Third moment uploaded

After a long silence Sasori & Deidara moments number 3 is finally out and viewable on Youtube. I will also announce that there will be less ninjas in the future. We have few ideas for the moments but the Akatsuki interviews have been shelved, for now.

-yoki out

Comic relief!

Upcoming cosplay from March Story

We got our costume plans for the summer conventions somewhat cleared last weekend. It seems that instead of Luminara and Barriss we are going solo to Bakacon. Yoki has been growing her hair out for Snufkin and I know she is dying to wear the costume again, so it’s Snufkin for Yoki! Now that I actually need to do a single cosplay I thought it would be good time to reveal my project, which I started last autumn as a time killer. I have done a lot for the costume and also have featured the making process here many times without giving series or character information out.

The character I’ve been working on is March from March Story. March Story is written and drawn by Koreans, but in my books it’s manga. The comic was first published in Sunday GX and first volume was released by VIZ last autumn. I’m looking forward April, because the second volume should be out then. I think March Story is one of the few comics I have fallen crazily in love with. Cosplay-wise it’s also the only costume I’m making based on a character which might or might not be recognized by anyone at all. The visual side of the manga is great, but the story is also good! If you are interested in tragic stories spiced with humor, carnivals and bloody and thorny things I think you should check the series out!

Cover of the first volume of March Story.

We laughed with Yoki some time ago, that our cosplays are rather monochromatic and March is no exception. It’s also bit challenging to do a costume based on only few colored covers and panels, which vary rather much. But then again, that’s the fun of it too! I’m now working on the jacket, which is coming together nicely. I’m doing the black shapes by appliquéing them. Only thing I’m feeling bit insecure is patterning the crazy hood. I’m not good with hoods. I tried to avoid them while back at school and now I’m feeling the consequences of not paying attention to them.

I’m going to make a better update from the costume in a week. By then I hope I have solved the problems with the silly hood. The earlier posts featuring this costume includes information about how I striped the pants, constructed the suitcase and did the buckles for colonial shoes.

In the convention post I stated that Snufkin and March have similarities. Don’t they?

Luminara Unduli, the knee buster

I recently started one of this year’s big projects, which is Luminara’s robe. It’s not a big project only because of its size, but also in the way I’m going to execute it. I thought that I would now, after making some progress clear out why the “Project Luminara” is big and why it got a slightly barbaric nickname.

I’ve wrote about searching right fabrics for our Jedi duo’s robes some time ago. While with Barriss I got really close to what I was looking for, the selections in fabric stores didn’t fill the requirements of what I visualized to be the correct or acceptable material for Luminara. And I went through few of them in the bigger cities in Southern Finland. In the end I chose wool flannel, because it seemed like a good bargain and the brown was subtle enough to act as a background for the upcoming pattern.

First try out with the possible construction modeled on a mannequin.

The original robe material for the movies seems like it was woven. I never thought weaving it as an option, if anyone wonders. I’m not that good with looms or that crazy. Printing was the first option from the start. My dear home town doesn’t have good craft store, so it was time to travel, again.

I went to visit Yoki on my free days, found a shop I was looking for and fell in love a little. It had like… everything! And the staff was really helpful. It’s been years from my last bigger scale printing experience, so I happily took notes from professionals. I ended up dragging along three kilos of printing emulsion next to smaller containers of black pigment and pearl cover paste in plain and blue for Barriss’ cape. No casualties on this stage yet, if sore neck is not included.


No casualties occurred when I started to cut the templates for the print either. I was not going to use a screen or a stencil; instead I cut wormy and bulky pieces out from clear plastic film (Thank you for clearing the word out, Batsy!). These pieces I placed randomly on the fabric to create the pattern. Compared to screen printing, I chose this slightly slower method, because I can skip the screen washing and as long as I’m able to keep the printing space prepared, I can work when ever I feel like it. When the tools you are working with is the fabric print and a piece of foam it’s really quick to pull them out, work a while and then be going. For example, one morning I arranged the plastic pieces on the fabric while I waited my eye liner to dry. Small progress is progress still.

The printing is the brutal knee buster! I work on the floor, because my sewing table is not nearly big enough for five meters of fabric. If I want to stand up, I’ll need to stretch for few minutes before my left knee feels like cooperating. Either the working posture is horrible or I’m just getting old.


I calculated that with this speed and overlapping projects I’m ready in two weeks with the printing. Then I’m going to dye the whole fabric to make it darker and possibly if I feel like it, create more texture to the robe with needle felting. Big project is big. And I’m wearing a support bandage on my knee.

There is no spring without Snufkin

Snufkin starts his journey usually before the first snow fall. One year was different. Moomintroll wished that his best friend would wait until the Moomin family had fallen asleep for the winter months. Snufkin respected the wish. His road had vanished under thick snow drifts, but he didn't feel sorry. He didn't look back. Traveler only sees the adventures lying ahead.

"Sleep well and do not worry. At the first day of Spring, I am here with you again."

We had a small photoshoot last weekend and the weather was warm (-7°C)! I could actually stand there without my nose falling off or my fingers turning into icicles. Couldn't say the same while we were wearing the troopers.

There will be a new photoshoot later this spring, maybe even a new video. I do not promise anything though, since Hiron suffers from serious cosplay frenzy (points at the convention list) and I have my studies.

-yoki out

Mayday! Snow in the shoe!

Watch out, Yoki! It's a skirt!

