Weekend in Singapore !

Hello everyone !

Yup , you guessed it right ! I was in Singapore last weekend and it was a blast !

Been awhile since I travelled by bus to Singapore. It's a 5 hour journey via bus ( I know it seems so longgggggg ) but it was a pleasant journey for me ~ I slept all the way to Singapore plus they provided blanket and a meal ! 

p/s : I brought my own pillow too. 

\

Hello Sunny Singapore !

What I love about Singapore is how convenient it is to get everywhere. You guys have awesome train and bus systems lolololol !

I'm very lucky to be in the good hands of Lenneth !

If you are wondering who is Lenneth , I'll introduce you to her later ~ ( lots of cosplay pictures below hehe )

She brought me around Chinatown because I wanted to visit the places where Singaporean cosplayers get their fabrics / sewing supplies and etc. It was really an eye-opener because there are many things that I couldn't find back here in KL ! I wouldn't say it's cheap but it's really convenient if you needed any last minute shopping for cosplay materials !

Enjoyed myself very much here ! ☆*･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Also had a fun night out , bonding with my team mates , photographer and helpers before our Kyoukai no Kanata photoshoot the following day ! ヽ(=^･ω･^=)丿

Lenneth is a big fan of Rilakkuma , a even bigger fan than me !

Look at how gigantic her Rilakkuma is ! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Woke up early in the morning for a selca with the giant Rilakkuma ! 

( must contain my excitement because I'm Mitsuki Nase today lolololol )

ヾ(。◕ฺ∀◕ฺ)ノ

Meet CVY , who is my sweeeeet Mirai for today !

I'm usually very good in masking my excitement. I'm a big fan of her cosplay works and she have really awesome costuming skills. ( silently fangirls )

(ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

It's like Christmas came early to me this year , because I'm suddenly blessed with a group cosplay ! I rarely do group cosplays because my height is difficult to match ;-; but here I am taking the girl role this time and my Akkey + Hiroomi is taller than me !!!

Plus , it's a combination of Lenneth + CVY + Kanasaii san.  I'm so amazed because it's my first time watching them in action after following their works for years. They are so in character and I was so inspired ! They are awesome !

* MIND BLOWING *

~(๑ñ﹏ ⊙☆)ノ

Best of all , my team mates - I can really feel that they are super into this series as much as I do. Our Hiroomi which is constantly looking for opportunity to armpit-fy Akkey. It was hilarious !!

Thank you for having this oversized Mitsuki ! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

This is Lenneth , who came back from US ! She's a very talented cosplayer and makes her own cosplay costumes too. Her crossplays always make me drool and her girl cosplays are stunningly gorgeous too !

A wonderful host during my time here in Singapore and also my lovely onii-chan , Hiroomi ! If I was Mitsuki in an alternate universe , I think I would love my brother Hiroomi just as much as he loves me lololol.

I never thought bowl cuts can be this hot ! 

ヾ(。◕ฺ∀◕ฺ)ノ

Super out of character photos here but I think I did pulled off some judging and disgusted faces during the photoshoot lol.

 ( ohhhhh Onii-chan and I shares the same scarf !!! /becomes creepy )

Kanasaii-san and CVY looks so lovely as Akkey x Mirai here. Can you feel the romantic vibe ?

All the polaroids by Blurmage !

Thank you so much ! ＼（＾▽＾）／

p/s : Notice Hiroomi and Akkey's expression in the group pix ? LOL 

Thank you so much for all the helpers , XiaoBai , Ash , Leo and Jasmione for your time and all the help throughout the photoshoot !  ♡｡ﾟ.(*♡´‿` 人´‿` ♡*)ﾟ♡ °・

Another thing I loveeee about Singapore is .. THE MOS BURGER !

( because we don't have it in Malaysia , don't judge meeeeee  /SHY )

During my trip here , I had Mos Burger twice and tried out their new burger. It was .. heavenly.

(❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

Loving this the most !! Because I like beef and eggs !

Do you know that I absolutely adore their milk tea too ? I love putting in lots of milk !!

Met my long time home town friend , Shevonne too ! She is so supportive of me that I'm feeling so touched ~ Glad to be able to catch up even though it's just a few hours.

