Brushes and Needles (among other things)

Cosplay, Crafts, and Projects ✖✖✖ My name is Miki, I also respond to "Misakichi" and "Minx" I hope you enjoy what I post and I am open to any questions, comments, or requests you may have. Just send them my way :)

[brushesandneedles]

Hello, I really love your Alana cosplay! and had a few questions about your wig dying process. For step 2, is it the same mixture as step 5? After step 5, do you not wash the wig again? And where did you get your micas from?

Hey, sorry, I hope you haven’t been waiting long. tumblr still doesn’t notify me when I have new messages.

It’s the same mixture, only difference was step 2 was applied with a spray bottle and step 5 was with a paint brush.

I did rinse, but the mica powders don’t penetrate the fibers like the ink does, so you’d lose a lot if it was anything more than a very light rinse. I mostly concentrated on the rinsing underside of the wig to minimize ink bleeding onto my face and costume.

I got the micas from TKB trading [x]

I had recently seen post floating around tumblr talking about a better process to dye wigs, but I can’t seem to relocate it. I’ll pass it along if I come across it again.

[brushesandneedles]

You cosplayed Alana from Saga and I absolutely love the dress you bought. I'm going to do her and I was wondering where you got the dress online.

I'm sorry, I wasn't notified about this message (and also haven't been tumblr in quite some time)I got the dress on ebay, but I can't remember the exact seller. I'm pretty sure I just searched for "black jersey halter dress" or something to that effect.

[brushesandneedles]

Hi! your Alana cosplay looks amazing! I'm doing her second outfit (the black tank top) for an upcoming con and was wondering, what wig did you use? and could you post some more pictures of it?

Hi hi! I'm happy you liked my costume! The wig I used was from Lucaille Wigs

I unfortunately don't have a ton of pictures of the wig by itself, I only have pictures of it during the dying process (I usually take pictures of everything, all the time, so I guess I must have gotten over excited to start working on the wig if I don't have any shots of it)

Lucaille has great pictures of what the wig looks like before dying, so you can look at the shape there.

I found one picture that shows the completed wig pretty well, as the colors look truer to life than other pictures I found (it's a little darker in person, but you'll see that the green is not super intense. I think I should add some green the the short parts as well...I'll do that later)

Photo by uncle_shoggoth on Flickr

When are you hoping to debut your Alana? I love seeing other Saga costumes so I want to keep my eyes peeled for yours :D

[brushesandneedles]

[Cat Girl without Salad] Kebako - Intermission

In light of having gotten more motivation to work on Kebako, I present to you, the closet cosplay I referenced when I first started this blog.

Wikel (littleboycutyourhair), I dedicate this to you.

What went into making this costume *coughcough* 1 wig (that's supposed to be for Mizuno You from Stardriver) 1 pair of SkullCandy headphones 1 shirt from Urban Outfitters 1 Skirt from H&M 1 pair of stockings (they were a gift) 1 pair of shoes from David's Bridal 1 dishwashing glove and finally 1 trash can from Ikea Cannon

Plus: 1 friend to document it all (Wikel a.k.a. littleboycutyourhair)

[brushesandneedles]

I'm having trouble drafting up a pattern for Kebako's skirt. I think I need to purchase muslin and have some practice runs before I cut into my fabric.

Also: My friend Wikel is nothing but trouble for adding more costumes to my list. *shakes fist at her*

[brushesandneedles]

Dressform

I'm waiting right now on making my dressform because I've recently started working out again. I don't want to make and use a dressform to construct costumes that I might not be able to fit when I need to wear them. (As I'm not good at alterations)

So I'm going to wait a little longer before I start that project.

I still want a dremel set for my Cosmo Dragoon kit. 

[brushesandneedles]

[Cat Girl Without Salad] Kebako - Progress 3

Apparently I never posted this as I found it in my drafts. I purchased my fabrics back in July...so here they are.

I never knew how difficult it could be to find solid colors for fabric. It was super tough. I was hunting for these colors while I was shopping for my Alana&Marko fabrics, and creativepixie was looking for her Kida fabrics.

