Cosplay patterns?

[Lady Quixote]

Hi there,

So I'm very new to the idea of creating cosplay outfits.  My brother does many and to great effect, sadly he said that he doesn't really have a go to place for patterns.

I was wondering if anyone has any good places where I could go to find some or something that will work?

Thank you for your time and help.
Marissa

[Sylk]

depends on a few things;

what type of cosplay costumes are you looking to make?  Steampunk, super hero, fantasy, gamer, .......?

the next is how good are you at reading contemporary patterns for such, and subsequently tweaking them as needed?

I did a really nice steampunk outfit off a Simplicity pattern that i had to read the directions 3 times to figure out.  In the end, I took a pad and pen and re-wrote them so I could understand them in the future.

also, NEVER cut your pattern pieces.   get the pattern in the size range you want/need.  Go to your local craft store and get the brown rolls of craft paper or backing paper for framing. At Michaels' it's the framing paper.  Get a semi-fine sharpie marker.  lay out the pattern pieces you need over the brown paper and mark through the lines with the sharpie.  this transfers the pattern to stiffer, less easily destroyed paper that you can cut, tweak easily and manipulate.  It also saves the pattern for later if you change sizes or need to use it for someone else.

Hope that helps.

sylk

[Lady Quixote]

Thank you Sylk,

I think one that's we (friend and I) are looking for is from Legend of Korra...oh and any patterns for Irulan in the Dune Miniseries (not the butterfly dress, more the gold dress from the end).

At the moment I'm not great at reading pattern but for the sewing project I'm going to see if my mom can come down for a weekend to teach.  Mostly because she both has a pattern company for patterns that she's created, teaches sewing classes around the country, and a few other things (I did not want for home tailored cloths and Halloween costumes growing up).  While I'm going to gain (and remember) quite a bit of knowledge during that weekend I'm not sure I can create patterns from scratch.

Thank you for your help.
Marissa

[Sylk]

depends on the intricacy of the pattern/costume.  once you get the basics down, adding to them is not as difficult as it might seem

[Lady Quixote]

I'll have to get an update on what the other piece is but this is one of the best pictures I could find of Irulan's dress

I guess I'm kind of surprised there isn't some larger repository of patterns people have made and shared, or perhaps their is and I'm just not privy to it's location.

Either way, I do appreciate the help.

[Sylk]

No idea who that is but that's just a dress patten in satin. Some tweaking to the sleeve at the cuff. Satin is really difficult to work with. Painters tape and sewing weights help to keep it from sliding around. I'll look and see what kind of fitted patterns I can find.

Vogue v1400
McCall's  m2401
McCall's m7279

Are very close.  With some fitting and some tweaking would do just fine for you.

[Demi]

I'm a pretty heavy-duty cosplayer (I do shoots at least once a month with a number of varied cosers), and it really depends on what you're trying to make.  Having a duct-tape dress form can often help with a number of things, as it's made to your measurements and can help with pattern mapping. 

What I've found works well for me, is picking up an item of a similar cut/style, seam ripping it, and using it as the base for your pattern.  Most of my strong suits lie in SFX makeup and props, though.  If you ever want to chat, feel free to send me a PM and I'd be happy to offer advice where I can. 

[Lady Quixote]

Thank you both Demi and Sylk.

I don't know if I"m going to go for Irulan before GenCon this year but next for sure.  Making sure I have something setup for the Dance is the biggest thing this year.  I have a Victorian skirt and am going to see about borrowing a corset, and continuing to build from there. 

My friend is going for Asami Sato in Legend of Korra and has some patterns already picked out.

I still really want to create Irulan's gold dress I just don't think it will happen this year.