Mokona Modoki Gijinka

I love Clamp and I love their character Mokona, who appears in many of their different anime. I wanted to do something that would give me a little bit more design freedom so I decided to do a Mokona gijinka cosplay, with a little Lolita thrown in there. I came up with a few designs before I finally settled on one.

Construction:

Dress:  I had a simple dress pattern that I had bought a while ago from McCall's (M6504 View A) that I used as the base dress. I added some lace edging along the collar, the shoulders and the hem. The dress was quite difficult to make despite the pattern being marked as easy. I had the most difficult time trying to iron out my seams without messing up the rest of the dress. I was able to get the zipper in (my first time whoot whoot!) but when I finally was able to wear it I realized that the back of the dress was much too wide for my shoulders. I also realized that my arm holes are too snug. I had to take in the waist quite a bit as well. Alas, it is an ill-fitting dress but I can learn a lot from the mistakes I made while making this dress. I probably won't remake it as I would rather put more effort into making different cosplays.

Zipper

I added lace edging along the hem of the dress as well as the neckline and the shoulders.  Originally I wanted to have the lace edging turn away from the neckline but it looked better with the lace turned in towards the dress.  I had a difficult time working the the sleeves as I had never sewn anything sleeveless before.  I made many mistakes trying to fit them together.  I learned to hard way that fitting something on oneself is nearly impossible to do.  Looks like I need to get myself a dress form!

Adding lace

Ears: I drafted my own ear pattern. I made them a little too thin for my liking so the next time I will make any sort of ears in that shape I will make them wider. Making the ears was not hard.  My first iteration I decided the attach them to a white headband. Sewing them to the headband was a little strange. They were not actually fixed to the headband so they can slip all the way around. This made them easy to adjust when they are on my head.  When I tried these ears with the bow however I realized that there was too much going on.  I tore apart all my work and sewed the ears onto little individual combs instead.

First iteration of the ears

Gloves: After many failed attempts at drafting my own glove pattern I finally made one that I deemed acceptable!  Believe it or not readers, glove patterns are really hard to draft!  They typically include three pieces, the thumb, the trank (the main part of the glove) and the fourchettes, which are little pieces of fabric that go in between the fingers and allow for better movement.  I followed a couple of different methods that can be found here and here.  I used the latter tutorial as the pattern that I came up with was the better one for me.  I had to do some serious editing though.  The thumb and the thumb piece hole where the first things to be perfected.  After that I got the right width for the pattern to go around the hand, the points where the web of my fingers began relative to the thumb and the right index finger.  After that I started measuring my other fingers.  It took me a few mock ups after each design to see how I was doing it wrong.  I made six versions of the pattern before I felt it was good enough to use.

Finished gloves

I now have a pair of awesome gloves!  The gloves are made with the same material as the dress along with the same lace edging for the cuff and an elastic wrist.  Once I figure out how to go about it, I will post a glove making tutorial :)

Underthings: I used plain white tights that I had lying around to make my legs white. I bought a pink and white crinoline to put under the dress. At first I was going to make the dress shorter but I decided that with the crinoline at my hips the length would be fine.

Shoes: I bought my white shoes for really cheap at Value Village. Second hand shops are great for buying costume accessories ;)

Bow: I wondered how I was going to attach the jewel to my head.  Originally I thought I was going to make it out of clay which is heavy.  I then decided to make a stiffened bow that would support the clay.  I changed my mind about the clay jewel however when I went into Dollarama and found the perfect little red jewels!  I bought them and attached one to the bow using super glue.

Basic bow

The bow is made of the same fabric as the dress and gloves.  It is stiffened on both pieces and reinforced with a wire inside.  I attached a long white ribbon to the back so that I could attach it to a high ponytail or something like that.

Later on I decided that I wanted to have to red jewel on my forehead as the jewel wasn't seen claerly on the bow.  I took it off the bow and tested it on my forehead using spirit gum.  Spirit gum did the trick!

