So what is cosplay? It’s a portmanteau of “costume” and “role play”, originating in early Sci-Fi conventions, taken to Japan, and then exported back around the world. I like to think of it as performing a specific character without having to go through the audition process…

Anyway, people do cosplay for many reasons, and in the end, it’s because we find it fun in some way shape or form.

I cosplay because I enjoy bringing both the costuming and performance aspect together into one.  This post is going to be a bit longer than usual-I’m going to write about why I started cosplaying.    All following dialogue paraphrased from memory.

Once upon a time, I was watching a special on the original Transformers Series with my dad on “BotCon”. In one of the shots there was an Arcee and some other cosplayer, both costumes made out of cardboard, and my dad says “If you ever dress up like one of those I’ll disown you.” My dad denies that this ever happened. But for me, and my remembrance of it, made it so that cosplay (and by extension-conventions) was off the table.

Fast forward 7-8 ish years, and my mom asks me “Why don’t you ever go to conventions? I think they’d be perfect for you.” I relay the above incident, and my mom says she’ll talk to my dad.

The next time it’s just my dad and I, he asks “Alex, why don’t you go to conventions?” me (matter of factly):”You said you would disown me if I went to one.” dad: “No I didn’t.”

I made plans that day to go to my first convention in costume. And my mom helped as well. I love the Pretear manga (I more or less hate the anime from one episode-but that’s a different topic), and decided that I would use my own hair and do one of the more simple Pretears-the Plant Pretear.

My mom is a self-taught sewer, and does pretty awesome things, she helped me figure out how to make my costume from other clothing items and in the end-I had a wearable costume. And I had a ton of fun at Anime Banzai.

I think until I’ve got more pictures, I’ll continue this train of thought. So next week, more of Banzai.

After getting a decent amount of sewing done for my little Akuma top, I got a job interview that asked for sample work. So I got back to my dress projects, and started doing a hand-sewn invisible hem stitch on the bottom.

It’s a gathered dress-I’ve got like 7 or 10 inches left. It’s taken (so far) many One Piece Episodes, quite a few Voyager episodes, and whatever other people were watching at the time.  This hand stitching is taking about half as long as it took to sew the entire dress, which either means I’m out of practice, or my needle isn’t the sharpest.

Considering it started going faster after my first 6 inches or so, I’m guessing I was just out of practice for it. I’ll try and finish that up today. Once all 3 dresses are finished (the other 2 will be hand-hemmed as well) I’ll be getting photos. It seems like I’m promising a lot of photos, better get more on the book of faces for you all.

Regarding the job? The interview went well, but I went with a different offer. Hoping to start sometime this week.

I decided to take a break from my current dress projects (a group of 3 girls with matching dresses…) and get back to patterning. I’d like to get some Street Fighter costumes done this year, and I’ve done a lot of research to try and get the patterns right before I commit to getting fabric.

But, I have not had any luck finding a base I like for Ryu and Ken. I have a Taekwon-Do Dobok-but I can’t use that for etiquette/respect reasons. To problem-solve, I measured my little one (with the help of my husband-kids can be so squirmy), and made a pattern based on what I thought would work.

I decided to use what fabric I had on hand, of which the most I had was a dark blue linen. So-son of mine is going to get an Akuma costume. Because that’s what the fabric dictated. No other reason really…

Once it’s done I’ll try and do a more “How-To” post with pictures. If you want to catch a glimpse of the pattern drafted, check me out on Facebook. (:

Mother’s Day…My first as a mother. This week has been full of different challenges, and I made some pretty big decisions about how I want to move forward in life. And on one hand, it sucks. On the other hand, I know that these changes will help me be healthier and a better mother in the long run.

This is definitely a day of change. This time last year, I didn’t have my little one, but now, my little one is supporting himself standing, learning to climb, and has an idea of how walking may work. It is almost insane to think that he has learned this all in less than a year. But at the same time, it is something truly wonderful to see. The sense of wonder or frustration when a toy works expectedly or unexpectedly, and the desire to explore more.

It almost begs the question how much change am I capable of in a year. As I didn’t see much of a reason to change this time last year, it will be interesting to remark how far things have come once I get to year mark for my current yearly goals. I think that’s why it’s recommended for goals to be written down. You can then accurately look back and see what change has occurred.

I think the biggest trick is to keep at the goals, maintain the change, and be brave through it all.

So, adapting to life with a new child is not as easy as some people make it out to be. But it’s also not earth-shattering. I’ve completed a few costumes (or at least, made them wearable) and I’ve participated in a few events as either attendee or showcasing some talent, and I advanced a rank in TKD. Progress is possible.

This year I’ve made some goals for myself, and while I haven’t met all of them consistently yet (like updating this blog…), I have been taking steps towards them all. That being said-I have a Facebook counterpart to this blog now and I have an email address specifically for this blog and website. (See the Contact page)

What can you expect? More pictues shared on Facebook and more costumes. I’ve been waiting to do a write-up on some costumes I did with The Pink Po’udo-as they want better wigs and accessories (for awesome photos). I’m going to be experimenting with doing a sort of time lapse video of some sewing projects, and getting more progress pictures for all projects.