If you’ve seen the beautiful but sometimes scary, hyper-realistic costumes worn at events like the San Diego Comic Convention, you may wonder if you can make a costume like that. You may be shocked to believe this, but most of the best cosplay outfits are made by first-time costume designers–everyday average people. If you have some sewing expertise, you might even have an advantage in learning how to make your own cosplay outfit.
What is Cosplay?
If you’re new to the subject, cosplay is where an individual dresses up as a character from a work of fiction, often from a comic book, video game, or television show. According to a 2018 New York Times article by Jamal Jordan, cosplay is distinct from costumes because of the significant investment made into the outfit. That investment might be money, time, or ingenuity.
When someone decides to get involved in cosplay, they often find a community of fellow cosplayers behind them, cheering them on. One such example is that many people with disabilities enjoy cosplaying, and aside from help from other cosplayers on sites like Reddit, there are groups of cosplayers that help individuals, like those in wheelchairs, cosplay as their favorite characters by assisting them to incorporate their chairs into the designs. Community support isn’t limited, but the cosplay community often allows members of all abilities, sizes, races, and genders to feel welcome.
Cosplay Sewing vs. Garment Sewing
Before starting sewing for your first cosplay costume, it is essential to note the difference between sewing for everyday outfits and sewing for cosplay needs. The core differences between creating a cosplay outfit and an average garment are:
- Intricate details
- Availability of instructions
- Additional accessory crafting
- Structure importance
- Experimentation needs
Details: Attention to detail is vital for cosplay because the details will make your outfit stand out. In addition to showing which version of the character you are cosplaying, attention to detail can make your costume stand out, wow others, make your outfit more believable, and help it seem more accurate.
Sewing Patterns: When making a garment for everyday wear, you can often find the exact pattern to suit your specific needs. Cosplay is very different, especially if you’ve picked a specific version of a lesser-known character or a mashup character like a female steampunk version of the Joker. You’ll need to imagine and create your own sewing patterns to make outfits like this for cosplay.
Accessory Crafting: Does your outfit need a sword, functional weaponry, or other essential accessories? If so, you’ll most likely need to craft it yourself. While some characters are popular enough to have premade weaponry and gadgets available for purchase, most won’t. You’ll have to get crafty and inventive to think of novel ways to create your unique accessories.
Structured Clothing: Another way cosplay differs from most modern garment sewing is the importance of structural elements in the design. For example, you may need stabilization materials if you’re cosplaying a superhero or villain with a dramatic collar or wavy skirt.
Experimentation: You should be prepared to sew and resew your outfit when making cosplay costumes. You may not have access to a reliable pattern, or your structural element may not work as expected the first time. Try on the costume as you sew to ensure the perfect fit and structure.
How to Sew Your Own Cosplays
When cosplaying, it’s fun to sew your costume rather than rely on purchasing ready-made costumes. Just like with a Halloween costume, there are many valuable tips and tricks that you can use to make your cosplay outfit memorable.
Buying vs. Drafting Patterns
You can easily purchase a cosplay pattern or similar-style patterns on the internet to help you create your cosplay. However, one of the many drawbacks to this idea is that the patterns may not be perfectly designed to fit your character’s needs. Instead, using stills from videos, images, or drawings may be better than creating a sewing pattern yourself. Many articles, videos, and books help you with pattern-making.
Adapting Costumes For Your Body
You can adapt any cosplay design to fit your body. Depending on your needs, adapting your costume to your body may require you to modify your pattern to fit plus-sized adults or other adaptations. This can be done using pattern grading, which is when you take a sewing pattern and make it bigger or smaller.
Adjusting the pattern is essential to ensure that the costume fits you precisely and your garment looks like a quality build. Ill-fitting clothing will certainly look poorly constructed. Another reason for adjusting the outfit to suit your body type is that it will make it more comfortable. When you feel comfortable in an outfit, you’ll feel more confident and exude confidence and joy. Joy is the main reason for participating in cosplay, so why not enjoy wearing your design?
Ensuring Durability
You can use a cosplay costume for many purposes. You can wear them to conventions and utilize them for photo shoots. Cosplaying is a fun adventure, but making your garment is often an extensive investment of time, passion, and sweat. For this reason, you’ll want to ensure that your outfit will last for many years and events. Children (and adults) may pull at your cosplay costume, and large crowds brushing by may place wear on it.
You can ensure the durability of your cosplay outfit in many ways. Using durable fabrics is the first, most important, and easiest method to ensure durability. Some of the most durable fabrics are rayon, cotton, wool, fleece, and polyester.
To ensure the durability of your cosplay outfit, take care in your laundering process and store your item safely when not in use. Consider dry cleaning your cosplay costume, as dry cleaning extends the life of your fabric and is often best done by a professional.
After properly cleaning your outfit, you’ll want to store it properly until your next use. The most important thing is to get your outfit out of the light and into an appropriately labeled box; this is how most professional costume designers store their garments for long-term use and preservation.
Why You Should Always Make a Test Garment
Creating a cosplay costume is often expensive, so you should consider making a test garment out of muslin before using your costly materials and fabrics. Muslin is a loosely woven fabric that people use to make fashion prototypes.
Making a muslin prototype of your cosplay garment can ensure fit, comfort, function, and appearance. This can be critically important for cosplayers adapting a pattern to their body shape or making a garment from a self-invented pattern. Making a prototype might seem like a time-sink, but doing so will help you save money and time in the long run.
Tools and Tricks For Cosplay Greatness
Knowing many of the intricate tricks seasoned cosplay creators use is crucial. You don’t need to follow each trick, but knowing them can help if you are in a pinch.