The blue fabric ended up being the most difficult to find and I ended up having to get a fabric with glitter on it. Luckily, the glitter is only on one side so I can use the reverse for the costume.

The fabrics have been sitting in its bag since the day I purchased them. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the skirt properly. I had asked a pattern-maker friend of mine so I have some ideas but I should probably buy some muslin/use scrap fabrics and do a couple mock-ups.

[brushesandneedles]

[Cat Girl Without Salad] - Kebako- Progress 2

With help from the lovely Connor of creativepixie/costumepixie, I began work with my Kebako wig.

This one was going to prove difficult to style since it's such an absurd and specific style.

We decided to just try teasing it out. It's gaining some volume but the volume isn't as big as I would like. I feel that maybe taking the time to Jessie-style (Jessie from Pokemon) this sucker may be the better choice, but I want to see if we can accomplish the look through teasing instead.

It's all about trial and error for these projects. These cosplays are much more ambitious than I have ever tried, but I'm excited by the challenge :)

Thank you Connor for your help! <3

(btw; posting this makes me miss you tons! Come visit.)

[brushesandneedles]

I'm a very slow worker

As I had noted before, I wanted to get more done by the end of last year but had an imminent move occupying my thoughts. 

Well, as it would happen my move happened a month ahead of schedule and I have been on the East Coast since late October. In this time I have been working on building a life here and trying to find work.

I haven't touched any of my costume plans but I've recently been having a fire held under my butt by my friend James. He keeps poking me about my progress on Kebako and I just tell him, I have the fabrics but I've yet to do anything with the stuff. It's just sitting there and I feel really bad.

I think need to really figure out what I want to do and start buckling down and actually doing some work. There are too many costumes on my wishlist and I ideally want that wishlist to shrink while my costume repretoire grows.

So let's look at this:

1) While coming to this blog to write this entry, I found I have an entry about my Kebako wig progress that I have never published. This was written in May. (Over half a year ago! What was it doing just sitting in my 'drafts'??) So, look forward to that. 2) I have pictures of my fabric haul for Kebako, I will write something up for that and post it. 3) Moving away has removed me from many/all of my friends, but I may be able to get them to come out for a convention. If I do, I have ideas of costumes to do with them. Once we can finalize those I can post about it.

I still want to make a dressform since I left mine (which was broken) in California. I think I will do that before I get started on the costumes. Yes, it's me procrastinating, but it's how I work. 

So, with that, let's get this party going (and then have a really long awkward pause again, YEAH!)

[brushesandneedles]

Hey I wanted to attempt to make the horns for my boyfriend to wear for a Halloween costume. They seem like they would be heavy, what did you use to make them stay on his head? Just a headband?

They're actually very light since they're made out of styrofoam!Because I'm very particular, and did not want a band to create an obvious dent in his hair, I used gardening wire. Like floral arrangement wire. I twisted it (you can see it in the picture of the horns on the orange wig) so it could bear more weight.A headband will definitely be more stable since the wire is prone to bending out of shape. 

[brushesandneedles]

Super unmotivated. It sucks to have the necessary fabric for a costume but no motivation to work on it :(

[brushesandneedles]

I love your Saga costumes! Such a fantastic comic. May I ask where you purchased your Alana wig from or is it two different wigs sewn together?

Thank you very much! It's supposed to resume next month :D!!I purchased my Alana wig from Lucaille Wig http://lucaille.com/?product-851.html

[brushesandneedles]

[Saga] Alana and Marko - Debut at SDCC 2013

5 days before the show and I was able to complete the costumes!

The green jacket is a "bomber jacket" we got from Gap and I attached a jersey knit hood to. Orange shirt came from a thrift store and green pants from army surplus.

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect boots and I need to hem my dress since it's a bit long.

