Shout Outs

First off, the staff was wonderful and it was a pleasure working with everybody. Renee really pulled together everyone to make this con into a wonderful tribute to Lawrence.

The VA guests (Johnny Yong Bosch and Stephanie Sheh) were so much fun to see. I haven’t laughed that hard in a panel in a long time.

The Itachi cosplayer who I monopolized on Saturday evening: I hope I didn’t bore you to death and hopefully I’ll see you at AnimeUSA. Congrats to the rest of the Naruto cosplayers on the Masquerade win.

Geeks Next Door! Not only is the comic awesome, but they are very awesome people.  I love chitchatting with you guys.

The Geek Comedy Tour! Always fun to shoot the breeze with and as hilarious as ever.

The Game Room was awesome (so was the Gaming Director). F-Zero in the game room, I almost shed a tear. Also congrats to the fantastic Snake player in the SSBB tournament. That was amazing.

And to just about everyone else at the con: You guys made the con!

The Good

Just like last year, there was a lot of phenominal talent at the con. I absolutely adored Monster Madhouse, the VAs, and the panels given by the guest cosplayers.

It was great to be able to chill at a convention and talk to the other attendees (not to mention the guests themeselves) I actually enjoy smaller cons for the relaxed atmosphere.

It’s impossible to get lost in the Hilton. If you reach the end of the horseshoe, turn around and go the other way.

The staff was really friendly and really great at adjusting things on the fly when things didn’t go as planned.

There was very little asshattery on the part of the con goers. I witnessed a few folks who needed a kick in the pants, but it was nothing like the proportion of jerks that show up to say, Otakon.

The dog tags as badges were great. As a cosplayer, they could easily be hidden for a photo and then pulled back out again without taking  them off. They were also lightweight and hard to duplicate.

The Not So Good

I live in the area and knew where the free parking is. The staff didn’t and thus the attendees didn’t. Parking in Crystal City is expensive.

The staff could stand to be a little more organized, but this is something I witnessed as a volunteer, not as an attendee.

While I’m sure the attendence numbers took a big hit because of Hannah, the con needs a serious PR push if it continues in 2009.

The Artist Alley was practically empty. Hopefully as the con grows, this problem will remedy itself.

The con is very ambitious, but doesn’t have the attendence to back it up. Hopefully the con will grow bigger and better, but in the meantime a lot of the events could be trimmed a bit to fit the actual numbers.

All In All

I had a grand time. I highly recommend the con if you’re in the area and you like talking to other fans. Yes, there are issues, but they’re nothing that can’t be fixed.

I hope Renee decides to continue T-Mode, but I totally understand if this T-Mode stands as a lasting tribute to a wonderful man instead.

]]> http://www.bewareofninja.com/2008/t-mode-2008-con-report/feed/ http://www.bewareofninja.com/2008/the-24-hour-dr-horrible-costume/ http://www.bewareofninja.com/2008/the-24-hour-dr-horrible-costume/#comments Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:51:36 +0000 Kali http://www.bewareofninja.com/?p=187 First off, don’t be an idiot like me and decide to make the costume at the last possible second. While I ordered the boots, gloves and goggles a few weeks before, I didn’t actually decide to make the costume for the convention I was going until the day before.

So…

Notes

- I’m all rumpled because I walked through Hannah to get to the con. I was never so happy to be wearing those boots.
- I still need to swap out my gloves, but I’ll get to that later.
- The wig is eating my head, but it was the only blonde wig I had on hand and the rain/wind didn’t do much for it either.
- I need to rip out the pocket and put in a new one with a proper Caduceus.
- I need to take up the hem by an inch or so and tighten the collar a bit.
- I need to properly finish my seams. Right now they’re kinda crap, but no one was flipping my hems.

Step One - I remember that there is a Villains’ Ball at this convention and decide to go for the costume after all. Fortunately I had bought the pattern (Simplicity 5386) and some decent cotton twill at Wal-Mart the week before. My accessories STILL haven’t arrived, but since I’m wearing the costume for fun, I can deal with a few pieces not-so-accurate picked up at the local hardware store.

To alter the pattern, I pinned the back yolk and back piece on the fabric fold to create a solid back piece. (Remember to account ~1″ for the seam allowances that you no longer need)

For the front, the pattern has 2 pieces for each side. I simply put together the two pieces (Again, if you use this pattern, remember to adjust your pattern for the now uneeded seam allowances) on the fold to produce the top panel (this was the only part I lined, so I needed 2 of the top panel). The under panel the front side piece plus a little extra so it went all the way to the neck line.

