Cheria - Part 2

This week I made more progress on my Cheria cosplay.  I was about to dye the trim for the skirt as well as attach it to the skirt.  I also got a few of the pieces I ordered in the mail, which was super exciting. I even found over knee black socks which was more difficult than expected.  There is still a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it, but I feel like its coming together pretty well.   Luckily I have a day off work this week, so hopefully I can devoted a lot of time to working on the top.

Dyeing the lace went significantly better than I thought it would.  I filled a pan with water, added about 1/2 a bottle of black RIT dye, and tossed in the lace.  I let it cook on the stove for about 15 minutes and it was done.   I then rinsed it off in the sink and let it dry.

Once the lace was dry I pinned it to the hem of my skirt.  I haven't sewed it yet.  I want to make sure that I am 100% happy with the length before I sew it on.  The current theme is to keep making it shorter. 

One of the things I received in the mail this week was my wig.  I LOVE IT!! I ordered this awesome pink wig from Arda Wigs.  It even came with a cute little drawing of Cheria from one of the ladies I know there.   The plans for the wig are to use RIT fuchsia dye to dye it and then to cut it shorter and add the pig tails on the top.

Here is the other piece of the outfit I got in the mail. Finding plain white boots was a tricky task.  I found these on Ebay. Technically Cheria's boots don't have heels, but I'm short and need the extra height.  I plan on making the sole and the heels black with either a sharpie or some black paint.   After that I have to add the red ribbon details to the sides. 

This is rough assembly of the pieces I have so far.  I have the skirt, socks, shoes, and wig.  Goals for this week are to add the details to the boots, dye the wig, and start on the top.  My weekend is all booked up so hopefully I can get most of that done during the week. 

Dark Chocolate Espresso Scones

Today we had a brunch at work for all the administrative staff.  So. Much. Food.  I haven't baked anything in awhile so I decided to contribute some homemade scones for the occasion.  They seemed to go over quite well.  Hopefully there won't be any leftovers to take home.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Scones

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp coffee grounds
• 6 tbsp very cold unsalted butter
• 5 oz. dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

 1) Preheat the oven to 400.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and coffee grounds. I used pumpkin spice coffee so feel free to play around with flavors.

2) Cut the cold butter into slices and add to the dry ingredients.  Using a whisk or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour.  The chunks of butter shouldn't but much larger than pea size when you are done. 

3) Stir in the chocolate chips.  

4) In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, half and half, and vanilla.  Make a well in the dry mixture.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry one. Stir until loosely combined.

5) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press together gently until it forms a ball.  Pat dough into a circle that is about 1 inch thick.  Using a biscuit cutter cut the dough out in circles.  Combine the scraps and press together again. Cut out more circles.  Keep doing this until you have used all the dough.   I got about 12 circles out of mine. 

6) Brush the tops of scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

7) Bake 17-20 min or until golden brown.  Let cool on a cooling wrack. 

Cheria - Part 1

This year I will be attending the Anime Central for the first time ever. For anyone who is unaware this a large anime convention held in Rosemont, Il.   I will also be cosplaying for the first time.  This is a whole new adventure for me, and the next month will be completely occupied getting my outfit together.   I really don't have a lot of experience sewing, so this should be interesting as I am making the majority of my out fit from scratch.  

The character I chose to cosplay is Cheria from the game Tales of Graces.  She is super cute and I hope to do her justice.

So far I have ordered my wig, shoes, and contacts.  I have also bought most of the fabrics and accessories I need.  All that's really left is to throw it all together. 

As you can see the lace I have is currently white, but I have purchased some black dye to attempt to dye it.   The other 2 bottles of dye will be used to dye my wig once I get it.  That will be a fun adventure for another post. I have commissioned another cosplayer to make my broach as well as a set of daggers, more about those when I have more pictures. 

Today I began work on the skirt.  Like I said, I have very little sewing experience so I was a bit scared. Luckily it all seems to be coming together pretty well.  I made all the pleats, and attached the waistband. 

Goals for this week are to dye the lace and finish the skirt.  Next week I hope to be able to start on the top.  To be continued...