Toadette Costume Detail

I am finally getting back on track with sleep, laundry and cleaning, all those things I had set aside while I was rushing to prepare for Otakuthon. So I think it is time for a Costume Detail post. Since she really was the most popular of us, I will present Toadette first.

My Daughter as Toadette, Otakuthon 2011

Toadette’s costume was actually quite easy since it was simple lines and very little details. I used no pattern to make the different pieces, just clothes my daughter wears and in the case of the hat, a bit of draping. The hardest of course was that hat, but I will talk about it later. First things first.

The Dress

Toadette's Dress

To make Toadette’s dress, I used a simple A-line summer dress that my mother made as a pattern. I set it down on the fabric, drew 1 cm larger than the dress all around as seam allowance, cut two, and then make the front neckline 1 cm deeper. From my two dress pieces, I drew the facings. Four pieces in total for that dress. The only difference between this one and the original is I added snaps at the shoulders to make it easier to put on. And there you have it: one reusable Toadette dress which can actually be worn over the rest of the summer, or over a long sleeves t-shirt in the fall.

Original Summer Dress next to Toadette's Dress

Fabric wise, I used Pink silk noile chosen to match the hat fabric. I think it fits with the character: I always imagine the Toads as being country folk, so silk noile with its rough finish just seems perfect. The trim at the bottom hem of the dress is white satin ribbon.

The Vest

Toadette's Vest

This time, I used a polar fleece hoodie made by my mom as a base for my pattern. I drew half the back on my fabric, adding seam allowance, cut that piece and used it to make front pieces. I then eyeballed the curved front and cut. Once I had assembled the three pieces, it seemed a bit big so I tried it on my daughter and made a few adjustments to get the perfect fit. Add trim and you are done!

Polar Fleece Hoodie next to Toadette's Vest

The fabric I used was some cotton leftover I had in my stash. The trim is yellow satin ribbon.

The Shorts

White Shorts worn by Toadette

Here I just used one of the two pairs of white shorts my daughter owns. The second pair was in the diaper bag in case of little accidents (for instance, she was sick in the car – just a case of motion sickness - on our way to the convention center, but she was not in her costume at the time - thank goodness!). Why make something if you can buy it for cheap, or if you already own it?

The Shoes

Toadette's Brown Shoes

In all artwork of Toadette that I have seen, she is shown wearing brown shoes. Since my daughter already has enough shoes for a toddler and changes shoe size every 3 month, I looked around for a really cheap pair, but couldn’t find one. I ended up asking around at work and borrowing these from a co-worker who has a boy 2 months older than my daughter. Since they don’t fit her son anymore, she told me after the convention that I could keep them, which is a good think because my kid loves them.

Toadette does not appear to wear socks, but I went for a white pair to match the shorts.

The Hat

This is the piece that really makes the costume. I received many compliments during the day and evening on how cute it (and she) was and how ingeniously I had made it. First, if you have not read about it already, know that I used her bicycle helmet as a base.

My daughter's Bicyle helmet

I bought pink and white spandex (bathing suit material) to make a slip cover for the helmet, as well as the braids.

First I covered the helmet with the pink fabric as well as I could and I drew a line with tailor’s chalk to mark where it should reach inside. When I put my fabric flat on the floor, I adjusted the line to get an egg shaped oval, which I then cut. Next, I eyeballed the white spots and cut those two at a time to gat matching pairs of spots that I could put on opposite sides of the helmet.

For the braids, I bought Styrofoam balls at the craft store to make the shape. I made sure the two end ones were a little bigger then the four others. I cut two rectangles of the pink spandex wide enough to be pulled tight around the largest ball (plus seam allowance) and more than long enough for all three balls. I eyeballed the white spots here too.

Then it was time for sewing. I began by zigzagging the white spots to the braids’ rectangles. Here I used tearaway, but it was a pain to take off because I was using a wide zigzag stitch and not a satin stitch. For the helmet cover, I did not use tearaway and it worked like a charm.

(Note: it depends on the sewing machine too. I know my old Singer Stylist 522 is hell with knit fabrics, but I was using my Singer Futura for this project, since the Stylist 522 is in need of repair – again – and that one works like a charm both on thick fabric and knits.)

Once the white spots were sewn on the braids, I closed the sides, and then I baste stitch around the bottom to pull them close. I sewed through the gathers with my machine to make sure it would not come undone. Then I inserted the biggest Styrofoam ball. I pulled the fabric tight around it, and using a hand sewing needle, I made a quick baste stitch through both layers of fabric, pulled it tight, then pulled the thread around the bundle of fabric a few times, made another couple of stitches to make sure it would hold and made a knot with the thread. I repeated this with every ball. Once I reached the top, I cut off the excess fabric. Then I repeated everything with the second braid.

