Back to Work: Amano Kuja II Supplies (Pics!)

 

 

I’ve been really picky about fabric lately. I’ve actually been so picky about fabric that I’ve started to hate shopping with myself and shopping for fabric in general, but that’s because I’ve been shopping for Amano Kuja II fabric. But after months of shopping, which has turned into my eyes glazing over at the mere sight of a bolt of fabric (good thing I go back to work as a stitcher next week, right?) I finally have enough to get started.

All of this is from Denver Fabrics. I think finding a good, opaque white is the most important part of any Kuja cosplay because of his black thong. It also has a bit of luster and texture but not too much, which I like since everything else on this costume will be texture, pattern, and more texture just for fun. The two pale blues (one is a metallic) will be used on the jacket, upper sleeves, and everywhere else, but in ‘everywhere else’ there will probably be buckets of beading on top. The darker blue will be lining and trim. I almost got the blue and silver version of the purple beaded trim I purchased for Treno Kuja, but then I remembered that the only reason I could afford that trim was because it was on clearance. I still don’t know exactly what I want to do with the trim, though, so maybe that was for the best.

This was taken with flash, so you can see the luster of the white, as well as something weird going on with the silk chiffon. I’m glad the luster shows through, at least. The periwinkle chiffon was left over from Treno Kuja, the other chiffon is just a duller pale blue version of the same fabric (but it’s good to know now that it goes darker under flash.) Right now, I’m thinking of multiple sleeves,with the white on top and the chiffon peeking out from the hem.

I picked up the shinier fabric at Denver Fabrics, but the patterned upholstery fabric is from Hancock. I’m not sure which side I want to use yet, or even if I want to use both, so it’s folded over. I’m 99.9% sure that shiny fabric is poly something, so I’m going to cut it in the jagged shape of Kuja’s armor/undershirt thing and singe the edges, and layer that over the orange, which will be knife pleated and then cut with the same jagged hem. I’m not sure if I want to attach it to the jacket or have it be a separate garment yet.

Those little chain/bead… fringes… are going all over the orange fabric of the undershirt. I’m going to hate myself so much in a week when I’m handsewing each one on!

These are buckles I picked up years ago at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco. The beads are left over from CLAMPtastic Vampire Fai from this past A-kon. I have no idea where the beads are going to go. The buckles are for Kuja’s thigh-high boots.

Let me explain this whole thing. The actual wig is a pale blue. At least, that’s what I’m hoping, because it’s still… not… here. I’m putting the white rooster feathers in at the crown of the wig to give the illusion of a gradient from white to pale blue to dark blue. Half of the ostrich feathers will be trimmed off, then they will be steamed and slightly curled, and then the tips will be dyed a pale blue to match the body of the wig. The longer dark blue rooster feathers will be going into the bottom of the wig, which will also be dyed a darker blue to make the transition from pale blue wig fiber to dark blue feather smoother.

As for Arumat, I’m planning on being so frustrated with the chain fringe on Kuja’s jacket that I’m going to start with that burned/distressed/I don’t even know what happened skirt of his. Yay cosplay!