I wore part of this costume to a final exam this past summer because that was the night that Otakuthon started.  I basically rushed over to the convention center and completely forgot about my gloves!  Everyone at the exam thought that I was so cute in my dress.  Someone even asked if I was eloping lol!  It was really a lot of fun wearing this costume.  Mokona is such a cute and fun character and I had lots of fun playing him.  It is also quite comfortable once I get used to the smaller than normal armholes.  The only pain about this dress is that it wrinkles so easily!  Next time I use fabric like this I won't chose a pattern that has crazy fitting to it!

Completed Mokona Cosplay

Princess Jasmine Shoe Tutorial

When I decided that I was going to actually make Jasmine's shoes I researched and looked online for any sort of tutorial that I could follow.  I didn't find anything so I decided to come up with my own design.  I started out by sketching out how I thought the pattern for the shoe should look like.  I decided that I would make a shoe cover as I wanted something sturdy to walk in and I already had a pair of slipper style shoes that would do the job.  The basic idea behind the shoe cover was that it would be made of a light blue material that would be sewn onto the shoe with the toe stuffed to keep its form.

Drafting the Shoe Cover Pattern:

Step 1:

I started out by putting on one of the shoes and measuring the following:

BC = Back curve of the shoe

LF = Length of the foot (along the sole)

LO = Length of the shoe opening

X = Distance from back of the shoe to point x

Point x is the lowest point on the inside of the shoe relative to the height of the back of the shoe.  It sounds a bit complicated but the diagram should help the reader see where to take the measurement.

SC = Side curve of the shoe, taken at point x

Step 2:

Next I took my measurements from step 1 and added my seam allowance as shown below,

A = LF +  2 cm

B = BC + 2 cm

C = LO + 2 cm

D = X + 1 cm

E = SC + 2 cm

and I drew them onto a long piece of newspaper as shown in the diagram above.

Step 3:

Once those lines were drawn in I drew in a curve from the back of the shoe to the front of the shoe opening, ensuring that the lowest part of the curve hit the vertical dashed line (the drawing is not completely accurate). I then decided how high I wanted my curved toe to stand.  I drew in another dashed line from the front of the opening of the shoe to the desired height H.  Once this line was drawn in I drew in different curves for the toe and chose one that I though suited the shoe best.  Take into consideration that this curve has to go out enough so that it doesn't come up short on the actual shoe.

Step 4:

Once all my lines were drawn and I had chosen my shoe curve, I darkened the lines I wanted and cut out my pattern.  Pattern Drafting complete!

Note: I figured out that this pattern works for both your left foot and right foot as well as the inside and the outside of your shoe

Putting The Shoe Together:

Step 1:

Cut out your material, putting the pattern on the wrong side of the material.  Make sure that your fabric is folded together (right sides together) so that you only have to cut out the pattern twice.  Each cutout will give you two pieces of fabric which will be sewn together to create the shoe covers for each shoe.

Step 2:

Take one pair of fabric cut outs and pin them together, right sides together.  You will sew two seams, one along the back of the shoe (the straight, vertical edge) and one along the front toe curve (the one that extends from the bottom of the shoe to the top of the curve and then about a quarter of the way down the curve that extends to the top of the shoe. (Sorry I don't have an image for this, I will upload one as soon as possible to help readers visualize it).

Step 3:

Turn the shoe cover so that the right side of the fabric is facing outwards.  Place the shoe cover over the shoe and carefully pin in the fabric near the sole of the foot.  Keep in mind that it's best the turn in your raw edge so that it's won't fray after you've sewn them and worn them a few times.

Step 4:

This is where it get's very tricky (and frustrating and aggravating and somewhat painful if you aren't careful).  You are going to have to HAND SEW the bottom of the shoe cover very close to the sole of the shoe.  This should be done with a thimble and very careful fingers.  Depending on the shoe material it can be very difficult to push the needle through.  I had a really hard time because my shoe had an elastic opening and I couldn't see where my pins were in the toe of the shoe.  Needless to say I pricked my fingers many, many times.  I would advise you to start sewing at the point where the shoe is widest and work your way towards the back of the shoe.  This way by the time you get to the narrowest part of the shoe (aka the toe) you won't have as many pins holding the shoe cover to the shoe.  In the end this is what the shoe will look like once the bottom is sewn.

If you look closely you can see my stitching.

