Slave Leia Finished

So I have gotten a few people asking me what the finished product looked like, and I realized I had never posted a finished picture! My bad!

As you can see I also made a Jedi cloak which I used the pattern mainly from the first one but I also used the one off the second page and then kinda Frankensteined them together when I needed to! I made a cloak just so I did have the option of not being completely exposed for the whole day.

 http://dhost.info/rissa/Tutorials/Howtomake-Jedi.htm

http://www.padawansguide.com/basic.shtml

Weeping Angel tutorial 2

Hey guys, so I am continuing on with the Weeping Angel. I'm sorta bouncing around different parts of the cosplay so I hope it doesn't get too confusing. So I began to work on the wings part 1.

What you will need
2 "science fair" 3 fold cardboard poster things
Coat Hangers
Spare fabric
Glue
Foam boards
Newspaper

So I started out laying out, taping together, newspaper the same size as the large science poster board. I then free hand drew out a wing shape. I used this picture as a guide:

 So after I drew out the general shape I made two of the same patterns for two wings. Which look like this:

 

I have yet to actually cut out the wings because my box cutter has mysteriously gone missing. However when I do get my box cutter back, I will be laying the two poster boards so the "face" of them is facing each other. So the folds no longer will fold in. That probably didn't make sense. When I do this all I will take pictures and post them. You will then take the coat hangers and undo them. glue fabric to them (later on in part two this will come in handy when gluing the two sides of the wings together) Then using the foam board I am cutting out feathers and details. So short post I know. 

I do have an updated picture of my mask now that it is re-painted. 

So yeah, till next time.

-Mere

New Cosplays!

So my Slave Leia cosplay was SUPER fun! It was great! Now it is a new year and I have five months to turn out two new cosplays. The two I have decided to do this year are a "Weeping Angel" from Doctor Who...if you are not familiar here is a picture for you:

One of my favorite "Villains" from the series! Currently I have one part done and I will touch back to this later on in the post.

The second cosplay, which came about with my getting fit plan, is She-ra. I am SO excited or this like you have no idea. So here is a picture of her:

I'm doing a variation of this version of her. As I really don't want to do the whole strapless thing and worry about it all day long. Anywhoo so there is that.


So I guess this is the starting of the Tutorials for my Weeping Angel cosplay. So far I have almost completed the mask I will be wearing. Here is what you will need

• Full face mask (I got mine at Micheals)
• Crayola Clay
• Quick Grip All-Purpose Permanent Adhesive
• Cardboard (I used an Arnold Palmer box)
• Paint (I mixed many different greys)
• Scissors
• Tape

So I started out cutting off the mask from the jaw line, down to the chin, so that way I could open my mouth and not have the whole thing move. I then took the cardboard and cut it down to extend the chin a good four to five inches (make sure too look in the mirror or something to make sure the proportion looks okay) Now that the "jaw" is extended it can really look like your screaming. I used heavy packing tape to tape on the cardboard. I then went in with the clay and just started molding. I did have some reference pictures up on my computer and such. A little tip, water is your friend, dampen your fingers so the clay is more workable. After you mold the face let it dry for a full 24 hours. IT MAY CRACK, MINE DID, DO NOT FREAK OUT! I simply was very delicate and move the dry clay pieces of the mask. Take your permanent adhesive and start gluing the clay back onto the mask. You can also use it to fill in the cracks that may be created. Wait for the glue to fully dry and then you can go in with paint and paint it up. I am still working on the painting part but here is mask as it is now:

The edges at the top will be covered by the wig. I still have to put in mesh for the eyes, so I can still see. I also have to get the elastic or what not to make it stay on my head...lol. So there we go,check back soon I hope to continue my project when I get my sewing machine back...lol.

-Mere

Slave Leia Cosplay tutorial Part 5

So here is the final part of the tutorial. For me I didn't do the boots as I couldn't find any and I figured that I would get to those later. I will probably use the same door tubing stuff for the boots though. Anyway the collar, what you will need.

- A dog collar (old or new)
- A thicker, wider hairband
- Four golden metal loops
- two different types of key chain rings
- Yard (or however long) golden chain
- Gold paint
- Paint brushes
- Hot glue

So I started out going out and getting a hair band, I found a pack of two at the dollar store. I then grabbed an old dog collar we had laying around and cut it so it laid in a nice long strip. I then hot glued the dog collar to the hairband, cutting off the extra dog collar at each end of the hairband. I then painted the dog collar side of the hairband gold.

I found packages of two golden loops at Joann's Fabric/Craft store and got glued them to the collar as the loops are in the movie. Here is another time that a reference pic works wonders. After gluing I set aside the collar part and moved on to the chain part. I went down to my local hardware store and bought a yard of golden chain, you can get as little or as much as you want. Now early in the tutorial I mentioned getting those hooks at the end of lanyards, well I got a bag of random key chain end things at Wal-Mart and I figured out a way to fashion the other types of key chains to conect my chain to my collar. I used two different kinds of key rings, so it will connect to the collar like a key ring. Here is a picture of what mine look like just in case I make no sense :)

So yeah there is the collar, I hope it works out for you as well as it worked for me. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Slave Leia Cosplay tutorial Part 4

Time for what completes any outfit, accessories!