I ended up removing almost 3′ from the bottom of the pattern and the silly thing was still too long when completed. Then again, I’m tiny.

The neck, I just made a little longer to allow for the alight wrap and followed the pattern for the sleeves as is. The only thing I added was the little gathering belt in the back.

Step Two - Just as I sit down at my machine after pinning, the valet service slips a package slip under my door. I run down and my boots are here, hurray!

The sewing was fairly easy, but I took a short-cut on the sleeves in the interest of time. Instead of setting the sleeves in properly, I sewed the shoulder seems of the front and pack together. Then, instead of sewing up the side seams and the seam in the sleeve, I pinned the unfinished sleeve in and did that seam. Then I did the bottom sleeve seam and the side seam of the coat as one long seam. (If you have no idea WTF I’m talking about, you can read the technique here) Much easier than doing it the right way and no one ever notices unless you’re being judged on craftmanship.

Because I was rushing, I also didn’t do my button holes. I have an automatic buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine, but it takes forever to get the settings right. Instead I put in regular sew-in velcro and sewed the buttons over the top of the fabric. Honestly, no one noticed, but I’ll probably do it right before my next convention.

At this point, it was 2pm and I got another package slip, which I knew had to be the gloves and goggles. Unfortunately I couldn’t get it until after 4:30 because the valet was closed, so I decided to head out the local Wal-Mart for some paint for the goggles.

Step Three While at Wal-Mart I decided I needed a ray gun or the Wonderflonium case. I couldn’t find a good case, so I grabbed a nerf dart gun with the intention of spraying it silver.

I managed to spray paint the gun (while dodging apartment security), then picked up my packages. The goggles were the standard green PVC, but the asshole eBay seller had switched out the gloves for these hideous grey things. With no time to get new gloves, I attempted to spray paint them white, which failed miserably because a) they were fabric-ish and b) it was windy as all hell (Hannah was coming, after all).

I knew I couldn’t spray the goggles, so I took them back up to my apartment, popped out the plastic bits and sanded the body down with fine grit. Then I did them with a thick coat of matte Mod Podge. While waiting for it to dry, I sanded the logo off of my boots. The goggles then got a coat of grey acrylic paint and a coat of gunmetal silver. While that dried, I cut out my coat pocket, pinned it and then puff painted on my Caduceus.

When the goggles were good and dry, I went over them with aluminum colored acrylic with a very coarse, stiff brush. While that dried, I prepared my buttons for the extra vent and glued them on.

Then came the wig of doom. It was a mullet, but it was the only thing I had. So I grabbed my razor and just started hacking away.

At this point it was pretty late, so I just finished up my coat sleeves and did the back details.

To do the pleats in the back, I took another little shortcut. I ironed, then stay-stiched the pleats in and then sewed the belt to the back of the coat with the buttons already attached. Again, no one will notice unless they’re staring at your butt really hard.

I crashed at 10PM because I knew I had some work to do in the morning.

Step Four
First thing, I put the goggles back together and gave it a little glue to keep the edge from sliping.

Then I sewed on my pocket, double checked the fit of my coat, and then got into the rest of my clothes.

As a last step, I decided to make some Dr. Horrible campaign buttons, because I didn’t have enough work to do that morning. At least the other people enjoyed them.

-

And that’s the story of my somewhat accurate, 24 hour costume.

(x-posted at my fansite)

I’m not sure why people are under the impression that I don’t. I will happily style a wig for you, at the same rate per hour ($10) as my costume commissions.

I’m a crossplayer, can you make me a costume?

As long as you provide me with accurate measurements as well as information on whether your will be padding/binding, I can make a costume suitable for either gender.

Why are your prices so high? I can get a costume off of ebay for less than $100.

In reality, my charge per hour is much less than most seamstresses. Even so, I won’t work for less than a living wage. I also use quality materials and don’t use the ultra-cheap fabrics unless I am requested to do so.

In regards to ebay costumes, you get what you pay for. Sometimes you can get a great deal on a decently made costume. Sometimes you’ll get a poorly made costume out of cheap materials that take months to be shipped from China.

My budget is really small, what can I do to negotiate a lower price?

I will not budge on my charge per hour, but there are some ways to negotiate a lower price.

1. First off, let me know what your budget is so I can start coming up with ideas.

2. The materials fee is variable. You can request broadcloth cotton instead of the materials I would normally use, request that I don’t line an item, etc.

3. You can ask for different techniques to be used. Instead of having me embroider a border, you can request puff paints instead, which is faster. Instead of making an under-kimono or dress, I can use padded hems or panels to create the illusion without doing all the work.

