any fabric store like Joann’s or Hancock will have them… you can find a wider selection and occasionally cheaper prices online. I don’t particularly prefer one over the other, it’s a matter of price and the kind of pattern I need.
you’re very welcome, good luck! I’d love to see how it turns out. ^^
if you ask her for help on how to do things, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind that as much ^^; I know I get annoyed when people ask me to basically do everything for them.
hers is the trickiest of the puella magis, for sure. for the top I would modify a basic button-down shirt pattern, and for the skirt you would just want a basic pleated skirt pattern [try Simplicity 3689, it’s on sale at Joann’s for a buck until Saturday]. everything else you can either buy and modify or make yourself. my friend Amara is the most gorgeous Sayaka on earth, I’m sure if you asked her for some tips she would be glad to help. ^^
thank you so much, I’m really honored and flattered that you like my work so much. but I actually don’t take commissions. partly for personal reasons, but mostly because I barely have time to do my own costumes. I always end up doing things last-minute no matter how hard I try, I would hate for another person to rely on me for a costume and not get it when they expect it, or to get it and have it be rushed.
I’m sure you could learn yourself. it’s really not as difficult to start learning as many people think. learn to hand sew and modify some pre-bought pieces, then move on to a sewing machine and get some simple patterns to try out. [the sooner you can get a machine, the better.] I am almost entirely self-taught, I’ve only had one formal class. so believe me, it can be done :)
and there are many, many cosplayers in this community who are willing to help and answer questions, or sometimes they’ll make tutorials. I really enjoy answering cosplay questions so you are welcome to ask me ^^;
I hope you try to learn, and just remember that every cosplayer you admire had to start somewhere.
![~*~*~*SAPPY 2011 WRAP UP POST*~*~*~
I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a 2011 reflection post. It feels a little odd doing it right after the 2012 con season has begun, but I realized at TaiyouCon last weekend just how much I’ve grown in a year.
at Taiyou 2011, I had two cosplays that were handmade [another that was largely bought pieces], but neither of them were particularly complicated.
as I stayed up until 4:30 on Friday morning of Taiyou 2012, criticizing my every stitch, I realized that while once again, one of my costumes for that weekend was mostly bought pieces, the other three all involved more sewing, more fabrics and trims and details, and more techniques than I had displayed in my lineup just a year prior.
I fell hard on my face early on in the year and was really depressed about my skills for a few months. Actually, for most of the year. I felt that I had a lot of talent that had yet to be shown, because I hadn’t made anything truly beautiful yet. I’d only made simple things that I felt didn’t display what I could really do.
I am really happy that I at least finished Mami, and even better, received my first craftsmanship award. I’m glad that I was able to finish out the year by showing - mostly myself - what I am actually capable of. I think I can do more. and that’s what 2012 is about.
perhaps more importantly than completed costumes, I strengthened my bonds within this community, tried my hand at staffing a convention, made more friends. I also had the pleasure to work with amazing photographers like Toshi Yamioka, Electric Lady, and Eurobeat King, and I am proud to count them among my friends as well. and I think I may have finally found a cosplay partner in my friend Betsy. [we already have much planned for this coming year!]
So, in 2011, maybe I didn’t accomplish even half of what I set out to do, but I think I showed a lot of promise, and that’s what makes this new year exciting to me.
I hope I can finally show you all what I’ve known for years that I’m capable of.
Here’s hoping.](http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/luluko/15768510574/1/tumblr_lxqanhWAD21r02ysy)
~*~*~*SAPPY 2011 WRAP UP POST*~*~*~
I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a 2011 reflection post. It feels a little odd doing it right after the 2012 con season has begun, but I realized at TaiyouCon last weekend just how much I’ve grown in a year.
at Taiyou 2011, I had two cosplays that were handmade [another that was largely bought pieces], but neither of them were particularly complicated.
as I stayed up until 4:30 on Friday morning of Taiyou 2012, criticizing my every stitch, I realized that while once again, one of my costumes for that weekend was mostly bought pieces, the other three all involved more sewing, more fabrics and trims and details, and more techniques than I had displayed in my lineup just a year prior.
I fell hard on my face early on in the year and was really depressed about my skills for a few months. Actually, for most of the year. I felt that I had a lot of talent that had yet to be shown, because I hadn’t made anything truly beautiful yet. I’d only made simple things that I felt didn’t display what I could really do.
I am really happy that I at least finished Mami, and even better, received my first craftsmanship award. I’m glad that I was able to finish out the year by showing - mostly myself - what I am actually capable of. I think I can do more. and that’s what 2012 is about.
perhaps more importantly than completed costumes, I strengthened my bonds within this community, tried my hand at staffing a convention, made more friends. I also had the pleasure to work with amazing photographers like Toshi Yamioka, Electric Lady, and Eurobeat King, and I am proud to count them among my friends as well. and I think I may have finally found a cosplay partner in my friend Betsy. [we already have much planned for this coming year!]
So, in 2011, maybe I didn’t accomplish even half of what I set out to do, but I think I showed a lot of promise, and that’s what makes this new year exciting to me.
I hope I can finally show you all what I’ve known for years that I’m capable of.
Here’s hoping.
I rushed my Rachel Alucard cosplay to being con-ready during the last few days before TaiyouCon, but I suffered a number of wardrobe malfunctions [most noticeably, I had to use a wig that wasn’t my own, I didn’t have time to complete my more accurate pair of shoes, and I forgot the wings at home].
so I won’t be posting these to my DA or anywhere else, but Toshi took some really beautiful pictures so I thought I’d share anyways.