Images from: Norman Chan of Tested.com ImageComics on Instagram Megan Byrd of The Beat and [x]

  And yes, our Hazel is a Pikachu. [x]

[brushesandneedles]

[Saga] Alana and Marko - Progress 9

Before starting on the wig, I had to contact the artist, Fiona Staples, to inquire about the color. D and I had been debating whether it was a very dark green or a black with green highlights. Staples was very kind to answer my question and told me that she envisioned Alana's hair to be "black with a greenish sheen". This is why I chose to use mica powders to create a somewhat iridescent look, and to have the color shine in sunlight and more subtle in fluorescent light.

Dying the wig. To dye the wig I used some FW acrylic ink, 70% rubbing alcohol, and some mica pigments (loose eyeshadow can work).

The measurements for the mixture is about 1 cup rubbing alcohol + 8 full squeezes of ink. [x] I mixed in some mica powder in mine, it wasn't necessary and I don't think it did much, but in my head it added dimension. (It really didn't but saying it did helps me sleep at night.)

Process: 1) Set up a "safe" area to work. I taped up plastic bags to protect the area from getting stained by the ink. 2) Section off the wig and start saturating the fibers with color. 3) Let dry for a few hours in a well ventilated area. I chose to let it dry overnight with the vent going. 4) Gently wash the wig to remove excess color 5) Mix the mica pigment with the acrylic ink+alcohol concoction. Paint it on the wig. 6) Let dry for a few hours. 7) Seal with hair spray 8) Comb through wig.

[brushesandneedles]

[Saga] Alana and Marko - Progress 8

CAPE! Poncho...thing. What is this called? Is it a cape, a caplet, a poncho...I don't know. This thing.

Anyway, I had to start with finding the right fabric. I really loved the weight and texture of this fabric. The color doesn't quite fit, and the inside is a different color than the outside, but that weight is what sold me. (And the price wasn't bad either. 1.5yds cost me $3.50.)

The pattern I used is actually one I already owned. I used it only as a base to map out a neck hole and then went my own way. I noticed that Alana's poncho had pointed ends, so I knew this thing had to have straight edges and not round.

Once I figured that out I had to adjust the neck hole so that the cape would fall properly along my clavicle. I used another random pattern piece for the collar and I extended it so it would fit the neck hole.

I stitched on bias tape and made sure to flip it outwards since the black is not really seen on the inside of the poncho in the comic.

The button on the clasp is on the right side for the cover of Saga, but the left side throughout the actual series. Also, the button being on the left is also correct for women's garments. (I double checked with a poncho I own that has a similar clasp)

I thought I would need to put interfacing or starch to have the collar stand up, but the bias tape actually did the trick for me. It took nearly 9yds of bias tape to trim this.

[brushesandneedles]

[Saga] Alana and Marko - Progress 7

For the ears I chose to just use felt. Pretty straightforward. Create a pattern, cut it out, attach to a headband.

For Alana's silver belt, I opted for a webbed belt because I felt that it's buckle was most like what Alana had. I purchased a can a silver fabric paint from Michael's and then sealed it with my spray can of pearlescent Mod Podge.

Remember to protect the buckle from getting paint on it. I kept the protective film on the buckle and used a low-adhesive tape. Painter's tape is perfect, but I only had washi tape available. Still worked. You just don't want to deal with the stickiness heavier tapes can leave behind.

[brushesandneedles]

[Saga] Alana and Marko - Progress 6

For Marko's costume we mostly went thrift store hunting. Unfortunately, we couldn't come across a trench coat that was ideal for us. They all had too many button, weird flaps, way off color, etc. There was just always something wrong with the coats.

So, because we couldn't find what we wanted I decided to make it.

This was my first time making a trench and I'll say this: I -hate- Burda patterns. The instructions given with them were TERRIBLE. They were not clear in the process and they got numbers wrong. :/ I had to scrap that instruction paper and just wing it. It made me mess up the collar band, but luckily the hood of the green jacket hid that error.

Due to my time crunch and dwindling funds I did not line this coat.

After I was done with construction, D took the coat and dyed it to more of a brown-grey color.