While Izabel is getting most of my attention lately, I have also been shopping for a new "not-costume"; Mai based on Avatar: Last Airbender fan art by Viria13. I have wanted to cosplay from Avatar since first being introduced to the show, though I have never gotten around to actually finishing any costumes, and I also fell in love with Vieria13's design when I found it on Deviantart. It wasn't until Arda was selling their "Anti-Valentina" limited edition wig, though, that I decided it would work awesomely for Mai and I should try to recreate the art design.

So far I have collected everything I need - the wig requites minimal styling (pretty much just trimming the bangs) unless I decide to make her little buns too, and I found perfect red jeggings for her pants from Urban Behavior. I picked up boots from Ardene and with some matching fabric I'm going to add the giant fold-over cuff thing. I haven't been able to find anything pre-made suitable for her shirt, but I did get some very nice jersey from Fabricland to sew one up myself, and I'm going to use some ivory faux suede from my stash for her vest.
Since Zuko's outfit is pretty straight-forward I've also started collecting pieces for him so Mr Stark can cosplay this with me ^_^
As always, I'm hoping that other people will join me too, it would be great to have a group of all six (or more!)

I've been doing more supply-shopping than just that, though - I finally got a wig to go with my Saffron costume - I`m unhappy with how my styling job turned out, but eh it`s a thing. It`s really hard to make a cheap, synthetic wig fluffy like real hair. The Blonde wig is one I picked up for a (distant) future lolita costume. I got a Pinky Paradise order in a few days ago too... some (hopefully) creepy contacts to wear with my next creepy costumes, whenever that happens. I really want to try them out... but also want to keep them in usable condition for as long as possible, so they`re staying put until I need them.

And finally, more progress on my Izabel costume since last week. I`m in the process of cutting the wig (no photos yet), and just finished stenciling the design on to her shirt. 

... That`s it for this week, hope all my Canadian watchers have an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

October is here! Despite being on hiatus from attending conventions, Halloween parties and prepping the costumes for them means I'm back to making-mode this month. There are 3 "Zombie Walks" happening this month that I could conceivably attend (Toronto, Kitchener, and Waterloo), but after looking at all my other conflicting obligations and travel/costume budget, I ended up deciding not to attend any this year. That's OK though, because I still have a Halloween party thrown by a friend, the Silver Snail party, and a cosplay picnic day to plan costumes for!

So here's what's been keeping me crafting? I have been actively working on so many things lately. The first isn't cosplay-related at all; it's a light fall/spring jacket! I have needed to replace my ugly old windbreaker for years, and I ended up having awesome timing in terms of having it ready to wear for the autumn cool-down. The jacket is based on a Simplicity pattern with no alterations except for lengthening the sleeves (which still aren't long enough gurrr....) made out of a water-resistant coated nylon and lined with Kasha lining because I'm always cold. I have never actually fully lined anything like this before and lining wasn't part of the pattern, so that was an adventure, but I think it turned out pretty great in the end.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was re-vamping my old Sin City costume, but it's not the only one. I bought a new wig for my Wendy costume since the ones I had been using is now in the process of being styled for Midna. I also picked up new pants for the costume because I have, er, outgrown the old pair :( It's still not exactly the right colour, but I think that this red is a lot closer than the orange I was using before. I'm going to be straightening out most of the curl in the wig, but this is how it looked straight out of the bag ^_^
I really want to get together a Gravity Falls group for the Nov 1 cosplay picnic for more awesome and fun photos XD

How about new costumes? Since The AnarCHris forced me to take home a copy of Saga Vol 1 after NYCC 2012, I've loved the comic. Thus it follows that I need to cosplay from it. And 3 novels in, I was choosing between Izabel and The Stalk; decided to go with the character who doesn't have any legs vs. the one who doesn't have any arms XD. I've been collecting pink things for months in preparation, and started in earnest by knitting the hat. It's a relatively simple slouchy hat so I figured I was better off just knitting the hat from scratch than wasting time trying to find something in both the right colour and style. Aside from a mistake on the gauge which led to a mistake in the pattern which led to having to kind of make up the design at the end, I think I was right hahaha. 

With the hat done, I figured I should probably make sure that everything coordinated like I hoped it would, which meant doing a makeup test! This costume will involve a couple of prosthetics - ears which I bought from Malabar, and a nose which I'm going to try to sculpt myself. I couldn't wait until the nose was done to make sure the make up would work, so I just painted up the ears, added earrings, and then went to town on my face. The rest of the costume is still in progress, but here are my notes on the makeup:

• make nose prosthetic
  
• blend ears with latex instead of just spirit-gumming them on
  
• more purple tones in the lips
  
• cover eyebrows properly
  
• false lashes
• get better at shading or find a different way to do it (Oct 3: bought makeup to do this today!)
  
• cut/style wig

All that having been said, I'm really happy with this and if I didn't have time for improvement, I'd be quite pleased with going to a con in this look. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my massive progress post next week!