Madchaser

⚔️ Shadow & Light ⚔️✨☄️ In honor of #ZeldaMonth, here’s some of my favorites from the Zelda shoot we did at Dragon Con! I can’t believe it took me so long to post more of these!

Photos: The World of Gwendana 

Zelda: costume made/worn by @atelierheidi

If you are like most crafters, the longer you have a sewing-related hobby the larger your stash of fabric will get.  (If you sew and you don’t have a fabric stash, I am officially afraid of you and your merciless resolve.)  I’ve been cosplaying for about eight years and sewing for longer than that, so the amount of fabric I want to hold onto because I might use it someday is… really extreme.

What I ended up having to do to get my fabric stash under control was catalog it, put it into bins, and get it out of my actual craft room.  I need to pull something from my stash maybe a couple times a month at most.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep that stuff in my primary working area when it gets used that infrequently, so I keep it my basement. You might not have a basement you can store stuff in, but everyone’s got corners of closets or other less readily accessible areas where stuff for long-term storage is asking to go.  A catalog of what you have allows you to utilize those spaces more effectively. 

This is the binder I made up, which 1) allows me to check what’s in the basement without having to actually go to the basement, and 2) is way easier to flip through than a pile of fabric that I have to re-fold because I messed it up while pawing through it.  

If you’d like to use my templates, they’re over here!  My goal in making them was to not overwhelm myself with information because I had a ton of fabrics to catalog and I didn’t want it to take forever.  The sheets are made to record a few pieces of information:

A fabric swatch. I made two template sheets, one with the swatch space on the left and one with the swatch space on the right, so the stacked pages wouldn’t be super uneven.

A brief description and enough room to note anything special about the fabric.

A super rough ballpark of how much yardage I have.

Did I ever cut anything out of this fabric before, or is it still basically in a rectangle?  Helpful for knowing if your fabric looks like swiss cheese or not.

And that’s it.  You can add more or less information based on what you think is important, but that’s enough for me to go off of.  And here’s the organized stash itself, more or less:

Another tip in organizing your storage bins: if you make it so all the edges of your fabrics are visible when you take the top off your bin, it’ll be easier to find things and take them out.  While I was loading the bins, I set them on one side and stacked my fabric up in a pile.  (The end result is the same thing as Konmari vertical clothes folding!)

There was an article circulating with what the author called the Realities of Cosplay. And they were in general pretty inaccurate. Y'know like having to be pretty or that it has to cost an arm and a leg.  Those came across as one guy venting his frustration and y'know, whatever. But there are some realities of cosplay that I do think people should be aware of.

Let me start by saying, this is a great hobby. I love it and I think everyone should try it at least once regardless of your age, gender, skin color, body type etc. Cosplay is a hobby about love and if you love what you’re doing then these harsh realities won’t matter much to you.

1. Some of us (cosplayers) can be jerks.

You would think that for a community made up of people that have spent a good chunk of their lives being ostracized we’d be a more unified people. But we, like all social groups, have a few bad apples that are just jerks. They’ll criticize your costume. They’ll exclude you. They’ll gossip and start all manner of drama that you thought you left at High School. We have elitists. We have snobs. We have controlling people. We have gossipers. We have two faced individuals. 

And this isn’t because they’re cosplayers. It’s just who they are as people. And as the Cosplay Community gets bigger, you’re going to see a bigger percentage.. It’s how any social collective is and Cosplay is no exception.

2. The internet can be a cold, cruel place.

Look, I’m a thin white girl. It would be easy for me to tell you to completely disregard skin tone, body type, height, gender, etc and just cosplay who you want. But I won’t. It’s not because I think you shouldn’t because frankly I believe the opposite. It’s because I’m not the one that would have to deal with any resulting consequences. The internet is a dark, cruel place that uses a shield of anonymity to hide behind as people proceed to rip in to you bit by bit. I don’t feel like I have the right to tell you to just endure that anyways. That’s for you to decide.

That said, I’m not going to discourage someone from doing so. I have a friend who is a curvy lady with dark skin wanting to cosplay as Azula. Her idea and I think that’s just awesome. Chick is sassy and I think she could rock Azula. It was her idea. It’s her desire. Some of the internet won’t like that but she doesn’t give a crap. And that’s why she’s awesome. But she’s also very confident. She’s bold. And she doesn’t take any crap from anyone. She’s comfortable with herself and who she is and that’s what really makes the difference here. Whether or not you decide you are there or not is completely up to you.  

The internet has all kinds of crap to sling at you. Make sure you are ready to withstand it. You’ll have people you never met standing behind you to support you but at the end of the day, you’re the one that gets to decide if you want to. And if you don’t, that’s okay too. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone. Confidence is part of the costume too.

