handywithaneedle

[handywithaneedle]

Someday I will make Every. Single. Outfit. This I vow.

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Memory Key

[handywithaneedle]

ITS IS TIME: Miss Universe National Costume 2023

it's here! the Met Gala for people who actually understand what camp is!

yes I'm like 3 months late, but I sat down and watched the damn thing. I put up with the horrible little rhyming couplets for each contestant so you don't have to. and without further ado:

Albania: Starting off very Victoria’s Secret this year! Apparently it’s gold for important symbolism reasons, not just because everything in this competition is blinged out to within an inch of its life. The wings do look nice in motion!

Angola has a good balance of bling, actual cultural dress, and oh hey it has surprise bonus art on the back! That will be a theme this year.

Argentina: Why is there a guy in a hat right down at the bottom edge of her cape. He looks like he’s staring at her butt. How does this represent their flag.

Aruba: This is fine. I like the coral. She thinks climate change is bad. Her parrot is clearly way too heavy to hold up and it wobbles like crazy in motion.

Australia: This is now multiple years in a row that Australia has just worn a fucking prom dress. It’s got native wildflowers on. You could have made this exact same dress with a Great Barrier Reef theme and I would have liked it 80% more.

Bahamas: This costume is allegedly based on a 19th-century doll from the Bahamas “world famous straw market,” which is already bullshit; I googled “bahamas straw market antique doll” and like. they both have big skirts? I guess? Anyway now I’m too distracted by the way she has a hoop skirt awkwardly jammed under there and hiked up on one side. Minus ten for poor construction.

Bahrain's theme is “Bahrain’s pearl heritage,” which like. I guess? The headdress and yoke are pretty. Put more pearls on the actual outfit. Kudos for getting to wear pants.

Belgium: Girl. No. Why is your theme “Latin dance” and why are you wearing a spangly cocktail dress with a totally unrelated piece of fabric fluttering behind it? (Apparently the fabric was designed by a member of Belgium’s royal family? Who is a fashion designer? This is what nepotism gets you.)

Bolivia saw Aruba’s parrot and was like, I can do that better. And she was right! It’s way less wobbly and the costume as a whole does work better. Also made from recycled materials, so we’ll see if that’s a theme again this year. The back of the cape is nice too.

Sadly, Bolivia's parrot supremacy was short-lived, because Brazil was like, bitch please. I see your sad little parrots and raise you FOUR giant parrots, and also the shoulder parrots are articulated and can turn their heads back and forth. I think Brazil wins the parrot competition that only she knew she was in.

[handywithaneedle]

Pardon me as I enter my ATLA phase…

[handywithaneedle]

Making beautiful embroidery for FROZEN II!

Some Behind the scenes and a closer look at the costumes of the characters in F2!

Enjoy! 💖💖😘😘🧵🧶

[handywithaneedle]

Being an Aromantic Asexual is Weird

Being an aromantic asexual is weird. We defy not one, not two, but three societal norms; heteronormativity, compulsory sexuality, and amatonormativity. It gets even weirder when you’re indifferent (even favourable!) when it comes to sex and romance because you think your experience is universal, that everyone feels the way you do. It’s not feeling wrong and broken and out of place. It’s feeling normal, and then realizing that you aren’t.

Thinking (read: assuming) that you’re straight for most of your life and then finding out you’re not is weird. Mostly because once you realize you’re not straight, it dawns on you that you feel the same way about boys that you do about girls and non-binary people. And then you wonder if you’re pansexual because they’re attracted to all genders, and you have to be attracted to someone, right? And then that thought is immediately dismissed because you don’t feel attraction, at all. But it doesn’t stop you from contemplating every other sexuality and romantic orientation, because you’ve been taught that everyone wants sex and romance.

And then you remember: you like sex and romance in fiction. You like seeing your friends in happy, healthy, consenting relationships, and you’d always assumed that one day, you’d be in one too. But you’ve never pursued one. You never had more than a fleeting interest in boys, and lingering but still platonic affection for your female and non-binary friends. Those “crushes” that you had in elementary school? Maybe not crushes after all, because God knows you haven’t had one in nearly eight years. The most powerful feelings you’ve had for another person have been squishes so intense that you had to look back and question if it was actually romantic attraction (spoiler: it wasn’t).