Thank you Sweetie !!  (´ε｀ )♡

Bumped into Tsukasa and Judy , cosplayers from Taiwan in Kinokuniya @ Takashimaya. Was just watching their Live stream for WOW Japan few days back and am so lucky to be able to meet them in person again !

( I secretly wished that I could have put on some make-up or even combed my hair and I look ... unglam here lololol )

They are so friendly in person , extremely lovable ! ♡ლζ(♛ε♛*ζლ♡

Cosplayers Reunite !

Frank who is a representative for WCS Singapore and won 2nd for World Cosplay Summit 2012 ~ thank you so much for coming over for short meet up and ride to the bus station !

Also Gerry ;-; , I WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN LIKE SOON.

(｡´∀｀)ﾉ

Look what I got from my Singapore trip !

A bias tape maker and white furry thingie for my cosplay ! I was super excited with these purchases. Something that I couldn't find here. 

Sometimes I feel like an auntie , people usually get excited over shopping in Singapore but all I wanna see is sewing related things and alpacas lol

Anyways , that's my Singapore trip ! Can't wait to see the final outcome of the photos !

(❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

With Love ,

YingTze

Cosplay Guide | Cosplay Materials in KL

Hello Saturday !

Today's blog post will be about the places that I go for cosplay material shopping ! Been getting emails asking me about places to shop for fabric / laces / gems etc. Actually you can get everything online nowadays and online stores have much more in variety but I'm the kind of person that prefers to touch the materials before making my decision lol.

So if you want to make your own costumes and don't know where to go for fabric shopping , here's my favorite place to go : Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman ! ( or I also refer it as Sogo )

Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman is like a one stop spot for me to get all the materials I need to start working on a costume project. The two main shops that I will talk about today is Kamdar ( fabric store ) and Bunga Reben ( laces / sewing supply / ribbons etc ). 

Let's Go !! d(=^･ω･^=)b

Kamdar is my favorite fabric store !

Reason being , I think that they have a great variety of fabric to choose from and the price is affordable. They always have sales and you will get more discount of you are a design student ! There are two Kamdars along the Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman road , with a super big outlet towards the end.

They don't allow pictures but here's one for you to get an idea bout how it looks like inside ! As you can see , there's a great variety of colors and textures for uniforms , dresses , suit etc. I can't really tell you what material to buy because it's up to personal preferences. 

For me , I like touching the fabric beforehand. It'll help a lot if you bring along character references pictures along to match the colors ! Don't need to rush when buying fabric , do spend some time exploring the store ~ then only make your decision ! ╭ (oㅇ‿ o#)ᕗ

This is Bunga Reben. I like this shop a lot because they have almost everything you need lol ! The owners of the shop are really nice and they give lots of discounts if you are a regular customer.

Bunga Reben offers a great variety of sewing supplies from ribbons to threads , buttons , beads , gems , feathers , tons of laces , felt and etc. Too many things to mention here , you'll have to check it out yourself ~ Every time I go in , I feel like a kid in a candy store !!

☆*･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Been visiting this store for 3 years already and it's still my favorite place to go ! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

Of course there are other places to shop for materials as well but for me this place is really convenient because it's easy to access via public transport and you can get almost everything here !

There are lots of fabric stores along the Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman , you can walk around and explore the area , maybe there is a treasure shop hiding somewhere lol !

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How to get to Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman ?

I'm not a local here in KL as well so I usually get there via LRT. You can board the LRT from KL Sentral to Masjid Jamek station then switch train to Bandaraya station. Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman is just 3 mins walk from the Bandaraya Station !


TIPS : Do get a shopping bag like those from IKEA so that you can stuff everything inside !


Hope that this post can help you in you costume making journey ! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*


With Love ,

YingTze

Cosplay Event | February Updates !

Hello Everyone !

How's your Chinese New Year holidays ? I haven't been doing much during my CNY holidays, back to my hometown for a few days then all the remaining holidays spent on some costume-making and playing games ! ( super addicted to League of Legends now lol , story you next time )

Games and holidays aside , I am very honored and happy to be receiving event invitations this year and I will be visiting Philippines in April , Surabaya and PekanBaru ( Indonesia ) in June ! 

