Learning to Sew Giveaway Blog

Submitted by PIPAWOLF

This is my first ever tutorial so I am so, so sorry about some of the rushed parts, I probably wasn't using the best program to do it all. If you have any questions, please message me and I will try my best to answer you and fill in any gaps. 

1. Get a form!

2. Wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap, saren wrap)

3. Tape waist, hips and bust and also central line.

4. Tape under the bust line.

5. Mark out your corset shape roughly with tape.

6. Fill in the shape so it's a solid taped area.

7. Draw on the proper shape with any wiggly details in marker pen.

8. Cut out around your pen lines!

9. Cut into sections so you have a flat pattern.

10. Transfer pattern onto craft foam.

11. Cut out craft foam pieces.

12. Transfer foam pattern onto Worbla leaving a gap around the edge for sticking. You will need two cut out pieces of Worbla per one foam piece.

13. Heat the Worbla pieces and create a "foam sandwich" for each section of the corset.

14. Squish each piece together and cut off any excess leaving a little Worbla lip to stick to the other pieces.

15. Heat the edges to be joined and push together. You can heat the whole piece if it needs to be manipulated in order to fit flush together.

16. Heat the whole piece and fit to your form.

17. Repeat the edge joining and forming process until the whole corset is completed.

FIXING.

1. Fold a piece of Worbla over the flat edge of a D ring.

2. Heat up the area you want the fixing to be placed a little and using a craft knife or scissors, create a pocket by pulling the Worbla gently away from the foam.

3. Slot in your D ring.

4. Push the pocket back down so it's all snug and flat.

DECORATION.

Paper Clay:

1. Using paper clay (to save money! Worbla is pretty expensive, you can also use other thermo plastics or modelling plastics, I just like paper clay because its light, dries quickly and it's £2.50 here in England.) create any unusual raised shapes or bits that will take an awful lot of worbla.

2. You can place a sheet of Worbla over the top to stop them falling off, or just keep some super glue handy.

Worbla Modelling:

1. Create a pattern using the taping method. Tape, Draw, Cut.

2. Cut your pieces from foam if you want super raised areas, or cut them straight from Worbla.

SUBMITTED BY: AUADB

(first of all, sorry for grammatical mistakes. English isn't my first language :D)  Sometimes characters wear huge skirts, and when a common hoopskirt or a petticoat isn't enough, cosplayers need to create something else to reproduce the exact shape of the costume they have to sew. I experimented lots of things and sometimes I layered 2 or 3 petticoats one over the other, but the only result was that I had to carry lots of useless kgs for a whole day. So, I've found a solution: an almost weightless pannier! What is a pannier?

a pannier (or panier) is a kind of crinoline used mainly in 1700 to give skirts a particular shape.

How to create an easy peasy pannier: You will need:  - Metres and metres of bias tape or cotton ribbon - Steel hoop boning - Elastic for the waistband 1) You have to sew together your bias tape or cotton ribbon to obtain a coulisse of the height of your steel hoop boning (mine was 10 mm, so I bought 25 mm bias tape, for example) 2) Cut 2 pieces of steel hoop boning, one longer, the other shorter and put them into the coulisse you've already sew

3) sew the two steel-filled pieces of fabric creating two circles: the shortest piece must become a smaller circle than the longest one. (be careful! You have to hand-sew the coulisse in a way that the two extremities of the steel boning are one on the top of the other, or the pannier won't have the right shape!)

4) sew 2 pieces of bias tape or cotton ribbon onto the circles, making them become two ellipses

  5) sew the elastic in a circle proportioned to your waist

6) sew 8 fabric stripes in the elastic (it has to look like a garter belt) uniformly distributed (measure the circumference of the elastic, divide by 9 and sew the stripes at that distance)

7) Sew the ellipses at the stripes of your kinda-garterbelt elastic like in the image (RED: smallest ellipse  GREEN: biggest ellipse  BLACK: elastic and its stripes)

The image shows only 4 of the 8 stripes attached to the elastic. You have to sew the other 4 in the same way but on the other side. The distances between the elastic and the smallest ellipse and the distance between the smallest and the biggest ellipse are at your choice. The dimensions of the ellipses are related to the dimension of your skirt, so you choose.

Submitted by Quiptorium

This is a guide for alternate locations for cosplay supplies. This will not cover craft stores (Jo-Ann, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Craft Warehouse, etc.) or other chain stories that carry crafting supplies, nor will it cover stores online. This guide will cover locations you might not think about for cosplay supplies.