And then there’s that epiphanic moment when things start to fall into place. Why you were always so vehement that soulmates could be platonic too. Why the idea of loving someone more than your best friend is incomprehensible (because romantic love is always shown as being more. Hello amatonormativity). Why when you ship fictional pairings, there are people you want to get together romantically, people you want to be friends so bad, and the ships that you like the most are the ones that could go either way. Why you desire emotional closeness and intimacy with the people in your life, but that had always been conflated with sex and romance so you wondered if what you wanted was more than friendship. Why you want to take the expression “more than friends”and burn it to the ground because there is no vocabulary for friendship that exceeds “best friend” without crossing over into romantic and/or sexual territory.

You realize that your ideal relationship isn’t necessarily romantic. It’s best friends who cohabitate and snuggle and hold hands and go on adventures to the library together. Kissing and sex? Well, that’s more of an afterthought. A “yeah, that’ll probably happen somewhere in there.” An assumption, because you’ve been taught that primary, monogamous relationships are always romantic and sexual. You reflect and see that there are very few things that you see and inherently romantic, and that there is a lot of cross-over between things you consider platonic, sensual, and romantic. A grey area that you can’t define.

Being an aromantic asexual is weird, because while I’ve always said that you don’t need romance and sex to be happy, I now realize that it applies to me too.

______________________

Note from mod fitz: This has to be one of the most moving descriptions of this I have ever read. This exactly describes how I felt coming to the realization that I was not straight, and I think had I read this when I first began questioning it would have made things go a lot smoother for me. Thanks so much for submitting!

[handywithaneedle]

The Pevensie actors and their costumes

[handywithaneedle]

Me being me, I can’t post this without a disclaimer. This cosplay is not up to my usual standards. The costume came from AliExpress, the material is cheap and the design has a bunch of issues,  but it is what was available and affordable that I could get before the end of my pregnancy. The wig is one that I bought to cosplay Anna from Frozen, so it’s lighter than it should be and I had to try to hide the fact that it has bangs. And obviously I don’t have the boots. So please be kind; I’m already probably judging this cosplay harder than anyone else would. 😅 With that out of the way, this was something I really wanted to do for a maternity photo shoot. Pip is arriving on Monday, and I’m grateful that the outfit arrived on time and that my friend and I were able to do this! Pip’s first cosplay! 🥰 We did get some very cute pictures, I think, so I just have to sit on my inner cosplay accuracy snob and enjoy them for what they are. 😂😅 Hope you all enjoy them too! Photos by Josh Rubinstein (thank you Josh!). #pregnancy #cosplay #pregnantcosplay #wandavision #wandavisioncosplay #scarletwitch #scarletwitchcosplay #cosplaysnob #pip (at Lake Balboa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPoFv-sgRx-/?utm_medium=tumblr

[handywithaneedle]

This is what happens when you're the oldest cousin at Christmastime. Merry Christmas! #throwbackthursday #tbt #christmasdecor #christmas https://www.instagram.com/p/CJMq4wFAftT/?igshid=3aiqpyx5c1yw

[handywithaneedle]

#ThrowbackThursday to 2009 when my friends and I did our cosplay group from Odin Sphere! This is still probably the most elaborate costume I’ve done, the only time I’ve attempted something like a (partial) fursuit or armor. I’m still really proud of the way it came out! To my everlasting sadness, the light-up sword that @tokoz.dragon built for me got broken on the bus on the way to the convention, so I could never draw it. But it looked pretty cool just strapped on my back! Added a few pictures from the construction process of the legs. It was a learning experience! . . . . . . @animecentralofficial @animeexpo #cosplay #odinsphere #odinspherecosplay #tbt #throwback https://www.instagram.com/p/CHzM66mgu8Y/?igshid=1nk0tmdm66k3q

[handywithaneedle]

Another custom order is out the door! I learned a lot from this one. It was my first Tuxedo Mask, and if I ever tackle him again, I’m going to have to charge more, because that tuxedo and all of the details took FOREVER. 😅 But I’m really pleased with how he came out, and I hope the owner will be too! Fly safely and swiftly, little bear outfits! #buildabear #buildabearsofinstagram #bearcostume #bearcostumes #costume #costumes #cosplay #teddybearcosplay #sailorbears #sailormoon #tuxedomask #sailormooncosplay #tuxedomaskcosplay #animecosplay #dollcosplay #dollcostume #covidprojects https://www.instagram.com/p/CDudgkPArRK/?igshid=k7ca6ws1bgmu

