Jiang Wanyin Cosplay Build Blog

[thejiangchengapologist]

Master Post

Fyi: Tumblr has flagged two of my posts about adding color to fabric as potentially mature content (this has now been resolved, but I'm being cautious). All posts that contain mature content are listed as such, links to them are red, and there are links to skip past them as soon as there is a post to skip to.

Here are my posts in chronological order.

The Beginning

The Layers

Trim Prototyping

Pondering Pockets

Fabric Shenanigans (Part 1)

Fabric Shenanigans (Part 2)

Fabric Shenanigans (Part 3)

On Patterns and Cutting (Part 1)

Fabric Shenanigans (Part 4)

On Patterns and Cutting (Part 2): Adventures in Draping

Fabric Shenanigans (Part 5): ft. Beads!

On Patterns and Cutting (Part 3): Further Adventures in Draping

Beginning Construction (Mamian)

Drafting and Mockups

Pleating and Pocketses!

Mamian Construction Continued

Trim Decisions

Trim Tribulations

Trim Beading

Beading and Blackwork

A Solution to a Problem

Hemming

Preparing for Ironing

A Finished Lotus

Holiday Embroidery

Undershirt Troubleshooting

Undershirt Finished!

Packages Finally Arrive

A (Hopefully) Brief Pause CW

A Minor Update

A Little Momentum, Finally

Purple Silk

Mamian, So Close to Done

Mamian Complete!

Packages Arrive

A Definite Improvement

Clarity Bell Explorations and Finished Beading

Blackwork, Aniline Dye, and Knotting Cord

Two Failed Experiments

What A Week

[thejiangchengapologist]

What A Week

This post had it's first pictures saved in my drafts last Saturday, I just wasn't feeling up to writing the post. On Sunday I added another picture and that happened more than once. Needless to say, my week has been rough. I had to go up on my depression meds and drop out of collage because I didn't get sufficient financial aid, it was a whole thing.

Anyway, I tried the card method for the knot work. It almost worked. I had two places where the threads were twisted around each other, which meant I had to extract those to the point of the incorrect twist and try to thread them back through correctly. That did not work. I'm planning to try again with a smaller card and smaller holes, maybe even individual holes for each thread to keep from getting the twist introduced.

I spent the rest of the week working on the blackwork.

I finished it and I could not be happier with it. I told my friends that if the stabilizer didn't dissolve like it was supposed to I was going to cry.

It turned out not to be a problem. I put the lotus in a bowl of water and 90% of the stabilizer dissolved immediately and the rest just needed some gentile rubbing.

It has given the fabric a starched quality, I might hold the next one under the tap and see if that makes a difference. Then again, a starched texture might be useful for the applique part so we'll see.

I will not be ironing or dying this week. It's supposed to be 90°F (32°C) on Monday and it's already started climbing.

Incidentally, I am going to start posting progress photos with my tattoo as an identifying feature so I can prove I'm the one who made it. My tattoo isn't finished yet so it will also change as I have it worked on.

This is what it's going to look like when it's done.

It's a tribute to my poor baby. I'm having a friend of mine do the tattoo, they do a bunch of their own tattoos and they have the same disability as me so I trust them to do it even over a professional.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Two Failed Experiments

To start with I finished two more petals. I just realized, having just finished the second, that I have not been wearing my glasses for the last petal I embroidered and now my vision is stuck in near focus mode. 🤦

The first failed experiment was suspending the agate ring in acetone. I left it in the acetone for an hour and a half and then in dye for another three hours. If it did anything it was subtle enough that I can't tell if the effect is real, if my brain is playing tricks on me, or if a tin film of dye is clinging to the surface. I'm going to consult with my dad and see what he suggests.

The second failed experiment was knotwork. I got a knot to work, but one strand was way too small. I had expected that part, but I then spent several hours trying to figure out how to do it with three strands.

This image from instructables gives the idea of what I wanted aesthetically.

That same instructables article suggested something I might try tomorrow: constructing it around a card.