3. There’s a good chance someone else has done your costume. And they’ve done it better.

I have this other friend. Wonderful chick. She’s talented. She’s determined. She has a good eye for things. She’ll start on a costume and then look up reference pictures only to see someone has already done it and it’s amazing. And then she gets discouraged and stressed and suddenly it’s a competition. “I will never be as good as ____ in mine.”

Unless you are actually competing, don’t worry about how well someone else has done a costume. Don’t let it discourage you. Don’t let it stress you out. Cosplay isn’t about being the best of that character. It’s about love. Love for the character. Love for what you do. Love for the people you do it for. Don’t worry about that super awesome cosplayer over there. Yeah they’re amazing but even if you think your costume looks like crap now, you still have room to improve. Your last costume was probably better than the one before it.

4. All costumes have a high cost

I’m not just talking money. There’s a saying among cosplay commissioners. Cheap, Fast, or Good. Pick two.  What this means is you will either have to pay extra money, extra time, or sacrifice quality.,

Not all costs are financial. Sure you could make an incredible buster blade with cardboard and paper mache but it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of skill. Sometimes the cost is not getting any sleep. Sometimes the cost is not getting to wear that costume to the convention because it wasn’t done in time. Sometimes it’s injuries like hot glue burns or cuts from exacto blades. 

And even in a more literal sense. You get what you pay for. If you pay 75 dollars for a Lulu costume from FFX, I can go ahead and tell you: It’s not going to be very accurate. The material is going to suck. It’s probably going to fall apart. The cost there is quality. 

5. Your mental, physical, and financial well being are more important than cosplay.

Let me say that again: Your mental, physical, and financial well being are more important than cosplay. If you are neglecting one of these things, you need to stop, sort that out, and then go back to cosplay. And don’t let cosplay affect any of these.

Don’t bind your chest with Duct tape to get it super flat. Don’t stay up for three days before the con to finish your costume. Don’t spend your rent money on worbla. Be responsible. Be an adult. Look after yourself and if you’re okay then you can go on with the hobby. I’ll often see the phrase ‘Cosplay is life’

NO IT ISN’T

And if that is life for you, back up and try to get things in order. Find some support. Talk to someone you trust. There is no costume…no prize. No convention. Nothing that is worth harming either of those three aspects of your life. You, a human being, are more valuable than any hobby. Take care of yourself first and then deal with any costume things.

AKA how to make bias tape go around corers without overlapping multiple pieces. I’ve seen other methods, but this is how I’ve always done it.

Tutorials for both inner and outer corners under the cut!

🍃You know who you are 💫

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Overwatch’s newest character, Doomfist — set to release on July 27 — made his debut appearance. Not the real Doomfist, of course, but a very talented model dressed head-to-fist-to-toe in some incredibly crafted cosplay. Here’s how it they did it.

It’s lit

Got a cosplay idea but the character has lots of arm (or leg) tattoos? Don’t feel like painting on yourself with body paints or hunting down that horrendously expensive temporary tattoo paper? Here’s a quick tutorial for making tattoo sleeves using nylons and sharpie markers! 

Upsides: 

- Supplies are cheap! You may even have many or all the supplies you need right at home.

- Quick and not very messy! No paint is involved, and sharpie marker dries instantly. 

- Easy! Great artistic skill not required.

- They move with your skin! People have legit thought these were real tattoos. From a distance, yes, but I had guys at cons with actual ink on their arms come over to compliment on my full (fake) sleeves. 

- You get to eat pringles! More on that later. 

Downsides:

- They are delicate. Nylons get holes in them super easy and forearms run into stuff, lean against things, and generally make it hard for the sleeves to survive. But if you only need them for a weekend, that’s ok.

- I haven’t experimented too much, but unfortunately this technique probably doesn’t work for wearers with darker skin tones. Sharpie ink is transparent, so any color it rests on just multiplies and the tattoo won’t show up very well. You’ll want to go the fabric paint or body paint route to get the best bold, bright tats. 

- Can’t do white sections, because sharpie ink is transparent and doesn’t come in white. I leave them blank and they read OK, but the white areas will always be pink, tan, brown, etc. unless you dab in a little fabric paint, which will not be covered in this tutorial.

- Sharpie is supposed to be permanent marker, but on skin…it’s not. The ink will most likely wear off onto adjacent clothes. Not that big of a deal for me, as I tend to wear my tats with white shirts that can be bleached, but other shirts may not survive as well.

OK, let’s go! Here are your supplies: 

You’ll need a pair of nylons, scissors, tape, a set of sharpies, your designs printed out on 8.5 x 11 paper, some bracelets, and a can of Pringles. You can use any design you want, of course, but Here is the link to these fine Newt Kaiju tattoo designs. 

