Quick and easy My Hero Academia Cosplay repairs and make - Helmar Creative Team

November is one of our biggest Birthday months in this family, so I try to get ahead on Christmas stuff but the Birthday stuff takes over.
Among the birthdays in November is Mr E and this year he is turning the big 13.  I wanted to do something fun as a suprise for him and I thought why not wake him up in a simple cosplay of his favourite female teacher from My Hero Academia.  It had to be simple as my plan was to create this without his knowledge so I could wake him on his Birthday as Ms Joke so I decided to just make a basic version of the shorts, team them with a black tank and a wig and I would be good to go.  I just wouldn't be able to make the gloves and belt with the time I had and in hiding as all the cosplay making supplies are in the room he uses daily for Distance Education.  My plan had a spanner thrown in the works when Mr C read out loud with E sitting within earshot a Facebook status I had made about it just before his Birthday, E isn't on Facebook, so I thought I was safe to post, how silly of me.

Now onto my Ms Joke Shorts
I bought these green men's swimming shorts from Big W after having no luck finding any shorts at any of my local op-shop.
I set myself up on a folding table in the lounge with these, scissors, wide orange ribbon (2 rolls), Helmar Fabric Glue and Helmar Fray Stoppa.

I cut the ribbon into lengths a little longer than the shorts adhered them down to the shorts with Helmar Fabric Glue, trimmed and then sealed the ends of the ribbon with Helmar Fray Stoppa.







Supper simple and quick to make and they look great for what I need them for.

I had ordered E a My Hero Academia Sports Uniform online so he could cosplay his favourite student, unfortunately the white fabric was fraying and some stitching was super close to the edge so while I had my supplies out I decided to use the Helmar Fray Stoppa to ensure it wouldn't get worse.

First I trimmed off the threads.

Then I ran Helmar Fray Stoppa along the edges, I was a bit wobbly with my application but it isn't noticeable once dry and he is wearing it.




















I think we look pretty great for a couple of quick throw together budget cosplays.  :)

Shopping for our Steampunk Costumes.

I hope you have enjoyed my Steampunk posts.  I wanted to share with you the op-shop buys we made for our costumes.

When the boys friend asked them to join him in participating in the first Steamfesta we jumped at the chance as Steampunk is something we have always wanted to give Steampunk a go.

Our 2 families went on a initial op-shop tour together to find items that would suit a Steampunk Costume for each family member wanting to participate.  On that tour we found a couple of items but we still had a lot we needed so I spent my op-shopping over the next few weeks looking for items and over the course of a month I found E a vest, a lovely blue shirt for C and for myself a skirt, blouse, tank top to go under my blouse and a lovely black shawl.

For shoes C was ok as he had a pair that would suit but E and myself needed some suitable shoes so we went to Rivers during a big sale and scored boots that would suit our costumes for $17, that were comfortable and supportive. 
E's serve a double purpose as they are perfect for the Ezra Bridger cosplay he is working on, it is always great when a item can serve multiple costumes as well as every day wear.

Other purchases were supplies to decorate my Hat, safety googles to turn into Steampunk Goggles, cogs and gears on ebay as I didn't have enough, various trims for decorating the various projects we would be creating including my Handbag, supplies to try making Spats and last minute I would buy some Sunglasses to alter.

The boys also altered Nerf guns we had in our Nerf stash to enhance their costumes.

I love this gorgeous photo Paul Aurisch Photography took of the boys and I.
I just wish I wasn't slumping but pain levels were high which makes my propreconception much worse.









Here I am with my friend Ruth (I am the one wearing the shawl), isn't her costume amazing?

I am really happy with how the boys and my costumes turned out and my budget is happy too.
 
If you want to get into costuming but worry about the cost just remember Cosplay and Steampunk don't have to be expensive and depending on the requirements of a particular costume you may even be able to select some pieces that you can wear as everyday clothing.
So go check out those op-shops for items to start a costume with.  It's a lot of fun and is a great family hobby.

Steampunk Spats - Helmar Creative Team

The night before Steamfesta I decided I would try making Steampunk Spats from some brown leather type vinyl fabric I had as my boots were black and my Bag was brown.
If you would like to see the other projects the boys and I made for Steamfesta then check out my Steampunk Googles and Sunglasses post, Steampunk Handbag post and Steampunk Hat post

To create my spats I made a pattern from my shoe following the instructions on Spats pattern making in this tutorial but as my sewing machine was not available I decided to use Helmar Fabric Glue to make my Spats instead of sewing them, except for the under boot strap and button which I hand sewed onto my finished Spats.

