DIY Keroro Gunsou Hat

Since we're going to Otakon, we're going to need some cosplay. Especially since we'll be meeting up with Friends J and M, who we hardly ever get to see.  (Actually, I still haven't met Friend M, but soon enough!)

Most the time I think we'll just repurpose our casual cosplay from Fanime since we have to travel light and I don't want to bring something the TSA might deem weird - like a wig or something.  But we wanted to do a group cosplay with J and M too.  It'll still be casual though. 

Anyway, since they are really into Keroro Gunsou, that'd be a good place to start? As I'm sure you're all familiar - Sak and I are kinda big fans of the little frog dudes.

Our first time-intensive cosplay..

On our wedding cake...

Wedding plushies Cousin T made for us..

Yeah. We're big fans. Haha.

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For casual cosplay, I'm thinking hats, and maybe a t-shirt with the white "belly" sewn on with the emblem? Friend J wants to be kero (green), Friend M wants to be Giroro (red), leaving me to be Tamama (again yay! dark blue) and Sak to be Kururu (orange).  Kururu actually fits him quite well as he's a nerdy tinkerer with glasses. :P

Anyway, I have some leftover scrap fleece so I started with Kero's hat.  I used an existing neko fleece hat (from Digi Charat - I've had this thing forever) to trace out a pattern (minus the ears).

I cut out two pieces in fleece, and sewed them together.  I mistakenly thought I could roll hem the edge of the hat. Uh, this doesn't work so well on fleece, as the back hem of the hat is totally warped. Murgh.

warpy!

Next I cut out some ear flaps, and lined them up with each seam of the hat.

Pinch, pin and sew both sides.

Lastly, I trimmed any excess fleece, and hand stitched a red felt star emblem to the front.

Kind of a derpy star though.

And..hat complete.

I dunno. I'm not sure if it passes muster or not.  The raw edges really bother me, though it's fleece so it's not really going to do much fraying. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I even have enough scraps to properly line the whole thing, and the added bulk sounds...warm. Can I put bias tape on a fleece hat? Is it okay as is, Friend M, or do you want a properly lined hat? Kero Kero!

East Coast Newbs

It's July, which is awesome because our wedding anniversary is coming up! And this time Sak and I are planning on spending #2 in supreme otaku style - at a convention!

Specifically, Otakon, the second largest anime convention in the US!  It's in Baltimore, so not only do we get to go to a new convention, but it'll also be our first time on the East Coast!

Baltimore Convention Center (source)

I'm really excited, but a bit worried about the super hot weather that's been going on over there - conventions tend to get a bit..stinky! Haha!

Anyway, hopefully we will have energy left after a weekend of convention, since we'll be visiting DC after! My cousin and her husband have been kind enough to let us crash at their place while we're there. I'm looking forward to museums! and the zoo (I hear there are pandas)! and Sak wants to do a tandem bike ride by the Potomac river!  Okay, heat + bike ride, I'm not so sure about.  A tandem bike means I don't have to pedal, right?

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We didn't sign up early enough in advance for the White House tour, so we'll have to see it through the fence. Ah well. There is more than enough national history to satiate us in all the *free* Smithsonian museums.

 Panda! (source)

Anyway, other than museums, monuments and the zoo, we don't have anything specific planned. (We'll be good and stop by to visit BIL too, I promise.) Do you have any tips? Where to eat, quirky things to see, shops we should check out? Marie's tips for our Oregon trip last year were SO helpful, I figured I'd ask again this time! There's really no better source of travel info than the people that really know/live in the area! 

Lovely Lady Leis

Just as the title says - let's showcase some absolutely amazing leis done by..you!  These are all thoroughly impressive, and the recipients of all these beautiful leis are lucky indeed!

Zahra made awesome four-color ribbon leis:

Philippines colors!

Rasta!

As well as lovely two toned and flowered leis:

Reminds me of ninja turtles colors :D

Sandy and her sister made one of each lei, including a fantastic origami money lei!

Giants colors! Hehe!

Love the little shirts, so cute!

And Alvina made a lei for her brother! It's big and fluffy! Check out her blog for even more lei-tips, too.

These leis are really inspiring,  I'm totally pumped for next year's graduation season, haha! (Pro tip: stock up on 50 cent ribbon everytime there's a 20% entire purchase coupon at Michaels.)

Also, if you've made a lei and would like to share your creation, feel free to email me at pengawenga at gmail and I'll be sure to post it! There are ribbon lei tutorials on the DIY projects tab at the top if you'd like to make one :)