How do you make the clothes for cosplaying...

[Silent One]

Hi! I am new to cosplaying and recently, I got seriously interested. However, I have some problems. I tried doing a lot of research on making the clothes for characters. Unfortunately, I did not produce adequate information. (Please mind that I did google search and used cosplay.com!!!) Now, I am seriously lost. So I ask, to all of those reading this, give me some good resources on making my clothes to cosplay.

Thanks! XD

Edit: Sorry, I forgot to mention this. This is my first time cosplaying but not afraid to cosplay. I have a little experience in sewing and only know how to do basic stiches. I am thinking of cosplaying as Fayt from Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time. Unfortunately, I need some sources to tell me on making patterns on the clothes, types of stiches, and whatnot. I am unable to find some good ones. If possible, please give me an all-in-one source for all types of cosplaying.

Thank You.

[Charis]

Who are you trying to cosplay as?  That'll influence how easy or difficult it will be to make your cosplay.  Some characters can be put together with careful purchases and minor modifications of off-the-rack clothing, while at the other extreme you have things that require invention of patterns and sewing from scratch.

Do you have any experience sewing?  If you're tackling something that can't be done "off the rack", then you want to make your first costume something within your skill range.  Think about your resources, both financial and material (e.g. do you have a sewing machine? do you have whatever facilities or tools are necessary to put together props for your character?).

You can always purchase a costume for your cosplay if you don't want to or can't make your own, whether it's the cheaper mass-produced stuff or more expensive custom commissions.

Me, I've made just about everything for my cosplays myself, either using commercial patterns and bastardising them or working without a pattern for some of the simpler things.  But that's just my way of doing things; there are always plenty of options.

But without knowing who you want to go as, what you're trying to do, and what your experience is, it's hard to give more than very general suggestions.

[Silent One]

Who are you trying to cosplay as?  That'll influence how easy or difficult it will be to make your cosplay.  Some characters can be put together with careful purchases and minor modifications of off-the-rack clothing, while at the other extreme you have things that require invention of patterns and sewing from scratch.

Do you have any experience sewing?  If you're tackling something that can't be done "off the rack", then you want to make your first costume something within your skill range.  Think about your resources, both financial and material (e.g. do you have a sewing machine? do you have whatever facilities or tools are necessary to put together props for your character?).

You can always purchase a costume for your cosplay if you don't want to or can't make your own, whether it's the cheaper mass-produced stuff or more expensive custom commissions.

Me, I've made just about everything for my cosplays myself, either using commercial patterns and bastardising them or working without a pattern for some of the simpler things.  But that's just my way of doing things; there are always plenty of options.

But without knowing who you want to go as, what you're trying to do, and what your experience is, it's hard to give more than very general suggestions.

Sorry about that. I made an edit on my post. If you can tell me, what is a good way of learning to sew better besides practicing sewing. I need to know some techniques. Unfortunately, my mom and my grandma are not adept in sewing.

[RaddaX2]

LEERON!

[Charis]

The way I learned was by actually sewing (and goofing, and unpicking seams, and starting over), so I'm not sure what to suggest.  You could always look for classes in the area (junior college or adult education programs sometimes offer that sort of thing), or look for books in the library.  For patterns, you're going to have to look at your local craft store or online through pattern books to find something that'll work for you.

There is, to my knowledge, no "all-in-one source for all types of cosplaying".

[BunofGovt]

There are some patterns out there marked as easy to sew which are simpler in terms of the number of pieces you have to sew together.  But Charis is right, you may want to start with something a little simpler if you are new to sewing.  Or see if you can't find something off the rack to start with, and edit it to look like the outfit you want.  Fayt's outfit MIGHT be do-able if you could find something similar and cut off the sleeves.  Add shoulder pads and a turtleneck.

As for the pants (since the images I can find of Fayt don't show his pants clearly) might be regular dark jeans.

But Fayt's wearing some sort of armor on his arms and legs also, and I'm not sure how you will manage that, I don't work with a lot of armor.  I'm glad you're on cosplay.com.  Even if you don't find someone cosplaying Fayt, you might find info on similar outfits that will help you.

If you're determined to sew your own, then review the outfit and try to break it out into separate parts.  Fayt appears to be wearing a turtleneck shirt (purchasable).  Over that a jacket with no sleeves, some kind of shoulder cover, zipper front, and what I used to call a Nehru style or Mandarin style collar.  The pants are unidentified.  If no one else knows, then again, dark blue jeans or dark pants (purchasable).

Determine what those are on his arms:  are they long gloves with the hands cut off? 

As for the armor, good luck.

[RurouniKarly]

For the armor, go to the props section of the cosplay.com forums and find the wonderflex thread. Wonderflex is great for making armor, weapons, etc.

When I make a costume, I usually go crazy with reference images, then I circulate the websites for simplicity, butterick, mccall, and vogue patterns looking for patterns that either work as they are for the costume piece I'm concentrating on, or only need slight modification. It really has to do with how inventive you are and how good you are at internet shopping and searching. Also, 2nd hand stores are a cosplayer's best friend. You can find all sorts of things that only need slight editing at places like Salvation Army and Savers.

I have found that for costume pieces that are pretty "normal" (like an average shirt or jeans), amazon.com is an easy way to search through tons of options and find exactly the variation you're looking for.

[questionette]

This is what I did:
1. I looked online for patterns that resembled the outfit I wanted
2. I went to the local fabric store to pick up the materials I thought I would need (Definitely bring a picture of the cosplay for this)
3. GOT SOMEONE THAT KNOWS HOW TO SEW, and she helped me piece everything together :D

[BunofGovt]

Yay!  Then we will be looking for you at Fanime!  (or the next earliest con you can get to - SacAnime in January 2009 BTW http://www.sacanime.com/)