I wound up cutting my pattern so the part that had to be joined together was at the front, in future I think I will do the front on the fold so I close it up at the back.
To close the front I glued 1 side down to itself and then glued it on top of the other one using Helmar Fabric Glue and positioning it so it looked like a nice clean seam.








I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere some gorgeous gold trim and some metal cogs and gears to my spats, to give them that Steampunk Feel.

Lessons learned from making my fur boot covers for my Cheshire Cat Cosplay I wanted to make some straps that went under the shoe to hold the spat in place.
I just used some random scraps and glued the edges down with Helmar Fabric Glue to get a nice look to them.

I then hand sewed them on to my spat, cut a slit as a bottom hole and then sewed a cool button to my spat from my op-shop button stash.
How cool do they look?

Steampunk Mini Hat - Helmar Creative Team

Today I have another Steampunk prop for my costume I wore to Steampfesta, today I am sharing how I made my little top hat.
I started by making a tube from 3mm foam, I took a A4 sheet of foam and cut one end off at 4 inches.  Upon completion I feel this is too high so if you are making it try 3inches.  I used some washi to hold my tube together while the Helmar Foam Glue dried, that way I could work on other parts while it dried.

So while it was drying I started work on cutting my base and top.  I really should have used my Silhouette as my hands were so wobbly but it was not accessible at the time. 
For my bottom I cut a circle and then marked my tube in the middle, I then cut triangles in the inner circle and glued them inside my tube, I mixed my glues up and used 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to glue my bottom in, but that's ok, it worked.

I glued my top into my tube with Helmar Foam Glue and then started covering my hat with some lovely velvet.
I used the Helmar Foam Glue to adhere the fabric to the foam and the Helmar Fabric Glue to adhere fabric to fabric.
As I had cut my fabric with pinking sheers to reduce fraying I turned my edge piece in and glued it to itself with Helmar Fabric Glue.

Now to pretty up the top.
I cut a circle of cereal box cardboard and covered it in the velvet fabric and then adhered it to the top of my hat with Helmar Fabric Glue.

To pretty up my base first I cut a ring of velvet to go over the top and then I cut a circle of cereal box cardboard and covered it with velvet.  I wound up covering my hat hole but that is ok as I am adding a headband to the base to help it fit on my head.

Now it was time to decorate my hat.  As so often is the case when I embellish a project my mistakes informed where things would go, I used my embellishments to hide glue I had gotten in the wrong spot and crooked bits of my hat top.
I adhered some gold trim to my hat rim edge with Helmar Fabric Glue to hide the seam between my foam base and cardboard base.





I grabbed out a selection of flowers, feathers, lace and cogs & gears to work with and used Helmar Fabric Glue to adhere the black lace and lace feather and 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere the black feather, flowers and metal pieces.

I was happy with how my decorations looked now I just needed to add a headband so I could wear it.

 I love how my hat turned out.

Steampunk Goggles and Sunglasses - Helmar Creative Team

Today I am sharing with you the Steampunk Googles and Sunglasses the boys and I made for Steamfesta.
As the boys and I were working on our projects at the same time I don't have photos of everything but I wanted to share with you how we made some big goggles with safety glasses from Bunnings and Pringles Cans and then some photos and details about E's toilet roll goggles and my quickly made Sunglasses.
We focused on the boys Goggles first as they were both volunteering at a promotional event and needed at least a pair of Goggles each so we searched Google Images for ideas, watched and read some tutorials and then just played with our collections of bits and pieces and Helmar Glues until we had projects we were happy with.  My Sunglasses would wind up being a last minute thing 2 days before the event as C was having a creative block with his Goggles so we decided I would take over finishing them and he would do Sunglasses but the Goggles didn't suit my costume so once finished and he loved the Goggles we switched.  This has been a creative journey and I wanted to explain how we would up where we did.
First we grabbed together our supplies.  We weren't sure what we would use but having it all out ready was important.
Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
Helmar Premium Craft Glue
Helmar Gemstone Glue
Helmar Fabric Glue
Paint
Gesso
Watch parts
Cogs and Gears
Pringles cans
Safety Glasses
Toilet Roll
Cutting Mat
Craft Knife
Picture Frame Hanging bits
Brads
Trim
Yogurt Pouch lids
Medication bottles
Physiotherapy/Yoga tubing.