I think this method may let me line up the strands properly. I often don't get anything done on weekends, but I'll update if I do.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Blackwork, Aniline Dye, and Knotting Cord

I started the day by starting the blackwork. I decided that because the dots on the stabilizer are so clear I decided that using those as an alternative to thread counting, previously I had decided to just wing it because thread counting on this fabric hurts, but with the dots I had no trouble.

I was surprised how quickly it went, I was expecting the super tiny squares to take forever, but it only took a couple hours.

A while ago I bought an agate ring because the lavender jade one I was gifted is a little light in color. Unfortunately, the agate ring I bought was even lighter in color. In perusing the internet I discovered that aniline dyes can be used to dye porous stones like agate as well as wood and leather. I found some relatively cheap aniline dye marketed for wood and it arrived today.

The instructions I found said to use isopropyl alcohol as the liquid, so I got a tiny bit of dye in the tiny cup and added the iso to it.

I then used a string and a bobby pin to suspend the ring in the dye. Unfortunately, it looks like the ring has been sealed, so I will have to look at ways to remove the sealant before I try this again. That said, I'm thinking I'll use the dye for leather and maybe wood later down the line, so even if I can't get it to work on the agate, I still have a use for it.

I had also ordered some nylon knot cord. As I had feared, the yellow is a little too cool toned to go with the gold/brass of the metals of the bell. That said, I think the black and purple will work, I just have to play around with them and decide what knots and such I want to use.

Tomorrow I'll probably continue with the black work. Not sure if I'll do anything else, so I may or may not post. I have been thinking that I might dye the houppelande fabric black instead of eggplant. The Jiang colors are purple and black after all and so far the only black I have is this knotting cord. It would also make it pop better if I use it as part of the wide belt. I have a bunch of ancient boxes of the powder rit black, so I could do multiple batches, making it more likely that it will come out even. Might start that tomorrow depending on the weather and how many spoons I have.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Clarity Bell Explorations and Finished Beading

I got started on the beading last night. Turns out I had enough light and momentum to get two petals done.

Today I finished all the beading. Except for one place where the beads have buckled I am very pleased with it. Next will be the blackwork. Given the very regular dots in the stabilizer, I might try counting like you are supposed to in blackwork, we shall see how my brain feels about it.

I was thinking about the attachment dilemma and remembered that my best friend gave me colorful links for chainmail ages ago. I tentatively decided on the blue links because of the blue in the brocade and the blue flash in the bugle beads.

The more I look at it the less I like it, but I am going to wait for the nylon cord I ordered to arrive to see if the large knots will balance out the size of the links. This may change several times.

I've got a migraine so I'm going to go to bed. As always, if you have suggestions about how to do it better I'm all ears.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

A Definite Improvement

So I actually did make progress on this yesterday, but I forgot to take more than one picture or post about it. I cut out the lotuses from the large sheet (I kept the scraps of stabilizer for future small projects) and pasted one onto the fabric.

Following the lines was a little difficult because of the width of the soutache, but I think the result speaks for itself.

I did have some difficulty still with ensuring the ends didn't stick out from under the subsequent layer of soutache, but I'm still significantly happier with this attempt than the previous one.

I am currently moving out of my room temporarily so that I can paint the walls and construct a new bed frame, so that may take up time and I'm still working on getting my head right, but I am excited about working on this again. I'm also getting a tattoo in honor of my bunny (my friend is doing a stick and poke for me, they're using professional equipment don't worry), so that is also going to claim part of my time. I'm just trying to keep my head above water while I wait for the tide to go out basically.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Packages Arrive

Edit: I forgot to title it 🤣

The harmony ball holder I ordered months ago finally arrived. It is slightly damaged, but I am relatively content to just deal with it since it took so long to get here and I otherwise like it.

Now I just have to finalize the design. One thing I need to figure out is how I'm going to go about attaching to the bottom of the cage.

I also need to decide what material I'm going to make the tassel and knot(s) out of. I've done it with cotton embroidery floss before, but it sucked to try to get it to behave for the knots so I'm inclined to try something else.

In other news I ordered water soluble, printable stabilizer so I don't have to fight with my embroidery.