* which means do expect more new costumes from me ! * ＼（＾▽＾）／

It's my first time visiting all these wonderful places and I'm really excited to meet everyone ~ !! Do visit their Facebook pages for more information ~ (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ

 ♥ EVENTS 2014  ♥

Ozine Fest

Anime Culture ANICULT Surabaya

Akibahara Days PekanBaru

Mark down the dates on your calenders ~ See you guys there !!

☆*･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･*☆

With Love ,

YingTze

Cosplay Guide | Getting a Sewing Machine

Hello Everyone ! （*´▽｀*）

Today I would like to share about the types of sewing machinery that I'm currently using ~ I do get lots of messages asking me what type of sewing machine do I use , how much is it or what sewing machine do I recommend ~ well I hope that this post will answer all your questions ! 

(｡´∀｀)ﾉ

I have two types of machine at home , this is my sewing machine !

It's a SINGER , model 8280 which I think is the most basic and cheapest portable machine available at Singer's. This precious sewing machine of mine has been following me since 2008 when I first started making cosplay costumes. I got it for RM 700 , brand new. (　´∀｀)

( she even flew over to KL with me from my home town ! )

All the cosplay costumes that I made so far , is by this sewing machine. I'm surprised at how well she can hold up. ( Yes , my sewing machine is a she lol ) So far I only fixed her once , when I overworked her when making Luka's gown years back.

One thing about thing about this sewing machine is that it can only be used for light sewing projects. You can't really use it for long hours or else the motor will " explode ". Replacing a new motor cost me Rm 200. /sigh / (╯︵╰,)

Here you can remove the small compartment ( where you can keep your sewing supplies ) and this part is used to sew armholes. It's really convenient and useful for me because the armhole part of a costume is extremely difficult to sew lol. ( ≧Д≦)

There are different types of sewing machines , and some are more expensive because of the number of function and stitches that the sewing machine can do. For example , mine can do 7 types of stitches and also button holes.

For me , I don't think other stitches other than a simple straight stitch is important. I do use the button hole function quite often , when I make my costumes. But if you are lazy , you can always bring it to sewing shops for it to be professionally done ! （ｉДｉ）

This is a video of my sewing machine doing one of the stitches !

Here are the examples of the stitches that my sewing machine can do. 

But honestly , I don't find it useful. A straight line stitch is all you need ~ ♥

The second machine I have is the Overlocking Machine or also known as a serger.

This , is the best thing in my life !!! 

Do you know how the fabric would fray if you do nothing to the edges ? Well this machine can do the edging for you and ta-da you will have nice , clean + neat edges !

An overlocking machine is twice the price of a sewing machine. The brand new one would cost RM 1 300 but I am a super lucky girl because the day I went to look for it , they had a second hand one for sale ~ got it for RM 650 !! ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／

With this , I can make costumes faster now because I don't need to trim the edges myself using scissors nor I need to go to a sewing shop to get it done.

It's really convenient and useful for me ! (＾ω＾)

Portable Overlocking Machines have two type , one with 3- thread and another one with 4-thread . The difference is that a 4-thread machine can do edging for stretchy fabric like t-shirt.

This is how an over-locked edge look like. Of course , you can also change the color of the thread for the overlocking machine to match your fabric color but a gentle reminder - An overlocking machine is very difficult to thread lol.

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Commonly asked Questions + Answers

Q.What sewing machine should I get if I want to start making my own cosplay costumes ?

A. If it's just for making cosplay costumes , I think the most basic model / portable sewing machines would be good enough. Unless you want to make 100 costumes in a week , then you can opt for an industrial sewing machine that can work long hours ! (*≧▽≦)

Q. What brand would you recommend ?

A. I am a SINGER user and I'm pretty happy about it. Once in a blue moon , it does need servicing but it will make it last much longer ! Some of my friends uses BROTHER because the basic model is cheaper compared to SINGER. I think both are reputable brands !

Q. How much is a sewing machine ?

A. For SINGER , the most basic model is RM 700 ++ , and more expensive ones can go up to RM 2000 ++ . While for BROTHER , I think you can get one for RM 500 ++.

If you are tight on budget , you can always source online for a second-hand unit. It might work just as well ! 

