2024 Cosplay Year in review

Vaporeon - Pokémon | Espeon - Pokémon | Dyonisus - Hades | Agott - Witch Hat Atelier

I had a pretty easy going 2024. I didn't make as many costumes as I hoped, although that's been the case for a few years now... I hit a few milestones this year including 20 years of cosplay and making my 100th costume. This year I got to experiment more with stretch mesh with my Pokémon cosplays and I also got to try out a bunch of techniques and tips I learned on TikTok, so all that scrolling amounted to something productive. If you would like to know more about how the costumes were made please check out the links above or click any of the photos below. 

Vaporeon Cosplay from Pokémon - Photo by Paul Hillier at Yeticon 2024

What I learned

1. Don't fight with your sewing machine when the work can be sewn by hand. Some things need the precision of hand sewing.
2. I have been undervaluing the use of understitching. It's something so simple that can make your garments look more professional and clean. It also makes things so much easier to iron later. What is understitching? 
3. Fake collars: Agott's black collar only extends a few inches from what visible for a few reasons: she has a another shirt underneath so it's a lot of fabric to have around the neck, which leads to the next reason which is less fabric to allow for less heat. I mainly cosplay in the summer and comfort from the heat is important.
4. Agott's cape also has fake button holes. The amount of tension that would fall on those top two buttons would make the cape crease and wrinkle in places I don't want. Even though elements seems functional they don't have to be, you can make them aesthetic instead. 
5. Lightning stitches are great for stretch fabrics but I also really like using it for decorative stitches. Whenever I need something to have what looks like a bold visible straight stitch, I use a lightning stitch. Its what you see on the white fabric piece at the shoulders of my Agott costume. I also used it for my Raihan costume a few years back. 
6. Hang your circle patterned fabric to stretch. You'll be surprised how much excess fabric you'll have to remove to keep it in a perfect circle shape.
7. I learned new way to make a rolled hem on a circle. For a 1 cm hem you make a gathering stitch 1cm from the edge, fold on the stitch and press, tuck in the 1cm edge and gather till there is no bunching, then press again, stitch, and lastly remove the gathering stitch. Using a contrasting colour for the gathering stitch makes it easier to remove.  
8. Experiment beyond the typical seam options for a cleaner finish, especially if the seams will be visible. Some can be significantly more time consuming and have less room for error, so measure carefully.
9. Nylon (stretch mesh or power mesh) dyes so easily. Time how long you need to leave things in the dye bath for consistent results.
10. E6000 fabric fuse works well for attaching appliqués to stretch fabric like stretch mesh. 
11. Gathering fabric can be done in many ways. When it come to slash and spread [Vaporeon] vs. slash and spiral [Espeon], the latter is so much more work for a result that isn't much different from the former.
12. Gathering stretch fabric can be finnicky. If it is not tacked onto something non-stretch or your not dealing with A LOT of fabric you will spending time repositioning it. The stretching can pull it to certain positions.
13. If you want a sewing challenge, tackle a project from the Pattern magic books. They are very neat but it was one of the most time consuming pattern modifications I've ever done.
14. A quilting foot is great for attaching appliques.
15. Fabric covered buttons are fun and easy to make with the right tools. You can easily buy kits on AliExpress or Amazon. 
16. The Princess Pinky Galaxy contacts are becoming some of my favourites. 
17. Crimping wigs requires sturdy wrists. It's quite the workout with a lot of repetitive motions. 

Photo by Erik Paredes at Otakuthon 2024

Most Expensive Costume

Although I got a good deal on the fabric for the cape ( I think it was buy 2 get one free), I made some stupid mistakes when it came to making the undergarments and I went in a completely different direction after making some. With all the wasted materials and all the little things, like getting a button maker, the costs added up. 

Photo by LXE Photography at Yeticon 2024

Least Expensive Costume

The only things I had to buy for Dyonisus were the wig and the grapes. All the fabrics are leftovers from other projects, like the leopard from from my Sharla costume. The bracelets were repurposed from my Dragon costume. The belt is leftover leather with some extra trim glued on top. 

Dyonisus cosplay from Hades - Photo by LXE Photo at Yeticon 2024

Favrourite costume

I love Dyonisus' character in Hades. He's so much fun so naturally he's fun to cosplay. I get to be silly and flirty, it's great. I also love the look of this wig on me. I didn't know purple was such a good colour on me. This was also a last minute costume I made for Katsucon.

Romantic Strawberry is SuCreativeStudio (ig), Kandy Tea is Anniechiedesigns (ig) and Salty Vanilla is Meltingmirror - Photo by Erik Paredes at Otakuthon 2024.

Conventions

I went to 7 conventions this year. ​I was a guest at Kelowna ComiCon and I had a great time meeting the west coast cosplayers and made many new friends. If you are in the area I highly recommend visiting it.

I got to judge 4 cosplay contests: Anime North, Kelowna ComiCon, Ottawa ComiCon and WCS Canada at Otakuthon. I also got to do a fun group photoshoot with SuCreativeStudio and  Anniechiedesigns with our Sakizo costumes. It's been years since I've done a group cosplay so this wasa  treat.

There's a lot of rumours that Yeticon might not be back next year but I hope it returns since I had a great time as always with friends at the resort. Katsucon was yet again an inspiration, while Anime Ottawa had it's first year and I would say it was a success, so I look forward to what they bring next year.

I retired this Aion costume from 2016 with one last shoot at Yeticon 2024 with Elemental Photography

Forward to 2025

The plan for 2025 is to continue my efforts to whittle down my fabric stash along with my ongoing projects that have been on the backburner. I have big plans for the last of my eeveelutions. We'll see if I wrap up the project next year or not. I'm also hoping to compete in one contest next year but that will depend on how much I get done and the timelines for registration, and if I get called on to judge.

My upcoming conventions and projects can be found on my Upcoming page, which I update throughout the year.
If you would like to see me at a convention near you, feel free to put my name forward when they are looking for guests suggestions.

I'll see you in 2025 with more Jojos and Pokemon

---