As of this year it has been 10 years since my cosplay journey began. In the beginning I purely cosplayed any variation of Loki I could and went to maybe one or two conventions a year in Melbourne. However, once I got into the world of fandom, anime, manga and gaming cosplay has since remained my greatest hobby. Cosplay has become the most creative and enticing part of my life, from the fandoms to the cosplayers to conventions. The enjoyment and respect I get out of attending conventions and meeting friends and new cosplayers is immense. The talent that I see each passing convention is absolutely amazing and spending time getting to know how people have honed there craft and put there costumes together is truly inspiring for me. Over the years I have slowly built up my crafting skills, from being 14 years old and only having a sewing machine and a paint brush to being able to embroider, 3D print, craft with foam and utilise machinery such as dremels and a cricut. The enthusiasm I throw into my costumes to grow alongside my skills, watching how learning new skills increases my talent and ability to craft. I used to look at characters and long to craft them myself but I always held myself back saying, “I can’t do that because I don’t own this tool.” But now I don’t see that as a set back, if I don’t have a 3D printer, I can commission someone who does or just because I don’t have a machine for embroidery doesn’t mean I can’t embroider a different way. I only want to build on my skills and hone my craft, putting myself down because I don’t have big fancy tools is not the kind of cosplayer I want to be. I don’t have the ability to purchase such tools so I make my way around it, eva foam and a dremel have been my go to.

I only began my crafting journey for cosplay in 2016 when I was 14 years old and made smaller armour pieces or altered fabrics here and there. I started to make complete costumes in 2018 including Hawks from My Hero Academia, Red Dead of Night Diluc from Genshin impact; as well as Aether, Neuvillette, Cyno, Foul Legacy form of Childe and Kaveh, Fyodor from Bungou Stray Dogs Dead Apple and most recently Shen Qiao from Thousand Autumns. From cosplay alone I have taught myself how to pattern, how to craft with foam, sewing, embroidering and prop building. And nothing will be more satisfying than watching my skills build on each new project I start and watching the costume slowly come together. I have grown so much more involved in making my cosplay over the last 3 years especially, and watching how I use what I learnt on a previous project slowly to improve is well worth the time and effort and love spent. 

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