My first attempt to print it was too big, but I have been considering putting two larger lotuses on the front of the vest, so I'll probably still be able to use it. Turns out that at the correct size I can fit two more lotuses per page which is good because the package I bought only has 12 pieces per package and that was the best price/quantity I could find.

I'll probably work on designing the tassel and/or embroidery tomorrow, I'll post if I make any progress.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Mamian Complete!

The tips of my fingers are bruised. I was using a sashiko needle and thimble, but getting any needle through 12 layers of brocade is always going to end in bruised fingers. I didn't care to try to put it through the sewing machine given the struggle with the waist band I had yesterday and the fact that I cut the waist band with no extra to turn in the ends. I did manage to turn in the ends, but the seam allowance was miniscule. I just whipped over the edge and when I got to the ties I continued the same motion, just going through the tie by itself in order to come back around to the correct side.

I did the same thing for the ends of the ties. I decided that it would not be possible to put a buttonhole in the waist band for the tie to go through like I had been planning, but just having the tie come up over the waist band worked just fine.

The swoosh is magnificent. I'll be able to storm in and out of rooms with so much drama.

I got about half way through ironing the organza. I had heard that organza is a b**** to deal with, but I hadn't realized that extended to ironing. It takes the heat on the first pass, but it tries to escape and/or fold in such a way that the iron creases it further. I may have to get some of those heat protecting thimble things they make for hot glue guns because trying to iron this definitely did not help my finger tip situation.

Probably won't work on this again this weekend, I need to give my fingers time to rest and I have plans, but hopefully I'll have an update for you next week.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Mamian, So Close to Done

The weather was cool again today so I decided to be brave and I broke out the iron. I was probably a bit over cautious with the heat so I'm not sure how well the pleats set, but we shall see.

So it turns out that I put the pocket slit in the wrong side of the pleats on the left panel and the one on the right is a bit far forward, but they should be useable.

I did zigzag over the edges of the pocket slits to prevent fraying. Then I started on the waist band. I just folded it like bias tape and sewed it on in the same way, but I ran into two problems. One, I measured too precisely and the waist band is exactly the width of the two panels, not leaving room to turn in the edges.

Two, I overestimated the power of my sewing machine.

I am very lucky I did not beak a needle (this was a brand-new needle too). I eventually got through the seam closing the waistband with a combination of a sturdier needle, far too much hand turning of the crank wheel, and some gentle pulling to help the feed dogs.

I am very pleased so far. Given my struggles with getting my sewing machine to go through all those layers, I am not going to be able to do a button hole in the waistband as I had intended to, for putting the ties through. That being said, all I have left is to attach the ties and figure out what I'm doing to finish the ends of the waistband (I'm using pins to hold it closed in the picture. Also, I'm using a flashlight to light it because the bathroom light made it look black).

It is wonderfully swishy, all those deep pleats really paid off, I shall have no difficulty being wonderfully dramatic in this.

I had planned to fully finish the mamian today and to iron the silk, but I spent over an hour unpicking one of the ties because I realized that I had sewed it wrong sides together. So that will have to wait. I hope to do that tomorrow, but I have stuff going on this weekend so we shall see.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Purple Silk

It's 30°F cooler today than it was yesterday, so I felt that sitting over a dye pot would be tolerable today. Fortunately, I got the pot out of the shed this weekend so it required less of me physically today.

When I unfolded the silk organza it finally felt like enough fabric, but then I pre-soaked it and it all fit in one hand again lol.

The downside of having a black dye pot is that any color you put in it looks even darker than it would even just being wet, so it always seems like the dye is almost black.

Color turned out pretty good and the translucency is also still decent. I definitely need to iron it, but I'm still feeling the momentum. Might not do anything until next week, might do some embroidery, not sure. I was working on mounting that square for The Stitchery's community project and accidentally cut through the thread so I may need to give that a little time to stop making me such and unhappy bunny, but I'm hoping it will stay cool enough that ironing seven yards of silk won't be torture and maybe I'll manage to iron the brocade at the same time so I can finally finish the mamian. One can hope.

