Huzzah! We are now approaching the end of 2020! This has been the weirdest year yet. I have both been extra motivated and extra not-motivated with cosplay. Coronavirus has taken its toll and the lockdowns haven’t always been great. However, all in all, this year I managed to get 20 new photoshoots! Most of them at home of course and almost all with new cosplays. This is my 2020 Cosplay Recap.
Full list of cosplays
- Elsa casual
- Black Canary (Kotobukiya version)
- Froppy
- Nana Shimura
- Nana Shimura (UA uniform)
- Tomoyo
- Chi (rainy day artbook)
- Chi (brown uniform)
- Moka Akashiya (teacher)
- Moka Akashiya (maid)
- Ruby (volume 5)
- Mumei
- Mumei (haori)
- Black Canary (comic version)
- Asui Tsuyu (UA uniform)
- Asui Tsuyu (gym uniform)
- Kaguya-sama
- Chika Fujiwara
- Ochako (UA uniform)
The simple stuff
I started the year with very big projects in mind which of course never came to be. A very expensive trip to the emergency vets with my beloved cat Mileena did not help to fulfill my plans either (NOTE: don’t let your cats enter your sewing room, they will eat your needles!). Nevertheless, I still tried to deliver and made an Elsa casual photoshoot very early on in January. Simple, but I just wanted some photos with my awesome Olaf.
By February I had been feeling a bit unwell for a while. Let me tell you my symptoms: high fever, continuous cough and loss of sense of smell. Sounds familiar? Yep, it sucks. I was in bed for a month and still with pain on my ribs and lungs until summer. Yet Coronavirus wasn’t a thing at the time, and I never got diagnosed. When I was finally over it (yet still in pain) I managed to finish my Black Canary cosplay! One of my favourite comic characters ever. And I also made a second version of the same character just a few months later (I also made a pattern for the bodysuit here).
My Hero Academia fever
One of the animes that has hooked lots of people in the last few years is of course My hero academia. The only event I managed to attend this year was late February and Froppy was my character. The cosplay was virtually finished at the end of 2019 so I only needed a few bits. Later in the year I got a photoshoot with the amazing Ian Moore and I also wore my UA uniforms which I had purchased.
Nana Shimura was next. Again, this cosplay was almost finished so I only had to wear it (pattern for the catsuit here). And I took the opportunity to take a few photos with the UA uniform too.Ochako also got new photos as I had barely taken any the year before. These photos are from much later in summer with Granetalia, when we were still with a postlockdown strange situation.
Blast from the past
If you follow me, you know I can’t resist throwing in some old characters. They may not be popular anymore, but I still love them. When lockdown kicked in I made sure to use some of my stash fabric. Tomoyo was first, and I used some leftover fabric from other projects to complete her.
Also, after many years, I finally managed to wear my Chobits cosplay. She is my favourite character yet I wasn’t sure if I would look good on it. You will see her again for sure. Furthermore, my other beloved character Moka made an appearance with two looks from the manga covers, as a teacher and as a maid.
Finishing old projects
There is always a project hanging around that you never seem to get the time to finish. My Mumei in particular had been on the make for 4 years! Far too long. I guess it was a difficult cosplay with many little parts and I kind of decided to go for three looks in one go. Oopsie. She was the perfect excuse to use my new 3D printer for the first time as well! I honestly think the cosplay and the photos came out great. But as it wasn’t a popular character anymore it didn’t get the attention it deserved.
Recycling to the top
As cash in general has been short, and going out shopping wasn’t even a possibility, I took the chance to make some awesome cosplays using the fabric of my stash. For some reason I seem to make my better cosplays whenever I just use whatever I have around. Perhaps I just have too much around? My Ruby Rose was almost entirely done with things I had around during lockdown. This included my old bedsheets! Which became part of my skirt and hood as well as my shirt. Don’t you miss the full tutorial on my IGTV! The pattern for the corset is here too.
Last of the year
The last cosplays of the year were Chika and Kaguya-sama. Love is war was one of the animes I really enjoyed this year so I decided to make them. Actually, I took the photos for these cosplays in July and sadly, that was the end of the cosplay year for me. Actually you can download all the patterns here.
I did continue sewing more slowly but unfortunately did not have a chance to really complete any other cosplays. The second half of the year has been stressful. Sad circumstances with a big loss in our lives, a neverending house renovation and the return to work under the new normal sucked all my motivation as well as the time left of the year. But! Not all is lost, and preparations for 2021 are already happening!
Final thoughts
I may not have finished all the cosplays I have planned for this year, but at least I was able to tick most of the boxes of my Cosplay New Year Resolutions . Although it ended rather early, I still had the chance to make the most of my time during furlough, and I actually have several almost finished cosplays that hopefully will see the light in 2021! It has been tough but it is almost over. We made it! It doesn’t matter if you did a lot or very little. The important thing is that we are still here and we are all looking forwards to better times.
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