Ok. So, during the first weekend of September, I went to DragonCon. Great fun! You should definitely go. But this post isn't about DragonCon. It's about a cosplay I unveiled at DragonCon. My Psycho from the video game Borderlands.
It took a while for me to find the right fabric. Apparently, bright orange chino fabric is hard to come by. Go figure. My usual go-to, Joann fabric, had a lot of lovely oranges, but none in a material that I wanted to use for pants. Neither did Hancock Fabric or G Street Fabric. So to the internet I went! I found the best fabric on etsy, through a store called Libbysfabric. The material I bought was Pre-Shrunk Cotton Chino Twill in Pumpkin, which can be found here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/203622541/pre-shrunk-cotton-chino-twill-fabric?ref=hp_mod_rf
I was so happy when it arrived. I even posted a fairly spoiler free photo on my facebook page.
It was time to get to work. I was doing this as a group cosplay with Quartermaster's Cache. I make us the pants and arm bands, he makes us the props. Good deal. We decided to keep them a secret because, sometimes, that is more fun.
Neither Quartermaster's Cache nor myself know how to make masks...yet. So we both bought ours.
Mine came from the ever talented SKS Props. I bounced up and down when mine arrived.
Of course, the kitty decided to help me sew, which I shared on facebook as another semi-spoiler free photo.
And finally, pants pieces cut, it was time to put them together:
I didn't take photos of me putting the pants together, because I didn't really have anywhere to put them at the time, I was following a pattern, and I was super busy. (Excuses excuses). But above, I do show making the pocket flaps. What a difference ironing makes, am I right?
Let me say, cargo pants are a lot of work. Adding a bunch of exterior pockets takes a lot more time, but it looks so cool!
Between making the pocket flaps and putting the rest of the pants together, I kind of didn't take pictures. Until I got to the waistband. Below are pictures of sewing the waistband on.
Before this point, I had already tried the pants on several times to tailor the fit to myself. It's easier to fix the fit of pants BEFORE the waistband goes on. When the waistband was on and the button was attached, it was time to try them on with boots (combat boots that I bought on Amazon.)
Yep, that works.
Then, I had to do it all again for Quartermaster's Cache. Two pairs down, armbands to go.
I didn't take pictures of those. I measured the around our biceps, then cut fabric just a little longer than that, about 4 or 5 inches wide. I rolled the edges in, twice, totaling a half inch on top and bottom (to make the edges look nice), then sewed them closed to fit on the arm.
Finally, time to cel-shade. Borderlands is a cel-shaded game (cel-shading is a form of animation). For this, Quartermaster's Cache and I got together.
Yes, we used Sharpie. Don't hate.
Draw a black line on every seam, every edge, every corner.
I didn't feel that just outlining edges and seams was enough, so I started making hashmarks in random places and on natural creases.
Only the pants are cel-shaded in the above pics. I still had to cel-shade my arm wrap.
FYI, cel-shading takes a while. Make sure you have a good amount of time free. (A couple of hours).
A note about my top. I used a strapless bra, a cut up tank top to cover the bra (straps removed), and then Ace Bandages. I want to alert people that ace bandages can be harmful if wrapped tightly. Make sure, if you use ace bandages, that you wrap them loosely. They can compress and hurt your ribs. I wrapped them loosely, and cel-shaded them in the hotel, once the outfit was on.
Don't forget to cel-shade your body. Follow natural lines to start with. Collar bone, neck lines, biceps, triceps, abs. Even if you don't have a 6-pack, you want to draw them on, but not too harshly. Leave some open spaces around the abs. They are not squared off boxes. Then, feel free to give some random hashmarks on your body. These give you the feel from the game. More accurate.
One of my favorite aspects of this cosplay was the play. With the mask on, inhibitions faded away. I acted the part so easily, even though I am nothing like the character. It was immense fun!
