Whoops!

Forgot I had a blog HAHAHA

So here! Have some pics from Dragon*Con 2012! I went as Adelaide, as always. But it's been so long since HiNaBN's updated, and I just... get tired of the same costume with nothing new to go off of. Adelaide will always be my favorite, but she's more of a closet cosplay now.

And human!Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony

...with Doubting Salmon as my Twilight Sparkle

And revamped steampunk medic

And that was D*Con 2012! Shout out to my ducklings who got engaged on their 3-year anniversary of meeting at the Con. You know who you are, lovelies ;)

D*Con updated

Well, so. Four months later, here I am! I don't have an excuse. But I did get a tumblr right before finals last semester. That's... pretty self-explanatory, really. Life, where did you go?

So here's me as Adelaide at D*Con, with the obligatory Connie in Worth's coat:

I've only got one pic of my steampunk outfit, and I'm sitting down with my badge and my cellphone all hanging out in the picture. I'm kind of retarded like that.

I made a gunbelt with spots for test tubes instead of bullets! :D I messed up one part of the actual gun holster, but I was so fucking proud, I can't even. And then I was supposed to have khaki/tan shorts, but they wouldn't stay sewed together, so I borrowed a friend's orange skirt. It worked out rather well, I think.

And then there's the joint cosplay Salmon and I did: a friend's artwork of horoscopes. Salmon chose Gemini, and I chose Scorpio. The original artwork and characters belong to Lyndz, or asiaoddhours on DA.

So much blue.

Meine neuen Freunde

And now, because I just can't go without doing so, here's my shout out to all the wonderful HiNaBN cosplayers I met at MomoCon! It was so much fun, seriously.

Aaaaand sorry for the pic spam, but these are totes the most awesome ones. And the most important.

As always, Hanna is Not a Boy's Name is a webcomic that belongs to Miss Tessa Stone, and all the characters you see in this post (and the variations thereof) are hers.

Christmasssss!

So, for Christmas, my friend made me this Adelaide plushie! Oh god, you guys just don't even know. She even painted the box. I felt so lame in comparison.

My gift to her was this:

Conbat backpack! Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have. I keep asking her to take some for me. ALAS, poor Conbat. I knew him well /sob

Anyway, both characters are from Hanna is Not A Boy's Name, which is an amazing webcomic and you should go read it now. Like, seriously. Go.

Dead Man Hoodie

So Salmon and I bounce ideas off each other. This is nothing new. She's the one who got me started on painting hoodies, after all. And so here comes another one! This one, like the Gallahad shirt, is based on {...} from Hanna is Not A Boy's Name. So first you need materials:

For me, that means that black hoodie I've been meaning to find something to do with, and fabric paint. White definitely, but I couldn't decide between the neon and the regular green. I have no idea what the difference is between matte and velveteen, so whatever. I tried the neon first, because it's closer to the color I wanted, but it has this weird gold sparkly to it and it doesn't layer well, so I ended up mixing colors to get what I wanted. Oh, and brushes! A word to the wise: you won't be able to use the brushes you use with fabric paint with any other paint. I mean, you could, but they're permanently at least a little fudged up. They never clean up like acrylics, and the bristles go all wonky.

First step was the autopsy scar, because let's face it: they're awesome. And {...} totally has one. You know he does. We see peeks of it beneath his collar all the time. So there's the basic Y shape, with some stitches. Because I know myself, and I know I'm messy, I covered the zipper with tape before I started painting. Good thing, too.

At the end of the first chapter, Adelaide takes {...}'s right arm off just above the elbow, and Hanna sews it back on. So that's what's on the right arm! But, you know, all the way around.