（*´▽｀*）

Q. Do I really need an Overlocking Machine ?

A. For me , I make costumes regularly and I need it for my college assignments too so it's worth buying. But if you don't sew much , you can actually get your edges done at any sewing shops for maybe RM 8 ++ for a costume , depending on how big your costume is ! So it's entirely , optional ! 

Q. How long can the sewing machine last before taking a break ?

A. Normal portable sewing machines shouldn't work more than 4 hours ? You might overheat the motor if you sew for long hours non-stop. It's best that you sew for awhile let it rest , and resume your work again. (°∀°)b

p/s : never ever rush your costume overnight , the sewing machine " might " fail you lol

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Is this post useful for you ?

Hope that it's beneficial to you ! ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／

With Love ,

YingTze 

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Weekend with Pinky and Orochi X

Spent last weekend meeting Pinky and Orochi X who came over from Indonesia for a short getaway ! They were here for a day or two ~ then went to Penang for sight seeing. Anyways I'm really glad that I am able to catch up with Pinky again and meeting Orochi X for the first time ! ❤

I was really nervous because . . . 

It's like meeting someone that you admire and look up to for many years ? ( and lots of fangirlings ) * cough cough *  \(//∇//)\

I first get to know about Pinky during the earlier days of my cosplay. Back then I was searching for cosplay make up tutorial and Pinky's blog came up ! I was really amazed with her cosplays and she happen to be in a team called " The Endless Illution " alongside Orochi X. 

The rest is history. ❤

Do you know that Pinky is an amazing costume maker ? She makes all of her costumes herself and in her team , she specializes on fabric-type costume. I love her attention to details and her creative use of different types of fabrics in making a costume. ❤

* cough cough we like similar things so we click instantly lol *

When I first met her in AFA Indonesia 2013 , I can't stop touching her costume. It's so beautifully made ! ヾ(。◕ฺ∀◕ฺ)ノ

As for Orochi X , she is also a great costume maker and she specializes in armor-type costumes. ❤

( and extremely bishounen arghhhhhh )

She is so cool. (‘∀’●)♡

Making weapons and armor seems so beyond somewhere over the rainbow for me lol.  I am really impressed with Orochi X's skills in costume making. (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

This is my favorite cosplay of Pinky and Orochi X , Lineage II Wedding Elves. Back then I was like " Wow , they really look good together. "  Their costumes are so beautiful and this set of photos gives out a romantic aura ~ ❤

They are such an inspiration in many ways. Pinky and Orochi X are great costume makers and in real life , they are so down to earth and friendly ! I'm truly blessed being able to meet them in person and finally cosplay together. (｡♥‿♥｡)

And so .. fast forward all my fangirling stories !

Super honored that Pinky fell into my Dangan Ronpa trap and we finally cosplaying it together ! If I had more time I would have made Naegi's costume so that Pinky , Orochi and I can have a triangle love situation lol.

( or Genocider Shou so that I can openly fangirl over Byakuya-sama lol )

As you can see I can't even keep a straight face when having a selca with Orochi X because I'm wondering - " Why is she so bishounen ?? " /LE SHY

Thank you Soo Weai , Kenneth and Blur for organizing this photoshoot ! It was a quick one but a nice bonding / get-to-know-each-other session ~ ❤

Kirigi X Byakuya X Junko + Monokuma.

Upupupu ~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤

A little sneak peek of our photoshoot together ! 

♡｡ﾟ.(*♡´‿` 人´‿` ♡*)ﾟ♡ °・

The very next day , we met up in KLCC for Kinokuniya. 

( we had BKT the night before and Madam Kwan for some Malaysian food lol )

BIG LOL.

It's not that Indonesia doesn't have Kinokuniya but I think as an anime / manga / games fan , we would enjoy some book shopping together at the Japanese section ? ❤

Orochi bought a Toki no Kizuna artbook and I got myself the latest issue of COSMODE ! 

（´ω｀♡%）

Playing with Kenneth's Fish Eye lens. （。ˇ ⊖ˇ）♡

Soon you will see us all cosplay together !

Really excited for our team cosplay ~ it will be another challenging costume for me but it'll be another achievement if I can make it into reality . ❤

Can't wait you see you all again ! ( ˘ ³˘)❤

With Love ,

YingTze

TWITTER | ying_tze 
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