Tuesday 10 November 2015

A Long Overdue Post

This has been a very eventful year so far and it still is. I've found that I don't really have much time for blogging these days, and instead, I have mostly moved over to my Instagram account and my facebook page for cosplay updates. Those alone are hard enough to maintain.

For now, I will be officially taking a break (it's already been going on for quite a while, though), but if you want to follow me on Instagram or Facebook, here are the links to my accounts:

@ingridbeast on Instagram
Ingridbeast Cosplay on Facebook


I'll leave you with this awesome picture that Heresetai Cosplay took of me on our last photo shoot:


Wednesday 25 February 2015

Royal Kili Progress

I began cutting and sewing in February, and then we started moving into our new flat, efficiently bringing the entire project to a halt, but before that, I actually got quite a lot done!

Starting with the innermost layer, I dived into the production of the blue velvet tunic. This was generally a fairly easy ordeal, as it's a simplified, hoodless version of Kili's signature blue tunic. The only snag was the eyelets for the front lacing and the cuffs on the sleeves, all of which needed to be hand stitched, and the decorative studs for the collar and the hem.

I finished the eyelets for the front lacing, but I've still to do the ones on the cuffs. I've also done enough studs for the collar, but a good deal of them still need to be made, which is both time consuming and rather tedious.












So I moved on to the black velvet over tunic. This too was fairly simple initially, but needs satin lining to allow it to hang smoothly over the blue velvet tunic. In addition to that, I'm adding a trim with the same pattern that's embroidered on Kili's leather jacket in A Long Expected Journey. I've made some of it, but there is still quite a lot left to do.


The "leather" overcoat was a little bit more tricky, but mostly because of the leather imitation I used which could be a little argumentative when introduced to my sewing machine. It too needs lining before I can add the fur details to wrap it up.




Here's a little peek at how the blue and black tunic look together so far:






Tuesday 27 January 2015

New Year, New Start, New Projects!

Last year ended on quite the low, having lost so much in the fire and having had no luck with finding a flat we could buy. However, we were dead set on looking forwards to the future, not lingering in the past, and, after a lovely New Year celebration, just my husband and I, we kept our spirits up as January started, and a sudden rush of flats for sale rolled in. And just one week ago, having fallen a bit in love with a flat we'd visited for a viewing the day before, I entered a bidding round I was almost certain I would lose, as the recommended bid started very close to our financial limit. But then, by some unbelievable strike of luck or circumstance, I ended up being the only bidder, and lo and behold, won! So, 2015 is truly a new start for the two of us as we move into our first, very own flat towards the end of February!

So, long term accommodation secured, I've started a new cosplay project! My lovely friend and fellow cosplayer, Ida, known as Starbit, (check out her DeviantArt account and her Facebook page!) has become the Tauriel to my Kili. She's designed a beautiful dress for Tauriel, which she aims to finish for HobbitCon in April, and it's so beautiful it inspired me to do my own design for Kili to match it!

I present to you; Royal Kili:




I've bought materials for it already; blue velvet for the tunic, black velvet for the short sleeved over tunic, and leather imitation and fake fur for the over coat! I'll be using the old trousers and boots, as well as the old belt, to make it a little easier for myself. You can see the leather imitation and velvet below (as well as some faux suede for a potential Tauriel update), even though the colour of the leather imitation looks a bit wrong in that light:



Also, check out Ida's design for Tauriel, the Starlight Gown! It's absolutely exquisite!