If your nylons have an undies part, cut the legs off and wear the undies on your head for the rest of the tutorial, if desired. Put the legs on your arm like so, and cut the toes off so you can slip your hand through. You can cut some of the top of the sleeve off as well, but don’t cut too much because you can’t put it back on if your sleeves are too short. 

Here are my creepy sleeves. Now for the pringles.

Tape your design template to the Pringles can. It doesn’t reach all the way around but eh. The Pringles can gives you a nice stable surface to draw on that is roughly the shape and size of an arm. It’s a little short, so just roll up the rest of the nylon above the workspace and adjust both template and nylon down when you get to working on that part of the sleeve.

Color with the markers! I recommend doing the colored areas first and then doing the black outlines on top of it, to avoid the black ink contaminating the ink pads of the lighter markers. Remember how that always happens to the yellow ones? Eww. Nylons are thin and slide around a bit, so it’s best to use short strokes and dotting to get the ink on.

Take the template off the Pringles tube, flip the paper to the blank side and put it back on again. The paper collects the extra ink, so it’s hard to see any missed spots. Now you can see any bits you may have missed. Fill them in for completion. Also, the paper doesn’t manage to wrap all the way around the Pringles can, so now is the time to free-hand a bit of the design where the template doesn’t reach. For Newt tattoos, that’s the back of the arm. 

When you’re all done coloring, put them on!

There’s a rough end to the tattoo right at the wrist, of course. Disguise where the sleeve ends and your skin begins with some pretty bracelets:

There we are, much better!

First off: I’m very sorry for likely replying after the fact. It’s extremely difficult for me to keep up with my inbox on this site (especially for messages that need a lengthier answer like this), so I don’t always get to respond to inquiries with a quick turn-around. I hope your event at school ended up going well, though!

Secondly: I’m so proud of you for tackling a project outside of your comfort zone to push your skills! It’s important for artists to do that; it’s what helps us grow and learn and most of all, improve. The worst thing you can do as an artist is never push yourself or try new things. It’ll make you stagnate and cause your progress to plateau. So good job for attempting such a difficult costume so early in your cosplay journey!

Thirdly: Yes, Prompto is an extremely challenging costume. It involves a ton of little techniques and details that aren’t apparent at a first glance, and as a result, it’s a project that can get easily overwhelming. (Trust me: been there, done that!) So it’s no wonder you’re feeling frustrated, especially as a novice cosplayer! In which case, my recommendation from here on out would be that the next time you feel frustrated with your progress, take a step back. Evaluate what you don’t like and assess what you need to change in order to be happier with the final results. Don’t like the plaid you chose? Rip it off and find something else. Not happy with the paint job on the shirt? Start over. Take your time and use a different method. Unhappy with your wig styling? Wash out all the hair product and try again. There is no shame in remaking something two, three, four, or more times. Keep remaking it until you’re happy with it, even if it takes 10+ attempts. You will have so much more fun wearing something you’re proud of rather than something you just “settled” for or finished half-heartedly. (Also, on the note of budgeting: budget for this. Set money aside as a “back-up” fund in case things go wrong and you need more materials. That money should always be included in your original estimations! And if you end up not needing it? Cool, treat yourself in the Artist Alley.)

Lastly, and perhaps the most importantly: be more forgiving and let yourself make mistakes. You’re still learning. You’re still teaching yourself these skills. You have just started making costumes. Yaya’s first costumes were not perfect. Kamui’s first armor build was not flawless. Jessica started out with a Pikachu bikini and now she’s making stuff like this. Heck, look, here’s my first real cosplay that I made versus my most recent:

It’s taken me ten years to get this far. Why? Because for a lot of those years, I didn’t push myself. I stayed in my comfort zone. I chose projects that didn’t teach me new skills or force me to work with new materials. It wasn’t until the last 4 years that I’ve really been focused on my craftsmanship and improving my skills, and that is what has allowed me to finish costumes like Sheik, Rapidash, and yes, Prompto too.

I know it’s hard. I know it’s frustrating. But you’re doing the right thing by attempting more difficult projects. Just remember that the frustration is part of the learning process. It’s good to get frustrated because it means you care and want to push yourself harder. It’s good to have high standards for your work because it means you’ll always strive to do your best.

However: it’s important to not let this frustration stunt your growth. Acknowledge your frustration, accept it, and learn to manage it. Take breaks while working. Don’t be afraid to revisit the drawing board. Set the costume aside and practice the skills you need to finish it before making another attempt. And again: forgive yourself for making mistakes. Yaya, Kamui, and Jess make them all the time. And you can bet your patootie I do, too. (Anyone who’s watched my livestreams knows that I mess up quite a bit, haha!)