Goodwill (and similar stories)

Goodwill is the top on my list for several reasons. Your milage may vary depending on the stores you have in your area, but I've found it to be a great place to go for cosplay shoes, clothing to alter, weapons and other toys to use for props, and craft supplies.

Yes, craft supplies. Goodwill often has a section devoted to bolts of fabric and other craft supplies. Again, it'll vary, but I've always found yarn, craft foam, and thread there. Sometimes you get really lucky: 

Everything in the picture was being sold in a bag. All brand new or in great condition, only 4 dollars.

Creative reuse stores

This is one that will be more dependent on your area, but creative reuse stores are places that sell craft supplies and other items for cheap to promote reusing craft supplies. The best way to find one in your area is to google "creative reuse (city name)". (For those around Portland, OR, there's SCRAP.) I've walked away with full sheets of sintra, EVA foam, craft foam, styrene, acrylic, and a grocery bag full of fabric for 8 dollars. A very valuable resource.

On a similar note, if there are any stores around that repurpose housing/building supplies (Habitat for Humanity have several stores around the US), those are a great place for paint, MDF, and EVA foam. Some colleges also have a reuse space on campus, though it's usually more office supplies.

Friends and family

Sometimes the best resources are those closest to you. Even if your friends/family aren't cosplayers, they might have supplies. My former coworker, who does a lot of sewing, gave me eight yards of denim free of charge.

Craigslist and garage sales

This is very much a case of your mileage will vary, but you never know what you can find on craigslist or at garage sales. Check out the free sections and the arts and craft sections. This can also be a great way to get tools.

For garage sales, look up what garage sales are in your area and plot out a map. I usually hit garage sales looking for clothing to alter for cosplays and toys (for props), but sometimes you can find other things like tools or crafting supplies.

Makerspaces

This is different in that it's not a place to find materials, but a place to gain knowledge. Makerspaces are open workspaces where you can join other like minded hobbyists to work on a project or learn a new skill. This can be a great way to learn how to use power tools or sewing or programming. See what you can find in your area!

Hello friends! Here are some quick tips/steps on how you (yes you) can make your own costumes and start cosplaying!

1. How to Pick the Cosplay: Whenever I pick a new costume, I always think of all the shows, games, etc that I’m into, and then pick my favorite character. I always pick a character I know I will have a fun time being or if their outfit just speaks to me. Since it is your first time cosplaying, you do not want to try something that is over your skill level. Be sure to look at the hairstyle, details on the outfit, sewing difficulty, and props. Know that whatever you pick is probably going to be harder than it looks. Before you finalize your selection, think about how you’re going to make every detail and at least get some sort of idea of how you are going to make that outfit come to life.

2. Budgeting:  Let’s face it, cosplay can be expensive. If you don’t have money growing out of your butt, it can be SUPER important to make a budget before you even start the costume. First, if you need a wig, find the wig. Those tend to be one of the more expensive pieces of the costume. Secondly, go check the local thrift stores, you will be so surprised what you can find. ESPECIALLY if you have something really simple, like a white collared shirt? BAM. THRIFT SHOPPING *cue macklemore*. I’m serious. Also, look for things that you can alter. Need a dark blue vest? Hey wow I bet that 3 dollar shirt could look like a vest if I cut off those sleeves. Learn to be creative with altering clothing that you already have. You can ask friends to borrow things, like shoes. Shoes are usually very hard to do and very hard to find, so if your friend has the perfect white boots, then do ask if you can borrow them. Fabric stores have sales like literally once a week. Wait until they go on sale to buy the fabric/supplies you need.

3. Wigs: Are wigs a necessity? For me, yes. However, I have seen some really amazing costumes that do not use wigs. If you do not want to wear a wig, or cannot afford one, that is ok. Your costume can still look awesome. I will say that wigs can really give your costume the extra UNF though. Real hair can sometimes not cooperate, it can get frizzy or your roots will grow out, or it will refuse to defy gravity. If you need a specific color, wigs are definitely the best way to go. Dyeing your hair can turn out bad, and not give you the right color (again, this is generally speaking). I would recommend wearing a wig if at all possible. Now, if you chose to wear a wig, how do you get ahold of one? There are several wig sites that you can get quality cosplay wigs from. Arda Wigs, Amphegory, Match Wigs, and my personal favorite, eBay. BE CAREFUL IF YOU BUY FROM eBAY THOUGH. Make sure you check the reviews of the seller. If you use eBay, 9 times out of 10 you will be able to find an awesome wig for way cheaper than anywhere else. Long wigs and pre-styled wigs will tend to be more expensive. Most wigs need to be trimmed when they come in, but please watch a tutorial before you take scissors to your wig. CUTTING WIGS IS DIFFERENT THAN ACTUAL HAIR. I recommend this tutorial for basic wig styling. Also please note, if you want to straighten or curl or apply any kind of heat to your wig, make sure you buy a heat-safe one. It should say in the sellers comments. Also, before you go ahead and do the whole wig, test the heat out on a small section that is invisible or can be cut off (bottom, underneath hair etc). There are seriously like 200000 wig tutorials on YouTube, so if your wig is a little challenging, go check for online tutorials.

