{"id":306,"date":"2015-05-13T17:27:57","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T22:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/?p=306"},"modified":"2015-05-13T17:27:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T22:27:57","slug":"cosplay-starter-kit-planning-your-costume-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/?p=306","title":{"rendered":"Cosplay Starter Kit: Planning your costume (Part 1 )"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"starterkit_1\"<\/a>I<\/span>t\u2019s love at first sight. You see it, you need it, you want to make and be inside that wonderful outfit. You love the character, you love everything about their costume and you\u2019re ready to to get elbow deep in fabric, silicone, latex, Worbla whatever to make sure this beautiful vision you see becomes a reality. You stare at photos online, dreaming of what it would be like to put on those wings and show your love to the world.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so easy to get excited and get lost in the process that things don\u2019t turn out quite as you planned. Maybe the\u00a0fabric isn\u2019t right\u00a0or\u00a0it doesn\u2019t fit how you wanted. You are convinced\u00a0evenly distributed spray paint is a thing of myth. You\u2019ve cried more times over something going wrong, and you have 2 days before you leave for the con, and you just cut two left sleeves out of your last bit of fabric. Or your clear coat won\u2019t dry, or accidentally bleach half of your perfectly dyed fabric cleaning the washing machine\u2026<\/p>\n

I get it. I mean, I reeeallllyyy\u00a0get it! Through trial and error, and working in a deadline focused industry, I\u2019ve learned over the years how to properly plan a large project, and no project is larger than a cosplay (not true, but it feels that way).<\/p>\n

Planning a costume is the most fun! I plan more costumes than I could manage to possibly make. It\u2019s a process full of possibilities and excitement! And if you\u2019re anything like me, you love finding out everything you can about the character, costumes, materials needed\u00a0and reverse engineering how something might go together. But I\u2019m no fool, It can also be really daunting if you\u2019ve never done it before. Here at Seams Geeky we try to take as much confusion out of the process as possible. That means lots and lots of research and planning, including calendars and budget sheets.<\/p>\n

O<\/span>k, first things first. You bought your con tickets and hotel a year in advance, and now you just need to figure out what to wear!<\/p>\n

Figuring out what\u00a0costume(s) you want to make\u00a0<\/strong>
\nDig through your files (or pinterest boards<\/a>), meditate, search your soul and determine what costume or costumes you want to make. Gather them all! Then start\u00a0sorting through all of them and narrow it down.<\/p>\n

First: Evaluate skill level.<\/strong>
\nThis isn\u2019t the end-all-be-all but you need to start with what you are comfortable with. Making a costume is great because you learn SO much each time you make something. What skills do you already posses?\u00a0What skills are you confident in? What fabrics are you comfortable using?<\/p>\n

Next: What skills do you want to learn?<\/strong>
\nWant to work with Worbla but never had before? Great! Never made a petticoat and want to learn? Fantastic! The best part of running into battle (and I consider every costume a battle) is it\u2019s a trial by fire.<\/p>\n

But you have to have time to learn. You\u2019re probably not going to get it right the first time, so onto part 3:<\/p>\n

What is your time line?
\n<\/strong>Do you have a whole year to make one costume? Do you have 2 months? Do you feel confident that you can learn what you need to in time, or will you be slapping it together at the end?<\/p>\n

Now this one is optional: Think about your body image.<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a tough subject to talk about, especially with cosplay, so I want to be clear that I\u2019m not saying throw out costumes because you\u2019re worried you don\u2019t have the same proportions. Screw that nonsense, wear what you want!<\/em> What I\u2019m saying is: If you think you need to lose 20 pounds before you can wear the cosplay, you should lose the 20 pounds (or be well on the way to losing it) before starting construction.<\/p>\n

\"Tip<\/a>I try to emphasize this with any custom garment I make:<\/em>
\nA body can change a lot, by building muscle, by losing fat, so once you start making your costume, try to stay the same weight. The last thing you want is to have to take in 2 inches because now it doesn\u2019t fit right. That\u2019s a lot of last minute stress you don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n

