Echo from Pandora Hearts Cosplay Breakdown

 Echo from Pandora Hearts

Echo was definitely not the type of character I'm used to cosplaying. Her personality is way more passive and quiet then I am used to. Nevertheless I was still for some reason drawn to her. I liked the transition from quiet/passive to ultra bad ass in an instant. After watching Pandora Hearts for the first time I really fell in love with the series. Originally I had felt like making this would be pretty strait forward, however it proved to be much more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated.

The first issue I ran into was the fact that Echo, like many anime characters, suffers from "Anime Proportions." You all probably know what I'm talking about here. In this case Echo has these freakishly long legs, while still being one of the shortest characters. This would be an issue for me considering I'm 5'8" and a full grown adult >.<

But by adjusting the pattern a bit I was able to make it some what proportioned to my body. Granted it meant making a shorter skirt than I'm comfortable wearing. Luckily I had some shorts to wear underneath..

The pattern was hand drafted, and I started off with the blue dress as a base. I wanted to have the white center peice actually connect the dress in the front, but later I decided that might be a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, so I "faked it" so to speak.

 

 That is an example of the dress base. This is a later picture when I added the buttons on it, becasue I didn't get a picture of it initially. 

After making the dress, I decided to move on to the sleeves next since I needed the dress done to fit them properly.

Originally I got super excited about this cosplay simply for the fact that I didn't have to attach the sleeve to anything SINCE I HATE DOING THAT. But really these turned out to me just as big of a pain. Three failed pattern attempts later, I had things going.

 I marked my designs on it first using sewing chalk

On top of the strange design, this sleeve posed another issue for me.

Bias....

I decided the best way to achieve the look in the ref pictures was to use bias. I'm not use to sewing it with such detail, so it took me a while. I suppose the extra time paid off though, because the designs on the sleeve didn't turn out NEAR as bad as I thought it would.

My dog looks so enthusiastic..

After finishing the bottom I added a cuff at the top and Ta-Duh! My weird unattached sleeve was finished!

I made a second sleeve and then moved on to the front white piece.

I drafted the pattern and double the fabric so it would be nice and sturdy. After that I got to try the automatic button hole maker on my new sewing machine.

I got way too excited about this..

GAHHH I love that feature!! The old sewing machine I was using didn't have this and I had to do it by hand. I can't imagine ever doing one now without this! I made 8 button holes in a flash, and it couldn't have been easier.

Double checking to see if it looked right..

And there.. After that things were starting to come together. I marked where I wanted the button to go on the blue dress underneath. But before I could put the buttons on I had to solve a small issue. 

I needed the right color buttons.

In the ref pictures, they are a really nice periwinkle color (that was my favorite color as a child :3) the problem was in my local fabric stores, this color button only came with 2 in packs of 8, and I wasn't about to buy 5 packs of buttons just to get 2 of the colors I needed. I probably would have been able to buy them online somehwere, but I was short in time so I improvised..

So I decided to hand paint all of them!

I used acrylic paint to achieve the exact color I wanted. However the paint I used created some what of a powered matte finish on the buttons, and I knew it would come off with the slightest scratch. To solve this issue, I used a good old clear coat to make it shine and protect the paint.

The result was awesome! They ended up looking like I bought them that way.

After that the buttons were attached to the blue dress as illustrated earlier, and they seemed to line up OK!

The tie was also made during that time, which you can see in the photo. I just used some left over black satin and ribbon bias to make it. It attaches in the front with velcro :)

From here on it was crunch time, and I didn't get as many pictures. For the dress shirt underneath I found a mens dress shirt from the thrift store and added my own sleeves to it. I made hand pressed ruffles for it that would stick out of the blue sleeves. After that I put the finishing touches on it by adding the covered buttons near the armpit area and attaching ribbon to them, which ran through previously made loops on the detachable sleeves to the back where the bows were. 

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about.

While it looks like in the ref pics that the sleeve is held on entirely by that button loop system, I was worried it may not hold or sit properly so I sewed the sleeve to the top of the armpits on the blues dress just in case. As a result it was much more secured, and I was still able to move just fine in it.

 Test run!

After that things were pretty much done besides the stockings. I threw those together real fast and basically made them boot covers to go over my shoes. for this costume I styled my first wig as well. I used a Jaguar in Silver from Arda wigs, which can be used for another costume as well. My contacts were grey, and purchased from Pinky. I want to start getting in the habit of reviewing lenses as I buy them so look for that soon.

