Long time, no true journal, eh? I need to get back up to scratch on this.

First off, news. Me, Inu ( ), my girlfriend, ( ), and some others are planning to go to Mushroom-fest again this year. Yay for having a lot at a flea market! Brinny will be coming up from downstate for it, and when she goes back down I'm planning to go with her. (I still need to let my parents know, though. Whoops!) I've also been feeling better lately. More myself. More driven. I love it.

And I have decided. I want to learn to create clothing and cosplay costumes, myself.

There are three main project ideas I want to try. A generalized Soul-Reaper garb, Jing's jacket from King of Bandits: Jing, and, the hardest of them all, a nice pleather trench-coat. Buckles and all. I'm hoping to base the design more-or-less off of Daisuke/Dark's trench from late in the anime DN Angel.

Did I mention I've been obsessing over it lately? No? Well, I borrowed the complete series set from Inu. And watched it all. And loved it, even if it does deviate from the manga. Plus, the music is amazing. Specifically 'Caged Bird', and the piano instrumental for 'True Light'. Look them up. Now. The journal will be here when you get back.

Anywho. I am really psyched about making this coat. I hopefully should be able to borrow a pattern from Inu, which is lucky, seeing as the closest pattern I can find (the one she's going to let me borrow) is discontinued. It is HELL to find a good pattern for one of these things.

I'm hoping to go to a fabric/craft store in our area (probably Traverse City) to go get some pleather, unless I can do that downstate. I'm planning to go downstate with my girlfriend, and so if/when that happens, I might be able to find a nice store there with some good pleather by the yard. I mean, seeing as I'll FINALLY have access to a sewing machine, and people who make Renaissance costumes all the time. I need to get a sewing machine for home use, so I can really get into this...

[link]

That is a general reference for what I want to do. Except what I want has more buckles. And possibly sans the hood to add a high collar, though the hood could be very practical.

So, to finish up, if anyone has any help whatsoever on this, I would love it. It's my current pet project; while it may be harder than some other costume/clothing designs I could make, but I REALLY want to make it. I don't think I could concentrate long enough on another clothing project to finish it with how obsessed I am with making this. I may not have made anything like it before, but I know this: I always have a tendency to put things off. Well, I want to change that, and I know putting this off and never working on it wouldn't help one bit. So I'm giving it my all. Even if I do still need a driver's license. And to get into college. And a job. And...


Until next time,
~Shippo