4. Sewing: Ok I really like sewing so I’m probably going to get off on a tangent here but I will try to keep it very simple. If you know how to sew? Great awesome. If you don’t? Never fear! It is so much easier than you would think. A lot of places offer sewing classes, libraries, colleges, even high school. Go check out the interwebs for local classes. If there are none? Don’t worry! Check the internet. There are lots of tutorials ranging from basics (how to work your sewing machine) to things a little more difficult (how to sew that one really difficult thing). I would love to elaborate on how to sew but that would take up a lot of time and space. However, when you are selecting fabric there are a few basic things you should know. Make sure the fabric isn’t see through. Make sure the fabric stretches if it’s supposed to. Make sure it will fall in the correct way (for example if you are making a dress and the fabric is too heavy or stiff it will look really weird). Make sure it is not itchy. Also, bring a reference photo to help match colors. If you have already bought some fabric in a previous shopping trip, bring a sample of it back the next time you go to make sure the other fabric you buy matches nicely with it (colors and textures etc). Don’t be afraid to ask for help! The people at the fabric store are more than happy to help (some of them might even be cosplayers themselves).

5. Makeup & Contacts: I am a very strong believer that cosplay makeup is SUPER IMPORTANT. Why? Ok so you go you to the con and you are dressed up and your costume looks super badass and you are ready to get pictures taken of you. You get there and you get so many pictures and it’s awesome and cool… But then you get home and you start looking through the pictures and you look washed out, have a lot of blemishes, look shiny, etc. And you didn’t look like that in person. But unfortunately, cameras are kind of mean and they like to make your face look a lot worse than it actually is. If you just slap on a little bit of makeup, then you will be good to go and problem solved. If you don’t want to wear makeup? That’s totally fine too. Makeup is not a requirement. If you want a more in detail cosplay makeup tutorial you should check this one that I made out. It pretty much gives you a basic idea on how to do cosplay makeup~ Ok and contacts. Contacts can be SUPER cool and make your costume look really cool, but a lot of cosplayers don’t wear them. They aren’t super important, but if you want your outfit to be the most kawaii of them all, contacts are definitely something you should check out. The sites that are good to get them at are pinkyparadise.com - they are reasonabley priced and also come with perscriptions, so if you need corrective stuff never fear! Pretty colors and pretty vision! If you don’t need perscription though, kpoptown.com is the way to go. They are cheaper, and really awesome quality (I think some of their contacts come with prescriptions but I’m not sure). Both websites are great places to order contacts.

6. Attention to Details and the Importance of Detail: Details are the things that can make a decent cosplay, a great one. I’m talking that tiny little bit of trim or those really cool earrings. Things like that are really what help tie a whole costume together and make the character come to life. Assuming you have the time and funds, make sure to pay attention to those little painstaking details. Make them look good, make yourself proud, because hot damn when you wear that costume you will look so cool and you will become the character you want. So yes, details may be small but they are also very important. You’d be surprised how naked and bare you could look without them.

7. Time Management: Just so you know, your deadline is closer than you think it is. Start working on your costume NOW. Buy fabric, order your wig, something. Order the online stuff as soon as possible because sometimes shipping takes longer than what it says. Just sew a little bit, or do a little bit of a prop every time you get a chance because you DO NOT want to be cramming right before a con. It’s no fun for anybody. PRETTY MUCH THE MORAL IS START YOUR COSPLAY NOW TIME GOES AWAY VERY FAST.

8. General Tips/Tricks: If you ever get stuck, check online for tutorials. There is bound to be one person who has gone through the same thing. If that doesn’t work, ask a cosplay help blog. They know a few things. Rock the costume you made. You look awesome, show some confidence. Do not let the cosplay stress you out. It’s for fun. It’s a hobby. Repeat it to yourself. This is fun. This is a hobby. Anybody can cosplay anything they want. You might get hate, but don’t let it bring you down because I love you and you’re awesome.