Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Crimson Vision Gothic Geisha

When you are tired, you make mistakes; it is a reality. I was almost done with my corset last night; I just had to assemble the exterior part with the lining when I realized that half of the pieces on the exterior were sewn the wrong way. It was 12:30 am. So, I un-sewed the trim and pieces that needed fixing and then, since I was falling asleep at the sewing table, I went to bed. Today I worked on it a little, but it wasn’t finished in time to wear at Nancy-Raven’s party. So I went with plan B and wore red accessories.

Gwenyver as Crimson Vision Gothic Geisha

It looks good! I had many positive comments on the wig’s colour too; both Nancy-Raven and my Sweetheart agree I would look good with my hair dyed fluorescent red. Not that I would dare, but maybe I’ll find more occasions to wear that wig in the future.

Instead of my red tights, I remembered I owned knee high black and red striped socks, and I recently bought the half gloves to match. I wore a headband with a big sating flower and my lovely new sexy heals.

Now I will try to finish my corset before I crash in bed so I can wear it at least once this Halloween!

Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Short Black Furisode

The Furisode is done!

Short Black Furisode

Please excuse the beige twill tape; I could not find my black one for the picture.

I am actually much more satisfied with it than I was with the Juban; I was also more careful. I really love the tone on tone stripe in the fabric too: it gives the whole look more texture. I found it in the discount bin of course, but I find it works well. The collar is a little flimsy, but I am hoping a good pressing will fix that (I just hope I don’t burn it!).

I also started to sew the corset’s lining. I assembled all my pieces only to find that it did not close in the back and there was a huge ugly lump at the center front, chest level. That is when I realized that I was missing a piece, which I later found at the bottom of my “to do” bin, but it was time to go to bed.

I hope I have time to finish it tomorrow night, but if I don’t, I’ve decided to wear a red Nagoya obi with my red tights, red wig and red makeup. This way, I will not have worked in vain, but I won’t stress to finish and make myself sick.

Cyber Goth Geisha Progress Report: Juban

Okay, so tonight I finally started my own costume. I have 3 days to make it as I want to wear it at Nancy-Raven’s party this Saturday. Of course, I’m already thinking of solutions in case I can’t finish in time, because this whole no sleep thing I used to be able to pull off is way more exhausting than I remember, but I’m still going to try.

Tonight, I managed cut the pieces that were missing, like the Juban and fusing, and sew the Juban. It is actually a mix between a Hadajuban, because of the sleeves, and a Nagajuban, because of the collar. Observe:

Juban

There are many imperfections, especially with all the puckering around the collar, but I have decided to let it go; I don’t have time to fix it, and it will all be hidden anyways, so why bother.

I had actually planned to make the two: a Hadajuban of poplin and a Nagajuban of woolen twill. Due to lack of time, I decided to only make the thicker twill one, only to realise I did not have enough fabric for the sleeves (it was a leftover which my aunt gave me). Hence the mix of genres, but I think it will work well. Besides, this is a fantasy costume; I don’t have to be accurate!

Next step: the Black Furisode.

Baby Mouseling

This year, I decided to dress my daughter up as a mouse. You see, about a decade ago, I bought a pattern as I often do, because it was just too cute. I simply fell in love with the Mouse on the envelope of Simplicity 9821. I always promised myself that when I got kids, I would make that costume. Last year, my Sweetheart begged me to make her an owl costume, and I expect that by next year, she will want to have a say in her Halloween costume; so really, this was my last chance to make her the Mouse.

Boy was it a lot of work! I have never made a mascot costume before, nor a Furry, but I imagine it is a similar technique. Sewing thicknesses of faux fur was tough enough, but that pattern kept asking me to hand sews things, like the stomach and pads on the hands and feet. Me? Hand sew? Well, I did it to fix the ears and cheeks to the head, but that is it. The rest went through the machine.

Also, as I started with only a week and a half to go before Halloween, I was already exhausted (and still am) from the other costume I have been making for other people. For two days, I sat at my machine, looked at the pattern and couldn’t make sense of it. Plus, since I decided to bag line everything for comfort and heat, I couldn’t always follow the instructions to the letter.
But I managed, I made it, and this morning my daughter saw it and now she keeps wanting to wear it and play with it, which makes me feel very appreciated.

But I know you want pictures:

Baby Mouseling costume - Front

Baby Mouseling costume - Back

I love the colour combination of the fur and light pink velvet; it makes me think of “Angelina Ballerina – The next steps” which we watch every Sunday (hence me calling this a Mouseling costume: for Angelina Mouseling). That is also why I put a great big pink bow on the head.

The pattern actually said to use pleather for the tail, but I like the result I got using the velvet. And for those of you wondering what the puffs on the side of the head are, they are supposed to be cheeks, and you would know that if I added pipe cleaner whiskers, but I wont for security reasons.

Daughter trying on the Baby Mouseling head

She is so cute! I can’t wait to see her wear it. I still have to fix the ears to get them to stand up, but otherwise, I am done with this one. On to me!

(Edit: I managed to get the ears to stand up by inserting a tie wrap inside the circle of the ear. It has the perfect shape and it is springy enough. Tie wraps are my new favourite costuming trick of the trade!)