The COSPLAY HELP ME! Who? Sewing? Buy/Where? Construction? Support thread

[Nina Star 9]

Can anyone give any suggestions on how to make Judal's bracelets and necklace? (The Labyrinth of Magic or Magi) I want to make them easy to slip on and off but also accurate to the character. any suggestions?

Really late...

I'm not familiar with the character and how the bracets seem to move on his arms or what the most "canon" interpretation would be, but doing a quick search, I see three main ways that his bracelets are depicted in artwork, and whichever way you like the best or think you can do should be the one you choose.
1. A single piece of relatively flat, slightly textured metal
2. Something akin to plate armor, where it is multiple flat pieces all attatched together
3. Multiple round bracelets
I think that multiple bracelets would be the easiest way -- get a whole bunch of gold bracelets, or get a whole bunch of not-gold bracelets and spraypaint them all a uniform gold.
For option 2, look into plat armor tutorials. you may be able to accomplish this with some sort of foil or coloring method over craft, or you might be able to join together actual sheets of metal.
For option 1, you can either do metal and do some sort of repousse technique or otherwise add texture to it, or use a moldable non-metal material fitted to your arm and given texture (heated craft foam? the lines would be easy enough to inscribe)

For getting it on and off, unless it is quite flexible, I wouldn't use velcro, since otherwise it would need two pieces and unsightly seams and such (I used this method for armor for Lady Eruca, and it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped). You might be able to do a hinged side and some sort of clasp, but since a single piece would be rather large, I wouldn't attempt it, since that method seems to be used most on bangles and cuffs of no more than an inch or two wide. For something like plain craft foam (or with something just as flexible attached to it), velcro would probably work, since it would encircle your entire arm.
For something stiffer, I would use the method that a lot of actual bangles and cuffs use, which is to leave an opening on one side, so the arm can be turned sideways and slipped through. If you go with a lot of bracelets instead of a single piece, those can just be slipped on/off individually.

I would personally go with either the plate armor style or the multiple bangles style, just aesthetically...though, I've seen quite a few cosplays who do multiple bangles that are really thick, and it looks awkward, so you'll have to be sure that the proprotions are correct.

Hope that helps some. I know I didn't give you really any concrete answers, but it's a starting place. :)

... I think I posted this in the right forum? >.<

So I'm sewing a Female Roxas cosplay this year based on Roxas' casual clothes from the beginning of KH2, and I think I've figured out how to do mostly everything. Except for those darn checkers on Roxas' jacket.

I can't seem to find any good checkered ribbon or fabric that I could just sew on. For now my best idea is to cut a bunch of little black squares and sew/glue them on, but that is going to take forever.

Any other suggestions?

The most realistic-looking Roxas cosplay I can find on google tends to have the squares painted/screenprinted/glued(?) on, but if you are looking for something fast and easy to do yourself, that might not be an option. After a quick search, it seems as it ribbon with black and white stripes running the width instead of the length is quite impossible to find, as well.
Though, I found some black and white checkered elastic that comes in 1.5" and 1" sizes. It's elastic, not ribbon, so you'd have to be -really- careful when sewing to not stretch it, and it may look slightly strange once it is sewn, but it's an option if you can't find anything else.

Hope that helps!

[TupacTheRobot]

I need some help making a Solaire of Astora cosplay from Dark Souls

Any advice?

[King Shu]

... I think I posted this in the right forum? >.<

So I'm sewing a Female Roxas cosplay this year based on Roxas' casual clothes from the beginning of KH2, and I think I've figured out how to do mostly everything. Except for those darn checkers on Roxas' jacket.

I can't seem to find any good checkered ribbon or fabric that I could just sew on. For now my best idea is to cut a bunch of little black squares and sew/glue them on, but that is going to take forever.

Any other suggestions?

The most realistic-looking Roxas cosplay I can find on google tends to have the squares painted/screenprinted/glued(?) on, but if you are looking for something fast and easy to do yourself, that might not be an option. After a quick search, it seems as it ribbon with black and white stripes running the width instead of the length is quite impossible to find, as well.
Though, I found some black and white checkered elastic that comes in 1.5" and 1" sizes. It's elastic, not ribbon, so you'd have to be -really- careful when sewing to not stretch it, and it may look slightly strange once it is sewn, but it's an option if you can't find anything else.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the reply!

I'm tempted to give that elastic a try, but I'm also worried about it looking strange once its sewn on. I think I've put too much time into my cosplay already to experiment with it. I'm just going to have to find more time lol.

But I think I have another way to do the checkers, if I can find a jean-like fabric that won't fray. I forget what it was called, but I found this sheet last year for my King Shu cosplay that you could apply to fabric to turn it into an iron-on. I'm thinking if I do that for a big sheet of black fabric then cut it into a bunch of identical squares, I'll save myself a little bit of time.

