Noel Kreiss: Finishing sandals, belt & wig work.

*All pictures have bigger versions for your enjoyment

After my last entry, I continued with the shoes until they were finished, what can I say? I was on a roll.
So since I finished with that, I've kept on with the pleather work and started on the 'main' belt, cut the wig and made the first make-up try. /All the while I'm embroiding every day, so busy.

This time, I didn't take too many pictures though, I was in the zone and just snapped a few, whenever I remembered, so this entry might seem a bit choppy.

The outer "fold" of the shoes, I made with the same texture pleather, as I did the tip, and the result is definitely much better than than I expected it to be.
I attached it with hotglue, textile glue and stitching where my needle would pull through, don't want it falling off suddenly, now do we?

Now this was the part I dreaded the most, I did a few tries on scrap, but still I was very worried that the fabric would be ruined if the loops slipped. Thankfully it didn't and it ended up looking real neat.

So here's the finished result... well finished and finished, I need to measure the laces and cut them, also remove some glue from the edges of the sole.
There is some small changes from the original design, but that's purely for aesthetic and comfort reasons.

As said, I got my wig, it's been cut and I'm slowly figuring out how I want it to be styled, since I want it natural and without as much product as I usually use.
The make-up is pretty natural as well, but actually as close to his look as I could get this time around. It was pretty entertaining doing, because looking closely at the artwork, you can see the colors that've been used to shade around his eyes and lips, definitely a catering to the cosplayers, haha.
Also, the reason that the wigs looks lighter, is because it's layered with powder, to make it more natural looking. /of course it shines through on direct flash like this. + awkward smile for your enjoyment

And lastly, I'm working on his leather belt, and I have to thank my roomate, Nadia, for leaving me a lot of scrap-fabric, that inspired me to use the textures I'm using in the belt! In itself, the process is pretty boring, so no more pictures than this, I'm sure you can imagine the rest.

Noel Kreiss: Making sandals out of booties.

*All pictures have bigger versions for your enjoyment

This weekend, my bff came over, for a weekend of cosplay prepping, since I'm helping him with his first cosplay, I feel so honored to be able to help others with their cosplay.
Friday we made his patterns, and Saturday we drove out to get the fabric, and I myself got things for Noel /some pretty amazing fabric! we got our stuff ready and then we started working.

Since I wanted a break from embroidering, I decided I wanted to start on Noel's shoes, since I really like making shoes and boots, maybe because it's both crafting and sewing.
The base is an old pair of booties I've had lying around, and figured they'd be good. I know his design is flats, but with all the girls in my group wearings heels, I couldn't handle being the male AND the shorty.
I added a foam tip, to make the shoe a little wider and half-an-inch longer, comparing with my flat boots.

Then onwards to the covers, I've decided using two types of pleather, a very textured and another with a sleek look. Kaito's shoes only had two places with stitches, but since Final Fantasy's designs are so detailed, I figured I should get as close to the original as creatively possible.

God were we messy or what? ANYWAY before cutting into the original fabric for the leg-covers, I made a rough copy, wanted to see if my idea for the design would actually work. With a little touch-ups it did.

I left the the bottom free, to fit properly around my foot and the base.

And this is the result of an evenings work. All I need is to put in laces and the last piece around the ankle
I'm very satisfied with these, they've already turned out way better than I imagined /eventhough it looks like I have clowns feet on the second picture, wth? and they're really comfortable to wear and easy to walk in.
Hayes complimented me a lot on them, making me feel so humbled, I'm just happy I could actually make something this good.

Today, Sunday, I started stitching again, starting on another new color, it's moving forward! Oh yeah~
And Hayes got to finish his T-shirt for Maqui, his first, and damn, it's really well made, and I'm so proud!

Argentine and Noel's patterns

I got a little of my cosplay-motivation back, and I started up on Argentine again.
Cut out the pieces for his halter neck, but since it's plain black, I didn't feel the need to take any pictures of that. Other than that, I finished the top of his pants, there really wasn't a need for it, but I added an elastic waist, mostly so I'm sure that they won't suddenly fall off, since the fabric is a little heavy.

On the pictures you can see the white "Y"'s, which I was sooo close to ragequitting when making, but god does it look good on the pants, I can't even. Worth it!


Today and yesterday, my sweet and lovely partner, helped me getting some speed on Noel's embroiding, since I'm getting a little stressed about finishing in time, so many small details on this costume that needs to be made, since you really can't fake jewelry, dip-dye and embroidery too well.
So I chose my colors, agreed with the design and size, and then we got crackin'

The design is much nicer in real life, than I thought it would be, and seeing it, makes me really happy that I chose to do it this way, and not just put pieces of fabric together.
But as you can see, getting all this work done also means I'm running out of thread faster than I thought I would!  So have to order a new batch soon.