Shoes for Koakuma

I found the right shoes for Koakuma ;3
They are Dinsko's nice heeled shoes with laces. They're made of synthetic leather and the heel is about 8 cm (about 3 inches) high. They're super comfortable to wear <3

I'll add a picture later :'3

Dyeing Real Fur, Test 1 fabric colour in the microwave

So I was checking my Koakuma wings for dressing up as her for the Next Animecon 2012 (in Kuopio). But I noticed that the tape I've used in the wings shows quite ugly when I wear it so I decided to enhance them a bit with adding some dark fur.

I've got two real mink furs from my both grandma's  but I left the not so good fur to my flat in Rovaniemi. But as a savior I had third fur coat which wasn't mink. I didn't want to demolish the other mink coat because it was in much better condition than my other mink coat. So the only option was to dye the other unknown fur. It might be fox fur, but when petting it it felt quite "loose" and not as good as mink so it was chosen to be used as materials.

The first step was to rinse the piece with lukewarm water and vinegar and salt for about 15 minutes. For about a liter of water two teaspoons of each.

Second step was to squeeze the extra salt-vinegar-water from the fur, gently.

Third step was to lay the piece on top of cling film (no other, this is the best) and smudge the fabric colour to the fur thoroughly. After that you wrap the cling film around it quite tightly and place the package into a microwave secure container with a lid only placed on top of it so the fumes can come out. 

How much dye? I didn't have any black so I mixed it from four others. Couple of milliliters each. These are quite strong colours.

Fourth step (like in the title says) was to put the package into microwave. Four minutes with full blast, then flip it and another four minutes does the trick.

Fifth and final step was to rinse the fur with water. I did this several minutes until the colour stopped leaking from the fur.

And let it dry.

And the results (it's a bit darker in the real life).

Don't be afraid if it bubles and pops in the microwave, it did it with me too. And the smell that comes from it is similar to the baking of polymer clay in an oven. Quite plastic like scent.

Pro's and cons

+ easy to do

+ quick

+ doesn't require special equipment

+ the microwave secures that the colour will stay in the fur and you don't have to iron it or anything

- the fur shrank about 2/3 so it was tiny after I dyed it but the fur was more firm now

- the smell isn't pleasant, but not strong

- the fur also comes quite stiff because it shrank

This method was adapted from dyeing yarn.

Later on I noticed I forgot to bring my skirt from Rovaniemi with me home. So no cosplaying this time but this was a good experiment anyways :'3

Someday I'll try to boil the fur. The heat is needed to attach the colour into it.

And I hope the fur will not shrink so much :'D

If I left something unclear, please just comment on here ;3

I'll try to clarify it as much as I can.

Cheers!

Randomness

Random update of randomness

I've been doing some research and sword patterns, just for fun :'3
Feel free to use!
But it would be kind, if you credit be, alittle bit yes? I do not claim the design as my own, but it would be nice if you mention me as you helper in your posts :3

Dark Excalibur (or is it Caliburn?) from Fate/Stay Night