Toadette's Hat pieces - Flat

The next step that came was making that Yoshi egg quilt into a bicycle helmet cover. By the way this was Wednesday night before the convention and that is when I realized I was out of elastic. It is a notion I always have, but when I needed it, it was nowhere to be found. So flash forward to Thursday night, after I have gone to buy elastic: at this point, sleep deprivation is starting to play its tricks on my usually marvellous intellect (hum-hum) and I spent two hours attempting to figure out how to best make use of my precious elastic. For educational purpose, I will tell you all about my first two failed attempts.

I first sewed the elastic around the edge of the slip cover with a straight stitch while I pulled on it to create gathers. Once I tried it on the helmet, it was obvious that it was too big. I calculated how much elastic I should take out to make it lye smoothly inside the helmet and I began unstitching it from the slip cover.

On my second attempt, I took the right length of elastic and again sewed with a straight stitch while pulling on it, but this time, I sewed it much closer to the white spots so I would have enough elastic to go around. This time, not only did it look like a Granny Toadette bonnet, it was too SMALL! Pull as I may, I couldn’t get it to hold on to the helmet properly. Nearly ready to cry from frustration and exhaustion, I stared at the bloody thing until it dawned on me that the solution was a casing around the edge. I un-sewed the elastic from the slip cover AGAIN!

Finally, I made a casing by folding the edge of my pink Yoshi egg and leaving a space opened to insert the elastic. I pulled the elastic through and sewed both edges. Then I tried it on the helmet and it was like a miracle had just happened. Sure, it was not as smoothed as I had hoped it would be, but it fit and looked great.

On Friday during lunch time I hand sewed the braids to the slip cover. The result is a perfectly adorable Toadette hat.

Toadette's Hat

The best part about that slip cover is it will fit another couple of sizes of helmets, so should I or she wish to, she could wear it again for years to come. The dress and vest are a joke to make in comparison!

Presenting Toadette:

Toadette the Artwork vs Toadette the "Toaddler"

She was so very cute! And popular too! I am so glad I made her that costume, even if I was completely exhausted by the time the convention started.

But I will do it all again anytime there is an excuse for me and my family to make and wear costumes!

Rosalina & Toadette - the video

This is awesome! I have found a video of our masquerade entry on Youtube! Care to see us in action? Please watch the video (comments in French only) - fast forward to 1:08 min to start right at our intoduction:

By the way, the person you can hear scream when the MC announces our entry is my good friend Marie-Ange-the-Celt.

I am so happy I get to see this. We looked great, didn't we! Of course, my daughter was the star.

Otakuthon Masquerade Experience

I still have not recovered from Otakuthon, but I promise I will make a post on our costumes very soon. Since I did most of the work on our costumes the week before (who, me?), I barely took any evolution pictures, but I will be sure to take some detailed close-up pictures… soon. I am still working on my sleep deprivation. At least I have pictures of my daughter and me at the event this time, thanks to other people taking pictures and sending them to me. (Keep them coming people!)

Gwenyver & Daughter as Rosalina & Toadette, photo by Tanja Dorosh

Costume specific posts will follow shortly, but in the mean time, let me tell you about my Masquerade experience. Because I was accompanied by my daughter (or was it the other way around?), we got to go second, in the junior category (though I was to be judged as a journeyman because I asked for it and that is my Masquerade level). As soon as the MCs, Narf and Yaya Han, announced our entry “Rosalina & Toadette”, people started to scream and cheer. (Apparently, Marie-Ange-the-Celt screamed so loudly for us that the girl in front of her jumped out of her skin.) Once we walked onto the stage, the cheering doubled. My daughter was never afraid (I’m so proud of her!); she held my hand and walked on, following me to the middle of the catwalk where I suggested to her that she could wave to the audience, which she did, albeit shyly. We heard a general “Aww!” from the 700 people present, and then, on our musical cue, we walked off.

Headless Gwenyver and daughter on stage at the Otakuthon 2011 Masquerade

Of course, they do not make the toddlers wait until the next day for their prizes, and everyone gets one (there were just 2 anyways). Entry number one, a 2 year old boy dressed as some Pokemon creature I do not know, won for best TV Show recreation and my daughter, for best Video Game recreation.

