Modesty Studios

I'm terrible at being regular about this. Probably because I write all day and get kind of burnt out on it. But I'll give some updates. One because Halloween is just around the corner, I've been working on a costume. I made a cute lolita-inspired dress so I can be a broken doll. (I'll post pics later.) My mom also got me a used serger that she got for making a baby outfit for someone. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet but...I also have to remember how they work. :/ Pidge Cosplay I got the fabric and the legging pattern may be a bit too small. I'm praying that the spandex compensates. Although...we all may live to regret that. LOL. Apartment Complex I've been working on re-organizing my apartment so I have more room to work in and can have people come over. Still trying to figure out a system for my project storage. I have a lot of backburner things in giant plastic tubs. It's kind of tough. Financial Pressure Things are a bit ti

So I've flushed hours of my life on Pinterest, scoping out different things necessary for this project. Today, I've purchased the spandex and the patterns I need to make the top and bottom of the jumpsuit. I decided that because the costume is "cut in half" by a belt that wearing a jumpsuit would be unnecessary and uncomfortable. I did that for my Halo cosplay...but that was when I was younger and more foolish. Look, PANTS. I was planning on making just a turtleneck shirt and pants then draw on the seam lines. But then I was like...wait...those are Princess Seams. Those are seams used for a SLIMMING effect. In order for that shirt to be FITTED AF, it'd have to be real princess seams. And if using seams for the shirt, I can't just do regular leggings. It took some snooping but I found a good patter. I'm gonna SHARE because I'm NICE like that. The ones I'm using personally are these McCall's Activewear patterns: I picked these patterns

So I took a Staycation the first week of this month and used it to buy a new car and work on some projects. I did gain some weight back but I'm already down again and heading toward the next goal: 140 lbs or less. (As of today I'm 144!) Loss of Weight When I started the weight loss program I was 157 lbs and creeping ever closer to an unhealthy 160. My first goal was to get down to 150 lbs. It took about 6 weeks of dieting and hardly any exercise to do that. Once I reached that I wanted to go for another 5 lbs. It took another 5 - 6 weeks but I did get down to 145 for a total loss of 12 lbs in about 12 weeks. Which is what I wanted. Losing about 1 lb a week.  At one point I did start doing some arm toning exercises, but I fell off the bandwagon because my weights were too heavy and I hurt myself. One of these days I'll go get 3 lb weights and ease back into the 5 lbs.  The weight loss was a personal goal but also prompted by a desire to get back into cosplay

Exciting day. I've lost 12 lbs of weight and I have noticed that I'm slimming down. I'm working on toning my arms now but I feel like I'm in a good place. I'm going to continue striving to get my weight down but spandex IS on sale this weekend, so before the 5th I intend to re-measure myself and figure out how much fabric I need for the Jumpsuit...which will be stirrup pants and a turtle neck. The only "hurdles" right now are a) I'm also trying to buy a car this week so I expect to be emotionally drained. b) My laptop battery isn't charging so I'm waiting on a new charger. (2nd one for this particular laptop.) And c) Steam Summer Sale. FML. I expect to be gaming a lot. AND sewing plushies. I finished the body for Loyal defender and wings and redid the head. I actually am at the point where I need to sew the head to the body. ...Oh and sew the ears and horn on too. Then make a mane pattern. Then I'll have my big pony plush pillow. ^^ A

Heh...so I've spent awhile in the ol' planning phase for this. And in that time some of the folks I enjoy watching on YouTube have made builds. EvilTed also provided a (currently) free pattern for the helmet. >_> Which I've downloaded along the with the other one I purchased. -_- Just my luck right? Anywho...as promised back in March I made lots of doodles and plans. Other than Evil Ted and Punished Props I've tried to avoid YouTube tutorials. While I like guidance on some things, I always want to figure it out myself first.  Helmets I've never had luck with...at least no luck finishing. I've had my Inquistor helmet patterned for years but no motivation to finish it. :( Poor Dalish Inquisitor and DA:I Alistair. You shall be avenged...I mean completed. Just Not today.  BING BING...so one of my "pre-reqs" for starting this costume was to lose weight. The good news is I made my first goal of getting down to 150 lbs. Goal 2 is getting dow

