The unfinished cosplays

This list of cosplays has the most probability to be finished. One of my first projects of 2021 will probably be Nene Yashiro from Toilet Bound Hanako Kun. I’m looking forwards to the new season coming on Spring . The dress and wig are completely finished and perhaps I will wear other characters from the series too. I absolutely loved the first season last year and I am currently reading the manga.

Re:Zero Starting life in another world will also get its second part of the season this January. I have already started Echidna’s dress and will hopefully have it finished rather soon. I want to make a costest with this bodysuit I made too (here is the pattern for the bodysuit). You may or may not see a return of Emilia as well.

From my old but gold stash, Inner Moka from Rosario Vampire should make an appearance this year too. You have already seen my maid, teacher and shirt version and I finally got fabric for her uniform. This time however, the almost finished cosplay that will surely see the light is the one from Inner Moka in one of the cover versions. After spending many days detangling the long wig, the dress only needs a few adjustments to be worn. The pattern for the bustier is the same I used for Ruby last year

Other unfinished cosplays that may or may not see the light this year include Mikaila, a very gothic and unknown character that I actually quite like. Bo Peep from Toy Story, which I started but left unfinished. And an old version of Jean Grey that I have completely finished but not worn. You may also see some characters from My Hero Academia as I already have the uniforms and the new season is also on its way.

Cosplays ready to start

I always try my best to collect all the materials I need to make a cosplay before I start. In fact, I have many many cosplays ready to go… I have actually given up or postponed a few of them. Among the ones I would like to finish this year there is Tifa Lockhart. I have been playing with my new Resin 3D printer and I already have some parts of her armour. Her alternative Chinese dress is ready too. Aerith was in my original plan but gathering materials for her has proven more difficult and she is currently on the perhaps list.

Asuna in her Stacia form and Velvet Crowe with her Pirate dress are from last year’s cosplan. I do have everything to make them but as they are quite complex they may or may not see the light this year.

Ambitious plans

One of my biggest projects this year so far is Lisa from Genshin Impact. I am absolutely hooked to this game. I have already gathered tons of reference pictures of the character and I am making patterns for her. It is however very complex and it will take time. This character is very challenging and I would like to make it justice. As there are no conventions happening soon I don’t know if I will be able to enter any competitions with it. This cosplay will probably take several months to complete no matter what.

More cosplays I want to do

My CosPlan for 2021 is absolutely immense. There is a lot of characters I would like to make and simply not enough time to finish them all. For example, there are several characters from RWBY I would like to cosplay this year, including Pyrrha, Cinder or Penny. Although there aren’t many superheroes in this year’s official list, I have several in my stash, perhaps Supergirl or the Invisible woman will finally make an appearance. There are so many othert characters from all kinds of fandoms hat I couldn’t possibly write them all here. But make sure to check My Social Media if you want to follow the process and see photos of all these characters when they are complete.

Do you like my posts? Remember you can support my blog in many ways, using my affiliate links, buying me a Ko-fi, or visiting my Cosplay Store! Following me on my Social Media and sharing my posts helps too! With your help I can create more cosplays, articles and tutorials to share with you!

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Let the cosplay list season begin

It has started. Every year by December and January my feed gets full of cosplay wishlists. “This year I am doing these cosplays”. Well, I don’t even know if I’ll finish soon the cosplay I started 6 months ago!

But let’s be realistic, how often do you get to finish the cosplays in those lists? I have actually checked my own lists. My Cosplay Planner actually helps a lot keeping track of my ideas.

I checked the lists of my last three years. I wasn’t that bad, on average I completed about 40% of the cosplays in my lists. However, I almost never completed them in that same year they appeared! I only completed about 25% of the cosplays I had planned for the year on time! Which means I dropped 3 out of 4 cosplays I had planned that year! And I am being very optimistic with these numbers.

Reasons why you will never complete your Cosplay Wishlist

There are many reasons why you won’t be able to finish those cosplays on time. And I’m not even considering the time when you sprained your wrist while doing martial arts (funny story, true story) or when you had to refurbish your craft room from scratch. Here are just some of the problems you may encounter.

1. The hype

This is your nemesis, the number one reason why you won’t be finishing your cosplays, the thing that will keep you awake at nights. The culprit of all those unfinished projects, the delay of your current build and the great fear of the cosplayer. The new stuff.

Fashions come and go so fast, and they also apply to cosplay. There is always new characters appearing on your social media and you want to be on top of the wave. There are so many new characters and with so amazing designs. The new anime season, the latest Marvel film, the E3 new games, you want to make them all! The truth is most people will forget about these characters in a year or two, but who cares, you want to do it and you want to do it now.

Hype can strike you in two different ways. One, it will make you drop your current project in favour to the most fashionable one, you will finish it, but you will delay or drop your current project, maybe forever. Or two, you will do a make up test, probably spend a lot of money on fabric and materials you will never use and you will lose interest. The cosplay will never make it out of your list. FAIL.

2. Too many cosplays

And this makes cosplay 31 on my wishlist of cosplays for this year, which means… I need to finish a cosplay every 1.6 weeks in order to finish them all in time…D’oh!

You are not being realistic, there is no way you can finish all the coplays in your list before the end of the year. There are just too many! And you haven’t even considered the hype in the original ecuation.

There are just far too many outfits out there you would like to make and not enough time for all of them. You are going to have to choose. Go for the ones you would really want to make, and leave the rest for whenever you have the extra time (ha, ha, ha, extra time). Remember that not only you want to make the cosplays but wear them in a convention or two and take some photos. That takes time too! Choose wisely and remember that cosplay time has its own flow (usually slower than you think).

3. You are poor

Sorry my dear, the piggy bank is broken. You have spent all your money on fancy fabric and worbla. And you don’t have enough for a new project.

