FFXIV NA Fan Fest 2016 Cosplayers Unite!

[NarikoStar]

This won't be what I'll be premiering for Fanfest 2016, but I do plan on bringing it and maybe wearing it if we have another pre-pool side meet up like last year!~ I may let a friend walk around in it so wanted to post show of the progress works for it! I'll be using this at Anime California so it had really been halting any work for my main cosplay for this year's fanfest- but since the hard parts out of the way I'm excited to put full focus on my Bunny Chief!

Moonfire Halter Top - Dalamud Red Process and WIPS!



Quick synopsis!

This was actually the first bodice I'd ever made, out of the 2 other costumes I had done they were spandex / lyrca skintight so doing this pattern was compeltely new to me! I took some old recycled shirts cut them up to use as reference for patterns and made adjustments from there. I did ALOT (and I mean I sewed 9+ shirts out of muslin test fabric before starting the final).

I started by going to the LA fashion district (I'm lucky to live close!) to gather everything I thought I would need. Walked away with White light-weight cotton 97%(with some synthetic mixed in for stretch) and Basic Red. I couldn't find the correct color contrast in the same material type- so I opt'ed to dye my own fabric to get just the right color mixture.



Next I did about 1 - 1 1/2 weeks of tests and research. Best methods, practicing sleeves >___> (because those things are hard!) and making small adjustments to the pattern while observing how it worked or worked against my body structure. @___@ I test ALOT. I really am not sure what I'm going to do with all the extras!



Sooooo many Bodices!


After COUNTLESS tests I finally came up with my go-to pattern and final prototype! (Included a shawl collar although I'm still skeptical if the Moonfire Halter top shirt is really just a unusable mini hood... but this was fine with me so I went with it! Also changed it to have interfacing so that I could easily flip back the fabric and not see any of the applique from the front!



Start the VERY TEDIOUS pinning, basing, and ironing! @___@ Lining all these stripes up across 4 panels.... so much measuring, folding, RE-FOLDING, and just overall so meticulous to work with ~__~




Sleeves!!!! The bane of me I swear-



Originally I had planned on doing the plus symbols out of thread... but after seeing it it just didn't do it justice decided to go with appliqueing. Because the strips were so thin, this part probably actually was the most tedious. So much difficulty trying to iron it out @__@




I left heming the end of the attire last so I could still sew in all the details without breaking through the interfacing! This way it matches the original design and the inside is all white! Used white yarn to mimic the stitches in the attire.


Needed to do some work for the leather straps on the ends of the front of the shirt... I originally bought a faux suede leather but I soon realized it was far to flimsy to work with even though I really liked the texture. So.... NEXT BEST THING - FOAM!
I used Lost Wax's foam faux leather technique to mimic a leather like pattern. It's a pretty cool tutorial with foam if you've never done it! TLDR; Take tin foil, crumple it, put it over your foam, put something over the foil and apply heat with iron. BAM Aweeeesome imprints/ grooves.



Base color with black wash vs Base color

[Leash]

Moonfire Halter Top - Dalamud Red Process and WIPS!

Beautiful work! The tailoring and stitching is marvelous!

I skipped out on Anime California Con to work on my costume, I’m sad I missed out.

[Leash]

I’m so relieved that I got my email confirmation. I’ve been working on this costume every single day since July.

Here’s a little sneak peek:

Made a duct-tape mannequin of myself back in July. I’m so glad I did this first as it has made it so much easier to build patterns, since a lot of pieces are form fitting.


There’s over 2,000 scales here. I still have to hand stitch them all on and possibly do some more touch up painting @_@


I’m about 80% done, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Its taking me a lot longer than a normal costume because I’m trying out and learning new things. I’m also making the costume as genuine as I can. Minus the prop, it could be used in a medieval sword fight ^o^

One month crunch count down! @_@

[Leash]

Finally finished! There’s around 2,200 scales and about 80% of the armor is made with leather. I took a few shots of it in my test run minus the gloves, I realized when putting on the whole costume that I didn’t put my hair up right and had to take them off to get the helm on right ^^’

If I’m lucky, I hope to have WIPs up soon! But for now I need to figure how I’m going to travel with all of this @_@











My friend will be cosplaying with the Stardust Rod I made for her. It will be making its first debut too ^o^



See ya all there!

[NarikoStar]

Oh no! I can't seem to view any of the links (minus the Stardust ones!) Either way Rod looks really cool! Can't wait to see you there!

[Leash]

Oh no! I can't seem to view any of the links (minus the Stardust ones!) Either way Rod looks really cool! Can't wait to see you there!

Thank you, I hoped fixed them now!

At least I got the WIPs up now:
https://www.facebook.com/artbyaleash...55621481377706


Leaving early in the morning, see ya all there~

[Brill_]

Just wanted to say great job everyone on the costumes. I was one of the annoying people asking all of you for a picture I'm going through the pictures I took and seeing all the detail put into these is amazing.