FanimeCon 2026 Forums

Anyway, I was curious whether anyone would be interested in a cosplay how-to/demonstration panel. A few ideas I have (which I could host, or whatever, if there's interest...)

1)  Do a costuming demonstration panel, where in real time, an item is made.   I was considering epoxy resin molding, as it's fairly fast (other than the set times, which could be prepped ahead of time) and makes awesome looking stuff.   Not to mention, most people that I know who costume think that it's a lot harder than it really is...

2)  Thermoplastic molding panel (i.e. make shoulders or something out of thermoplastic).  For the same reasons as epoxy, just a different material.  The challenge here is that the set up is a bit bigger, but not insurmountable.

3)  A "do it yourself" panel where for a materials fee (maybe $10?) participants get leather, cloth, whatever and then actually make something as led by a moderator.

I haven't seen anything quite like it at Fanime previously, but it seems fun to me anyway.  Is there interest?  If so, are there any particular topics that are of particular interest?

If people are curious, some of my work can be seen at http://mutive.livejournal.com

Wow! I looked at your site and you make some cool stuff! I am pretty new to cosplay (and actually terrible with a sewing machine!) so I think a costume how-to panel would be fun and neat. I would willingly spend $5-10 on materials to learn something new! I like this!

Ah, thanks. I've been doing costumes for >10 years now, and have won a lot of awards over time.  :)  It's fun.

I've just been to a lot of panels on cosplay that are sort of bland from my POV.  Usually when I go in, I think that I'm going to learn to do something new (i.e. make prosthetics or whatever) and instead it's just endless discussion about what fabrics look "good" or what you should dress as.  (Very subjective, IMHO, and not that helpful, as I already know what I'm going to do!)  A while back I was at a BayCon where they made leather masks.  That workshop ended up being one of my favorite parts of the con, so I thought that I could replicate something at Fanime if there is sufficient interest.  Of course, the problem with a "make it yourself" sort of thing is that materials cost money, and I have no idea as to what people would like to make.  Kanzi flowers?  Little bits of jewelry?  Masks?  Bracers?  Ears?  A tail?  A head piece?  A demo is easier in its own way as it is free, but I find it MUCH more helpful to make something myself than to just watch something be made...