Things are progressing with our Jedi duo's costumes. Both Luminara's and Barriss' clothes are in good standing. I'm really happy with the color schemes we were able to pull off with the material choices. Luminara as the elder and more refined one has a brown-black theme going on and younger and more modern Barriss' theme is black with touches of blue. When Yoki put the dress on for first fitting, she looked in the mirror and said that Barriss is really Sith-like. No wonder, the character design was originally planned for a Sith.

We picked random belts to accessorize the costumes. I don't have hoop skirt underneath, so the hem looks bit collapsed. And don't mind the fact, that we look like ghosts with bad hair day!


My outfit has been ready for a while. Now that I had sewn Yoki's, we just put them on to see how they worked together. They looked good, but it was bit hilarious still. Yoki has worn a skirt, a dress or any piece of clothing with a hem approximately five times in her life time and never out of her own wish. So we had few laughs when she tried to cope with long skirt and heels; things that Yoki would never wear or at least not at the same time. She kicked the hem back and forth while trying to walk. To even the scores, I must admit that I almost tripped on mine. " What an elegant way of moving, beautiful Jedi-like flexibility, my master!"


Training ahead with maneuvering in the costumes . Let's add huge capes and we are done for!

This is more likely what Yoki would wear. But I think the dress suited her well too!

Convention season 2011

It might be bit early to start rambling about this years conventions; first one is months away and we don’t know our other plans for summertime. But I got so exited by a certain envelope, which arrived in the mail!

Desucon is not the first con we are going to attend, but certainly it’s the most anticipated one. Even if it have been held twice before, we've never got ourselves transported to Lahti(-city). Now we have accommodation and transportation on the site assured, which is good if we even consider taking Whiteys there. I’m already having nightmares of how we travel with the costumes, yet try to cope with wearing and navigating in them when we are half-blind and numbed by plastic. Good that we have experience by then! We are going to wear the costumes publicly first time in the beginning of April.

The first happening is Tampere Kuplii, annual comic festival held 6-10.4. We chose Snowtroopers, because they fit the theme rather well and we might not fry in them at that time of the year. We are little hesitant though. We have our doubts for equation: city environment, spring and white costumes. Of course we will weather the costumes out at some point, but I would like to do it confined and with a precise plan.

The next event for us might be Bakacon at Pieksämäki. We are not yet totally sure about attending it, but “small town convention” feels just so damn appealing. Other duo we are going to do this year and have actually started is Jedi master Luminara Unduli and her padawan Barriss Offee. These two are strong candidates for Baka. Even with Luminara’s head piece the costumes are rather easy to travel with. But then again it might still be possible to wear Snowies in May as far as weather goes, so we might not introduce Luminara and Barriss before Desucon.

Desucon starts the series of summer conventions. We have thought about Kawacon in the beginning of July and Ropecon for old time sake in the end of the month. It really seems that we are compensating for the last con-dry years. In 2010 we attended one and in 2009 the magical number was two.

We can be counted as cosplayers who enjoy wearing old costumes, so costume-wise everything should be in control. We have Joxter and Muddler who we have worn only once. Yoki would like to wear Snufkin again, now that she has let her hair grow. I could join in with a cosplay of a rather similar character type. The costume is still unfinished, but I think I might be able to pull it together quickly. Or I could take Samara out for a walk and for her first real con. Yoki also has promised that she could consider Kirika Yuumura to go with Mireille. They would effortless solution for secondary costumes. We also have seriously thought about reintroducing Sasori and Deidara, but not only as basic ones… Ho-ho… About this I might write more in the coming months.

With new acquaintances Baka-, Kawa- and Desucon we'll meet our old friend in September. Tracon VI is held at Tampere in 3-4.9 and... there is little I can tell next to that. Our plans for Tracon are still quite open. We can't really choose the costumes before we know where the World Cosplay Summit preliminaries are being held. Costume selections for end of the season is determined by that.

In any case, we are thrilled! I think we have nice set of costumes to display both in conventions and on videos. Only things left is to make the costumes and wait for summer. Looking at the thermometer reminds me that it's still some way to go.

Where it all began

Three years ago I suggested to Yoki that we should make an account on Youtube. About cosplay, I stated and we started to think a fitting name for us. We are slightly more cautious with our costumes now, but back then were bit clumsy for time to time. That gave birth to the first part of the channel’s name.

We wanted to have an opening video, but because it was winter we couldn’t have a proper photosession. Our first video was a slideshow and consisted material from the previous summer in form of casual Sasori and Deidara. The next spring we made our first video. It literally took hours to film; we didn’t have any particular plan, we only knew how it should end. But we had fun time wandering around Aulanko’s beautiful park confusing people with uniforms and Finnfoam swords. Nowadays we make shoot scripts and pretty much stick to them. And more importantly we demand from ourselves to have an idea worth executing.

What originally got me to ask Yoki about this whole Youtube-thing? I had bumped to other groups who made cosplay videos; Fighting Dreamers Pro, Koi Cosplay and one group, who had made video about Axel and Roxas. I have played Kingdom Hearts once or twice, but next to that I really don’t have knowledge of the games or characters aside from fanart and Wikipedia, but still the Axel-Roxas one had the biggest influence on me.

Now after nearly twenty different videos and handful of new ideas we are quite sure of what we are doing. Comedy seems to be our thing, even if we have few “serious” plans for upcoming summertime.

Oh yeah, last Friday Yoki uploaded some silliness to celebrate our account’s third anniversary!