Favorite (And Least Favorite) Commercial Patterns

 I don’t use commercial patterns all too often, especially for cosplay. I really try to make cosplay straight from scratch but sometimes I do use patterns. Especially for bodices.

Favorites

McCall’s M6035

I don’t think I’ve actually made a blouse of any nature from this I’ve just made dresses! But they fit really well once I made a few slight adjustments to the pattern itself.

Image from patternreviews.com

Simplicity 3637

I use the bodice for this a lot but that’s because it fits me really well since I don’t have much curves up top. It’s a favorite for lolita dresses but is my go to for any costume that needs a square neckline or to be stupid fitted to my torso.

Image from patternreviews.com

Simplicity 4381

Best. Basic. Pants. Pattern. I use it for all pants and bloomers I make. Love love love it.

Alright

Image from Vintage Sewing Patterns Wiki

Simplicity 9613 (Vintage)

Alright but so similar to M6035 that I just use that one now.

Butterick B5265

I’ve only used the cape pattern from this but it worked well for my Riddler hench cape.

Not a Fan

Vintage Vogue V1084

It just doesn’t go together well and it is hard to not have your undergarments showing.

Least Favorites

Simplicity 2881

This one doesn’t fit well at all, with period undergarments or without. Either it is designed for someone with very strange dimensions or something happened during printing. This wasn't one that could be saved with some alteration, it gave me a completely unusable garment (thank goodness I tested it in muslin first!).

Book Review: How to Cosplay volume 1

Cosnote (2009). How to Cosplay. Graphic-Sha. ISBN: 9784766119602

As the title says, this book is about teaching you how to cosplay. Volume 1 has a make-up focus and has tutorials for all sorts of make-up things. It's a good book for not only beginners but also intermediate level cosplayers.

It starts with basic tutorials like how to apply foundation.

Then progresses to all manner of sculpting the face using make-up placement.

And the last tutorials are for things like making and applying scars, bullet holes, webbed fingers and even how to do decent looking body paint.

Then after the tutorials there's convention reports with cosplay highlights. They interviewed the cosplayers too and found out character/series and (what really interests me) cost. It's super cool seeing what $100 in materials can get you in Japan. All of the conventions were in Japan but they did have a cool four page spread on World Cosplay Summit 2008!

The very last pages are adverts for cosplay related things like premade costumes, make-up and wigs.

This is a really cool book, it's got photo shoot pictures all throughout in addition to the pretty good tutorials. The only things I didn't like were that all of the products listed in their tutorials and advertisements are from Japanese suppliers. Make Up For Ever you can get Stateside but a lot of other things you can't. The other things I didn't like were their white and grey body/face paint tutorials because their finished results were uneven and splotchy! On the grey face paint one in particular they missed the bottom of the nose and several other small areas completely! But aside from those minor issues I think this is a solid book.

Sadly volumes two and beyond appear to be incredibly rare and I can't find them either in WorldCat (I try to get these review books through Interlibrary Loan because when they're free I can review more and see which ones I like best) or Amazon. :(

8/10 Lots of very solid tutorials and cool convention cosplay summaries. The photos are well done and the layout is very nice too. Loses points for a few bad tutorials. Did not lose points for showcasing make up that Japanese cosplayers would have easy access to since this is a translation of a Japanese text.

Costume: Knockout

Knockout is sassy. I think we'd had maybe two episodes with him when I decided I wanted to cosplay him and we hadn't seen just how sassy he even was then. But oh if there was one fictional character I'm like it's probably Knockout. I'm vain, cannot stand to be seen unless I'm fabulous, love racing and cars and can hold a fierce grudge. I can also put together a snappy come back or one liner every so often too. :) I love how shiny he is and I love all the detailing that gets to shine through since TF:P is down with 3D models. There's just so much detail I can add in!

I was also very lucky in that my BFF Forever agreed to make Breakdown (Knockout needs his Breakdown, who else could possibly buff him? *sobs*) and we were just freaking fabulous. We even made it into a slide show on the front page of Popular Science!

One of these days I will actually get around to putting together a proper work log for Knockout, I have a folder of in progress pics and there was definitely some trial and error that those who come behind me can learn from.

My favorite thing about this costume is my most prominent deviation from his standard design. Because the tribal flames he has along his doors are hideous I thought I'd do a specialty deco. In the racing world there's this cool kind of specialty deco where people sign and doodle all over it. I thought a cool souvenir would be to have people, be it friends or celebrities, sign or doodle on the doors. I'm really happy with how the deco looks and even happier with the memories represented by those signatures and doodles. :)

 Series: Transformers: Prime

Construction Time: 4 months

Cost: $236.57
Materials and Construction: Spandex, Satin, Craft Foam, Foam Board, Balsa, Spray Paint, Assorted Plastics, Hot Glue Log
Design Sketches: Log

Debut: Botcon 2012

Final Appearance: Still in Rotation

Costume: Yuna

Oh Yuna. She's probably my favorite Final Fantasy lady (Reeve Tuesti is in fact my fav Final Fantasy dude) though Shelke is a close second. She's so dignified and amazing. I just knew I had to cosplay her since in all honestly I wanted to be her. She's really the first character where that's been the case; I like the characters I cosplay and think most of them are cool but I wouldn't necessarily want to be them. Also her skirt is just freaking beautiful.