Step 5:

The next step is to pin down the top part of the shoe cover so that the top can be sewn.  Stuff the toe with scrap fabric or batting before you pin the toe curve together.  Again, try and turn in the raw edge all along the way so that you can avoid fraying along the seams.

Step 6:

Now you can sew the top part of the cover to the shoe (again, hand sewing)!  Sewing the top part of the shoe was much easier though I still recommend caution.  Using a thimble will also help when you have to work near exposed pins.  Once this is done you finished one shoe!  Then you can work on the next one!

Step 7:

I sprayed my shoes to protect them because I didn't want all my hard work to be ruined from simply walking in downtown Montreal.  I used the Payless Rain and Stain Guard spray on them.  Note that it only works on synthetic fibers (which worked out for my shoes).

And Voila!  You have made yourself some awesome Princess Jasmine Shoes!

If you have any questions about the procedure or if anything is really unclear, comment and I will try and explain it in a different way.

Estë: Original Design

I promised my friends that I would make them some elven gowns for the upcoming Hobbit movie.  This is the first gown I made for a friend.  Seeing as there are no female characters in the the Hobbit I decided to name this gown Este after the Valier.  I decided to go with a more dark blue raiment then grey because grey is depressing.  There will be two parts to the gown, the under gown and the over gown.

Design:

I drafted many different patterns for this character, all revolving around the same colour theme of dark blue/silver.  I didn't want to go by Tolkien's description 100% because I don't like the colour grey.  I figured that if I had the character dressed in darker colours rather than just grey then it would still fit with the character's description.  I tried many different designs of the under gown.  An earlier version of it included long sleeves that went to the floor and opened up along the front "seam".  Another version had a full trumpet shaped sleeve.  The over dress was always a sleeveless, lighter gown.  At first I wanted it to be heavily beaded to reflect the stars at night.  I decided against that design because I have never beaded in my life and I didn't think doing a whole gown was a idea to start with.

Concept art

Construction:

Under Gown: I used the pattern M5499 from McCall's to make the gown, with a few alterations.  I bought a really really dark, almost black, navy blue material (I think it's a sort of crepe) for the main body of the dress, a grey lightweight fabric with a nice drape to it for the lower sleeves and I used leftover black crepe from the Shredder cosplay for the upper sleeves.  I bought a white organdy ribbon for the trim.  Instead of having trim around the neck and having the neck slash, I just left the neck plain and simple.  I also didn't make the belt or the hat.  I used silver 4mm eyelets.  My friend helped me figure out how to attach them to the back bands as apparently I can't read instructions :P.  I used a thin flat black cord for the lacing.  This gown turned out quite nice and was easier to make than the Vana gown.  I hope to get a photo shoot done soon.

Adding eyelets

Finished back

Finished side

Finished front

Over Gown: 

Vána: Original Design

I have been a huge Lord of the Rings fan since I first saw the movies in early high school.  As I never got to see them in theaters I always thought that my chance to make a LOTR costume for a movie premier was long gone.  You can imagine my great surprise and excitement upon learning that the Hobbit would be made into a set of three films.  I decided that I would have to make an elven coastume for myself to wear to the film.  Unfortunately there are no female characters in the book to name the gown after so I then decided to name my gown after a Valier.  This way the gown would be somehow related to not only the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings but also to all the other works Tolkien wrote about Middle Earth.  I chose the Valier Vána because she represents the spring and that is my favourite season.

Design:

It took me a while to decide what design I wanted to do for Vána.  I knew that I wanted a simple gold under gown and a green over gown.  The under gown always stayed the same design, a plain long sleeved gown with arm ties for the forearm.  The over gown underwent many design changes and phases.  At first I wanted to have bell shaped sleeves on the over gown.  Then I decided that I wanted sleeves that opened from the elbow down, leaving a bunch of fabric to hang loose at the elbow.  I also experimented a lot with the neckline.  I first decided to have it match the under gown's neckline, then changed it to a low scoop neckline.  I finally settled on the triangular neckline.  I always wanted to have the rectangular cut outs in the skirt of the gown, though I was undecided for a while if I wanted to edge them or not.

