Days 1142 & 1143

So I forgot to add something to the bottom half of my Ho-Oh cosplay before I proclaimed it "finished"; these totally awesome jingly coin things!

Purdy...

I wanted to be able to make jingly noises when I walked, and this is the proper way to do it (they're actually intended for use in belly dance). The original artwork that I'm basing this on had things around the belt that matched chains that went across the wings. I decided to forgo the wing chains when I changed the wing design from a scarf to Isis wings, so following the original design for the belt would no longer make sense, since the matching part is gone. The only way the coin belt would be even more perfect is if the coins had something Pokemon-related on them, but since it's a real bellydancing belt (as opposed to something I made), the coins have faces on them instead.

The belt was given to me by my mom, who had it for a Halloween costume. I took a lot of time untangling it, and actually had to move some of the chains around since they were spaced unevenly. Then I hand-sewed the entire thing on, since I had forgotten about it and couldn't use the machine because the belt was in the way. The entire thing is pretty heavy now (the chain holding the coins up is metal), but I rather like it. Before, the belt would ride up on my waist and sit oddly if I moved too much. Now the weight of the coins keeps everything resting properly.

I also began work on the shirt piece, since I ran out of ribbon to finish the collar. I patterned everything out, loosely based on a simple shirt pattern that I own, and added sleeves from a different shirt pattern. No pictures so far, but it did turn out better than expected. My only problem with it now is that in comparison to everything else I have, it looks so plain, just solid red. I'm trying not to worry too much about it though, since I think all of the pieces of this costume started that way. Over time, each piece naturally grew more and more detail until it looked finished. So I'm not going to force detail onto the top, I'm going to wait for inspiration to strike me the way it did with the other pieces and let it grow on it's own. If everything else gets finished and the top still looks out of place, I'll worry about it then. For now, I'm just focusing on getting the construction done.