Hello everyone!
I've lurked through the RPF over the years but never expected to add my name to the member list. At the behest of Ttam Legacy and in lieu of my blossoming, official, Star Wars and Japanese inspired cosplay designs and commissions, I thought it best to join the forum. My biggest hope for joining this forum is that it becomes a valuable resource for learning new techniques and perfecting my custom work.
I've loved Star Wars and a plethora of other Sci Fi and Fantasy nerddoms all my life. I've always been creative and artsy thanks to my wonderful mother and father. Oddly enough I took after my grandparents who were both very successful engineers and my mind was perfectly suited for math and sciences so that was my focus throughout school. When it finally came to actually shadowing some engineers, the office and the subjects they were working with just didn't spark anything close to interest.
After that, I turned my attention to teaching myself watercolor painting and sewing more. After a couple years of just doing a few projects here and there I gradually ended up deciding to make myself a dark jedi cosplay and worked on it basically from scratch with my mother and sister in law who had also sewn most of their lives. I've never looked back. I'm now 5 years into making Star Wars and Japanese inspired cosplay. I just recently did my first commission for a very good friend of mine and we wore our custom, Japanese inspired Sith cosplay I'd designed and made together at Star Wars Celebration Orlando in April and I received a lot of attention for my work.
Sewing custom cosplay and tailoring patterns to match a commissioner's desires is my passion and it allows me to use my engineer's mind for the custom design work. I adore the whole process, getting to know the person and what they'd like in a costume, showing them different fabric types and working with my favorite, Kaufman Essex Linen Blend, designing a quick sketch of the overall look, designing custom patterns for their measurements, working with the fabric and serging/sewing a beautiful costume. One of the ways that I keep myself and my commissioner excited about the project is showing progress and sending updates as I go along the different stages! There are not many things better than completing a commission to specs and being so very pleased with every seam and detail and having the commissioner love it!
While I'm mostly into adapting and designing my own Star Wars and Japanese inspired cosplays for my commissioners, I think it's inevitable that I'll get requests for replica pieces from the various films and shows. I've got a modified Old Ben Tunic and Tabards commission that I'm in the design phase with my client. I'm sure this forum and my fellow members will be an invaluable resource for any details I may need for my various commissions in the future.
I look forward to interacting with you all and exploring the wealth of knowledge and experience this forum has to offer.
Below are photos of my custom cosplays that I've made with the sole exception of the Sith in the bottom right hand corner of the fourth photo. They're all custom cosplays that I've designed from scratch or adapted from patterns.
~ Aletani Acklay ~
