One more sleep!

 Final post before leaving for Anime North!  Tonight Jen came over and whipped up some awesome anbu tattoos on me with henna.  I think they look fab, best anbu tattoos at the con for sure!  They should darken up nicely by tomorrow afternoon :)!

And here's a ridiculous shot of myself wearing my Saiyaman helmet with the changes made to it.

Now off to finish packing and organize my thoughts!

Final pieces!

I've finally finished my costume completely! Yaaaay! And here are the final two images for it.  The first is my anbu vest, which was quite difficult to make only because of the fabric and batting it's stuffed with.  I'm pretty sure I'll never combine the two again, and stick to plain cottons for my next several costumes :).  The second image is my anbu sword, base being a plastic halloween ninja sword.  I've painted it, added fabric and details and made a holster of sorts for it to attach it to my back.

And here's some terrible quality pictures of myself in the full costume...

Lastly, my improved version of my Great Saiyaman helmet.  I feel it's much better now, more true to the original design, despite the differences that do still exist.  I still have a few other touch ups for this cosplay, but nothing unmanageable in the next few days.

My next planned cosplay is Draco Malfoy just in time for the final midnight opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, mid July.  I'll also be picking up the 7 movie passport hopefully tomorrow :D, exciting exciting!

Leg Wraps and Wig Test

I have mostly nitpicky small things left to do for this cosplay, and these leg wraps were no exception.  Unfortunately I'm mildly handicapped when it comes to using scissors to cut straight, so I had a few mishaps in terms of consistant size.  Also turning everything inside out really sucks when you have something 1cm wide.  I will probably need a couple safety pins to keep these up during the day but that's okay!

This leg wrap is something all anbu seem to have, so I made it and decked it out a bit more because, well it wouldn't be me if I didn't add something weird to it.  Not sure if I'll actually end up wearing it....I really should have made it slightly bigger but oh well.  The shorts here were a six dollar purchase from Value Village, which saved me from having to sew something similar.

And finally I managed to get my mask ready to wear, so I figured I'd do a wig/mask placement test.  I think it all looks pretty good together.  Love the wig so much, but I'll have to be careful to hide my hair at the bottom back as it's definitely made for a slightly smaller head, it'd be perfect if I had less hair. 

With some whisker scars and makeup it'll be super cool! :)

Gloves, Kunai, and a Sneak Peak! :P

I had no idea how to approach these.  I sat around for a while looking at photos of what other people had done, but still had no idea.  I didn't want them to be too squishy, or too lumpy.  I eventually got fed up and grabbed an old amazon box, some duct tape, gesso, paint and went at it.  This is the result.  The shape is off slightly, but I don't mind too much. :P

 I hate making gloves!  Usually they end up too tight around the fingers and too long at the ends, with lots of weird bunches around the middle.  Thankfully this fabric is elastic, and allows for stretch, and I cut the fingers off so I didn't have to worry about the ends.  I still ended up royally screwing up one glove and having to start over.  Because of the nature of the fabric it's impossible to rip out seams.  My favourite part as always was the detailing.  Hand painted the konoha symbol and added some knuts for good measure :)

 

 And here's a sneak peak at my vest so far.  Not much to look at I know!  This has been a pain and a half as well...I'm half using a tutorial, so I've gone and stuffed it with batting, but the batting is a pain, and the fabric is a pain, so together, it's a big pain.  hopefully worth the suffering in the end.  Plus the poofyness sorta hides my chest.  A little bit.  Binding has been unsuccessful, I've only managed to decrease by one cup size.  Hopefully no one thinks I'm supposed to be a female Naruto :S. 

11 days and counting!

Under two weeks left now and still a fair amount to do on my costume.  However I finished the scarf today quite quickly except for my struggle with the ends.  Here it is modeled by Theodore.

I also finally finished the sixth scroll last night.  The small ones are made from toilet paper rolls, and the big on a paper towel roll.  Other materials include scrunched up newsprint, packing tape, bottle caps, clothes pins, fabric, ribbon, acrylic, and gesso.  All in all they were inexpensive to make, and are very light.  I plan on hanging the small ones from my pant legs, and the large one across my back.  I also hand painted in the kanji on all of them...the represent the elements featured in naruto.

I made a trip to Value Village yesterday as well and picked up a turtle neck, which I ripped the sleeves off of and hemmed to make the basic anbu undershirt, as well as black long shorts, and this chain belt (2 bucks!):

The vest is a work in progress still, but the fabric and batting is cut and I plan on sewing it together tonight.  Other things left to make include: lower leg wraps, one upper thigh wrap, the sword (needs a paint job), a sword holster, kunai holsters/leg pouch, and ties for my mask.  This is definitely the most prop heavy costume I've ever made.

More Cosplay Progress....:D

I promised sandals next and here they are.  I used a tutorial for this since I generally struggle most with cosplay footwear.  I think these turned out pretty good, probably my best homemade shoes ever :).  I added some extra decor - the fabric on the back and ribbon around the sides to help them go with my costume more.

Also made the arm guards!  I had no idea how to approach these, but I just ended up pulling out some craft foam and my spray adhesive and putting it all together.  I coated my foot with glue while working on them since I'm incredibly clumsy when it comes to crafting...and well glue is probably my mortal enemy.  After putting the chains on I really found I liked the way they looked!

And finally I whipped up this little ninja pouch and belt just today.  Made a pattern for the bag from scratch and then had lots of fun decorating it.  I honestly didn't think it'd turn out quite as well as it did.  The belt was a bit hard to do, because of the nature of the fabric.  It frays like mad...not looking forward to making the vest particularly.

And finally I purchased this replica of Naruto's necklace given to him by Tsunade on Ebay.  It was the one item I felt necessary that I also had no desire to make.  It would never have the luminous quality I was looking for. 

I've also made some ninja scrolls with the elements on them, but I wont post a photo until I've finished all of them!  Anime North is two weeks today!  Hope I manage to get everything done!

Anbu Cosplay Progress Part 1

Man I love cosplay.  Every time I start a new costume I always remember how great it is.  Of course after I usually don't feel like touching a sewing machine for ten years or making anything crafty ever again. :P  But at current I'm not tiring with the making of this costume.  The mask is almost finished, quite heavy, but realistic.  Hopefully I'll be able to find something to hold it on securely for the three days at AN.  Usually everything always comes together.  Drop me a line if you're going to AN!   Oh and click the image to see it in all its glory...

Stay tuned for more cosplay updates! :D