Since last post, I’ve partially lined his jacket, so that his collar shows the right material. I’ve also finished the sleeves.

The collar of the jacket is really just part of the front but folded back. It’s also lined, so that when it’s folded back, it shows the same suede material.

I decided not to fully line the jacket. The costume is hot enough as it is! James will have to wear a dress shirt, then a vest, and then this jacket.

I’m glad the sleeves are done. I’ve always hated sewing on sleeves, and they still give me difficulty. I decided to use sportswear twill for Zulf’s sleeves. I also bought blue cotton for his vest and skirt. I normally use bias tape for things like the stripes on his sleeves, but I couldn’t find a matching color. I just used some of the blue cotton to make my own.

The cuffs are lined with twill as well, because I happened to have some left over from something else. They’re sewed to the end of the sleeves.

Then it’s just folded back to show the suede side – no additional sewing needed to keep it in place.

I really hope to have the rest of this jacket done soon ^^;; Perhaps next post, I’ll have some Zia progress to show too?

I used suede for the body of it. I still have to line the inside, add sleeves, and add the bottom skirt part. Instead of drafting my own pattern this time, I decided to alter a men’s blazer pattern. I was originally going to buy a Butterick pattern, but the fabric store didn’t have it. I got a Kwik Sew one instead.

Kwik Sew #3485, to be exact. This is my first time using a Kwik Sew pattern, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by it. I’m used to patterns coming with this horribly crinkly, thin paper (kind of like tissue paper), but the Kwik Sew pattern… was actually on paper. Like, real paper that doesn’t feel like it’s going to rip just by touching it. Plus, each of the sizes are color coded, which made it much easier to read.

I first did it in Muslin as a practice. I wanted to get familiar with the pattern, so I could figure out where to alter it. I also wanted James to try it on, so I could see how it fit him. Since it was just a practice fabric, I was able to use a Sharpie to mark areas to fix.

When I did it in the real fabric (suede), I shortened it, altered the collar, and took it in by 2 inches. There was also a vent in the back of the blazer that I decided to remove. I was then stuck for a while because I didn’t actually have the fabric for the rest of the jacket yet. The fabric store I usually go to moved to a farther location, which has made it inconvenient. But! I finally went today and bought some twill and buttons. I should be able to finish the jacket now.

Yep, that’s right. I haven’t worn my cosplays in over a year. I haven’t worked on any cosplays in over a year. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I even missed my usual cons last year (A-kon and AnimeFest). I got married last year, and it’s amazing how much wedding planning can suck up your time.

But! This year will be different. I hope! Here are my cosplay plans.

Solo Project: Chell (Portal 2)
Ever since I saw Chell’s new look, I really wanted to give it a try – portal gun and long fall boots included. Valve actually sells the Aperture tank top she wears, which I’ve bought. The rest… no progress so far!

With Jack and Jess: Haku, Chihiro, No Face (Spirited Away)
Well, I’ve had my Haku costume finished for a while now. I still need to finish Chihiro’s for Jess and No Face for Jack. I’m hoping to have these done by A-kon.

With James: Zia, Zulf (Bastion)
This will be my first time cosplaying with my friend, James! I’ll be making both his and my costume. I’ve already ordered some fabric for it, but I haven’t started sewing yet.

I also cosplayed as Knives Chau (movie version) for Halloween in 2010 that I never wrote about. I’ll have an entry about that soon!

Here they are together. You can see that the blue pants show through the slits on the light blue pants.

For the blue under pants, I just drafted a basic shorts pattern and added an elastic waist. So… I won’t be showing that pattern! You can find a shorts pattern or look one up.

I thought of the light blue pants as a baggy pair of shorts that go to my knee, except with holes on the side. This is my pattern.

The curve on that right side is where the slit is, which makes this hole:

I used an elastic waist on this too, and to make the puffy part, I added a drawstring to the bottom of each side:

In retrospect, I did wish I made the pants a bit more baggy, but otherwise, I’m pretty happy with it :3

I used cotton interlock because it wasn’t very see through. I’m able to use one layer instead of lining it. Note that Haku’s top is not connected on the sides. When I started, I only sewed on the shoulders.

The front is 2 layers that overlap. They go about 3/4 of the way across the front.

Next, I sewed on the sleeves. If you look at the pattern again, you’ll notice a little tab on the sleeves. I ended up not using that, so it’s not really necessary. My original plan was to only sew it on at that point, but it doesn’t stay up well enough. I had to sew more of it on, making the slit smaller.

Because the fabric is kind of heavy, the sleeves drooped. To fix that, I ironed on light weight interfacing on the inside.

I don’t have a pattern for the collar because my original pattern didn’t fit. I kind of free handed it. It does close with velcro. I used 2 layers, so I’m able to sew on the velcro without it showing on the other side.

