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Catching up on Projects

 Where'd the time go? Goodness. Well, I've made a little bit of progress on some costumes but my focus the past few weeks has been game making and sewing gifts for my nephews. Broke out my embroidery machine and broke a few needles. Ha ha ha.  Finished up the Helm for the Armorer:  3/4 pieces of the chest piece are printed. (I'll start printing the last piece soon.) I've been collecting pieces for another costume idea.  I still want to work on Rescue eventually too. But it requires some more research.  But most of my projects have ground to a halt because my cat got sick. Had a couple of visits to the ER Vet this past two weeks and several visits to his regular vet. He's now going to be on prescription food for the rest of his life. I'm worn out and haven't been able to focus on any of my hobbies. But I'm taking a vacation first week of Easter to finish up sewing backpacks and little dragons for my nephews since their birthdays are at the end of April. 

3D Printed Cosplays

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It's 2021 and this past year I've started getting the hang of 3D printing. It's fun. It has greatly expanded cosplay potential. So, right now I'm working on a few 3D-printed armors  Armorer The first project I started in November while visiting my parents for Thanksgiving. I got caught up with the Mandalorian and just felt a desire to at least print the Armorer's Helmet.  Well...I did just that! With the helmet printed and painted. I opted to go for the whole costume. I have patterns for some of the leather parts, a shag fleece fabric for the mantle, and patterns for the chest armor. I have yet to print the chest armor, but I expect to do so soon. The hammer prop and the belt do-dads are already printed but not assembled.  Rescue: MCU So the other bit of armor I'm planning to do is Rescue (Iron Woman...in a sense) from Marvel Cinematic Universe. This one is in heavy planning stages. I purchase some 3D files for the armor pieces and resized them to fit my body me...

Zelda Costume Process

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Most of my time has been spent making the costume in time for Halloween, which was successful! However, I haven't done the day to day journaling like past costumes. It's going to be one big info dump, so hold on your butts. It's go time! Underdress The underdress was cut from Simplicity Pattern 8113. I cut it out of white jersey knit and following the marks exactly. I sewed the pieces together, but I did not follow the instructions for this part. I did not install a zipper or lining. After sewing the pieces together, I fitted it on my dress form and made some cuts to the neckline and back neckline. Then I hemmed the edges of the sleeves and collar. I did not hem the skirt although after Halloween I intend to serge the skirt edge. For clean edges. (Man maybe I should have done that for the collar too. Ah wells.)  I left out the embroidery of the harp and banner and the gold trim. I didn't expect to have that part of the costume in the camera shots. So that's where I ...

Modesty's Low Carb Build-Your-Own Ramen "Recipe"

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 This is not a proper recipe by any means. Just some thing I enjoy making for myself that I'm writing down. After all, this is mostly a crafty, game design, project blog.  Anywho, I'm not going to make this like other recipe blogs with a whole story about how I came up with it. The only things I'll say are...it's not authentic...it's not trying to be. It's only an approximation made with ingredients found at most major grocery stores so you don't have to go to a specialized marketplace or order online. Here are the basics.  Broth - Protein - Noodles - Veggies - Toppers You will need a big pot on medium-low heat to combine ingredients in. However, some ingredients may need extra preparation in a pan, microwave or oven.  Broth Base The base of "real" ramen varies depending on the type of ramen. For our case, I find that Bone Broths are the best for the base.  I usually get a couple cups worth of bone broth. I prefer to use beef, but chicken works as ...

Zelda Day 2-3

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 There's not much time between now and Halloween but progress is finally being made with Princess Zelda.  Day 2 - Apron First day, I prepped my white cotton, used my template and cut out 4 copies of the apron. Took those pieces and used Color Max Spray paint to make the blue and purple gradient.  Cut the template a bit and taped it down to the cotton to spray paint the green edge. I printed out a second copy of the template for the gold and purple paint which I will do by hand with the template as guidance.  I have four copies of the apron just in case. Once I have the gold parts painted, I'm going to use some bond and fuse to put two of the apron pieces together, with a bit of interfacing or foam pieces along the top to connect to the belt.  Day 3 - Pattern cutting Last weekend I got my flu shot so I wasn't feeling so great over the weekend. Plus I got sidetracked with some crochet projects. I just get in these crafty moods sometimes. Anyway, I did cut out the ...

Costume Progress: Zelda and Linkle

 With no events to really set a hard deadline on costume projects, things continue to progress at a leisurely pace. But they are progressing.  Princess Zelda So I have all the armor parts 3D printed. Did a few layers of finishing on them but there's still plenty of work to do for those I've been coating it with clear polyurethane Things are starting to feel smooth to the touch. I also 3d printed a Heart container for fun. I'm out of the gold filament so trying be careful with my armor pieces.  A couple days ago I purchased the fabric to make the dress with and received the package of wigs!  Linkle For this I recently got the wig and wefts. I have 3D printed all the metal parts of the cross-bows. I got the nozzle and wood filament for the rest of the crossbow parts. Lotara Remade my prototype for the leather armor. I looked at the fabric I got but haven't touched it since the 3D printer is taking up my sewing table at the moment. 

Project Slow Down

It's always a bummer hitting a snag in a plan. However, Summer is always a mixed bag when it comes to projects. Obviously this summer has been full of snags around budget and mental health. And I feel like every few years I tend to shift gears from one creative pursuit to another. I'm wrapping up the writing for my visual novel which means I need to start cranking out some art. Due to aforementioned budget concerns, I don't think I'll be able to afford hiring out for many artists. Still want someone else to handle backgrounds but we'll see what I can do in the mean time.  This past weekend I finally cleaned my crafting space since it's been full of delivery boxes for weeks. I still need another shelf or container unit to hold supplies neatly but I'll feel better once I get that done.  I did get my fabric for Lotara. Waiting on the wigs for Linkle and Zelda. Finished printing the armor for Zelda. Got the parts I need to print out Linkle's crossbows. Re-di...