Lucrezia Borgia at "Animatsuri"

This blog post is going to be about my first ever time participating in cosplay competition and my second time ever being in a convention.

So, I managed to finish the dress just as I was to fly to UK for a conference for a week. So, instead of packing my travel bag I also had to back everything I need for the convention. I was little worried about the wig, to be honest. I hold it on the foam mannequin head I forced into old broken tripod and the hairstyle felt so fragile so i was worried how it will survive the transportation (the convention was like two hours from my city by bus).

Anyway. I packed everything, flew to Northern Ireland, had great conference, got to met Game of Thrones dire wolfs and did many other great things and then, on Saturday morning I had my flight back. I never actually expected to arrive on time to go to the convention on Saturday despite by hopes that maybe.. maybe.. I will be in Tartu on time to go and listen few of the later presentation. Shappi was having a talk and I really wanted to hear about it.

The first leg of my journey went fine but then in Dublin airport my flight got delayed like almost two hours. So, that was all of my hope of getting to Tartu on time. Anyway, in the end, the flight took off and back at my country, I had my dad meet me with the other luggage and taking me to bus station. So, I just changed one briefcase to another one and took wig in a separate bag. And then, another 2.5 hours on bus. Jupii.. *irony*.

Anyway, in the end, it was 7 pm I think (I started my travels at 6a.m in UK timezone) when I finally arrived. I was tired, hungry and very sleepy. Off to a friends place, going out for dinner and off to bed. I had no more energy than that.

So, the convention for me only lasted for a day. I had actually bought 2 days ticket and in the end, I did not managed to do anything else than deal with the cosplay competition so I would think it was slight waste of money.

So, the doors opened at 11 or 12, I am not sure anymore. I was there slightly before but managed to get in to start with putting the costume on. The hardest part, I thought, would the zipper as it needed help to be pulled up. Somehow, there, at the convention, it was the only time zipper behaved. The real trouble was the wig!. I never actually tried it on after I started with styling. It was on the wig head, traveled to the paper bag I used for transportation and I took it out on site and put on first time. It looked brilliant and it had not suffered during transportation but... Because of the styling all the hair were at the back and the wig was very out of balance. I tried to use hair clips to control it but it was very hard to do by myself. I asked my husband to help me but he was slightly frightened by the request and did not understand what exactly did I needed. I also had the wig clue and I tried it on the lace and sides to keep it on place but it did not help either.

Anyway.. somehow the wig hold but it was falling back all the time and I needed to go to the mirror and fix it every now and then.

Also, I learned that I should probably do makeup not on site as they lack mirrors.But I thought I need wig before makeup.. Oh.. Anyway.. lesson to learn: try wig on before going to convention! Even if it looks so fragile!

Then, when the costume was on and makeup was somehow done (I think the lesson I also learned is trying to practice more makeup. I never wear makeup in real life as my skin just cannot handle it, but I can do it for a day (and suffering later)), it was time for meeting the judges.

I would be lying if I would say I was not nervous. Specially as I was in a wrong location first. Somone told me to go that way. It was actually the spot where cosplayers who have seen judges come out. Ups. Anyway, I found the right queue that was really long and there I stood and waited nervously. Some people were having trouble with their costumes that were falling apart all the time. I think my main worry was are my sleeves looking alright and does the under-dress give enough volume.

Anyway, it was my time to enter and I was greeted by three very friendly judges. It was much more relax atmosphere than I though it would be. They were very friendly and very impressed with my costume. I do not remember actually that if they asked me few questions. I think I just talked mostly myself. I do remember they asked me how long it took to make it and to be honest, I did not remember - months.. but it was never continues process. It was like having a mood for making the dress and then not having it..

It was also quite quick process and off I was. Then there was another queue for stage trial. I mixed my potions, realized that there was no table that I asked for (but that got solved as another contestant had a table and she was willing to borrow it). I went on the stage, realized it is quite small, somehow managed to do all the dance moves as I planned them.. It felt great :)

Photo by: Visual Culture Club

Then I did have some time. I went and saw few of the market stalls but nothing stood out. I talked with few other cosplayers (including the ironic conversation with the girl who was going to win Eurocopslay category telling that there is no point participating in Eurocosplay as we all know who is going to win - hinting that there are two very strong cosplayers who are probably going to take the main prize) but I knew almost none of them and to be honest, none of them actually tried to make friends. It looked like few of them know each other and they all stayed as groups. So, as a total newcomer I fit to nowhere.

Random shot with few people I knew and their friends.
Photo by Triin Kolga

And then was the competition. I was on the second half so I could wait for a long time and got nervous again. I think I was more nervous off stage than actually when I was up there. Up there it all just went so fast. I was probably thinking about my next move rather than worrying how am I doing. Irony was that all the tests I did at home and the stage test on site, I never overmixed my potions (I had baking soda and vinegar for making poison) but there, on stage, I did.. so some of it spil on the stage and it does not have the best smell. Ups.

