Erza Clear Heart Cosplay Part 1

This is my first serious cosplay crafting/blogging after graduating. It's taken a few years but hopeful this works out.

I actually bought more pieces of my outfit then I had previously. one of the perks and downfalls of having a job slightly more money (not much) but a lot less time. I decided to go for her clear heart clothing, mainly because it's simplest and something I think i can pull together in a few weekends.

The only thing I didn't like about this outfit was the amount of exposed skin, i'm also quite top heavy so the idea of trying to find strapless support was frighting, no support is not an option and clear straps end up being very shiny/reflective. So I decided to go with a leotard with short sleeves.  I bought it off amazon ($18) in a "nude" color... which isn't even close to disappearing on my skin. After searching a bunch of blogs and such I saw a few tips from ballerinas on dying with Rit dye. I decided to get a new pot for $11 so I don't contaminate anything else and use some old coco brown powder dye I had left over for a different project. I used a hot water bath and dyed the leotard for about 4 min and the rinsed it multiple times. I also hand washes it and hung it to dry. Once dry I think I got fairly close definitely not far enough off to re-dye it.

I was about to buy more fabric, then I realized that since I've wanted to make this outfit for a while I probably already had fabric I rummaged through my craft room and found about 2-3 yards of red fabric and maybe 1.5 yards of yellow fabric. I decided to eyeball some of the measurements, but cut out 2 pieces for the backs and 2 for the front. I sewed the back and front of each side together (but not all the way up),  then used a basting stitch to sew the crotch. I then realized I was out of fabric and didn't have enough to make the back portion.

Off to the store, where I bought some more red fabric (luckily it was the same color since I forgot to bring a sample) 2 packages of black bias tape and some stretchy and non stretchy white material for the top and the white elements on the pants. I know I need t
he white belt on the pants, but I haven't decided if I will make a second pair of pants to sew inside the first, or try to make pockets.

The next step was adding the flames, I sketched a few things on paper and cut out two shapes. Then I traced them repeatedly on the yellow fabric and cut it out. Next I sewed the black biased tape to the yellow flames. I actually took the time to iron everything which made the sewing quite a bit easier.

Next sewed the yellow and black to the red pants. I used quite a few pins to make sure the flames didn't move around too much. Sewing in the shape of flames is already difficult, So I took out the basting stitch in the crotch to make the legs lay flat. I left a large chunk of yellow at the bottom I plan to hem since it looks like the inside is also yellow at the bottom.Then I sewed the crotch area again, I'm thinking I will probably add an additional zigzag stitch and use a black marker to make the flames look like they line up and have sharper peaks once i cut away excess fabric.

At this point I had to take a break and get ready for the rest of the week, although I did pick up some oil sheen and sprayed down the wig I bought off of amazon for $27. While I was on amazon I also picked up a few fairy tale temporary tattoos... 15 for $9. I know I only really needed one, but I've already applied one just because it's fun!

Next tasks:

• Make the top
• Add white to pants
• Hem/finish pants
• Style wig

Zabuton

I started this post back in March of 2016... but apparently never posted it (i forgot to add the images...which I've done now)


My old futon disappeared in my move and instead of getting a new one... or replacing it with a proper couch, I decided I rather liked the open space and would rather sit on the floor. This was great until my bottom complained. So instead I decided for a while it would be fine to use my stuffed animal. He is very comfortable but not exactly practical. This is when I started my hunt for seat cushions. I had wanted to buy zabuton(座布団) while in Japan bit couldn't fit it into my suitcase so I started searching the internet. I came across lots of yoga supply stores selling them for around $35 to $60 each.
My craft room has barely been touched in months... so I decided this is a great project to get back on the proverbial horse.

I found all purpose foam at home depot for $25 that is 24x72x3 this is slightly bigger than normal zabuton but I like it soft and big enough to curl up on and sit multiple ways.

I know I have razor blades somewhere to cut the foam with... however after looking for about 20 min I figure they are a casualty of the moving war and ordered an xacto knife online for $5.

Once this came I was able to easily cut the foam into 3 relatively equal pieces.

Next to cover them. I've decided to try and use

up some of the fabric I have and found several yards of muslin. I cut squares and sewed three of the edges up and put the foam inside. I then slip-stiched the last side closed.
One thing I learned is if you are watching TV and reading subtitles while sewing ...you should probably also wear a thimble.



Once the foam was encased in the muslin i sewed down the corners as well.








Next I went hunting for more fabric and found some purple and black 'leftover' fabric. I decided to do triangles to make things a bit more interesting. Unfortunately this lends itself to even numbers and since I had 3 cushions, one ended up being stripes.
I arranged the fabric to be triangles on the front and stripes on the back.

 The cushions are a tight fight into the cases, but they are removable. I've used them almost every day since I made them and they are holding up well. I can take the covers off and wash them periodically but the muslin stays. Three cushions for $30 - not too bad!