My daughter as Toadette with her ribbon for Best Video Game recreation in the Junior category

Not only is that ribbon awesome, it is almost as long as her dress! I’ll say it again, my heart was bursting with pride at how well she handled everything. I had expected her to be frightened by all the screams/cheers and to want to hide in my arms, but she just went on. I even had people stop me on Sunday to tell me how adorable she was.

A happy Toadette!

Speaking of Sunday, I have news to share. I went to the Masquerade’s award ceremony, hoping that maybe I might win a ribbon of my own. There were many amazing costumes and I unfortunately did not manage to show and explain my costume and my daughter’s in detail to the workmanship judge (imagine bringing your toddler to a job interview and now imagine how well you would be able to sell yourself – NOT!). So either because they got mixed up because my registration form said both Junior and Journeyman, or because I was unable to sell myself and my work to the judge, or simply because my work was not that impressive to them compared to others, I did not win in my category. I will admit it, I was a little disappointed, but it happens and there is nothing I can do about it. Then, just before they were about to give the awards for best costume overall and best in show, the Masquerade director announced that the Costume Con 32 director had personally insisted that an entry get their membership to the 2014 Con in Toronto, and that entry was ME! I was super excited AND I got to be in the pictures with the Masters (heh!). So now I HAVE to go, and already my mind is starting to think of the costumes I will be making – the theme is "Myths, Monsters and Legends".

Gwenyver and Daughter on stage, photo by Samia of Geekbecois.com

But back to the Masquerade, it was a lot of fun to do it with my daughter and I am happy we did. It was worth all my hard work just for the audience’s reaction. I have to do this again sometime. Speaking of, Montréal ComicCon is coming up and they have a Masquerade; does anyone have any suggestions on a costume group I could whip-up in a month for my Sweetheart, my daughter and myself? I am strangely out of inspiration right now (must be from lack of rest in the previous weeks), and I want (make that need) a genius idea and fast!

Back from Otakuthon

Ok, so I'm not actually back - I slept in my own bed on Saturday night since I live within driving distance - but still, Otakuthon is over, and I am a little sad. Exhausted, happy about my week-end, but a little melancholic.
Anyways, I'm already full of ideas for next year, and I have something to announce, but that will have to wait. For tonight, I will present pictures from my week-end (mostly taken by me). Since I don't know most of the cosplayers and cosplays, I will invite you to play "Name that Person / Character". I'll name the ones I know, you help me with the rest. Lets Begin...
1) Gwenyver and Daughter as Rosalina and Toadette.
See, it's easy!
2) Marie-Ange-the-Celt and Gwenyver as Tifa Lockhart and Aerith Gainsborough.
3) Marie-Ange-the-Celt as Aruhaniel the Drow. This is her LARP persona in Asian style clothing. Photo not by me.
4) Mageknightterra, Technobug, Tioniel and 2 cosplayers I barely know yet (forgot their names, girls help please!) and the 5 Sailor Scouts, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars.
5) Another Cosplayer I was briefly introduced to and forgot their name and Luke as a Jawa and another character from Star wars (I shouldn't be doing this when I am this tired - my brain is mush!)
6) Oh darn, she gave me her nickname and I can't remember. It had to do with Mischivious or something. Oh well, I'll find it and let you know. Obviously, she is dressed as a Geisha in an actual Kimono.
7) Dante from Devil May Cry (thank you to Ethan Kincaid for the information). Cosplayer unknown.
8) Cosplayer and Cosplay unknown. But cool wings!
9) Oh I know this one, it's from Spirited Away (2001)! It scared my daughter sillly. She still talks about the monster. Cosplayer unknown.
10) Cosplayer and Cosplay unknown. Love the mask.
11) I actually asked this girl what series her costume was from and she said none, she just choose to wear this saree which she had. Well it is lovely! Cosplayer unknown.
12) Armurita as Ashura from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (Thank you Armurita for letting me know). Incredible headpiece!
13) A group photo of characters from Bleach (Thank you to TheYellowRose for that information). Cosplayers unknown.
14) I know this guy won something in the Masquerade. Wait, let me check the winner's list... Darn, no name, just the entry "Did you know surfing". So Cosplayer and Cosplay unknown.
15) Cosplayer and Cosplay unknown. I think she is just a regular Lolita, but I liked how she looked.
16) Cosplayers and Cosplay unknown.
17) Loki as... Cosplay unknown. 18) Cosplayer and Cosplay unknown. Awesome workmanship though!
Ok, now it is your turn to help me fill in the blanks!