[handywithaneedle]

Cats: “What are you working on? Can I sit on it? HAHAHA JK of course I can.” #mchonne #toothless #catsofinstagram #blackcatsofinstagram #tabbycatsofinstagram #sewingcatsofinstagram #orinthiscase #hotgluingcataofinstagram #notarealhashtag #nothelping https://www.instagram.com/p/CC7y1IegARc/?igshid=vyrb267ot8jz

[handywithaneedle]

I realized that I never posted pictures of the original Sailor Bears to this account. I did a few of each of the Inner Senshi originally, and all but one Jupiter have been sold, either at the @animecentralofficial Artists’ Alley or through my Etsy shop, HandyWithANeedle. If anyone recognizes either of those cute Sailor Jupiter cosplayers, please let me know so that I can credit them and make sure they are okay with me sharing their pictures. 💚💕 #sailormoon #sailormooncosplay #cosplay #dollcosplay #teddybearcosplay #dollcostume #teddybearcostume #sailorbears #sailormercury #sailormars #sailorjupiter #sailorvenus #buildabear #throwback #artistsalley #studiolobsterball https://www.instagram.com/p/CCzErI_gx2M/?igshid=k2d2691omnok

[handywithaneedle]

Why, if it isn’t the Return of the Sailor Bears! My first ever anime-style Sailor Moon Bear. I’ll do some properly modeled photos later with her partner. #buildabear #teddybearcostume #teddybearcostumes #teddybear #dollcostume #dollcostumes #sailormoon #sailormooncosplay #sailorbears #sailorsenshi #currentproject #wip #commission https://www.instagram.com/p/CCuTx1EA-nJ/?igshid=its7ef33yw4m

[handywithaneedle]

Whaaaaaat could it be? #wip #currentproject #commission #makingbows https://www.instagram.com/p/CCprXiEAYDo/?igshid=1032qus1nsv6g

[handywithaneedle]

Thank you so much @geekregeneration and @xann1891 for the bonus cosplay photos from the #Bagmiliars shoot! This is my Professor Sybill Trelawney cosplay that I originally put together before the movies even came out, so it’s strictly based on the description in the books. Apparently she’s learning to make nice with the Grim? #harrypotter #harrypottercosplay #sybilltrelawney #sybilltrelawneycosplay #professortrelawney #divination #thegrim #padfoot #cosplay #costume #costumes https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbFkHIgyLk/?igshid=9ibs20bjwxa2

[handywithaneedle]

Thank you so much @geekregeneration and @xann1891 for the bonus cosplay photos from the #Bagmiliars shoot! Let’s go, Buckbeak, we have criminals to apprehend! (If only you were big enough to ride…) #harrypotter #harrypottercosplay #aurorameliabones #hufflepuff #hufflepuffcosplay #periodcosplay #closetcosplay #costume #costumes https://www.instagram.com/p/CAWMBoLAMnq/?igshid=i8je0ffqmsld

[handywithaneedle]

Another memory of ACens Past, our Magic Knight Rayearth group from 2006. Sharing older cosplays, I have to cringe - we didn’t know where to get good wigs, and we didn’t have nearly as nice cameras as we all have on our phones now. But I was and still am proud of how the costumes looked, wigs notwithstanding. (And actually, I liked the *style* on my wig, if only it hadn’t been fluorescent!) Hikaru and Eagle were the ones I made, and Ferrio was a night-before team effort. 🔥💦💨 Love to my friend @beatlejessie, our lovely Emeraude. This was the first group cosplay she joined us for, and she did such a beautiful job! Actually I think she was the only one with a nice-looking wig. Miss you, Jessie. 🔥💦💨 #cosplay #cosplayersofinstagram #magicknightrayearth #rayearth #rayearthcosplay #magicknightrayearthcosplay #shidouhikaru #shidouhikarucosplay #artbookcosplay #costume #throwback #animecentral #acen (at Anime Central) https://www.instagram.com/p/CATp0MHgnns/?igshid=1mkkxh6hzb7ks