Coming from a family love of sewing, Ctllus started learning at a young age. Starting with small projects, that passion quickly began to grow. Like most “weird kids”, they really began diving into cosplay in middle school-- their first cosplay was a ballerina-inspired Harley Quinn with a skirt that they made on their mom's sewing machine. Cosplay not only proved an outlet for their love of makeup and fandom but also as their love of dressing up, which had initially shown itself in their meticulous planning of Halloween costumes beginning in the middle of summer.

In their first expeditions into cosplay sewing, Ctllus took a more free approach. No patterns, no rules, only good times. They found a great love in cons, only further growing their interest in cosplay and the culture and community surrounding it. The COVID-19 pandemic gave them an opportunity to really begin serious sewing practices.

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In the time after that, Ctllus has begun regularly attending the same Chicago-area cons that they attended in high school, such as ACEN and C2E2. Going to these cons also urges Ctllus to continue working on new costumes year round so they always have something fun and new to show for each convention. In addition, they enjoy planning fun, and usually humorous, group cosplays with their friends for both conventions and small outings. 

 

Cttlus loves cosplay because it combines a variety of skills and styles. They’ve never encountered a craft they didn’t like. Getting to learn and explore different mediums of art and grow in multiple areas is part of the appeal, and something they continue striving to study as much as possible. Over the summer of 2023, Cttlus was fortunate enough to work with Bernina of Naperville teaching a class on cosplay to help others find the same joy and passion that they have.

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Outside of cosplay and creation, Ctllus studies Ancient Civilization, Classical Languages, and Translation at the University of Iowa, set to graduate in the spring of 2024. Though this is a completely different world than that of sewing and cosplay, Ctllus still finds plenty of ways to combine the two, such as art inspired by their studies as well as making ancient history inspired costumes for both themselves and their friends at school.