Posts

I've started a tumblr page because I have too many social media platforms so I want to consolidate. I know I will keep tumblr, twitter, and youtube... I'm not sure if I will keep this blog going, because I can do just about all the same stuff on tumblr. If I do delete this blog, I will probably do so in the next few months. follow me on tumblr at... j-sanime.tumblr.com

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fairy Wings

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A Midsummer Night's Dream Fairy Wings Completed November 2014 Items Made: Two Large and Seven Regular Pairs of Wings I was asked by the costume designer at McLennan Community College if I could make 9 pairs of fairy wings for their production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.   I had never made wings before, but I said yes.  They came out AMAZING and now I'm a wing making master!  lol! We needed wings for Oberon and Titania and the four named fairies in the play, plus they added 3 more because reasons?   My only parameters given by the designer were that she wanted them to be insect like... not high fantasy... and that she wanted Oberon's to be up and Titania's to be down.   This was my design for the fairy court.  I believe these were based on bee wings.  I thought bees were also fitting as the fairies flit about caring for the queen. For Titania, I used cicada wings as inspiration.  I thought at fi

Alice in Wonderland: The Red Queen

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Alice in Wonderland The Red Queen Completed April 2014 Items Made: Skirt, Bodice, Collar This was made for a local college's production of Alice in Wonderland... The Opera. I like this costume in theory more than I like it in actuality.  I made this over 3 years ago... but I remember being really pressed for time and there are things I like about it and things I don't.   I was working on this after my real job and wasn't able to fit the bodice on the actress so that's why it's ill-fitting.  Also the bodice was drafted off a flat front corset and the corset she was wearing wasn't.  And I think I had intended to do a heart outline on the front out the of the same ruffles as the skirt.  I think I ran out of time.  It's hard to do this so after so much time has passed.  This was my original sketch,  I wanted more hearts and silhouettes of hearts.  (yes I drew it on a napkin at Starbucks.   I love the skirt!  It was made as all on

Spamalot: The Lady of the Lake

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Spamalot The Lady of the Lake Completed February 2014 Items Made: Skirt, Bodice, Cape, Sleeves, Shells So, I'm finally getting around to updating my blog and gallery.  Most of this process has been documented in other entries.  But here are a few shots of the final product.  In the end, we had to alter a few things.  The square cut of the bodice made the actress look short and boxy, so we changed that into a deep "V" shape.  Also, as pretty as the skirt was, it didn't read much on stage so we added and overskirt of sheer gold organza for some extra sparkle.   Sadly, sparkle and glitter never translate onto film that well.  You can see a little of it, but it looked so much more beautiful as the actress moved and swirled under the stage lights. 

Where I've been...

Okay, So I know it's been over a year since my last post.... seriously look at the date of my last post... it was after All-Con 2014.... All-Con 2015 has come and gone... Truth is... my laptop died.  It had a brief revival last month and I thought I'd be able to get back into this but then it died for good. And it's REALLY hard to blog or make videos without a computer. But if you follow my facebook page or my twitter, you'll know that I HAVE been doing things.  LOTS of things. And I'm hoping to have a new laptop before the year is out. Here's my FB page https://www.facebook.com/RisingNewMoonStudios Here's my OTHER FB page https://www.facebook.com/j.sanimecosplay And my twitter handle is @J_Sanime Until we meet again! J

Costuming for Conventions

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The following are my slides that I use when presenting my panel about costuming at various conventions.  Since many people ask for this information, I'm posting it all right here for everyone to see.  Most of it is self explanatory but I'll annotate it where necessary. The previous two slides are something I feel extremely passionate about.  In all of the subcultures that are nerdom, there's a lot of animosity between the fandoms and within fandoms.  But, honestly, this is SO DUMB.  We should be sharing our love for these thing not hating on each other for sharing common interests.   More importantly, we shouldn't be judging other cosplayers based on stupid things like age, race, or size.  We should support and encourage each other because we should understand each other and this passion we share.   Think about it, what happens when you tell a "normie" that you like to go to conventions on the weekends and run around in costumes based on cart

The Beaux Stratagem: Sir Charles Freeman

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The Beaux Stratagem Sir Charles Freeman Completed November 2013 Items Made: Coat, Petticoat Breeches The Beaux Stratagem is a restoration comedy written in 1707. The character, Sir Charles, is supposed to be a little older, therefore in a style of dress a little before the rest of the cast.  But this was super fun to make.  The designer wanted him to look like a peppermint stick.  There were lots of one word descriptions for the costume themes in this show.  And since it's comedy, you can get away with it.  The Jacket is made from black cotton with silver embroidery and lined with red silk-satin.  The sleeves are slashed and the jacket is trimmed with green ribbon and buttons.   The petticoat breeches are absolutely ridiculous which in a costume shop equates to "Holy wow! So much fun!"  In the actual restoration period, when it came to bagginess of breeches, baggier was better.  So I made them as baggy as I could with the amount of fabric I had.  They