4. You can ask for me to skip some details. If something is quilted in a reference image but it doesn’t matter to you, I can skip that detail and lower the amount of man hours needed for the costume. The same goes for embroidery, beading, and other time consuming work.

Why can’t you make *ridiculously complex costume* in two weeks?

I get a lot of requests for costumes with lots and lots of detail to be done in a matter of a few weeks. Please understand that not only do these costumes take a lot of time to complete, but I often have to order specialty materials online which take a week or two to be delivered. If I have time in my schedule for a rush costume, I will do it, but you will pay the rush fee.

A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. Please start the commission process at least 2 months before you need your costume and even earlier if the costume is particularly complex.

Why don’t you have ‘ready-made’ costumes?

I prefer to make quality, well-fitting costumes rather than ‘off the rack’ costumes. On occasion I will sell a completed costume that another customer defaulted on or a used costume that I no longer need, but this site will never become a costume warehouse.

First off is Cosplay Classes, an up and coming cosplay blog.

The second is the Beware of Zombies Gear. If you spotted our new sticker at Otakon and wanted to snag it or our t-shirts, hop on over. And you can still get our Beware of Ninja Gear, of course.

We’ve also simplified the costume ordering process by way of a handy, dandy How To Order A Costume page.

And we also now have a handy How to Order A Custom Parasol page.

Name: Engineer
Series: Team Fortress 2
Debuted: Otakon 2008
Status: Active

Notes

…

Name: Medic
Series: Team Fortress 2
Debuted: Otakon 2008
Status: Active

Notes

The coat is just the muslin for the final coat which will be made out of a heavier wool. I just figured that I didn’t want to die of heat exhaustion in the Baltimore heat.

If you would like me to create a custom parasol for you, there are a few easy steps:

1. Check out the commission schedule and see if the month you need it is open.
2. Fill out the contact form and tell us what you would like. (We’ll ask for pictures if we’re unclear.)
3. We will send you a quote and an invoice if you are paying by PayPal.
4. Sit back and wait for your parasol.

Parasols run from $20-50 depending on the complexity of the design, with most most falling in the $20-30 range. USPS Priority Shipping is $8 for US delivery. (International shipping will be more.)

If you want a picture of yourself from the gallery (full-sized and without a watermark) send us an e-mail via the Contact Us link. All we ask is that you credit our site for the picture somewhere near it.

After the break is the text for the Flyer.

- .doc file
- .rtf file
- .pdf file

Fannish Terms (As used in America)

yaoi - male/male relationships, can be graphic. Also called ’slash’.

shōnen-ai - young male/male relationships, usually less graphic.

seme/uke - stereotypical dominant/submissive roles in male/male relationships

yuri - female/female relationships, can be graphic. Also called ‘femme-slash’.

shōjo-ai - young female/female relationships, usually less graphic.

hentai - adult or pornagraphic.

cosplay - dressing up as a character. (costume + play)

crossplay - dressing up as a character of the opposite sex. (Don’t worry, it’s common at conventions.)

lolita - a style of dress for girls based on Victorian children’s clothes. Usually frilly blouses, knee-length skirts, and quite feminine and modest.

loli-con/shota-con - used to describe something that is sexualizing children. Has nothing to do with the clothing style.

How to Tell the Rating on Anime/Manga

Publishers are much better about providing ratings on their manga and anime now and most stores will not sell adult materials to minors. Anime on TV will have the usual TV warnings (violence, language, adult situations) and child friendly anime will be shown during the day while anime for older audiences will be shown later at night (like Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim) Some titles released for theatres may also have an MPAA style rating (P, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17).

If a title is imported from Japan, adult works will sometimes have hentai, ecchi, seinen (’adult’) on the packaging or ‘ero-’ as a prefix. When in doubt, you can almost always find the rating online.

Remember, just because it’s a cartoon, doesn’t mean it’s safe for kids!

Sources for Information on Anime/Manga

http://www.wikipedia.org - Good for basic information and links to official websites.

http://www.google.com - Turn Safe Search on before you search for anything.

http://www.abcb.com/parents/index.htm - Has recommendations for anime of various ratings.

- Official websites will usually be ‘nameofanime.com’ or will be through a publisher’s site.

- Take information from any fan sites your find with a grain of salt. Fans are biased towards their favorite anime and some fans write erotic fan art and fan stories for even the most family friendly series.

Yes, that IS first thing in the morning!
I, Kali, will also be helping out in the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon fan panel at 2pm Friday in Panel 1.