The top comes together with this purple sash. I just sewed together a tube of cotton fabric and zig zag stitched the ends.

A couple things to remember about Haku’s top:
1. On the front layers, the left goes over right.
2. The sash is tied on the left side.

I originally was planning on this costume for AnimeFest, so I tried to finish it as fast as possible. Thus, I didn’t take progress photos as I normally would have liked. I will be posting details on each part, the patterns I used, and tips later on though. I’ll do an overview here.

I used a compression vest for binding:

The right one was used for Neku. Since Neku’s shirt was form fitting, the extra length helped shape my stomach area as well. Since Haku’s costume isn’t tight, I’m using the shorter ones on the left, which are size M and L. M is a bit tight; L is a bit loose, but I think I’ll use the L.

The next layer is the under garment. My previous entry shows the top in detail. I’ll go into the pants later, though it’s actually just a basic shorts pattern with an elastic waist.

The next layer is the last one. The top is held together with the purple sash and has slits at the shoulders. The pants have holes on the side and drawstrings at the end of each leg for that puffy effect. I will post patterns for these later.

The wig is a China Girl wig in the darkest brown. I still need to trim it. It’s a bit long all around. I’ve also bought flip flops to use that needs a bit of altering.

I’m glad I finished it though too bad it won’t be used yet! More details soon to come!

I decided to start on the blue under outfit first, starting with the shirt. I drafted a pattern based off of a T-shirt.

I sewed together the 2 front sides and the back first.

Then I added the collar and hemmed the bottom. I didn’t use any pattern for the collar. I just measured how much I’d need, and cut out a long strip of fabric to sew on.

Lastly, I added sleeves, which finishes it!

It stays together with ties at each end. Here it is for the outside part.

Here is the inside, and you can see where it ties on the right.

I haven’t decided where to go from here. I’ll either do the under part for the pants, or I’ll start on the white top.

Materials:
- Sheets of thin craft foam
- Thin stretchy fabric (I used spandex)
- Velcro

(Click for larger pictures!)

Hand part
1. Cut out identical pieces of craft foam (however thick you want it) that is the shape of the back of your hand. Glue them together.
2. Cut out a cover for them that extends past the bottom part (pointing at the wrist).
3. Before sewing the cover together, I take a strip of fabric, form a circular band with it, and sew it to one side of the cover, which will be the part that your hand goes through.
4. Sew the cover together, leaving the long side open.
5. Stuff the craft foam in. Sew the cover close as close to the craft foam as you can.

Wrist part
1. Cut strips of craft foam that can wrap around your wrist. Leave extra room so they can overlap.
2. Create a cover for the craft foam.
3. Sew on pieces of velcro where it comes together.

Then, I just sewed the long end of the hand part to the wrist part, leaving a little room between them.

Hope that all made sense!

These are the base shoes. I asked my friend Jess to just buy cheap heels, and she found these for $4 on eBay. I wish they were rounded instead of pointy, but it still worked.

I started by using muslin fabric and pinned it over my leg and shoe. I cut it out in that shape afterwards and used it as a pattern.

The material I used was matte vinyl. I was lucky and found vinyl scraps on sale for $3/yd. I really only needed about a yard, but took 2 incase I messed up. I had to use my heaviest weight needle and also had to buy a thicker thread. It was unfortunately a lighter color than the vinyl, but it only shows in the back.

I started by sewing the pieces together in the back and added a zipper. I underestimated how much I needed and got a zipper that was a couple inches too short.

Next I sewed the front so that it would be tight against the shoe.

The yellow stripes are bias tape that I glued to the vinyl. Part of it tucks under the cover at the bottom. Then I glued the cover to the shoe.

You can see that I made the boot taller at first. I put my feet in it, so I could see how it went up on my leg, then I cut off the extra at the top. Then I took a strip of vinyl and sewed it to the top to make the folded part. I sewed it down at the sides near the zipper so it’ll stay down. Since the vinyl isn’t 2 sided, I had to do it this way.

Tada! Here are the covers! I think they could have turned out a little better, but not bad for my first time with this material.

And here are our full costumes! (Our Shiki is the one on the right.)

Using brown and white fabric, I started constructing the cover for it. (It’s not attached to the hat yet.)

I actually made it too high at first, so I took it in both top and bottom. I also flipped it so it goes outwards near the bottom.

Next was adding the brown stripes to the white part, which is just bias tape. I also sewed a circle to the top to close it off.

The last part is connecting the cover to the hat! I hand sewed the bottom of the cover to the bottom of the hat.

The wig in the picture has already been trimmed. I cut a little off the front bangs and cut the hair to the side shorter. I didn’t take any off in the back. The wig is New Look’s Lucy in Henna Red.

I finished one of Shiki’s boots tonight. Hopefully, I’ll have the other finished soon to show!