 

 

Photos by Visual Culture Club

Anyway, I was done, happy (and not crying as one girl - I am not sure even why. She did not have any visible mistakes, as much as I understand dancing) and relaxed. All done. The show went on for a while, then there was group photo and maybe hour and a half before the closing ceremony.

Some people got their costume on. I took it off, mostly due to the wig. It was just falling back too often. So, I think it was mostly people sharing their thoughts. I actually took few bakeries I had in the bag as it was first thing I ate after light breakfast and clock was like 5pm.

Anyway, then was the closing ceremony and awards. Was I nervous? Not sure. I thought, after meeting the judges and getting the feeling that they were impress with my costume (but who knows, maybe they did it to everyone?) that I am going to win something. But I was also very contempt with the idea of not winning as there were so many so great cosplays and this was like first time for me.

The first awards for cosplayers were actually defile category. And two of the main favorites actually got placed there (the rule is that you can only win once and if you win in lower category, you cannot win in higher category). So, for a second I was little panicking that really, did I win eurocosplay (I actually planned only to take part in defile but when I sent my application, they told me to switch because of the quality of the cosplay). Luckily, not. It went to amazing cosplayer who did DragonAge Inqusition and after I saw her in-progress pictures... just wow.. that costume, the details, the work. And she did really well in the EuroCosplay finals too. So, I totally think the right person won it! (And someone who was not in the main 2 favorites - I really think there should be some way to encourage people to participate even if there are few who have done this for like 10 years and are so much further ahead than those who just started. If those who just started will come and see that no matter how much effort they put, they just cannot compete with 10 years of experience, they will quite. I think people should be encouraged not pushed away.. Everyone loves to win. They do not have to win main price. I actually loved those judges favorites and other small categories. Maybe more of them next year?)


But actually, this year they also had three judges favorites so.. I did managed to win one of those for the "best sewn costume". I think I was little stunned on that moment that I actually won something that I was little off, maybe.. but it all sank in later.. I mean, my first ever competition. My first ever really complex cosplay project (that was more than just sewing magical girl like Irisiviel :P) And to be honest, I think, it got me wanting more. More complex costume. Even better skills.. Doing better next year (getting into defile winners or even.. girl can dream :D)

Still little shocked that I did actually won something
Photo by: Visual Culture Club

 So, after few days of settling in, and thinking over the whole experience again, I started to realize that this competition, for me, lacked feedback. Yeah, some people get awards, most get nothing. How could they know how to improve? I think in Eurocosplay final they actually release scorecards or something that shows you were you can improve. There was nothing like this about Animtsuri. So, I took my courage and I actually wrote all 3 judges and asked where could I improve. All of them actually answered to me within days and 2 of them gave me long and very detailed feedback. The main thing was that my makeup was not good. To be honest, I accept that critique. I think people who make up themselves everyday do not even think about the troubles I am thinking. Anyway, I went on to buy more stuff, watched tons of videos, took a course.. so I try to be better on this next year.

The second problem that one judge brought out was the color of the fabric. The were given printed reference images and who knows the quality of the printer. The color they had on their paper was different from the color I had on my dress. All my hard work calibrating and printing before sewing was blown to pieces. The suggestion was that next time I will bring my own print out so I do not have to worry about that factor, especially if I did put so much effort finding the right color.

So, overall - being in a competition takes the whole day. No time to eat, sit or enjoy the convention. I did love the experience but I would love to enjoy the convention also. So, hopefully next year, I will not miss Saturday and can go to workshops (I would love to go to worbla workshop and learn new skills).

• Start
• Main dress
• Sleeves
• Decorations: Wig, jewelry and pearls
• On convention 

Lucrezia Borgia - Decorations: Wig, jewelry and pearls

So, when sewing was done, the dress was not.

The first step was the pearls. When you look at the reference images, there were a lot of pearls. So, again, it was much cheaper to order them from ebay than to buy them locally. I did not knew which size would be best (or which white tone), so I ordered few different sizes of green, two different colors of green and two different colors of white. Pearl white was perfect with my yellowish main fabric and the moss green worked fine with my mint green fabric. It was not perfect but close enough.

I started adding pearls to the bodice. I followed the reference image as closely as possible but because my bodice was slightly longer I had to do some creative modification. Then, I added silver stripe to the bodice and pearls there too. Even though it took some time, I actually loved adding the pearls. It was that kind of relaxing activity. Not very complex, things going all right and the result was really nice.