What you will need:

- Crayola air dry clay foam
- Thick paper (like used before)
- Velcro
- Rubber cement
- Hot Glue
- Gold Paint
- Paint brushes
- Two plastic hair combs

So first off, I had issues with what to do for my hair. I have fairly long blonde hair, it covers my boobs when its down, so pretty long. The problem was, its layered and its not long enough to actually do the hairstyle. So I broke down and went on the hunt for a braid extension and I found one. 

 

http://www.threemusesclothing.com/servlet/the-535/braid%2C-extension%2C-hair%2C-synthetic%2C/Detail   There is the link to the place that sells these.

 Its really nice and it almost matches my hair color, if one of the braids above doesn't match your hair exactly or not enough, you can always dye it. The only thing I advise is if your going to dye it get the platinum blonde braid as when you dye the synthetic hair you can only dye darker not lighter.

As you can see you can just buy the gold thing at the end of her hair for an extra five dollars, but I made mine. I took the paper and made to small "fin" type shaped shapes about one and half inches long, you can make it however big you want, along with a good three inch long rectangular strip. I then just taped the fins to the strip and taped it around the end of the hair.

Here's what mine looks like:

  I then moved on to the bracelet and the arm band. The bracelet I free handed, again this is a great part where pictures of the items came in great handy. The bracelet sorta goes up and over your arm, see picture below to get the idea or look up a picture of the actual bracelet. After getting the shape I took the air dry clay and added the details, gluing them on with rubber cement. For the armband, I again looked at pictures and free handed it. I started out with a rectangular piece of thick paper that just about wrapped around my upper arm, I then drew on the paper two strips in the middle so I knew where to glue my first two "snakes body" of air dry clay. I then made somewhat of a stretched out "S" that I taped on the back, to make the snake parts, I then glued the two "snakes heads" of air dry clay. IMPORTANT: DO NOT LET EITHER OF THESE TWO ACCESSORIES DRY FLAT, THEY WILL CRACK IF YOU DO AS THEY WILL NOT BEND. For the bracelet I simply taped the ends together and for the armband I taped the paper to a empty glass salsa jar that I found in my recycling.

After the armband dries make sure to cut out all excess paper, there will be on either side of the snakes that form the "S". Then take your hot glue and hot glue velcro on them so you can get them on and off. Paint, a few coats maybe, let dry and your done with those. Here's how mine turned out:

Now time for the hair stuff. First I went out and bought a package of two hair combs. If you don't know what I am talking about look at my pictures and you will notice them. They were a whopping total of ninety eight cents. I then took the patterns of the hair clips off of Slave Bikini Builders and printed them out, print them out as big as you need them. I then glued the paper onto the thick paper with rubber cement. Then took the air dry clay and put the details on it. let it dry and then paint it. After its painted and looks gold turn them over and hot glue the combs to it, close to the edge of the actual paper. By hot gluing the shapes to the comb it bends the shapes slightly making them pop off your head a little like they are on Leia's.

Here they are:

 There ya go, tomorrow I will finish with the collar!

Slave Leia Cosplay tutorial Part 3

So this post is going to be all about finishing the bra.

What you need:

- Clothes line (as small as you can find it, I believe I used 3/4 but don't quote me on that)
- Jewelry hooks (the kind you may find on the end of lanyards)
- Duct tape
- Painting tape (optional)
- White Paint (acrylic would be fine)
- Same Gold paint as before
- Black Spray Paint
- Paint Brush
- Newspaper

So this next part was the hardest part for me to do, was a lot of lubing involved, no joke. So The bottom most tubing on the bra, which I stated wraps around you, the clothes line has to be fed through either the top tube or bottom which ever works better. It just is really hard to do and will take a while don't get frustrated just find a way and slowly but surly get it threw. You have to thread enough threw to cross over your back and to the plastic circles in the front. The left cloths line sticking out (when looking at it) should connect to the right plastic loop as the right should go to the left so it criss-crosses on your back. Make sure to leave enough of the clothes line so you can feed it through the jewelry hooks (one on either end) this will make getting in and out of the costume easier. after threading it threw the hook fold it back on itself and duct tape it so it stays.

Now its time to paint it, I took painting tape and literally put tape all over the fabric so that while I was painting the tubing I wouldn't get white or gold on it. First paint the gold with the white paint, this will give you a base to start out with. One or two coats should do it. Then start with the gold, mine because it was fabric paint took a fair amount of coats, not sure how many, I lost count. All I know is that I painted it and let it dry all the way threw the movie Tangled. Once you have that painted you will need to find some newspaper, cover and seal the bra part in a nice protective cover of newspaper leaving the clothes line hang out. You will be spray painting the line (you don't have to, the only line I could find was green and I didn't like it so, its up to you). I did a nice coat let it dry over night and BAM bra done!

