Let’s talk lore!
I started cosplaying way back in 2008, and the first cosplay I, like many others, put together was from Naruto. I’m sure a photo of my incredibly professional and not at all thrifted closet cosplay of Shippuden Temari exists somewhere, but sadly, it lives in my imagination for the time being.
In 2009, I went to my first anime convention, Anime Weekend Atlanta! I had just started watching Soul Eater, so of course I begged my mom to help me make a Maka Albarn cosplay. The majority of it was thrifted, but mom made the coat and dad helped me throw together a scythe!
Mom graciously made my next 3 cosplays, then lovingly told me she was done, sat me in front of a sewing machine, and showed me how to stitch a straight stitch. Fun fact: when I first started learning to sew, I spent about 30 minutes trying to thread the bobbin up through the bottom of the sewing machine by hand before crying and quitting for the morning. Mom came home that afternoon, laughed at me, showed me how to thread it, and got me back to work.
Is it really character growth if you don’t have a meltdown or two in the learning process?
I learned how to sew and somehow made Mami in the two months before AWA 2012. I was nervous, but so proud of myself for entering the cosplay contest. To my surprise, I took home a judge’s choice award!
2013 is when things really kicked off. Six cosplays in a year isn’t a lot, but it was a lot for a beginner!
Photo by Sanora
Photo by Bentpic5
2014 ushered in the era of building cosplays with random junk laying around the house! Automata was built almost entirely from materials I scavenged.
Photo by Double Stomp Productions
2015, when I really started challenging myself technically. Beatrice took up a majority of my time and I learned a lot of new sewing skills!
Photo by Bentpic5
Photo by Eurobeat Kasumi
2016 when I went a little too ambitious and it paid off! Armor wasn’t (and still isn’t) my strength, so I was proud of what I did with Gwendolyn!
Photo by Lee AM Photography
2017 was bittersweet. I knew I was going to pause conventions and start college in another state, so I went out with a bang and made a duo cosplay with a dear friend! Matching patterns and fabrics and techniques when you live states away is way tougher than you might think.
Photo by Patrick Sun
2018 to 2022 were drought years. I moved states, graduated college, and kind of lost most of my creative steam, honestly. I wanted to come back to cosplay, but the pandemic changed a lot of things. I couldn’t fit into anything I’d made in the previous 10 years; it was so discouraging. The creative spark didn’t come back immediately, but I started sewing again and slowly, it grew!
The second half of 2022, I started streaming on Twitch and had the opportunity to compete in the cosplay contest at TwitchCon in San Diego!
2023 was another slow year, but I started going to conventions again!
2024 didn’t produce any new cosplays, but I did compete with Aldrich and Dejiko and walked away with awards for both!
Now, in 2025, I’ve been taking it easy and making fun cosplays with friends. Don’t get me wrong, I have a whole album of competition-worthy cosplays I am dying to make, but there’s a certain charm in making a simple and meme-worthy cosplay with your besties.
Absolutely wild times.
That’s all I can think of for now, but I’ll update this post periodically with new cosplays!
Doodlelou Sews 