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I'm a walking meme

@memetori-aiichirou

This is a blog dedicated to my cosplay and cosplay references that I think are cool or useful. personal blog: americanprince-americanroyalty.tumblr.com
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sworntovalor

Here’s a “life-hack” for you. Apparently concentrated Kool-Aid can be used as a pretty effective leather dye. I was making a drink while cutting the snaps off some new straps for my pauldrons and I got curious, so I tried it, thinking, “ok even if this works, it will just wash out.” Nope. It took the “dye” (undiluted) in about 3 seconds. After drying for about an hour and a half, it would not wash off in the hottest tap-water. It would not wash out after soaking for 30 minutes. It did not wash out until I BOILED it, and even then, only by a tiny bit and it gave it a weathered look that was kind of cool. Add some waterproofing and I’d wager it would survive even that. That rich red is only one application too. Plus it smells great, lol. So there you go, cheap, fruity smelling leather dye in all the colors Kool-Aid has to offer.

WELL THEN!

this may be important to some of my followers *and certainly not just getting reblogged because of my costuming and my boyfriends desire for leather armor*

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armeleia

When I was in middle school we used to use it to dye our hair.  Potent stuff.

If you’re dying anything with kool-aid it’s best to use SUGAR-FREE ones otherwise the thing you’re dying might get all sticky

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samthor

the flavor only packets where you are supposed add sugar are the best.  they will dye any natural fiber: leather, wool, cotton, hair,  flax, jute, silk and so forth.  heat the dye water so it is more potent.  let dry then rinse excess out in cold water.  there’s  a whole system to this. 

Oh my god

This will prove very useful for any future cosplays I wanna do.

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ATTENTION COSPLAYERS:

I would like to make the paint brand “Angelus” known. It is a special paint that is for leather, faux leather, rubber, and similar surfaces.

This is literally the best paint you can buy if you love a pair of shoes, but they aren’t in the right color for your character.

This stuff coats VERY well AND the coats of paint bend with your shoes. This means no cracking!!

In the photos above I took black rain boots and painted them with Angelus Turquoise. As you can see, they don’t look black any more! It’s so good!

I managed to paint two boots with a little one ounce bottle of the paint, and I still have a third of the bottle left over!

The paint dries very fast, so you can put layer on top of layer on top of layer without it streaking.

You can get the paint on Amazon and it comes in every color!

I just really wanted to make this known!! :D This stuff is amazing!

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coelasquid

Don’t buy Angelus pain’t on Amazon, it’s like $6.99 an ounce. Buy it direct from their online store the poster above linked, the single ounce bottles are $2.95 there. Also, a little goes a long way, unless you have something HUGE to paint, you can probably do it with a small bottle. I barely dented the one I got doing all the black on this;

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Tutorials and Costume Notes

“THE BIG ONES”

The following are our most popular tutorials, so they get a place of honour up top so that they are easier found :)

GENERAL SEWING:

WHAT FABRIC FOR… 

PATTERNING:

SEWING MACHINES: 

FOOTWEAR:

NOTES ON PARTICULAR COSTUMES:

STRETCH FABRICS:

CAPES:

BATGIRLS:

SUPERGIRLS:

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA:

FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING:

This section would honestly be massive on its own, so it can be found over on its own masterlist. Even if you’re not cosplaying from FEA, it has some interesting stuff.

SAILOR SCOUTS:

AESTHETICS:

ARMOR:

PROPS AND ACCESSORIES:

WIGS:

PHOTOGRAPHY:

SHOPPING:

COMMUNITY:

RECIPES:

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TUTORIAL!! Cheap & Easy Wig Stand! 

There are long neck mannequins you can buy, but

  • the longest i’ve seen is only 20in (about 50cm)
  • they’re DEFINITELY not sturdy enough! wig heads are light and fall all over the place without the ridiculously long neck, and their bases are never wide enough to stay still properly
  • there are clamps and suctioning stands but you can’t guarantee that you’re always gonna have a surface to stick/clamp it too, especially if you’re working outside (for example bc you’re spray dyeing and you don’t want to do it inside). 
  • THE PRICE. in total, i spent about $20. Some wig heads are cheaper, but for the sturdiness and the height (and the tool that you will definitely reuse if you do any prop work), I think it’s definitely worth it. 
  • it took me 20 minutes to make. seriously. 

Read on for materials, tools, and my process (picture heavy)

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nooby-banana

GUYS I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS AMAZING THING I FOUND AT MEGACON

i’m definitely gonna sound like a salesman but i need to give this new company a signal boost. i’ve never seen anything like this on the con floor and it’s such an obvious idea once i saw it.

there’s a company called Cut/Sew and they specialize in making patterns. but their real goal is getting newbies to try using patterns! ok ok let me elaborate: the big pattern companies like Simplicity, McCall’s, etc etc. are fine, but they can be super intimidating to someone who’s never used a pattern before. like sure, patterns are basically a tutorial on how to make a garment, but where’s the tutorial on how to correctly interpret the pattern?  that’s where these guys come in!

they include very clear instructions, lists for everything you’ll need, and even a QR code you can scan and input your measurements to get a custom fit for your garment!!

and sure, the big companies also include what you’ll need, but frankly it’s laid out very poorly and newbies probably won’t know to look for it on the pattern.  Cut/Sew has everything laid out very clearly and very friendly for beginners (or honestly, for any skill level! I think everyone would want clear pattern instructions, not just beginners).

and look how cute the packaging is omg!!

this is the back of their card that i got at megacon, as well as the frickin adorable packaging for the seifuku pattern i bought from them.  they have a bunch of patterns available for purchase and a lot of them are for hard-to-find things, like flight suits and high-waisted puff pants.

please give them a look-see, they are a very new company and i think there’s a very viable market for stuff like this!

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Mini-Tutorial: Stretch Piping Trim

Recently during my working on Racer Peach, I was given the idea by my Rosalina to add piping to the outside of our stripe trim on our attire. Figuring out how to do this for both a stretch material, and for top-stitching as well. Eventually we came out with using small elastic as ‘piping’ and stitched it on top of our design. This gave us a nice stripe design that had a little pop to it, but was as stretchy as the rest of the attire

What you will need:

  • Your base attire already cut out or ready to be cut out. In this case it is a 4-way stretch fabric
  • Your trim cut to the length you want with ~0.25″ added in thickness. This excess depends: 
  • How thick your elastic is
  • How much fabric you intend to roll under it
  • Advised to do a small test before cutting final pieces
  • Elastic chord of desired thickness. This example is 1/8″ thick
  • Spray adhesive- I advise Dritz temporary adhesive
  • Fabric clips OR ball tipped pins OR both!
  • Tear away stabilizer OR coffee filters cut straight
  • Something to mark the fabric (light sharpie, pencil, chalk, ect)
  • A sewing machine with a stretch stitch and a zipper foot
  • Optional: Thread that matches

The tutorial is available below the cut to not overwhelm your feed :>

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TNT 2016 LINEUP!!

Friday morning/afternoon: teshima junta (yowamushi pedal)

Friday evening: kotori minami (love live)

Saturday morning: dipper pines (gravity falls)

Saturday afternoon: nitori aiichirou (free)

Rave: Nishinoya Yuu in raver ish clothes (haikyuu au? I guess)

Sunday: nitori aichirou

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TNT 2016 LINEUP!!

Friday morning/afternoon: teshima junta (yowamushi pedal) Friday evening: kotori minami (love live) Saturday morning: dipper pines (gravity falls) Saturday afternoon: nitori aiichirou (free) Rave: Nishinoya Yuu in raver ish clothes (haikyuu au? I guess) Sunday: nitori aichirou

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