Then came the pearls on sleeves and it was trickier as I had to make sure that the pattern I had for the pearl groups would fit into the circle around the sleeve. So, I did not follow the pattern all the time, trying to hide the "mistakes" to the not so visible areas. (and then I discovered that sleeves have to be slightly larger and I undid the stripes and pearls..)

And then the dress was mostly done. As I removed the undergarment sleeves from the undergarment and sew those into the main dress to make sure they stay in place, I also decided to do something similar with the undergarment visible under the bodice. I used pre-gathered lace for the most part and in the front, I sew rectangular piece of fabric, with elastic ribbon and pre-gathered lace. All done by hand. Worked well enough.

Then came the accessories. The main thing was the wig. I ordered two different blond wigs - one with lace front, other without it but slightly more yellowish tone and slightly longer. While they were on post, I started to work on the netted caul. The pattern I used for the base dress came with a guide for the caul. I thought it was going to be short, considering the refrence for the headstyle I had.

 

So, I made it larger at one end. I used a pillow as my base for working and used pins to position the same silver thread I used in the dress to make the net. When the base was set using pins, at every junction, I had to sew the pearl and sew the junction together. Again, it took ages to do it. But in the end, I actually had the net and pearls. It tooks lot of pearls. Then, I used the same green ribbon I used thousands times with this dress again to do the sides. It is a nice little piece of caul that I got but it took hours to make.

 Then I got my wigs. I decided to go with the lace one as I thought it will be easier to do the hair line as the hairstyle was drawn back. I did few not so successful tries trying to figure out how the hairstyle could be made (I mean - I saw it on the reference images but it was not so easy to redo it. I started to get quite desperate at one point. I mean - I can sew. I have learned so many new aspects with this projects but hairdressing.. I now need to learn this).

Oo my.. it looks almost brownish on this photo

So, again, few hours of research and I decided not to start with the braided hair at the top but to curls at the bottom. Then I just tried to add a lot of volume to the wig and figure out how much hair I can use for the braids. I handsew the caul into the wig to keep it in place and it most have been 101 try with the braids when it started to look like it actually reminds me what I see on the reference. To be honest, wig was nightmare. And I have no idea what I can do to gain more skill in the field. I guess it will be testing and testing and testing.

 

I also added two small ribbons of green with pearls at the bottom of the wig. i did not sew them in (as it thought it will not work). So, on the con, acutally, i was losing one of the ribbons all the time.. somehow I always found it and asked someone to put it back.

The jewellery. I did not made the details myself. I spent hours in web trying to find close as possible components. I think I am 99% happy with what I found. Not all of those components were on the right color. The jewels were most off. So, I bought some transparent glass colors (the jewels were plastic but I thought it will work) that were meant to stick after you heat them in oven. I could not heat plastic in oven so I just hoped it will work and add this kind of more bluish feeling to the color. It worked brilliantly. And due to the fact that I had multiply colors (blue, black, white), I was able to mix different shades and the result was much better than it could have ever been with purchased colored items.

I colored the jewels and beads, I put it all together using small wire, clewed in the endings, tried it on and realized it was too long. Damn super clew! It was hard to take it a part, remove few beads and do it again. But the result was good. I am super happy about the earrings as I do not have piercings I managed to find components that look like piercing but actually are not


The final element that I missed was the ring but I was off for a conference just before the con and I did not managed to deal with it. Luckily, while on conference, I managed to do some shopping and find very similar ring for just few pounds.

Final set of jewelry

• Start
• Main dress
• Sleeves
• Decorations: Wig, jewelry and pearls
• On convention 

Lucrezia Borgia - sleeves

So, when main part of the dress was done,  the next step were the sleeves. When I started the project, the sleeves were the one thing I was most excited about but it was nightmare to make in the end. Any other kind of sleeves during Renaissance area would have been easier to make, I think.

First, I started with the bottom part of the sleeves that is solid and reminds common sleeves. I used pattern from another dress to make this. Then, i modified them slightly to facilitate the buffs at the sides. I tried the pattern on and it looked fine. I made first version of the sleeves, sew (by hand) the ribbons and silver thread on them, added lining and strips and tried it on to realize that the wrist area is way too small when trying it on with underdress and huge sleeves on it. So - REDOING!

I made the wrist area much larger and I was afraid it is too large (no, I should have made it slightly larger). I had limited supply of the green ribbon (I was so lucky I found ribbon with such a matching color), so I undo it from the first run of sleeve and sew it again on the second run. Silver thread took a lot of time, again.

For the lining I used the base fabric I used for printing (lightly yellowish) and I added adhesive fabric to it to make it stronger and keep the shape. I went to fabric shop and got myself the strongest adhesive fabric I could but that was way too strong and it did not stuck to fabric. I tried it on some other more natural fabrics and it worked very well there. But it was almost like a board. Very stiff. So, I used slightly stiffer adhesive than I normally do but not the super strong version I thought I will use.