(P.S. I did also dye my overalls today and not only did they turn out great, they also shrunk enough to not need to be shortened, so I can do the embroidery I had planned on through one layer of denim instead of three. \0/)

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

A Little Momentum, Finally

So I am going back to school and my semester just ended, so I'm finally feeling a little motivated. I'm going to be participating in The Stitchery's community project where she's asking people to send embroidered patches for a patchwork project. I wanted to send her a square of my lotus trim. She needs 2" or 4" squares so I wanted to make a 2" square of the lotus pattern and applique it to some of the 50% brocade, this means I have to be kind of have to be pretty precise about the size. To accomplish this, I did a basting stitch. I have found in the past that fabric pencils/chalk vanish immediately on this fabric, so I decided to try something different.

This worked really well. I'm glad I tried this because I think this might be the way to keep from having wonky petals like I had on the last lotus.

I was so pleased with how it turned out that I went ahead and drafted a new petal pattern.

The centers of the petals are 30° apart. I'm planning to baste the center lines and maybe also the petal outlines which would mean that I would know ahead of time where the ends will be, meaning that I can put the "back" petals on first. I'll probably do that tomorrow. I am also going to dye the silk (and some overalls I bought recently) sometime this week. I have officially started summer break, so hopefully that will mean I can focus more on making. I do also have a therapist so hopefully my mental health will start improving as well.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

A Minor Update

My year just keeps getting worse. I won't go into it because it's trigger warning city, but needless to say, I have not made much progress.

I did start on the xiaoguan, but my initial idea about how to go about wax carving was disastrous so I don't have any pictures of that. I did end up buying some actual jewelry carving wax, but I've been trying to cut it with a jeweler's saw and that is both slow and exhausting.

I decided that I'd set myself up for an easy win by buying the materials I decided on for making the clarity bell.

Unfortunately, the most important piece got lost in the mail and the replacement has also not arrived yet, but I'm pretty happy with my idea for how to make a custom clarity bell. The purple sphere is something called a harmony ball, it's basically a bell with no holes in it if you aren't familiar. You can get little decorative cages to hold them and I found one that was suitable (this is the piece that hasn't arrived yet). I'm going to make a tassel and knotwork to go with it. Interestingly, from the research I've done, it seems like this sort of tassel, despite showing up in Chinese dramas fairly frequently, is actually something that originated in Korea. Belt hangings don't seem to have been much of a thing in Japan or China historically other than the token that indicates whether or not a person is allowed within the palace.

I hope to get back to working on my cosplay more regularly soon, but I also just went back to school (again) on top of the absolute dumpster fire this year has been already, so no promises. I had hoped to get some photos next to a lotus pond this year, but I will definitely not be done by August. That's alright though, I told myself when I started this cosplay that I was not going to impose hard deadlines on myself so if it takes an extra year, it takes an extra year.

Skip CW Post <- <- Previous Post (CW) <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

A (Hopefully) Brief Pause CW

CW: Chronic Illness, Death

I have had to take a break from working on my Jiang Cheng Cosplay. I have a chronic illness that is worsened by stress. On the morning of New Year's Eve a dear friend died and my body has decided that grief is too stressful. As a consequence I have zero spoons at the moment. Hopefully I will regain spoons soon, but it may be a while before I post again.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Packages Finally Arrive

I live!

I decided at the beginning of December that I needed to wait to do more embroidery until my new glasses arrived. I had also put some things on my wish list, so I had to wait to buy anything that was on it until after the holiday. Today the last of the packages arrived!

I bought this wig on TaoBao via SpreeNow, I was not expecting as good quality as what arrived and I thought it might be a bit small, but it fits great. I've never had a lace front before so I'll have to learn how to wear it. I was waiting on this one specifically, because I am going to make a xiao guan and I need to see how big the top knot is before I start. Between my parents' gifts and a gift card I was able to get silicone for mold making, deep pour resin, and mica powder, so now I can start carving the positive out of wax.

My glasses arrived and so did my fabric and dye. Because of the gifts I was able to afford the silk organza and a second bottle of dye to re-dye the cotton brocade.