Cosplayers have very expensive tastes, we think we are clever and we are saving money on the sales, but the truth is that we spent quite a bit of money on those cosplay details that make our cosplays perfect. If I were to buy all the materials for all the cosplays in my list I would probably not have enough to eat!

Sometimes saving up for that next project may take longer than you think. Be aware of your limitations and plan your budget with care.

4. Life

Yes! You DO have a life! Did you forget to visit your grandma this weekend? Don’t tell me you run out of milk again this week. When was the last time you played with your cats?

It is very easy to get carried away with your cosplay and forget about everything else. Many times I have found myself forgetting to eat! Your mum won’t be cleaning your room for you forever. The truth is there is not enough time for everything. Make sure you have plenty of time saved for your everyday tasks, your friends and your family, they are for sure much more important than your next cosplay. This also includes TAKING A BREAK every so often.

My list of cosplays I will never complete (2020 edition)

I may not be able to finish my list of cosplays this year, but nevertheless I will make one. It just wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t. Here are just some of the cosplays on my list that I may or may not finish, but hey, let’s just give it a try!

By the time you read this I will have already started 2 of them, and probably dropped another too. Want to know how I’m doing? Make sure you follow me on Facebook . Twitter and Instagram to see my progress!

And remember to check my goals on Ko-fi, I will be ablet to create more cosplays and more tutorials with your support, and I will share them with you! Some of my cosplay patterns will end up in my patterns and cosplay related downloadables make sure to check my current collection! Also, don’t forget to download my Cosplay Planner to start your own list! Happy sewing!

The post Why you will never complete your Cosplay Wishlist appeared first on Alice in Cosplayland.

It is that time of the year again. We look back at what we have done and get ready for the year to come. You don’t need a new year list of goals, what you need is the new year resolutions for cosplayers.

Looking back at my year I have to say that I did pretty well. Certainly, I didn’t attend to many conventions but I managed to finish many dropped projects and enter a national competition. I didn’t win, but I was most proud of my cosplay and performance. I also relaunched my Etsy store and started making patterns for cosplayers.

Next year I want to be even better. I will be setting new goals and I aim to improve even more on this hobby. One of my personal goals is to write in this blog more often but this is my list of new year resolutions for cosplayers.

1. Plan in advance

Every single year I think about how cool it would be to wear this or that cosplay for Halloween, Valentine’s day or that awesome convention in summer. Or I want to wear a new cosplay but find that my lenses have dried out. Every single time I remember it too late and run out of time. This year is time to start early and have the cosplays ready for the right time. Do you need a Cosplay Planner? Maybe?

2. Sleep more

Of course, because I don’t plan in advance, I get to stay all night up trying to complete my cosplay. In the last few years I got better at this but I still get overexcited at times and forget to sleep. Now a days I always have a plan B in case I don’t finish my cosplay in time. I have gone to conventions with no sleep at all. You only think about going to bed and don’t enjoy yourself. It is OK to postpone a project if you see you run out of time. You will be able to give a 100% at the convention and will get a better finish next time after a good sleep.

3. Stop buying fabric

But it is so pretty… and so cheap… No! At the moment I have two full cupboards full of fabric for projects. Some of these fabrics I bought ten years ago! I know they are cheap, I know they are pretty, but you should be thinking how to use them instead of collecting them and potentially ruining them if you didn’t store them properly. You will appreciate the savings of space and money for the projects that really matter.

4. Be more active on social media

For me, sometimes it is very difficult to be active in social media. I have a daytime job, a house to look after, a family, and believe it or not, other hobbies! I always try my best and I schedule posts so there is always new content on my pages. Sometimes it is not enough and life keeps me occupied instead. Nevertheless, it can be done, and hopefully I will be more active in the new year.

5. Share more tutorials

I love making tutorials, but they are very time consuming. I know you like them and I love being able to help other cosplayers like me. Actually, I have lots of pictures from lots of processes ready and hopefully I will get new content up very soon. Sharing helps us all being better.

6. Learn something new

Learning new techniques can be frustrating at the beginning, but they are worth the trouble. This year I learnt how to use Illustrator and it was more difficult than I expected. Actually, it has helped me a lot and made my life easier. It was totally worth it and I was able to create digital patterns that I can now share with you. You can always improve and learn something new. Don’t get stuck on your comfort zone and try something different.

7. Make a challenging cosplay

Every year I try making something amazing. Making small projects is fun, but doing the extra detailed or extra big cosplay is so satisfying. It can easily take you six months or a year to finish it; you will drop it a million times; but when you do finish it, you will feel very proud of yourself.

8. Finish an unfinished cosplay

You start a project, you flirt with another project and you end up forgetting about the first one. We have all been there. Some more often than others. Last year I managed to finish 3 long forgotten cosplays that I had started years ago. I already have 3 more ready to launch next year. They may not be as relevant or as good as your current projects but you will feel better with yourself.

9. Make a cosplay from your wishlist

Every cosplayer has a wishlist. Basically, it is a list of cosplays that you want to do no matter what. Sometimes you don’t start them because you haven’t got the money, the knowledge or even the time. This is your year, plan in advance (remember resolution 1?) and get all you need to fulfill your dreams. No more excuses.

10. Have fun

This is the most important part of cosplay. We forget about it so easily and we shouldn’t. This is a hobby. You don’t make cosplays for others. You make it for you! And you should enjoy it. Forget about criticisms, winning or losing, stressing over a competition. This is for you, it is OK to have a break and it is OK not to enter a competition. Always remember to have fun and forget about anything else.

Did you like my New Year Resolutions for cosplayers? Is there anything you would add to the list? Comment here or in my social networks and let me know what you wrote on your list!

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