Photo by Daniel Ramirez. Do not use or alter without consent.

After all that here is the final result! 

I'm excited to report I won my first craftsmanship award with this costume at
Nebraskon 2012!

Guess all that work paid off :) This actually ended up being a pretty fun costume to make! I was very happy to see it come together and even more excited to win an award for it. I'm planning on wearing this again soon and hope to maybe get some pictures with other Pandora Hearts Cosplayers. I haven't seen many around my local conventions, however I did see another Echo cosplayer at Nebraskon which was neat :D

Anyways sorry for the somewhat abrupt end to this write up. The holidays are already keeping me really busy so finding time to update stuff is beginning to get difficult. But I'm looking forward to next year with new con's and new costumes :) 

See you soon!

-QK

Nebraskon 2012: I Ain't Got No Panties On!

So I've been neglecting my blog and other pages quite a bit lately. The good news is this horrific year is almost over! I figured I'd do a brief recap of my Nebraskon trip before the year is over.

My last convention of the year was Nebraskon 2012 in Omaha, NE. This convention has become the best one to attend when it comes to hanging out with friends.  Pretty much everyone in all my groups of friends go's to it, making it an awesome time. Last year was a blast and this year definitely did not disappoint.

For this convention I brought 2 new cosplays. I had also intended to bring a swimsuit for the swimsuit competition, but I didn't have time to finish it.

The two cosplays I made were Megurine Luka's Project Diva Kimono outfit, and Echo from Pandora Hearts

Echo was originally suppose to be done with my boyfriend who was suppose to be Vincent. We started his, but couldn't quite get it done, so we will be going together at a future con as the two :)
I cosplayed Luka with my favorite Lady Linda who went as Miku. We have apparently made it tradition to do Vocaloid cosplays together at Nebraskon hehe ^.^

Here was my final product for Luka!

Here's Linda as Miku, Myself as Luka, and Miss Shelene as Sheryl Nome!

 We had a lot of fun together and overall I think our costumes both turned out great together.


We wore these for Friday and got some good feedback. We got to go get sushi in these as well which was fun! We got some pretty strange looks at the restaurant.

Saturday I wore Echo!

Seeing this come together was really awesome.

Linda went that day as Serah Farron's Summoner outfit (It looked amazing!). I decided to enter the cosplay competition with Echo, since I really didn't have anything better to do that evening. It was a pretty long process like most competitions. Linda was with me as well as my good friends Lulu, Tima, and others, so we kept each other entertained while we waited. The competition went well, and there were a lot of great cosplayers and skits. My walk went smoothly, although everyone told me I went WAY to fast. I was about ready to check out near the end because of how tired I was, but it is a good thing I stuck it through because I got this!

 Derpy Excited Face is Derpy

I finally won my first craftsmanship award!

Up until this point I've either been competing in a higher difficulty then I am due to being in groups, or haven't won anything. Now that I finally have this I can officially be a journeyman without any arguments!

My friend Lulu standing next to me in this won both the Masters category and best craftsmanship in the swimsuit comp. She always dominates it's awesome!!

The Pyramid Head next to me is actually my friend Adam, who won runner up in the intermediate category. I love this picture because he pointed out that we all look like we just left and outlet mall or something with our bags, and I can't get over how funny it looks now.


That night we all got out of cosplay and took it easy.

And you can probably all guess who came to visit.

That's Right.

Rainbow slut..

And she brought friends...

There weren't many pictures taken at this point, but there were some videos which may be used as black mail against me in the future..

And of course on Sunday 

We went to Wheatfields..

Hello breakfast burrito. We meet again..

As I said this was my last convention for the year. I'm spending the rest of the year spending time with family for the holidays, making gifts, and working on cosplay for next year. At the moment I'm trying to make plans to go to Katsucon but that may not happen. I'll be going to Naka as always and I'm definitely going to shoot for ACen again. I'll have a half assed write up on how I made my My Luka and Echo costume coming up here soon, as well as share what my future plans are (they are big).

 Hope everyone has had a great year! And I look forward to seeing everyone in 2013! Enjoy your holidays with friends and family and stay safe!

Oh and don't forget to do the Commander Shepard Shuffle at your office Christmas parties.

Later!

-QK