So, the main parts of the sleeves consist of three layers - printed fabric, adhesive fabric and lining. It was still lightweight but nicely keeping its form.

Most of the time I worked with flat sleeves but in the end, I needed to sew together the some of the sides and make sure that the ribbon (using pattern to make sure it is straight was really good) and the pattern match on both sides was slightly tricky. I am just not good at all doing things very precisely. Again, basting.

The top part of the sleeves, around wrist, I sewed by hand - it was easier to control the hole situation that was slightly tricky.

Then, when the bottoms were done, I started working with the ribbons. As the main sleeve was lined, so were going to be the ribbons. I considered cutting the lining from the yellowish fabric I used for the printing but I was not sure it is stiff enough and could I be sure that all the ribbons are going to be exactly the same size. So, instead of using the yellow fabric and adhesive fabric for stiffening, I bough right color ribbon from the fabric shop. I had to visit few of those to get ribbon with right color and width. Again, I needed a lot of it. 12 stripes per sleeve. So, that made sure that all the stripes are going to have exactly the same width. Then, I cut out the main stripes from the fabric. Using the patterned fabric, it was easy to make sure they are straight. With mint green, it was trickier. In the end, I had lot of strips. Again - hand sewing! I needed to apply silver cord to all the sides. That was 24 meters and more I think. I managed to ping-watch another show while doing it (was in Narcos?). Then, I basted the main stripes over it and used machine to sew those together.

 

And when the cords were done, the silver thread came. It is visible from the reference images that the patterned fabric on the sleeves is covered with silver thread following the pattern. For one stripe it meant two silver threads that have to follow the shape - (not many straight lines). At one point, the both threads follow single line. I first tried to come up with a solution where there is only single thread on those places and two on others. But due to the material trying to unwind as soon as I cut and using knots was the only way to keep it in form, I decided to go with two stripes and trying to hide that there are double cords on the areas where only single line is visible.

Finished stripes with silver cord and silver thread

So, 12 stripes with 2 threads per stripe. Another show ping watched (I think it was Underground?).

Then, when the stripes were finished (I would say the stripes took longer than tiles on the skirt), I needed to make sure I have them in right length. Because I had no pattern for it, I did some research and the way people seemed to do those were that they used usual pattern for sleeve and just enlarged it (mostly to the height). So, it was just gathering the stripes, basting then to the ribbon and testing to make sure I have normal looking sleeve. I realized that most of my stripes were too long. Even now, when I cut them, I think I could have cut them slightly more.

Preparing the sleeves. Gathering at the connections points and sewing them all to single line

When I had perfected one sleeve, it was easy - just undoing the basting and copying it to the second set of stripes. To keep the ribbons on place, I used machine to sew the gathered stripes to the green ribbon. I got those kind of flat sleeve looking things. Then I needed to connect them - at first, again, I did not thought about the underdress. They were fine on their own but the underdress and its sleeves actually add a lot of volume. I only discovered it when I already had some pearls added (I needed a break from the sleeves at one point so I went on adding the pearls. It was more fun than dealing with those nightmarish sleeves)  - so it was not very comfortable to redo it. Luckily I had enough ribbon at this point.

The second problem, again, me not thinking, was that the sleeves were sewn to the main part of the dress and did not used ribbons to connect as I first had assumed. So, I had to undo the armpits of the main dress and sew the ribbons to the lining and then, carefully, handsew the green fabric to its place. The result was nice :)

Sleeves connected to the dress but they are not holding the shape

One problem arose - the sleeves were losing their shape when I put it on. I did some research and It seemed most people sew the undergarment sleeves onto the main dress and connected it to the sleeve to keep the shape. I wanted to have the fluffy feeling so I had two options - have three layers of fabric (stripped sleeve, fluffy undergarment and base sleeve) or have two layers and use stripes to keep the sleeve shape. I went with the second. But that mean that I was going to redo the underdress (as the itchy fabric was horrible to wear, it sounded like good prospect). I removed the sleeves, sew them by hand to the main part of the dress, fixed the fluffiness by basting it to the ribbons connecting the stripes on the sleeves. Then I added to ribbons per sleeve to (one at the top, another at the bottom) to keep the sleeve in the pace. It was lot of inventing but it worked.

The final step of the sleeves were to hand sew the bottom part of the stripes with bottom sleeves. I made the undergarment sleeves slightly narrower at the end so that they would fit into the bottom sleeves. I loved the volume they added to the stripes but it was too much extra volume for the bottom.

• Start
• Main dress
• Sleeves
• Decorations: Wig, jewelry and pearls
• On convention