For the Safety Goggles/Pringles Can Steampunk Goggles we cut down the Pringles cans and used the tops.
C adhered them to the Safety Goggles with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

Once the glue was dry C gave the Safety Goggles and Pringles cans a coat of gesso followed by Black paint and then he added metallic paints over these, at first just using a brush and then rubbing with his fingers as this got better results.
And this is when C got stuck, he wanted his Goggles to have certain aspects that created a creative block for him so they sat waiting to be finished for a few weeks until 3 days before the event I asked if I could take over finishing them and instead he Steampunk some metal framed Sunglasses by adding watch parts to them.
Photos are limited of this next stage as I needed both hands and couldn't use my camera while doing them, but I will talk you through how I did it.
I started by adding some grey trim like the brown trim I used on my Steampunk Handbag that I had rubbed gold paint on, adhereing it around the Goggles where the Pringles Cans meet the Safety Goggles to hide the seam I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere this to my Goggles.
I then added cogs and gears in the bridge of the nose section using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to add some cogs and gears to this area, starting with a wood veneer one I had painted to bring it up to the level of the trim.

Next I painted some Physio/Yoga tubing with some black paint and then with gold paint and figured out how I could attach it to my Goggles but poking one end into the bridge of the nose section so it was adhered both down to the Goggles and the gear and trim with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.  I then worked out a pathway for this smallish piece and adhered that down with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive adding a Yogurt Pouch Lid I had painted with black paint and then rubbed gold and silver paint to on top of the tubing with a lot of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

I then added another tiny bit of the Physio/Yoga tubing as the Yogurt Pouch Lid needed something else under the other side and adhere it down where it looked like it should go.
I then hid imperfections with Cogs and Gears.
To finish off I painted my dry glue first in black and then adding metallic pain to make what what visible look like welds.

 While I was working on decorating the Goggles C worked on the Sunglasses.  They turned out so cute.
He used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere the watch parts to the bridge of the nose as he forgot the Helmar Gemstone Glue was on the table next to him.







And our third pair of Goggles are E's toilet paper roll Goggles which he made while C was making the base of his Safety Goggles/Pringles Can Steampunk Goggles.  I have only one photo from the creation process but I will talk you through it.
E cut the toilet rolls into the needed shape with the help of a adult and cut some strips to add rims around the Goggles and a piece for the bridge of the nose.
He adhered the rims and nose piece to his Goggles with Helmar Premium Craft Glue.
He painted his Goggles first with a base of black and then bronze, brass and silver.
He then added some picture hanging bits to the sides of his Goggles with brads and threaded some of the brown trim I used on my handbag through the picture hanging bits.  Adhering the Trim back on itself with Helmar Fabric Glue.

He then adhered various watch parts to his Goggles with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.
They turned out so cute and look perfect on his hat.

FraserPop 2.0 - Cheshire Cat Cosplay

In the lead up to FraserPop 2.0 they advertised they would be having a Mad Hatter's Tea Party and as I had always wanted to do a Alice In Wonderland costume (long before I even considered trying cosplay) I thought it would be cool to do a Alice in Wonderland cosplay but I quickly dismissed it as I didn't think I would be able to find anything.
Shortly after dismissing the idea I was doing some op-shopping and it entered my mind as I parked my car, I walked into my local St Vinnies op-shop thinking "If I find a dress that is suitable for converting into a Alice In Wonderland cosplay then I will grab it and go with what ever character suits."  As I walked in the door I looked up and there was this hideous pink dress, checking the size it was 1 size above my size and just $4 so I grabbed it and so started the journey to creating my second ever cosplay, 1st cosplay with some DIY needed.  My Cheshire Cat cosplay.








On my way home I popped into Lincraft and grabbed some purple fur fabric to make fur boot covers and add purple stripes to my dress, some pink and purple tulle to attempt a petticoate, some pink felt for my ears and some pink and purple wool to make my tail.

Before cutting 4inch wide strips from my fur fabric I needed to cut out my Ears (tutorial can be found here) and Boot Covers so that I could cut all the remaining fabric into 4inch strips to ensure I had plenty of stripes to work with.

Wearing the boot covers on the day I noticed some problems with my design so my next adventure into boot covers (my Steampunk costume for Steamfesta) I experimented with a fix to the issue, I am hoping to add this to my fur covers before Saturday so I will share photos of them after this weekend.

