Cosplay Stitch and Seam

Shining Sakura and I have been close friends for a few years now. She is actually one of my inspirations for doing embroidery work on cosplays. Shining Sakura, or Rachael, has an eye for detail and the talent to back it up. She started sewing as soon as she could hold a needle and not hurt herself. Her mother is a spectacular seamstress and is one of Rachael's biggest inspirations and role models.


Rachael is a very sweet person and loves to share her knowledge and talents. She started cosplaying in 2010, but also says she unwittingly started when she was three years old. She has always loved to dress up as her favorite characters. She started sewing around age three, so it makes sense that all her costumes are beautifully hand made. Rachael also loves Japanese culture and owns a number of traditional kimonos. She teaches panels at events on how to wear and care for kimonos.


Shining Force EXA is Rachael's favorite JRPG (Japanese Role Play Game.) She has been an avid fan of the g…

EDIT: Still working on pics. Shining Sakura form the pic below is sending me some epic pictures ;)

I will be posting later today around 9:00 PM Mountain time with this month's cosplayer feature. If you did not see the news earlier, this month's feature will have three posts. The first will be the traditional interview, the second will be a "How it was Made" post, and the third will be on how to choose a sewing machine.

Also, come May or June I will be starting DOUBLE cosplayer features for the Summer. It will be exciting!

Below is a sneak peek at this month's feature!
Thanks for your patience and for reading,
VFire

Many of you probably know that Anime Fannatiku in St. George, Utah is my all time favorite convention. Last year the convention announced that it had to skip a year because of a projector that had gone missing and the hotel wanted them to pay for it. Since Anime Fannatiku is so small the bill for the projector made it so they had to postpone the convention. I quite overjoyed when I heard they were returning in 2015 and made sure tickets and everything was in order.


Utah is booming with large nerd conventions like Salt Lake Comic Con, Fantasy Con, and even Anime Banzai is getting really big (Congrats to them because that is awesome!) Anime Fannatiku is much smaller, with about 350 attendees every year. This year they apparently had even more attendees! The convention also moved to the Dixie Convention Center, which was a wonderful location with great panel rooms and easy navigation to events. Even with the two panels I signed up to host, I did not feel time crunches or pressed to hurry…

Band Blog Post: Fannatiku Fest Gig

(Read all the way to the end for some news of epic proportions!)

The Hyrulians and the Outcast band played at Fannatiku Fest in St. George, Utah this past weekend. If you have not heard about this one hit wonder of a band then you are in for a surprise. The band is led by Skull Kid on his killer Ocarina. Sheik plays the lyre and often joins Skull Kid on the guitars. The band's lead singer, Link, may seem quiet in interviews but he has one heck of a voice on stage.


The group formed at the fest on a whim when they realized their (lack of) musical talents matched perfectly! The group actually has one song, which was number one all day (of course there were no other bands to compete with them.) This hit song is called "HHYYAAAHHH" and was written by Sheik, although Link seemed to reinterpret the lyrics into grunts and shouts.


In an interview the group talked about how their inspiration for their music came from the need for Hyrule to have m…