I'm the worst at updating. But summer's coming and for some reason that seems to be getting me into my creative groove again. So I think it's almost been a year but I'm still working on my Pony OC plushies. I'm happy to say that I've finished the first "body" of a pony. She still needs a mane and tail, but here's Willow Wisp. The wings are velcroed on so I can interchange them with open wings. The eyes and cutie marks were hand embroidered. ...Yeah...I have to find a better way to do that.  And luckily  I think I have. I found a video that suggested printing on felt which is something I may try. (I did an experiment on batting and it worked decently well.) Which will help speed up the process on other ponies. Seriously, hand embroidering make-up eyes...So much work.  I've taken apart my old Rough Edges pony and recut him in proper minky. He's the other one I had nearly finished but now I have to start over with. :P 

So I usually buy Kamui Cosplay' s books when they come out. I find them very helpful and since I get PDF versions, fairly priced. The newest addition is about sewing . As much as I'd like to think I'm old hat when it comes to sewing, I can always learn something new. For me, the fabric reference alone was worth the price. Deciding what fabric to use is my challenge. Although to be fair...sergers while great, totally optional. Just more work sure but yeah. They have a section on making leggings which I'll be doing in my next cosplay. The book helped me decide between Lycra (spandex) or Jersey knit. I LOVE my jersey knits recently as I've a bunch of it around for clothes I wanted to sew. (But never got around too yet.) She carries the books of other authors as well of which I also usually purchase.  For those who care...on my virtual bookshelf I have: The Book of Cosplay sewing (new!) Advanced Painting – Airbrush & Weathering The Book of Cosplay

So after watching the newest remake of Voltron and LOVING the paladin armor, one of the first thoughts I had after watching the show was..."I have to cosplay this." I've been holding off the "official start" for the project as I've been deep into researching and planning. And for awhile I wasn't sure which paladin to choose. Ended up with Pidge because green is my favorite color of the current color palate. And the only official female on the team. Downside is...all the characters (save for Hunk) are way skinnier than I am. Another reason I've held off cosplaying for awhile is I've got too much gut and Spanxx can only hold so much for so long before becoming very painful.  So phase 1 is weight loss.  I want more energy which the extra 20lbs I carry around is not helping with. SO...no it's not JUST the costume that's prompting the weight loss, but it's a nice motivation. I've done a lot of break-downs of the costume its

Artist Turian - in love with exploration of art in other cultures. Dance is her favorite art form. She also paints. Name: Perpeta Ignalus Originally from the Oma Ker Colony, now lives in the Citadel where she can mingle with many different species. Skills: Hand to hand fighting Age: 27 Service Years: finished boot camp, spent time assisting ambassadors at the Citadel. Veritus Luccedus (Turian Boyfriend) Maeli'Jaedal nar Yaama (Quarian Dancer) Crafty Historian - an adventurous archaeologist and collector of rare artifacts. Good at recreating historical garb and some objects. Enjoys teaching cultural history. Name: Caelia Hilaraka Homeworld: Palaven Travels Often Other skills: Pistols, Tech (new and old), piloting Age: 32 Sister to Perpeta.

Visor Thoughts Since making my Quarian/Tali helmet two years ago (Gawd...it's been two years), I've learned quite a bit but this video...made me happy mad. Happy because it's a great resource for making a visor and mad because back in the day I had this mask and used it as a buck model for petg plastic. :( All along I could have used this chrome mirror mask, used some model lacquer tinted paint and krylon crystal clear finish. Life's not fair. But on the plus side, I share this with you should you have a visor delemna on your costume project. The video is unclear on how to tint it but in the comments I found mention of airbrush painting or laquer. So still have the same issues for coloring.  As you may have surmised from my lack of cosplay posts that I've taken a break from cosplay for a couple of reasons. Depression the creativity killer. Just losing interest in going to cons which seems to be the only place to cosplay.  Want to lose weight. Also a p