Here's what it should look like so far (mine in the picture had not yet got the bottom painted yet nor the line but you should get the picture)

So for the crappy quality of the photo, my camera was and still is dying.

Tomorrow we will start on the accessories!!!!

Slave Leia Cosplay tutorial Part 2

Okay part two is going to consists of the finishing of the panels, like the side ovals and the skirt part. As well as the bra part.

This turned out to be a little bit complicated but not too bad, what you will need for the ovals/skirt:

-Thick paper, again like the kind you used in the first part
-Plaster of Paris Bandages
-Felt Sheets
-Wire (a big enough gauge to keep its shape when taped to the paper)
-Tape (probably duct tape would be your best bet)
-Fabric (in that red wine, grape-ish color, again that's where the reference pics come in handy)
-Snaps (you can find all sorts of sizes in a craft store or around the fabric section of the store, I got medium sized ones as to not make it too bulky)
-Elastic (also found most likely in the same place the snaps are make sure its an elastic that wont stretch out after one use of it)
-Rubber Cement
-Hot Glue
-Thread
-Needle
- Same Gold Paint in the first step
-Paintbrush

So to start out the ovals I measured how far apart roughly on me the panels were and took an inch off. I then on a piece of random scrap paper made an oval circle about as big as the measurement with the inch off (you could make these ovals in Microsoft word but I found it easier to just draw them). Then trace your oval twice onto the thick paper, make sure to make the ovals wide enough so that when you cut out an inner oval to make it an oval ring there is enough thickness to it. After cutting them out take the wire and duct tape it onto whichever side is going to be the inside of the ring and bend it so it bends with your hips. I then took the Plaster of Paris bandages to it, as you do not want these to be flimsy in anyway shape or form. I let it dry over night and then painted it the same gold as the panels.

After everything is dry you want to take the sheets of felt (the 37 cent kind at craft stores) and glue it with rubber cement to the inside of the panels and ovals so it doesn't bother skin or become irritating in anyway shape or form.

Now for the skirt part. I managed to get away with a yard of fabric as I am only 5' 1" maybe. You need to measure the backs of the panels. Measure about an inch to an inch and a half in from the "corners" meaning the top to corners of the triangular panel over.

Here is a basic diagram of the part on both panels to measure:

.After measuring from side to side take your fabric and cut it in half so you have to yard pieces. You then need to pleat the fabric so it will be to the desired width (your measurements you took on the panels, your back panel measurement will be longer than your front.) You can do it many ways, google it and really pick the way you are most comfortable doing. After that grab your snaps, I used three in the front and four in the back.

Here is a diagram  of just the front to help:

I just hot glued the snap onto the panel, make sure to take the half of the snap off that will be sewn to the fabric. Glue all the snaps down, then sew the other half to the fabric, make sure that the snaps are equally apart on the panels as they are on the fabric too. Then take the elastic and hot glue it so it connects all the pieces, I cut out individual pieces of elastic and hot glued them to each side. You can color the elastic black if you want or not, its really up to you. After that the bottom part of the costume is done.

Here's what it should look like:

Now to start the bra part. What you will need:

- Old bra you don't want (or one you don't mind cutting up)
-Fabric (This one you will have to decide on your own there is a lot of pictures out there and it comes down to either a greenish color or brown, I could not find a greenish I liked so I went with brown)
- Fabric adhesive spray or glue just some way to get the fabric to stay on the bra
-Adhesive Door/Window draft sealer (its a tubing of sorts that goes in door frames to keep them sealed when the door is closed)
-Hot Glue

what you first want to do is cut everything off the bra except for the actual under wire bra cup part as well as if the bra has those plastic rings in which the bra straps are connected to in front, you want those for later. So your left with the bra that doesn't really do its job anymore, but we will fix that. Take your fabric (you need fourth or half a yard depending on bra size) and use the spray adhesive fabric glue to glue it onto the bra. You will have to cut the fabric and overlap itself so it will mimic the drastic curvaceousness of the bra, I glued it on the front and made it wrap around the edges and glued it there as well so it looked nice. It should look like this:

You can see where I cut to make it fit, but no worries it will mostly be covered up later

After letting it dry, I took a white crayon and drew onto the facric which way all the design stuff went. Another thing that it REALLY helped me to have a reference pic of the bra. I then took the adhesive tubing and I'm not sure if its all like this but the kind I found had two humps to it, sort to speak, I took the adhesive off and taped it to each other to make it a circular tubing. Then with the hot glue I glued it to the lines I had drawn to follow (make sure to cover the plastic rings of the bra to hid them but don't glue the tubing to the rings or you will have major problems later). I then took a piece of tubing and glued it to the bottom most tubing on the bra, make sure this is long enough to reach on either side of you as its where the line will be to conect it all together. Here's a pic of what it should look like, so hopefully if this was confusing (sorry) you can use the picture to help you:

So there is part 1 of the bra done! I will update more tomorrow!