Cosplay Stitch and Seam

Be prepared to learn a lot in this post. Shining Sakura goes into some really cool details about how she put together her Catheana cosplay from Shining Force EXA. It is really beautiful and her process is very well thought out. I added some of my own notes in bold to explain some of her notes and give newcomers to the craft some insight on these advanced skills. Sakura's notes will be in regular font. Without further ado, here is Shining Sakura's notes on how she made Catheana!  - VFire Shining Sakura sitting next to a very cute Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service . Shining Sakura hand made her Catheana dress with many different techniques. Catheana: Shining Force EXA Fabric Selection:  I made most of Catheana's dress with 95% cotton 5% spandex lightweight material. I chose this material because it would stretch around me, be breathable, and I could dye it. There are at least six layers on every part so heat was going to be an issue; lightweight and breathab

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. Shining Sakura as Cyrille from the video game Shining Force EXA with handmade Zhirra. Photo by VFire 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.

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! Cyrille from Shining Force EXA Photo by VFire 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. M Stal Kid as Skull Kid, Lexus as herself, Jedd as Deadpool, Myself as Ordon Link, and there's Slenderman photo-bombing in the back. 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 wit

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 band practicing for their gig. (Matt as Skull Kid, VFire as Sheik, and Aella as Ordon Link) Photo by ... (Waiting for the kind attendees name since VFire forgot it...) 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, alt