Fresh Start, 2023

I've been doing some cleaning out/rearranging over the past week and I finally have more room to start working on some projects. I'm completely remaking Astrid 2, (hopefully for the last time), and starting improvements and repairs on Astrid 3. When it warms up (if ever, lol), I'll get going on my dragon armor again since some of it needs to be done outside. 

Astrid 2

The fur on Astrid's hood from the second movie has been giving me grief for years, but I think I've finally achieved that ultimate floofiness I've been looking for! I had a fur rug draped over a chair in my living room as a decoration for a couple years, and I always loved how thick and beautiful it was (even if it was just a cheap rug from Ross). It just kept slipping off onto the floor, which was kind of frustrating, but it never occurred to me to use it for a cosplay until recently...so I did. And it looks AMAZING.

First look. I tightened things up a bit after this.

It's not finished, but this is how it looks currently. I'm so excited! I love how fluffy and comfy it is, but I'm definitely going to have to reserve this cosplay for cold weather events only, otherwise I'll die of heatstroke. 

I was hoping to keep some parts of my old cosplay, like the boot covers, but it looks like I'm going to have to remake all of it since I only have one color of fur to work with and I don't want to get more. 

My cat Biscuits is loving this project. So many soft things to sleep on! We adopted her in December, so this is my first experience making a cosplay with a pet around. It should be fun. 😀

Astrid 3

I've started replacing the fur on my Astrid 3 outfit. I've only ever worn it to FanX last September and it was kind of a rush-job so I wasn't exactly happy with the way it turned out. For example, the fur lining was too white and it got filthy as I walked around in it all day. The fur I'm using now is much closer to the actual color in the movie and I'm going to try to fix the covers so they don't drag on the ground as much. 

I also ripped the white fur off the shoulder armor.

Sewing the new fur.

I broke a needle. 🙄 And then I broke the replacement needle twenty minutes later when I accidentally sewed over a pin. Ugh.

One way or another, I always end up sewing this stuff by hand. 😒 Oh well. At least it looks authentic.

I didn't get around to finishing the second boot cover because Biscuits thought I'd made her a lovely new bed. She was so cute and comfy that I didn't have the heart to move her. She stayed there all day. 😁

This is already looking so much better!