Concept art

Construction:

Under Gown: I chose to follow a pattern (for once) for the under gown.  I used Butterick B4827 with the thought that I would add ties to the lower arms.  I bought a pale gold, textured material (the texture was random crinkling here and there).  I am not quite sure what material it is as I didn't see a name to it when I bought it.  It had a nice drape and sheen to it; not too stiff and not too shiny.  I followed the pattern directions, altering it as I went for fit.  I am rather pleased with the turnout of the gown.  I used a gold coloured cord for the lacing in the back.  I added wrist ties out of the same gold cord to give a little bit more detail to the gown as it is a very simple pattern.  I really love this gown, I hope to get in a photo shoot soon, maybe when it snows for the first time.

Back

Front

Arm Ties

Finished back

Over Gown: For the over gown I loosely followed the same tunic pattern I used for Nausicaa that can be found here.  The fabric I chose was a dark green crushed velvet.  I would have preferred to use a jacquard or a stretch velvet but I didn't have the budget for that.  I made the gown slightly bigger than I would have made it normally as it was supposed to go over another gown that already had some substance to it.  The long hanging sleeves are lined and sewn onto the upper sleeves.  The side insets were cut so that the gap on the side of the gown would start from my knee.  I added a train to the back to match the train of the under gown.

This was my first time sewing a trim around sharp corners.  I found a really cool trim with a textured flower pattern that I thought would match to character really well.  I am really quite pleased with how the trim turned out.  I took my time sewing it so that I would look smooth and clean.  I didn't buy enough of the trim to add to the neckline unfortunately.  Maybe my next trip to Fabricville will include getting more of that trim!

Boots: The boots are the same ones that I used for my Nausicaa cosplay.

Cloak: The cloak was made out of an old curtain that I purchased at Value Village with the hope of being able to use the fabric for a project. It has a nice weave to it and a nice woody colour to it.  I have no idea what it is made out of but it is quite sturdy and easy to work with.  You can check out how I easily transformed the curtain into a cloak by checking my tutorial.

Belt: I found a really cool leaf maille belt at value village which I had to get for this costume.  It helps to give the gowns a little bit more form around the waist as they are both a little loose.

I really love how this costume turned out.  It is perfect for the winter which we have a lot of in Canada.  I can't wait to wear this to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in December!  I entered this costume into the Ottawa Pop Expo 2013 masquerade.  I didn't win anything but it was still fun to go on stage and show my work!

Completed Costume

The Shredder

This was a joint effort between my boyfriend and I.  I really wanted him to have a halloween costume and he decided to go as the Shredder.  Thankfully he decided to go with the version that didn't have a full suit if armour!  I was in charge of the actual clothing and he was in charge of the armour.  I helped out a bit with the armour whenever he needed an extra hand at cutting out shapes.

Construction:

Tabard -  I followed a very simple pattern I found on http://www.reddawn.net/costume/tabard.htm. We got dark grey suede as the material. The tabard came out a little thinner than I would have liked but it does the trick.

Sewing the Tabard

Shirt - We used a black crepe fabric to make the shirt. I folded the material and laid it down on the floor. I drew out the pattern on the fabric by folding one of his T-shirts in half and laying it along the fold line. I used chalk to mark it up and basically eyeballed the design, giving lots of room for seam allowance and length in the arms and shirt. I had to do this twice to get the front and the back parts of the shirt. After cutting out the basic pattern, I chalked out the neckline and cut that out. I made my first seam along the top part of the sleeves and the shoulders. Next, I sewed along the edge that started on the bottom of the sleeve all the way to the bottom length of the shirt. There was considerable editing with the side seams and much cutting of excess fabric. I cut and hemmed the sleeves, the neckline and the bottom of the shirt.

Drafting the shirt

Pants -  I used the same black crepe for the pants as I used for the shirt. I used the pattern provided on this site http://www.reddawn.net/costume/drawstri.htm with some alterations with the measurements to meet my boyfriends needs.

