A Week in Progress 4/15/2024 - 4/24/2024
I'm sure I will at some point get this blog on a proper weekly upload schedule. But it will not be the week of a con while I am doing my least favorite thing… Con Crunching
What did I work on this week?
Tifa
Imogen
Dance Practice
Dance Performance
Reading not as many books
Tifa:
I spent most of my week on this cosplay trying to get it done before the con this weekend. I finished making the mock-up for the other, bra-top thing in that incredibly loud lime-green fabric. This part was pretty nerve wracking because I had to piece together pattern pieces I traced from an assortment of crop tops and sports bras I own. In the end everything fit together pretty dang well. I do think that the stretch of the fabric makes this process a little more forgiving (in my opinion, at least). I finally ran out of things I could make a mock-up for, and had to start cutting into the actual fabric. I almost didn’t have enough! But with some creative placement I managed to scrape together enough fabric for two layers of fabric for the bra top and the shorts. Upon beginning to assemble them, and looking at how many days left I had before the con, AND my upcoming performance… I ultimately decided to stop working on Tifa and not bring her to C2E2. It was not a difficult decision, and I am so glad I made it when I did (around Thursday I think?).
Imogen:
I did not immediately begin working on Imogen again once I stopped Tifa, I prepared for my dance performance first (described below). I picked up Imogen again on Monday to put the finishing bits together. I needed to make the harness, the bag, the knife holster, the weird gloves, and add the button holes and buttons to the vest. I did so in about that order. Well Monday ended up being kinda a bust for productivity due to a meh brain day (bad days happen). But I did manage to gently iron the pleather…pleather that has been sitting in my stash for far too many years. We'll go with the idea that the things you already own are the most sustainable materials to use for a project. I did have to go out to Tandy Leather and buy some hardware for the harness; belt buckles, loops, and what not. I think they look WAY too fancy for pleather, but I'm stubbornly sticking with what I have.
The harness came together really easily once I had the hardwear. I even managed to salvage some of my morose Monday and get some crafting done! My goal for Tuesday was to finish everything else. I was going to quickly finish assembling the harness, whip up some easy gloves (hah), throw together a little bag, and tackle those button holes. Assembling the harness was not too difficult, but it certainly wasn't "quick," and those gloves… Those gloves. After the first epic failure of trying to make a glove pattern meant for stretch fabric when I was using pleather, I sacrificed the holy scraps to use as a mock-up.
It took me a couple of tries until I was able to get something that would fit around my hand and fingers… they aren't pretty, but they exist. I made the wrist strap pretty, so please let that detail distract you from my 3 fingered mess. After huffing and puffing for a bit about not wanting to sew on snaps, I remembered I had sticky backed Velcro and used that as my attachments.
As I'm writing this… I'm wondering if I should use the velcro for my harness as well… to keep a particularly tricky bit from moving around as much. I'll think on it.
I threw in the towel on the bag. By the time I finished most of the gloves, and the knife holster, it was past 8pm which is my cut off point for starting new things. I always mess something up spectacularly if I try. I also gave up on finishing everything on Tuesday. I DID finish all the hand sewing for the gloves on the couch while watching TV that night, but that was as far as I pushed myself. I decided to do the button holes the next morning. I think this was a VERY good idea, since the button holes made me nervous and I had a fresh view on the situation at 9am the next morning. The button holes were a breeze, and they would not have been the night before! Imogen is now DONE and ready to be worn on Saturday of C2E2!
Dance things:
Back in January I applied to be in a performance with a dance guild I have been a little nervous about joining. My performance was accepted, and let me tell you how thankful I was that I didn't try to make up an entirely new routine! I re-used an experimental routine from a show I did in November for a group of dance friends who live further away. Because I had already done the dance once, and knew the costuming worked, I did not feel nearly as nervous for the show. This performance was a big part of my decision to not finish Tifa for C2E2, and I'm also very glad I made that decision. I was able to spend Thursday and Friday practicing my routine, and adding a few bits to make it a little more polished. I did have to make a couple of small costuming adjustments to streamline my 2 costume changes (yeah that's right. This routine has 2 costume changes!) but other than that, my practices went well. Because I'm still recovering from surgery, I was a little worried about my stamina. However I seem to be doing pretty well all things considered.
I chose to go to a couple of workshops the day before so I could meet some folks a head of the show. I thought networking might be a good idea, and maybe I could feel less nervous about not knowing anyone in the dressing room the next day. I had so much fun at these workshops. I haven't taken regular dance classes in over a year, and it felt better than I expected to be learning in person with a group of dancers. I took a Turkish Romani workshop and a Silk Veil workshop. The amount of sore I was the next day was SO worth it! As far as networking, I did end up knowing a few people in the workshops and finally got to meet a few folks I know online in-person. I also met quite a few new people who were very welcoming and just about cured me of any nervousness for the show the next day!
When it comes to performing, I'm a little bit of an odd one. I don't often get nervous about going on stage. I love performing, and I suspect that's partially because I have been performing since I was very young. I don't think I have ever been a stranger to the stage at any point in my life. As soon as I saw a few friendly faces back stage, I was in my element and ready to get on the stage! I had a request to write up a blog post about part of my costuming, so I will get to that soon! The guild ran a wonderfully tight ship that was well organized. I don't often get to consider lighting for performances, so that was quite a treat! Usually when I perform I can think pretty clearly about what's going on around me on the stage, however I seem to have blacked out for this performance! XD I can't remember most of it! My partner, Z, got video of me so I do know that I didn't mess anything up and it went well. I also got quite a few kind comments from folks who were able to watch me. I'm so glad I took a chance with this performance and made it happen. It was really refreshing and made me feel like I was a part of the local dance community. <3
Books:
I finished the Ruin of Roses four-book series this week. Good thing, too because I a) needed my reading time for con-crunch this week and b) because I really didn't want to read such a spicy book while I was traveling! XD I found the series to be entertaining, even the plot! About halfway through book 2 the story got pretty interesting. Book 3 was excellent, it was my favorite book in the series. There were a few unexpected but very fun parts where the "hero" of the book was not who I expected it to be. Book 4 was a good conclusion for such a dark series. It was strongest in the middle during all of the "political intrigue" bits, and they did get their HEA at the end. For some the ending might be satisfying, but I found it a little underwhelming. All in all I enjoyed the series and will probably reread it in a few years.
Next week will be a little less crafting and a lot more about what happens at C2E2! I will be presenting my Reduce, Reuse, ReCosplay panel on Friday at 6:30 in panel room S503-B. It's in the south building on level 5! I am planning on wearing My Flareon on Friday and Imogen on Saturday. I'll be handing out Reduce, Reuse ReCosplay stickers throughout the weekend!
