Hello and welcome to another section on just my personal workflow of how I go through making my cosplays. While everyone does things differently, I prefer a pretty structured approach to reduce the amount of wasted time/materials as much as possible. If you haven't already checked them out, I have two other write ups already for picking a character and for my planning stage. Let's get into it!
- What Comes First? Easiest or Hardest? -
Usually the first question people have is "what should I start making first?" For this there are a couple ways to think about it. For this section I want to talk about picking either the hardest piece to make or the easiest. Now this will change for me depending on a few different factors:
Is the easiest part something I can make quickly?
Does the hardest part require me to learn a new skill?
What is the would be the piece that contributes to a higher "total completion" total?
(left to right) muslin mock of corset, finished corset, unpainted Needle
So this changes each time I make a cosplay. I don't stick to a hard and fast rule on this one but it really depends on how I'm feeling about the project. For example, on my Vi cosplay I did the hardest part first, which was the corset. I've never made one before and sewing isn't my strong point. For Hornet, I made the sword (Needle) first since it was a relatively simple construction and made me feel great to already have a big piece done. So experiment with your style and what motivates you to keep going. I normally start slowly and after I get past a certain point, I kick it into overdrive since I get so motivated.
Still having trouble choosing? You can also do it based on which piece you're most excited about. Even if you have to learn a new skill to make the piece you'll likely still be motivated to keep going.
- Getting Started -
So now that you've decided on what piece to start the next question is how? Well this is what I feel is the fun part of cosplay. If it's an armor piece, watch YouTube videos, read articles, or buy one of the many books out there by very talented makers to walk you through it. I highly recommend Kamui Cosplay's books and Punished props foamsmith books. I own several of them and they are well written and documented.
Now for me, I prefer working on armor and it's my stronger point, however for sewing I'm still very new. For a sewing pattern, I normally try very hard to chose cosplay that looks like it can be made using existing patterns (such as dresses). For example, my all the sewing pieces of my Vi cosplay was made using existing patterns.
Corset using Yaya Han pattern (I had to do a lot of adjustments...I'll likely chose a different one going forward)
The shorts were made by following a Pinterest suggestion of tracing existing shorts I had
The striped tights were bought off Etsy
The half jacket was from a McCall's bolero pattern
I try to choose using a pattern since it has instructions and if there is a term I don't understand, I just Google/YouTube it. There's a lot of terms, don't sweat it if you don't understand the instructions fully.
Now making patterns for armor is a little different. The good news is if it's a pretty "standard" pattern (bracer, shinguard) then you may be able to use some pre-made patterns out there. This is something you will get better at with experimentation and understanding how 3D objects can be glued together. Again, I highly recommend Kamui's patterns. I have her Female armor template set which are pretty good bases for many different pieces. For foam construction, it's very much additive. Make the base shape first and build upon it. Basically strip away all the details, make that shape then build on that. Here's an example with my Cassandra shield.
The "base" of the shield is made from 3 layers of 5mm EVA foam (left picture). Slowly adding additional details from either 5mm foam (grey) or 2mm foam (white) I dremel items into shape. The lines on the back of the shield are burned in from a soldering iron. More in depth WIP will be posted here.
Many cosplayers are now making full guides with patterns for popular characters. These are 100% optional and may or may not be helpful depending upon how well the guide is written. I suggest trying it for yourself first and see how it goes.
- The All-Mighty Mock-Up! -
For nearly every clothing piece I make, I do a mock up out of inexpensive fabric (generally Muslin). Why do I do this? Simple. I would rather figure out I need to make changes to a pattern on $3/yard fabric than on $15/yard fabric. I mark all over my mock up with sharpie, make notes in my notebook on what worked and what didn't, and everything is better the second time you make it. It does mean more work, but it'll make your finished piece so much better.
- How Long Does All This Take? -
Great question with a vague answer, "it depends". Many different factors will affect how long a project can take you: free time available, funds available, complexity of project, and how many times you have to remake something.
To get a general idea here's the timelines from my last several cosplays:
NOTE: The time listed is TOTAL time, not working time. I don't usually keep track of my hours.
Cosplay How Long? Why?
Cassandra 3 months Available funds, materials on
hand since I bought in bulk for
Hornet. Had to remake several
items before I was happy.
Hornet 3 months Available funds, many materials
already on hand, relatively
simple design for my skill level
Okami 10 months Expensive, several new methods,
a lot to do by hand, long design
process for Original Design
Vi 14 months Expensive, a lot of detail,
specialized garment, was
working overtime a lot (little
time to work on it)
Samus 2 years Expensive!! remade every piece
twice until I was happy, new
temperature sensitive
construction techniques, little
time (2 jobs + college full time)
If you hear nothing else, just hear this...TAKE YOUR TIME! Rushing generally makes construction less ideal and are more prone to simple mistakes. Start with more than enough time
- The "Comfort" Problem -
Cosplay can be pretty uncomfortable, but it doesn't need to be up to a certain extent. The two things you should consider when building your cosplay is 1) can you go to the bathroom and 2) are your shoes comfortable enough to walk around all day? I ask these questions based on years of not considering these two factors. For example, for my Samus cosplay I didn't design it in a way where I could go to the bathroom without taking every piece off...oh and I was bolted into the cosplay from the back. Not so smart. Then I made the terrible choice to barely drink any water to avoid going to the bathroom for most of the day...again don't do that. I nearly passed out due to overheating.
For shoes, many female characters have strange shoes or are in heels. Break in your base shoe. This way you know they are comfortable or at least you know how long you can stand them being on. For Samus (again), I didn't attach my shin armor properly so it sat on top of the back of my shoe. Well, all day of rubbing against the back of my heel caused it to bleed...not fun. For Vi, she wears some heels. I broke in the shoes well in advance and knew that I could be in them for about 5 hours before I needed a sitting break under normal circumstances. For cosplay, it tends to be an hour or so shorter than that due to the rest of the cosplay being tiresome to wear.
- Last Bits of Advice -
I know most of this has been pretty general, but that's intentional. Everyone works differently but this is my general workflow that I go through when I start construction. If you want to see specifics about construction, I normally put up a work-in-progress pictures up regularly on my Instagram and I do full write ups once I've finished the piece. Don't be afraid to get started, everyone starts somewhere and you will improve with time. Practice makes better.
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