And then I needed something for the back. But what? Besides the orange shirt, stitches and a paper crane, what is really iconic of {...}? And then it hit me. Near the middle of the second chapter, {...} gets posessed by Lee's ghost, and when Hanna tells Lee to GTFO, Lee asks Hanna:

So, ladies and gents, the back:

The last part is a little off center, but whatever. I love it, and that's what counts. And lastly (and this is what started the whole idea) is the cross with wings. Hanna and {...} are partners in Hanna's paranormal investigating business, so it only makes sense that I make some sort of icon to commemorate that. And so I did:

And there you have the Dead Man hoodie! More pictures to come once I bribe my brothers into taking them for me :3

Gallahad Shirt

So, as you can probably tell, I love Hanna is Not A Boy's Name. I should probably make a tag for that. Moving on!

This guy's name is... well, he doesn't remember. He's been dead for about a decade, give him a break. So Hanna makes up names for him - it's a new one every day with this guy, seriously! But we love it. The one that's stuck in fannon the most is Gallahad - but with only one "l". I just like the way it looks with two better. Anyway, that orange shirt is pretty distinctive, hey? And you can't go out and find orange shirts just anywhere. So I made my own. This is the last button-down I ever make, until I inevitably make the next one.

I always make the worst faces when I'm getting my picture taken >:( So this is pretty obviously a fem-version of zombie's shirt, but it's got everything! ...Plus some pompous cuffs. I was having a bad day, and ridiculously over-sized cuffs made me feel better, so there they are. I used the Simplicity Threads pattern 3684 (the same one I used for the bib-ed lolita shirt, but without the bib option). I kind of made up the cuffs without a pattern, and guys. YOU GUYS. I was literally down to SCRAPS trying to get all the pieces for this pattern. Also, I said when I made the lolita shirt that I would make that collar part smaller (because, believe it or not, it's actually included in this type of collared shirt too). I didn't this time, and it's kind of strange, but the collar is HUGE, and I kind of like it. And the black tie is purchased. I am not that awesome.

 So naturally, I went outside to the courtyard with a friend and we took pictures.

And there you have it!

Adelaide-Inspired Hoodie

Not to be confused with Adelaide's actual hoodie. C'mon, guys, she's like my favorite character. And for anyone who doesn't know, she's from Hanna is Not a Boy's Name. So I decided on a white hoodie and purple Tulip Matte fabric paint. I was inspired by Salmon's hoodie, and I love mine, but I should really know by now that simple is best. I always try to cram in too many details, and the end result is just... bleh. But the first thing I decided on was a big X over one of my breasts, based on when Adelaide turns back into a human in this frame:

And then, looking at the t-shirt design (from the t-shirt Salmon actually owns), I really liked this one part that's suppose to represent Adelaide here:

And so I designed the sleeve, and it is honestly my favorite part. I really should have stopped there, but I am me, and I do overboard extremely well.

This is the full sleeve, but in-progress, as you can probably tell from the tape. And my sketch in my sketchbook underneath it. Close-up:

Anyway, then I decided on this... thing on the back, that would have been awesome had I not messed up one of the bat wings so badly (read: made one bigger than the other). And yet I still like it.

And you can see all the strange little details I added in addition to the main parts. I will admit, some of them were me covertly hiding up paint smudges that were never meant to be there. My point still stands.

So! There's my Adelaide-inspired hoodie. Thanks for that, Salmon.

Adelaide Hoodie

I went to Dragon*Con for the first time this past Labor Day weekend, and met so many amazing people. On Friday, I went as Adelaide from the webcomic Hanna is Not A Boy's Name, created by the wonderful Tessa Stone (middle):

Adelaide is alternatively drawn with black and purple hair, so I claim artistic license. Adelaide is a vampire who was stuck looking like a bat and wreaking havoc in someone's apartment. A paranormal investigator named Hanna freed her, and when she returned to her human form she grabbed whatever was in the apartment owner's closet. That turned out to be a hoodie and nothing else, so for modesty's sake I wore a dress underneath as well (since she's also seen in one here).

I took an old hoodie from Old Navy, trimmed it in on the sides (with the seams on the wrong sides of the fabric even), and replaced the sleeves with bright green ones. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of cotton interlock. I also knew nothing about easing sleeves, but I think it came out alright.

The comic panel:

The photoshoot: