Cosplay
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Fabric Selection 101
Beyond a doubt, fabric selection is the most crucial part of sewing – it literally is the costume. When I was a starting seamstress, my fabric choices were ALL over the place, especially for skirts, I used lining fabric, charmeuse, silky solids, and a myriad of completely inappropriate fabrics for the styles I was making. Best part? They fell apart. Not just because I didn’t finish my seams, but because the fabric was quite literally, wrong. You can learn from my mistakes! Save yourself some coin to spend on the appropriate fabrics for a project. I’m going to talk all about wovens today and save knits for another. If you…
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Petticoat Math!
Beware: Algebra Ahead! Petticoats are not hard. I repeat, they are not hard. All of it is simple math and I’m here to help you figure out your fluff, length, and fabric requirements for a basic tiered petticoat like the one I’ve made for Anna! First things first: Fabric. You’ll need a stiff organza as your base fabric, my suggestion is to use this from Fabric Wholesale Direct. It’s easy to sew, easy to cut (fun fact, you don’t have to cut organza, you just tear it on the grain so it’s always perfectly even!), and it’s pretty. The other fabric you’ll need is tulle for the bottom tier. You…
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A Rose Petal Skirt
Taking inspiration from Dior and the 19th Century (specifically the mid 1860’s) I designed a skirt with petals that are short in the front and lengthen as they get to the back. These petals are more intricate than they appear, in fact, there are four layers of fabric to them: two types of organza, glitter tulle, and silk gauze. Each petal is made from a base of gold organza with a second layer of the iridescent organza. These bases were cut to the shape of the final petal. I sewed them together around the edge, but then added three rows of stitching from the top to the bottom spaced out.…
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Let’s Talk Research
An upcoming project of mine is Arwen’s “Red Dress” from the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. So how does one go about actually making a cosplay that is fairly screen accurate? Read on and I’ll tell you all about research for this relatively simple costume. The first step is to break everything down into parts, so we have the following categories: Fabric, Sewing Pattern(s), Trims, Embellishments, Wig, Accessories, Shoes. In the case of Arwen, we are only using a few of these categories: Fabric, Sewing Pattern, Trim, and Wig. To figure out the fabric, multiple reference images are generally needed, in the case of Arwen, one or…
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Making Fire
My 18th Century (specifically 1770’s) Charmander, aptly named “Le Feu du Charmander,” required a non-historical trim to create a flame effect. During the time period, fabric trims were, for the most part, various types of gathered strips of fabric or bows sewn onto the dress in artful, mirrored ways. No way would this work for the ombre look I was wanting to achieve – let alone match the texture I desired. The solution: nearly 200 individual ‘flames.’ I simultaneously regret and love this decision. I’m often quite conflicted when it comes to costuming and time-consuming techniques, this was no exception. Materials: Five 1-yard cuts of flame colored fabric 2 packs…
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13th Century Hair Netting
I’m working on this Elizabethan styled cosplay. Together with Sara Cosplays, we’re going to be Anna and Elsa – she’s Elsa. Anyway, these cosplays are something of a cluster of new techniques I’m having to research, learn, and use in the creation. I got it into my big silly brain to make a snood for each of us. Because the ones that are sold online are the vintage style from the 1940’s – that’s not really going to cut it. RenFest isn’t until after we need them either. Not realizing what I’ve gotten myself into, I take to the internet, find a tutorial and run with it. Screaming, crying, and…
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Retro Wonder Woman
Not at all related to the movie with the oh-so-gorgeous Gal Gadot, but I had needed to make a post-apocalyptic version of a cosplay. Welp, Wonder Woman was on my list of cosplays I’ve wanted to do. So I did! The original styling I made has a tattered and torn skirt with a heavy gold belt. But! I wanted to make a true retro version of her, hence why she’s got the fun crop top. She needed to have a super vintage feel and I also wanted something crazy comfortable for convention going. AND I didn’t want to carry a lasso all day. Enter the lasso poodle skirt… I’ll…
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Tower of Terror Bellhop Hat
As a Disneyphile, there are a few cast costumes I think are cute, like the Haunted Mansion black and green striped victorian dresses, the Gibson Girl’s, and the Tower of Terror Bellhop. I remember walking past these costumes in the cast member costuming building and being so very jealous – the main entrance costumes didn’t have quite the same uniqueness to them. Then Disney had to go and release a new dress line. And one of the dresses is the Hollywood Tower Hotel Bellhop Dress… Be still my heart! The dress is accompanied with a hat and a purse, which are cute. The hat oddly…
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Sansa Stark Mockingbird Cosplay
Let me first say that I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones. Seriously. Big fan. I’m absolutely in love with the costuming on the show – it’s beautiful, intricate, unexpected, detailed, and wholly perfect. Which is why I’m making Sansa Stark’s black dress (Mockingbird Dress) from the show. It’s simple but stunning: So naturally, I scoured the main pattern companies for a similar pattern. And what did I find? Simplicity 1137: the “replica” of the costume! With a few MAJOR differences: Feathered bodice: actually not feathered – they used chainette trim Bodice is a bolero – not part of the dress. Opening is in the back, not the…
