Costume Overload
Elizabeth O'MalleyFor months and months leading up to Katsucon 2013, I had planned to make Fuu from Magic Knight Rayearth and Princess Pluto from Sailor Moon. Both costumes are part of groups: Shiva and Gale will be joining me as Umi and Hikaru, and I'll be part of an entire Sailor Moon princess group. I am super excited for both, especially the MKR costumes because we've been planning to do these for years and it's never come about until now.
I started buying materials last fall, and I already had much of what I needed for Fuu because I had been planning to make it for such a long time. Then I heard about a group of Sakizou art costumers who were getting together at Katsucon. I had wanted to do the Coffee design forever, and decided that I could add that to Katsucon no problem. I already had most of the materials at that point.
However I didn't start working on any of these costumes until after Arisia in mid-January, because I made two new costumes for that con. Which was two weeks after my wedding, and I had no time to work on costumes in the weeks leading up to that.
I mapped out everything I needed to do, and got to work a few days after getting back from Arisia. Then thing started taking longer than I thought. And I discovered more things that I needed to do to finish the costumes. But I was on good place.
Then real life kicked in. I cut my thumb with a kitchen knife and needed stitches. I had parties come up that I needed to attend. But I had the weekend before Katsucon completely clear, and I was going to go to my parents house to work on things with my awesome mom.
However, a huge wrench was thrown into that. The Thursday before that weekend, my mom went into the hospital. Then we got hit with a massive snow storm with two feet of snow, and road travel was banned for a 24 hour period. I hunkered down and worked on stuff during the storm, but without the help of my mom, I fell further and further behind. But she's doing better, which is way more important than any costume.
I now have just two nights left to work on things. Fuu is almost done, I just need to add some sashes and style the wig (which I'm going to do in the hotel room). Coffee is at a point where I can wear it, but if I have the time I'd love to add more details. Pluto is my big project tonight, finishing the lining, hemming, and adding the sheer pieces. Then I'm done! Except for packing. Which I haven't started yet.
I regret taking on so much in such a short amount of time, but I am excited to wear these new costumes. Sometimes I feel like because I got into this hobby at an older age than most other cosplayers, I have to do as much as I can before I start getting older and my choices become limited. But I also need to keep myself sane and make sure I'm not overrun, so I can relax and make sure I have time for other things, like reading or doing laundry.
Now I have to keep reminding myself that I'm only allowed to make one new costume for my next con, PAX East. However, there are three that I want to make and I can't decide which one...