I did get a little side tracked with other projects as well. My dad asked me to fix one of his tunics and patch a hole in his party color jacket and I accidentally picked up a new hobby. I went to an SCA event and learned that tamari balls peaked in popularity in the Heian period (which is my focus time and place). I promptly made one and started a second.

This is the first, the second is going to be a purple lotus design (of course). I am a little obsessed, they're fun and relatively quick to make and the one in the picture has the perfect weight and size to make my brain go brrrrr when I hold it.

I do have three other projects I plan to work on sometime soon. I'm making a suikan out of red linen that I'm going to stamp with my mon once my mon passes (if you didn't understand what that meant a mon is basically a Japanese coat of arms and the SCA allows you to register a coat of arms so long as it passes a review process, but the review process takes forever). I'm binding a hard copy of my favorite fanfiction (if you've never read the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey you should and then read Friends Across Boarders because it's fantastic), but it is very long so it's five hefty books even printed at 4.25 x 5.5. The last project is much smaller, I'm participating in a community project with the youtuber The Stitchery. In this video she talks about her next (or following) year's patchwork project and askes people to send her an embroidered square. I plan to do that and match it to my cosplay.

This was a long housekeeping post so have a bonus picture of His Highness being adorable.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post (CW) -> -> Skip CW Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Undershirt Finished!

Yesterday I cut and attached the cross-over panels to the front of the undershirt. I forgot to take any pictures of yesterday so I took some today. It turned out to me a good thing I did because I discovered that the cross-over panels were too wide.

I decided to cut them down and cut out strips to make a binding for the neckline.

I had to sew the strips together to make the binding long enough and I cut them on the straight grain because I really didn't have enough to make bias tape. I figured it would be fine because the linen I'm using is super wiggly. I was right.

I also used the technique that I use for putting the collar on kimono where you force the neckline to be straight rather than trying to get the collar to ease around the curve. I then just sewed the excess binding to itself to make the tie. I cut the tie in half, hemmed the new raw edges, and attached the second piece to the collar so I could tie it properly. Then I hemmed the bottom and it was done!

It's a little tight through the armpits, but I'm going to wait on adding gussets until the second shirt is done to see how they feel together.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Undershirt Troubleshooting

Recently I went to the eye-doctor for an exam and she said that while my vision is still really good, it being worse than it used to be means that I'm straining to see what I used to be able to. So she gave me a prescription and I've decided to wait to do any more embroidery until my glasses arrive. After all, I have been putting my embroidery frame within like, six inches of my face.

That being said, I finally felt up to doing some more fabric cutting, so I got started on the undershirt.

I tried to be as efficient as possible with the fabric usage.

I did actually remember to add seam allowance to it this time. After that, I zigzagged all the edges and sewed up the back. When I went to cut the second half of the sleeves I discovered a problem. In addition to the scrap I cut off of I have a strip that is 9" (22.89cm) wide. The problem was that according to my measurements, I needed a 12" x 12" (30.48cm) square for each sleeve. It does seem like the 9" strip will be enough for the front cross-over panels, but I had to piece the sleeves from the scraps.

The pieced sleeves ended up being too wide after I pieced and zigzagged them, so I had to cut them down and re-zigzag them.

I also decided it was a good idea to iron everything before I continued assembling. I attached the sleeves and then ironed it again. Then I hemmed the sleeves. I think that regardless of what I decide to do for the middle layer shirt, I wont do that. It made the hemming much easier, but on one of the sleeves the edges didn't quite meet properly.

I sewed up the sides and decided I'm done for today. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to cut out the cross-over panels, some ties, and the collar. If I can do that, I can probably finish the undershirt tomorrow.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post

[thejiangchengapologist]

Holiday Embroidery

I decided to take my embroidery to my relative's house to work on while I wait for dinner. I'm really feeling the lack of the embroidery arm. My back is complaining.

I didn't get any more than this done because the fun cousins showed up, but that's probably just as well, I'm in enough pain as it is.

Previous Post <- Master Post -> Next Post