Drafting the pants

Cape -  The cape was completely hand drafted by me. I started out with a rough sketch of the cape which consisted of a rectangle topped off with a semi-circle. Along the line between the rectangle and the semi circle would be the neckline. Once I figured pout what I was doing I just chalked it out on the fabric, leaving lots of room for errors. I turned the rectangle into a trapezoid so that the bottom of the cloak would be wider than his shoulders and thus have more swoosh to it. I cut the semi circle and the trapezoid separately with appropriate necklines and then sewed them together. I made an interfacing for the neckline out of scrap material that that it would be sturdier.

Armour -  We started on the shoulder and wrist armour first to get the right shape and size.  We drafted out a few shapes on poster board and cut them out.  Then we sized them up against my boyfriend to see which was the better template.  We used that template to then cut out two pieces of poster board for each armour piece (eight pieces in all).

Shoulder armour prototype

Before we put the pieces together, we had to decided how we were going to attach them to him.  The shoulder pieces we decided were going to be pinned to his cloak and his wrist pieces were going to be tied to his wrist. Since each piece was going to be made of two layers, we cut slits in the bottom layer to allow pieces of scrap material through, short strips for the shoulders and longer strips for the wrists.  Once the layers of fabric were in place, we glued the top and bottom pieces together and curved them.

Painted shoulder armour

My boyfriend drafted the claws on foam board and cut them out using an exacto knife.  We needed four pieces per armour piece so we had to cut out sixteen in total, along with some extras in case we screwed up somewhere.  They were were hot glued to the armour in the desired direction.  Before we painted them, we tried them on the costume to see if the attachments worked.  Once everything was figured out, they were all spray painted silver by my boyfriend.

Putting the helmet together

My boyfriend did the helmet completely himself.  He took a hard hat as a base and cut out small circular sections out of poster board.  He attached them all around the hat for the top of the helmet to try and make it as round as possible.  He them took an old coat hanger, unwound it and wrapped it around the base of the hat with one end sticking up.  The wire would support the spike that protrudes from the front of the helmet, which was also made of poster board.  He made the front lip of the helmet after the spike was attached.  To finish it off he added the neck protection.  He used the same silver paint on the helmet as he did for the armour.

Finished Shredder

Padme Ripped Battle Costume

I've always wanted to make a Padme costume but all of her costumes seem so difficult to approach.  I decided to start with her battle costume because it was the simplest of them all and seemed the easiest to do.

Construction:

Shirt - I bought a cream turtle neck sweater at Value Village and modified it. I cut off the collar, being very careful not to cut past the neckline.  I then went and cut off a little at the bottom.  I tried it on and noted how short it was.  I kept cutting and trying on the shirt until I was satisfied with the length of the shirt.  I took some smaller fabric scissors and cut some jagged lines along the new "hem" of the shirt to make it more realistic.  I then cut some slashes into the back of the shirt, being careful not to cut too high to avoid showing my bra.  The last thing to cut was the right arm.  I cut off most of the length and finished the ragged edge using the smaller scissors.

Back of Shirt

Front of shirt

Pants - I bought some cheap white leggings for the pants.  Since the material of the leggings is quite sheer I also bought some nude panty hose to wear underneath to give it a more even skin tone look.  When I wear the panty hose and the leggings I have to be careful that the hose does not show above the waist line of the pants.  I just roll the top down until it is concealed.  I don't mind the bulge too much as I know that the belt and the pouches will cover that up.

Boots - I once owned a pair of beige boots that I bought for really cheap at a thrift store.  My mum however gave them away because I hadn't worn them for a while so now I'm bootless.  I do have a pair of nude heels that I can still make boot covers for.  The heel isn't as sturdy as Padme's actually is but in this cosplay I'm not really going to crazy attention to detail as it is a closet cosplay.

Belt - I bought a beige fabric belt at H&M years ago.  I will use that belt for the costume as it is a good colour and good material for the costume.

Belt Pouches - Coming soon

Wig - I have an Irish dancing bun wig that matches my hair colour.  It is made up of really tight curls that are supposed to bounce when you dance.  Padme's real wig is actually a bunch of twists of hair made into a bun so my wig won't be exactly accurate but it will be a close enough estimate.