Toadette's dress fabric

Today, I went back to Fabricville to find a better fabric for my daughter's Toadette dress. First, remember the cotton twill I had gotten Monday that looked too red?

Mushroom hat fabric at top, deep pink cotton twill at bottom

This time, I brought the spandex fabric with me and played a game of "does this match" with my daughter by comparing it to every pink fabric I could find (she compared it to other colours too - yellow, green - she thought it was a really fun game). I was about to give up when we spotted a short sleeved jacket on a mannequin, made of silk noile. Off we went looking for the silk noile table and lo, we found a decent match!

Mushroom hat fabric next to dress' silk noile

Ok, so it looks very different with the flash, but that's because these two fabrics don't reflect light the same way. I truth, the silk noile is a little darker, but at least it is of thesame hue so I am happy with it.

Of course, I did have some reservations about dressing my daughter in silk - she gets dirty so easily. The silk noile was on sale at 3 metres for the price of 1 (18.99$) and I only needed 1 metre so I asked the nice sales lady who is also going to Otakuthon if I could get my metre 1/3 of the price. She couldn't, but then she explained in whispers that due to the special, if I took less than a metre, say 95 cm, she could give it to me for 1/3 of the price. Ok then, a silk noile dress for 6.02$. That is awesome!

And now on to cutting. Last night I drew my pattern, and now it is time for pins and scissors to come out!

Rosalina and Toadette Fabrics

I have fabrics! Not all of them, but enough to get started.

First, Rosalina’s dress:

Rosalina's Dress Fabric

I was looking with a fabric with a sheen or an interesting texture that could be worn by a princess – I did not want plain cotton for this project, although it is always de rigueur for Anime. The best match I found, after comparing it to two satins, was this light aquamarine crepe. It is a little lighter in colour than I would have wanted, but this costume is going to be my interpretation of the character, so I am giving myself the creative licence to toy with colour and details a little. And sure, this fabric is 100% Polyester, and if it’s hot out I might regret my choice, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make. Plus, at 2.99$ a metre, who am I to complain!

For the neckline, bottom of sleeves and hemline, I got very shiny Organza. I intend to ruffle it more than suggested by the artwork at the hemline and sleeves.

For the underskirt, I have to look through my stash, but I believe I have white, very shiny satin crepe. I am still trying to choose how to make that part; do I attach a pleated underskirt at the skirt and bust seam, or do I make a separate, multi-tiered skirt to wear underneath? In both cases, the underskirt will be used to give the dress its volume.

And now for Toadette:

Toadette's Costume Fabric

I have pink and white bathing suit material to make the slip cover and “braids” for my daughter’s bicycle helmet.

For her dress, I bought deep pink cotton, but being tired and accompanied by a restless “Toadler”, I left the pink bathing suit material in the car (it was bought in a different store) and I tried to match it by memory. That was not one of my finest moments as you can see if you compare the two in the photo. Oh well, it’s just on metre and I can make her something out of it later, but I will have to go back to the fabric store, with the helmet fabric in hand this time, and find the right cotton.

(Say, I have just had an idea: we have an SCA event this week-end and I wanted to make my daughter a new tunic, possibly short sleeved. I’ll just use the deep pink fabric! See, no loss.)

Next step is pattern drawing and cutting. And I guess I’ll have to go fabric shopping again this week. How sad!

Princess Rosalina's Earrings

Last night I couldn't sleep. I was watching Say Yes to the Dress Bridesmaids, trying to loose consciousness when I came to the conclusion that it wasn't working and I might as well do something constructive. So I pulled out my yellow fun foam, my craft knife and the Rosalina Accessories Tutorial by Martyn and went to work.

Earring template from Rosalina's Accessories Tutorial by Martyn

I was planning to use the printed pieces of the earrings from the tutorial, but when I measured them and compared them to the given specs, they were a little too short, so I re-drew them on paper before cutting them out of the fun foam.

Once you have your six stars cut out, it takes just a few minutes to glue them all together, and then you are done!

Rosalina Earrings - cut fun foam and glue

Well, almost. This morning I noticed some dried glue which is not the same colour as the foam. I think that in order for all my accessories to have the same finish, I will spray paint them all. After all, the crown and brooch will get the spray paint finish in silver, so the earrings and wand should too. I am considering giving them a coat of gold before the yellow. I wonder if some of the glittery shine will show through.

This is a small step towards this costume, but heck, at least it is a step outside of planning and into realisation. Good for me.