I, of course, made this realization about a month before San Diego Comic Con 2012. I'd just finished the game and I knew I had to cosplay her. Given how much detail and just how many things she wears I knew a month would be pushing it but as soon as I got back from Savcon I started on her (I remember this because I remember fabric shopping with my BFF Forever before she continued her return trip out West from that con). Luckily there's been like ten years for amazing cosplayers on the Internet to figure out amazing ways to make Yuna costumes so there was a lot of good ideas for some of the crazier aspects (mainly that obi bow).

She's one of the few costumes I really enjoyed making, while all that floral detailing was murder on my back I enjoyed painting it and I really love that design. When I retire this version I plan on making the skirt into a dress I can wear or using it as a quilt back since I really do love how that pattern came out.

But yes I am remaking Yuna. I plan to start sometime after San Diego Comic Con 2013. I doubt the fully redone version will be done for A-Fest but parts will be.

Things I plan to improve:

Skirt: needs a fabric more suited to pleating, make the pleats shallower

Obi: Don't rush the floral painting and use a paint that doesn't clump as much Also see about making the bow larger/more prominent

Shirt: Try rayon/lycra to see if that sits better

Sleeves: Maybe remake, depends how worn out they look after SDCC

I'm technically on staff version 1.5, I was in a rush for A-Fest so I ended up making the head out of cardboard since the plastic I'd bought hadn't worked out. It looked alright in photos but was only a temp fix. For Anime Matsuri I decided to get it spiffed up. I carved the head assembly from glued together balsa planks then coated it in fiberglass resin. I also had a friend saw it into three parts, I wanted the head and the brownish bottom part to screw off so I could fit it in my luggage for SDCC 2013 since I'm flying this year. I even found mascara tubes that screw together and perfectly fit inside the broom handle I'd used as the base of my staff. Sadly the epoxy I'd used to affix said tubes degraded their plastic so one unfortunate dropping of the staff later and the connector for the staff head was shattered (and part of the staff head chipped, fiberglass resin needs fabric/fiber to be strong apparently). I was able to hot glue the head to the staff and I've filled in the chipped bits but I'm not happy with this staff. I plan to make one of her other ones to replace this one. I also plan to make one of her arm shield things too. :)

Series: Final Fantasy X

Construction Time: 2 months

Cost: $190.64
Materials and Construction: Log

Debut: San Diego Comic Con 2012

Final Appearance: Still in Rotation

Costume: Arcee 2.0

Third times the charm? Right? The plan was to just use my pattern from Arcee 1.0 and replace the broadcloth with jersey this go... But then I started staring at my worn pictures next to official art...

I really wasn't happy with how she looked or how she wore. The only pattern bits I kept where the back kibble (changed up the attachment system) and parts of the helm. I also reused the mask from Arcee 1.0 partly because I thought that turned out really well and partly because I liked the idea of have part of old Arcee with my new Arcee.

Here's the design sketches, not much but she's a fairly straightforward costume.

All in all I'm really happy with how she turned out, I slightly messed up on the fitting in the shoulders but it's hardly noticeable. I think the only thing I'll end up changing on her is the pink stripes on her helm, I didn't realize how 90 degree angle they look in photos since they're supposed to be at a different angle.

She's really comfortable to wear though, the shoes tire my feet out a bit (five inch platform wedges that are a size to big do that) but I can get in and out all by myself and move about without a spotter which I enjoy. I've also gotten better at posing. :D

Series: Transformers: Animated

Construction Time: 3 months

Cost: $137.31

Primary Materials: Rayon/Lycra, craft foam, foam board and hot glue. Full Log
Worklog

Debut: Botcon 2012

Final Appearance: Still in Rotation

Costume Planning: Knockout

Since there was a LOT of planning and plotting that went into how to make this guy work it requires it's own post unlike all my other projects which just had one or two sheets that I could put on the costume's post.

So, onward!

As you can see, the theme for this guy was layers. Lots and lots of layers.

Materials and Spending Log: Yuna and Summoner Staff 1.0/1.5

Costume Cost: $85.46 ($96.15 including lost materials)
Staff Cost: $94.49
Total Cost: $190.64

Costume:
$29.46 Wig
$4.54   Wig Head
$6.50   Swim Top, Black
$.54     1/4 yd Flannel, Pink
$13.54 Joann's Paint and Dye trip #2
            -Dye, Petal Pink
            -Fabric Paint, Royal Blue
            -Fabric Paint, Holiday Green
            -Fabric Paint, Yellow
            -2 yd Broadcloth, White
$3.24   1.5 yd Broadcloth, White
$5.40   1 yd Linen, Yellow Amaretto
$10.12 3.75 yd Broadcloth, Dark Royal Blue
$1.60   2 yd Cord, White
$.64     Velcro, Beige
$1.07   Plastic Canvas, Clear
$4.33   Bead Strand
$2.13   Interfacing
$2.35   Interfacing, Craft Weight

Lost Materials:
$5.61   Fabric Paint, Glacier White
$1.55   Fabric Paint, Holiday Green
$1.55   Fabric Paint, Cool Blue
$1.98   Pink Dye


On Hand:

Staff:
$15.09 Fiberglass Resin
$2.68   Fiberglass Hardener
$3.78   Spot Putty
$8.65   Lacquer Thinner
$4.30   Block Sander
$2.13   Wash Tub
$3.24   Brushes
$3.78   Masking Tape
$10.70 Poster Frame
$12.99 3 planks 1/4" Balsa
$12.99 2 Mascara Tubes
$1.64   Spray Paint
$3.97   Spray Paint, Periwinkle
$3.97   Spray Paint, Gold
$3.54   Spray Paint, Brown
$1.04   Spray Paint, Navy
On Hand: