your fabric as a guide.

STEP 4: Once you've cut out your fabrichem all of the edges. Make sure the hems are as small as you can get them. Hem all four sides. You don't have to do a double folded hem, just a single. Like so:

 

STEP 5: Next take your ruler and lay it next to your fabric strip. You'll be marking your pleats. For mine I did 1 inch pleats, you can make your pleats as big or small as you need them to be. Make small marks on the INSIDE of the fabric strip on both the bottom and top hems. I messed this part up which meant that I had to remark it.

STEP 6: Now this part is a bit tricky. You're going to fold your pleats. Look  at your first three little marks, you're going to take the second one and fold it so it matches up with the third one. Then flatten and pin the pleat. Take the fourth mark and line it up with the fifth, flatten and pin. Continue this process until your whole fabric strip has been pleated. Once that's done sew down the middle. This is what is should look like:

STEP 7: Now take your red ribbon and lay it on the stitching that you just sewed. Leave about an inch on one end and half an inch on the other. The extra half inch will be folded under the white fabric to give it a finished look. The other inch is for if the choker isn't quite long enough to go all the way around your neck, like an extension of sorts. Rethread your  sewing machine with the red thread and sew the ribbon to the white fabric.

 

STEP 8: Last step! Once you've sewn the ribbon to the fabric measure it to see if it fits. Mark where the two ends come together. If you don't need the extra ribbon cut off just enough so that you can still fold it under and sew it.

Then you'll want to cut a small strip of Velcro. Put the 'hooked' part on the inside and the 'fuzzy' part on the outside so that they overlap and stick. If you are using the sew on Velcro make sure to sew it on. If you're using the adhesive Velcro I would advise not to try and sew it on. I did and it didn't turn out so well. It made the machine needle very very sticky and I had to carefully remove and wash it with soap and water.

Here's what the Velcro should look like:

And you're done! I hoped you enjoyed this tutorial and that it was helpful to you. Depending on when I can get the fabric and other materials will dictate when my other Nico Yazawa cosplay tutorials will come out. ^_^;;; hopefully you won't have to wait for too long. :3 thanx for viewing and please check out my other tutorials! :D

Here's a pic of the finished product:

New Cosplay Project!

Hey guys. I know I haven't posted in quite awhile but I have come to tell you of my newest cosplay project! The character is from Love Live! School Idol Project. Her name is Nico Yazawa and she is adorable. :3

This is what she looks like and the cosplay I will be doing.

I currently have only a couple of things completed and collected for this cosplay. I just finished the choker and will post that tutorial soon. Probably later today. :3 thank you for supporting me and all of my blogs! :D

~animefangirl1221