[Nina Star 9]

Iron-on patches seem like a good way to go. That's probably what I was thinking with "glue" (technically, it's a heat-activated glue...but my brain doesn't work like that when it is midnight and I've just gotten home from work!).

I don't know what type of material you would use, though. A jeans material will always fray, unless you use a fray-prevention liquid on every single edge, and I'm not sure if the iron-on glue is strong enough to prevent it from fraying if you don't use that, especially after a few wears and washes. I'm also afraid that it would be too heavy. I can't really think of anything off the top of my head that would work, so you'll probably going to have to just go to a fabric store and look around at what you can find. You can also try experimenting with different fabrics on a scrap piece, so you don't mess with your actual jacket.

If you get really lucky, you can find those thin iron-on patches for pants in a square or rectangle that can just be cut down...might save you a bit of cutting and ironing, but might be a bit pricier for the convenience.

[Silent One]

I am making a gun prop for Gun Gale Online's Sinon. I understand how to make the barrel, muzzle brake, scope w/mount, magazine, and bipod. Unfortunately, I am stuck on making the trigger and stock of the rife. Anyone have tips on how to achieve it? Also, how would I attach the stock to the main part of the rifle? Link below on how the prop looks. (It is the exact model used by my character.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGM_H%C3%A9cate_II

[DangerHeart]

I'm trying to make a Noodle cosplay from Gorillaz, the Melancholy Hill version with the Oni mask, and am wondering how to make the dress (Never made my own cosplay before...) Any ideas on where to buy a plan white shift dress to add onto or should I just look for a dress pattern and make it myself?

[MaigoLily]

I have glasses, but my characters do not. I can walk around fine without my glasses, but my eyes start to hurt after 2-5 minutes and I want to look around! Also, I can't really locate a camera without my glasses as evident in a picture I took last year. I was looking in the wrong direction because the camera lens was too small for me to see. And I squint and get cross-eyed. I know I can take off my glasses for pictures, but I am lazy and I misplace stuff really quickly (left my glasses on a table and walked away after taking picture...the poor girl ran after me to return it). So I was looking into daily disposable lenses.

I was wondering if I still need to take a full contact lense eye exam if I'm only wearing contacts for 3 days? They are just normal disposable ones, so I don't think I need a custom fitting. I really don't want to pay maybe $100 for the exam when I'm only getting $20 disposable lenses with 10 in a box. And how do I explain, I need it just for cosplay? (Some people don't get it.)

Can I just ask the eye doctor if I can wear contact lenses and try a trial pair without an eye exam; then buy the disposable ones?

I have a few stores close to me that sell disposable contacts like Costco, Walgreens, and Walmart. Can anyone help? I want to get as much info as I can so I can explain to my mom.

[Lucifargundam]

Can I just ask the eye doctor if I can wear contact lenses and try a trial pair without an eye exam; then buy the disposable ones?

I'm pretty sure you need an exam in order to get contacts with the right magnification for your eyes... I could be wrong though- I don't wear glasses.

Also, just explain that you need to wear contacts for the day because the person you're going trying to dress up and pretend to be doesn't wear glasses.   I would hope that would explain it well-enough...

[MaigoLily]

I'm pretty sure you need an exam in order to get contacts with the right magnification for your eyes... I could be wrong though- I don't wear glasses.

I think that is the case. But since I already have glasses, I know my prescription so I think I can just ask the eye doctor at my next check up if she thinks I can wear contact lenses. Then I'll explain the whole Fanime weekend thing. This is going to take a while...

[echoshadow]

Contact lens exams are different from eye glasses exams. I know because I use both, and had my yearly exam a few months ago.

You really don't need to explain anything to eye doctors, just tell them you want contacts for the times you don't want to wear glasses. Also depending on how bad your eye sight is contacts will range in price.

If you plan to use contacts by Fanime now is the time to get the exam and start wearing them. It takes about a month to get used to contacts.

[Xia]

Even if you were to get contacts from places like Costco and Walgreen, my hunch is they will ask for your prescription (for contact lenses, not eyeglasses) since you will need prescripted ones. Keep in mind that prescription for contacts is different than for glasses (for example, my contact lenses are -7 and -6, while my glasses are -7.5 and -6.5) so it's best to get a consultation with your optometrist.

And like some have said, you don't need to say that you want them for cosplaying/costuming reasons. I know some people who prefer glasses, but have contacts for special occasions.

[BSaphire]

The NEW thread is located here:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,18210.0.html

Please post your "HELP ME...!  questions there.
Thank you
BSaphire