#vinventure

And finally, one last Vin for the Mistborn Deckbuilding Game!

ADs: Johnny O'Neal and Katie Payne

Inspiration

I want to cosplay a specific Mistborn in the books named Vin. We'll go over the rest of her costume later. The two images I'm using as inspiration are below:

Brandon has mentioned he imagines the strips being individually sewn with a softer inside and heavier inside, which I did for the top layer of strips. As far as length, he said within an inch or two of each other. So when trimming my strips I wasn't particular about them being exact. He also mentioned he imagines the strips being ½-1 inch wide, but I went with 1.5 inches just to save some sanity. Remember you can play with this and do whatever you want!

What you'll need:

-6.5 yards of a dark grey or black fabric like cotton, denim, or a lightweight wool. I got this black sweater/wool fabric at my local fabric store.

-15 yards of a dark grey or black lining, like silk, satin, or nylon ripstop. I got this ripstop online at Fabric Wholesale Direct.

-Two buttons

-Black or grey all purpose thread

-A sewing machine

-Simplicity 5794 cloak pattern (we're using pattern A)

-Fabric scissors

-A rotary cutter and mat

-A sewable seam adhesive (I used HeatnBond Lite)

-Lots of time and patience!! The strips alone probably took me a good 30-35 hours. I listened to WOK and some of WOR while making this.

I should also note that I was very generous with the fabric, partly because I didn't know what was necessary for the project. I cut my strips along the width and my fabric was 60" wide, so I had 60" strips. I ended up trimming them to probably 40-48 inches. If you have wide fabric you could cut lengthwise to save fabric, or find fabric that's already 48" wide instead of 60".

Making the cloak

Drawing from the inspiration photos, I wanted to create a cloak where the strips were all attached to a capelet. The black and white image has two capelets if you look closely, with strips attached to both, which is what I decided to go for using Simplicity pattern 5794 A.

I want to have one layer of the heavier fabric strips on the top capelet, with a layer or two of lining strips underneath, and another layer on the bottom capelet.

Quick disclaimer- the lighting in my basement craft room isn't great, sorry! I also forget to take pictures at every step.

Start by cutting out just the capelets and hood pieces for pattern A out in your heavier fabric. If your fabric has a pattern or grain like mine, make sure they line up. I’m cutting mine in size XS but in hindsight would have used size S. I'm 5'9" for reference.

Cut out the same pieces in your lining.

Follow the directions to sew the pieces together. You should have three separate pieces (upper capelet, lower capelet, hood). Do the same for the lining. Don't sew any of the capelets or hood to each other yet. If your fabric doesn't like to iron flat at the seams like mine, you can do a top stitch.

Then, measure the circumference or outer edge of the top capelet (minus a seam allowance for sewing them together) and divide by the width you want your strips to be. I measured with a string, then measured how long the string was. I went with 1.5 inches for my strip width. The resulting number is how many strips of your heavier fabric will be on the top layer (64.5 for me. I made 65 but ended up only fitting 63.) Cut out strips of your heavier fabric to that width including a seam allowance (so 2.25 inches for me), and 50-60 inches long. We'll trim them later. Cut out the same strips out of your lining.

I folded my fabric in half lengthwise and used this video to help me with cutting the strips. He explains it better than I could here.

Then right sides together, sew your heavier fabric strips to your lining strips. Leave both short ends open. Turn your strips right side out with a chopstick or knitting needle. Iron flat if needed. If your fabric is heavier and won't lay flat, sew around the edges in a top stitch.

More Vin art for the Mistborn Deckbuilding Game

ADs: Johnny O'Neal and Katie Payne