I cut off the bottom of the dress as it was a little long and the stripes were not suited to my Cheshire Cat.
I just did a rough hem as it would be hidden under my purple fur stripe.
I used Helmar Fabric Glue to adhere my purple fur fabric starting at the bottom and working my way up.

Now to make my tail.
I created wool tassels and brushed them out with a wire pet brush.  
I pricked my fingers so many times doing this and it became quiet painful.  Wendy used a old Barbie hair brush for her wool feathers in the Beautiful Australia YouTube Hop so I am on the hunt for a old Barbie hair brush whenever I go to the op shop to use for future project like this.


I then platted several strands of wool together and started tying my tassels to my plat until I had a awesome tail.  I wore it on the day by simply pinning it to the back of my dress.

To finish my look on the day I scrunch my hair with hair mousse and then sprayed it with a full can of pink hairspray and I attempted to give myself a Cheshire Cat look with pink and purple makeup, I struggle with applying make up due to my hand issues so this was a challenge, as was finding pink and purple makeup, it just wasn't around at the time.
I am happy with my results but really excited that my daughter who is very good with makeup including costume makeup is attending FraserPop 3 this year and will do my makeup for me and best of all we are doing a little group cosplay with my daughter joining me as the Mad Hatter and my Granddaughter as a adorable Alice.  :)

Will you be attending FraserPop 3 this year?

I hope you can make it as it is a great event.

FraserPop 2.0 - What we loved.

As FraserPop 3.0 is just days away.  We are getting really excited and I realised I haven't finished my FraserPop 2.0 blog posts so I wanted to share some of our experiences of this awesome event last year.  

We loved FraserPop 2017 and were so excited to hear the staff say it was such a huge success they  would be making it a annual event, so as soon as the dates were announced for 2018 I put it in my diary.
FraserPop 2017 was our first con and definitely something we hope to attend every year.
2018 didn't disappoint, it was bigger and better, the students and staff did a fantastic job.  If you haven't been I highly recommend attending in 2019 which is going to be much, much bigger from the posts so far.

At FraserPop 2.0 one of the new things was The Store Of Requirement setting up in the room they used for the Doctor Who display in 2017.  This room is perfect for getting that Hogwarts feeling in a small space.  The boys enjoyed some Butter Beer and E bought himself some Gryffindor robes and a tie.
You can see my layout about the Butter Beer here.

It was really hard to get a good photo to show just how perfect this space is for this set up.  Hopefully I can get one this year.

Day 1 of FraserPop 2.0 E wore his Sans cosplay that he wore to Supanova 2017, he added pink slippers to it to finish the look.  And C wore his 11th Doctor cosplay.

Day 2 the boys wore their 10th and 11th Doctor cosplays.
As C was growing his hair to donate it was at a length that was impossible to style how it was needed but he made do. His donation happened at the end February and he is feeling much lighter now, and looking forward to being able to style his hair at FraserPop 3.0.

When having some food we wound up sitting next to a family whose son was cosplaying The Empty Child so we got a pic of the 3 boys together.

At FraserPop 2.0 they created a prop room which had all the Doctor Who stuff they kids had created including some wonderful new items like K-9 and Darleks as well as props from a wide variety of Pop Culture like Stranger Things, Goonies, Indiana Jones, Game of Throwns, etc.

They created a transportation display which included the TARDIS the students built in 2017, a SHIELD vehicle, Delorian, Herbie Beetle, etc. 

This year there will be a Batmobile. 

Brick Events set up a fantastic Lego Display and came back later in the year to do a full event at Maryborough State High School.

There were so many fantastic vendors this year, they had to have stalls outside the Gym as well as inside.  It was fantastic.  Make sure you check out the vendors this year as there are so many talented local artists who do stalls at this event.

Other things we enjoyed included The Sons of Obiwan Saber Academy, 501st Redback Garrison, Laser Tag, VR, watching the Cosplay competition.  We missed out on tickets to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party that inspired my costume, I am hoping to get tickets this year to take my Granddaughter to it as my daughter and Granddaughter are visiting for FraserPop 3.

So do yourself a favour and check out FraserPop 3 this weekend, you will have a lot of fun.

I will post about my Cheshire Cat Cosplay I wore to FraserPop 2.0 soon, so watch this space.