Back Scratches - Coming soon

Armbands - Coming soon

Princess Jasmine Cosplay

During the construction of the ginormous pants for my Nausicaa cosplay, I was struck by the fact that the pants would be perfect for a Jasmine cosplay!  I knew that I had enough material for it so I just went with it, figuring it would make for a great Halloween costume!  It can also double for a belly dancing costume, which I just took up this past summer.

Construction:

Pants - See Nausicaa

Top - Jasmine's top was completely improvised as I went along.  From the extra cut parts from the pants I created a double layered band first.  It was too wide for me so I cut it but I accidentally cut it too small to be closed by hook and eye closures.  My solution was to have eyelets and a ribbon to tie it shut.  I also figured that I would add an elastic to the bottom of the top so there wouldn't be any "accidents".  For the shoulder loopies I sewed two layered bands and attached them so they were loose on my shoulders.  To make to front of the top pretty I added in some runching in the center.

Finished Top

Wig - I bought a long black wig years ago for a Halloween costume that I never actually used.  I styled it using thin, old elastics and some spare ribbon.  The first time I styled the wig I made the ponytail off the side.  I decided I didn't actually like the way it hung so I changed it so the ponytail hung in the back.

Wig and headpiece test

Headpiece - I have the colours for the jewel mixed up here but I couldn't find a blue stone bead to work with.  I sewed the yellow stone onto a circle of blue crushed velvet.  For the actual headband part I used an elastic wide band that I never wore that was the perfect colour!  The velvet circle and stone were sewed onto the headpiece.

Jewelry - I bought the necklace at Ardenes.  I am most likely not going to bother with doing earrings as I don't have pierced ears and my ears are covered by the wig anyways.
Shoes - I had bought a pair of cheap black slipper shoes from Ardenes figuring that I would either wear them with the costume as they were or I would turn them into blue genie shoes.  In the end I was able to turn them into genie shoes!  I started out with analyzing the shape of the shoe itself and analyzing the shape of a curly toed shoe.  I came up with a rough sketch of what the pattern would look like and decided which measurements I would need to take and how much seam allowance I would give myself.  The shoes curled when they were standing on their own so I had to wear one while taking the measurements to get the right numbers for the pattern I was drafting.  I drafted the pattern for the shoe on some newspaper and used that to cut out the four pieces I needed.

I sewed the two endpoints for both shoes together then fit the fabric over the shoe, pinning it in close to the sole of the shoe.  Both fabric pieces fit perfectly on the shoes which was awesome as that way I didn't have to do the whole thing over again!  Sewing the material to the shoe was the hardest part.  The shoe material was quite thick and so I couldn't put the pins in properly.  The pins were all pointing in towards the shoe which meant that I had to be very careful when sewing or else I would get poked.  This was the first time I ever used a thimble and by the end of the first shoe I had developed a method of sewing (as well as many wounds from the mistakes I made).  The second shoe went by so much faster and with a lot less pricks from the pins.

Sewing the top down

I stuffed the toe of the shoe with scrap material until the toe stood up with enough stiffness.  For the first shoe I sewed up the front part of the curled toe first then sewed the top part of the fabric to the shoe.  This was a mistake because then I didn't have enough fabric to be sewn all the way around the top of the shoe.  There is a little triangular gap were the stuffing can be seen and the over layer isn't attached to the shoe.  I learned from my mistake however and the second shoe turned out to be perfect!  I waterproofed them with a special spray and let them dry to finish.  Next time I attempt to sew shoes I shall get some heavy duty needles and pins.  I don't think the ones I used will ever recover!

Finished shoes

Belt (Detachable waistband) - I used the same material for the belt as I had for the shoes. I made it detachable so that the pants wouldn't just be Jasmine pants. I cut out a pattern I drafted on some newspaper. I also cut out the same pattern out of fusible interfacing. I fused the interfacing to the back of the belt and then sewed along the edges of the belt, tucking in the fabric. I hand sewed two hooks and eyes for the fastening.

Jasmine was so much fun to wear!  It was a great Halloween costume, everyone recognized me and I wasn't dying of the heat!  When I wore it to Anime Boston I got so many people asking for my photo.  My favourite part of wearing this costume was when little girls came up to me and said that I must be a real princess!

Completed Jasmine Cosplay