Unique Materials You May Need
In addition to fabrics and structural materials, like boning, there are many other materials that you may need to ensure greatness for your cosplay. Some of the most commonly used cosplay materials are:
- Foams like EVA foam, styrofoam, and craft foam
- Worbla, a thermoplastic material that can be used to make complex shapes using heat
- Resin, a casting material that you can use to create detailed props, also known as epoxy
Many cosplayers also use 3D printers to make intricate items for their cosplay designs. One benefit to using a 3D printer is that it can make detailed props easily. While 3D printers have recently become cheaper, they are still quite an investment. If you want to use one, consider looking for Etsy print-on-demand shops and local public libraries that offer the services.
Another good tool for creating cosplay props is a dremel. This rotary power tool is helpful because it can easily craft foam materials with minimal effort.
Setting Up A Cosplay Workstation
Due to the complexity of the work, it is essential to set up a workstation when getting started in cosplay. The first item you’ll need for your workstation is a multipurpose table. This is especially true if you have limited space to work. A multifunction sewing cabinet is helpful because it often has built-in storage and multiple surface areas for your supplies.
You’ll also want additional storage for your foams and tools to keep your space organized. Good organization helps you avoid repurchasing items you thought you’d lost, something we’ve all done. You can use various storage options to organize your cosplay materials, including pegboards, buckets, or a specialty craft organizer.
Cosplay Patterns and Tutorials
When jumping into the sea of cosplay creation, it is important to understand some basic design pieces common for the most popular characters. If you are new to sewing, you should also learn some sewing basics before you start.
Cosplay Basics
- Capes and Cloaks: Many superheroes and other fictional characters often wear capes or cloaks. Learning to make a cape can be vital if you’re cosplaying a character like Superman, Dr. Strange, or Thor. Learn and adapt the basic cape designs to fit your specific design needs.
- Body Suits: Many popular cosplay characters like Spiderman and Deadpool wear bodysuits. While it can be tempting to buy a bodysuit, it is often a better option to make it yourself because it makes the suit fit your body precisely for better results.
- Hoods: Knowing how to create a hood will help cosplaying characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. The basic hood design, like capes and body suits, can be adjusted to fit your needs.
How To Make Structured Cosplay Pieces
- Gravity-Defying Skirts: When cosplaying, especially as certain anime characters, you’ll often want to structure your skirt or dress so it looks like it defies the laws of gravity. Learning to make a gravity-defying skirt can help you generate ideas for other gravity-defying options.
- Body Armor: Superheroes like Batman and others often wear body armor to protect themselves during hand-to-hand combat. While you hopefully won’t be fighting off bad guys, it is critical to know how to craft.
- Hats: You can craft many different hat styles for your cosplay, but one of the most popular designs is the wizard hat, which you can use to cosplay characters like Gandalf.
Making Popular Cosplay Accessories
- Fictional Guns: A few popular cosplay characters carry fictional weapons, particularly guns. Using a real weapon in your cosplay would be an illegal mistake, so knowing how to craft a fake weapon for your Deadpool outfit is essential.
- Lightsabers: May the force be with you as you cosplay a Jedi. Although you could easily purchase a professionally made lightsaber, which can be expensive, isn’t there more joy in saying you made it yourself?
- Tricorders: Another popular type of cosplay is Star Trek. While you’re trying to make it so, no Picard is complete without his tricorder. Like with lightsabers, you can purchase a premade one, but making your own will allow you to customize it.
Our Favorite Cosplay Patterns
- Dr. Strange: You should consider cosplaying as Dr. Strange for a variety of reasons, including the exciting things you can do with his cape.
- Batman: The Dark Knight is another cosplay favorite, and with so many different versions, you can surely have your unique take.
- Aang, the Last Airbender: A recently released live-action version of this perennial favorite show is back, and so is the love for Aang.
FAQs About Sewing Your Own Cosplay
What Is the Best Fabric for Cosplay Costumes?
The best fabric depends on your character and the costume’s design. Lightweight fabrics like cotton and polyester blends are great for comfort and ease of sewing, while heavier materials like leather and vinyl are ideal for more structured pieces. Specialty fabrics, such as spandex, are used for body-hugging costumes.
Can Beginners Sew Their Own Cosplay?
Absolutely! Beginners can start with more straightforward projects and gradually move on to more complex costumes. Choosing patterns that match your skill level and practicing sewing techniques on scrap fabric before starting the costume is crucial.
How Much Time Does It Take to Make a Cosplay?
The time required can vary widely depending on the complexity of the costume and your sewing skills. Simple costumes might take a few days, while elaborate ones could require months of work. It’s crucial to start early and allocate extra time for unexpected challenges.
How Do I Choose a Character to Cosplay?
Choose a character that you love and feel connected to. Consider the complexity of their costume, your budget, and your ability to create or obtain the costume components when deciding.
Do I Need to Make Everything from Scratch?
Not at all. Many cosplayers mix homemade items with store-bought pieces, especially for more complex costumes. Altering and customizing pre-existing garments and accessories can also be a part of the cosplay creation process.
What Are Some Essential Cosplay Sewing Tools?
Essential tools include a reliable sewing machine, fabric scissors, a seam ripper, measuring tape, and an iron. For more advanced projects, you might also need a serger, fabric glue, a heat gun (for shaping thermoplastics), and various painting supplies.
How Do I Handle Cosplay Wardrobe Malfunctions?
Always have a repair kit at events, including safety pins, needle and thread, double-sided tape, and extra fabric or fasteners. Planning for quick fixes and knowing your costume’s weak points can help you manage any issues.
Where Can I Find Cosplay Patterns?
Cosplay patterns can be found online, in fabric stores, and through community sharing in cosplay forums and social media groups. Some companies specialize in cosplay patterns, offering generic costume designs and specific character outfits.