I was talking to a client the other night about a costume, and she mentioned she wanted to lose some weight and I had to let her know that her costume would take about 2 months to make, so come July, she has to stop losing weight and stay the same size, otherwise she\u2019ll risk the costume not fitting.<\/p>\n

And finally, what is your most favorite that you HAVE to make right now?<\/strong> Because it\u2019d be nice if the world was all puppies and rainbows and we did everything by the books, but sometimes passion completely wins out!<\/p>\n

*Drum roll please*<\/em>
\nMy 2015 Cosplay list I put together the end of last year with a focus of getting several\u00a0complete for DragonCon. Here\u2019s why I chose each one per my narrowing parameters:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve done a decent amount of comic cosplays in the past, and I was trying to diversify a bit this year. I originally wanted to do 1 Comic Character, 1 anime character, and 1 Video Game character. Cover my trifecta of geekiness. Somehow, though It ended up being very anime heavy. I don\u2019t mind this, because anime is my FAVORITE, and it\u2019s how the cards of fate fell.<\/p>\n

Nova Prime<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"gotg-bus-shelter-nova-prime-v1-lg-3c7d7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why is that? I NEED TO MAKE IT. The second I saw Glenn Close walk on screen in the uniform, I knew it was destiny. That\u2019s a #5. But I also know I can accomplish it. There\u2019s going to be some pattern drafting, a little bit of molding and casting (enough to learn from, but not too much to feel overwhelmed. And if need be, I can do some last minute foam pieces), and I have a friend who\u2019s going to style the wig. DONE!<\/p>\n

Meryl and Milly:
\n\"trigun_mm0013\"<\/a><\/strong>
\nI\u2019m REALLY excited about this because I get to cosplay with my\u00a0bestie! The outfits are mostly sewn, so that\u2019s in my wheelhouse. Plus, we are totally Meryl and Milly. It\u2019s going to be great. I do have some apprehensions with the guns, but if the big stun gun doesn\u2019t get made, it won\u2019t kill the costume and there\u2019s some derringer Air Softs out there in a crunch.<\/p>\n

Kuranosuke from Princess Jellyfish:
\n\"Kuragehime<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you haven’t caught on by now:\u00a0Princess Jellyfish Forever (PJF). Also, I want that dress, and it\u2019ll be fun to make without being too stressful. And I love Kuranosuke. I also think it’s funny to be \u00a0girl dressing as a boy dressing like a girl…<\/p>\n

I had two optionals, but they needed to get set aside for another day. But then this came along:<\/p>\n

\"\"
http:\/\/gibsoncomics.com\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s a combination of all things I love, genderbend, Aquaman, and a dream casting of Charlize Theron\u00a0AS Aquaman.\u00a0Plus, Jordan Gibson dress me the full body costume for costume reference because he’s awesome. I’ll also get to play with Worbla, which has been on my list a long time.<\/p>\n

So I had to say goddbye to\u00a0Kuranosuke. For now.<\/p>\n

\"tumblr_static_cybj3308j1w8ocw4k08o0wcwc\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming up in part 2: getting into the nitty gritty of costume specifics, plus a freebie for everyone!<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are your cosplay plans for the year? Do you have any apprenstions? I\u2019d love to see what you plan on working on!<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s love at first sight. You see it, you need it, you want to make and be inside that wonderful outfit. You love the character, you love everything about their costume and you\u2019re ready to to get elbow deep in fabric, silicone, latex, Worbla whatever to make sure this beautiful vision you see becomes a … Continue reading Cosplay Starter Kit: Planning your costume (Part 1 )<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[70,18,4,43],"tags":[87,88,118,72,86,60,84,85,89],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-cosplay","category-series","category-tutorials-2","tag-anime","tag-aquaman","tag-cosplay","tag-costumes","tag-jordan-gibson","tag-marvel","tag-nova-prime","tag-planning","tag-trigun"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2eZ2R-4W","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319,"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seamsgeeky.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}