Elastigirl Cosplay
I just completed Elastigirl in time for LFCC! I watched the Incredibles 2 and immediately began working on this. This was a super spur of the moment cosplay, so a lot of the material was made from leftover fabrics. The silver was leftovers from Stocking, the belt is from an Amy Pond scrap, and the gloves are from an old pair of leggings. The whole thing was surprisingly easy to make.
I made the leotard by looking closely at knit leotards and shirts that fit me and drawing that shape onto the fabric. This fabric is always a bit of a pain to work with because pins make holes in it, but I can get away with putting the pins through the seam allowance so it worked out. The fabric also doesn't fray, so I left the edges raw around the leg holes and wrists. I made the Elastigirl symbol in GIMP and applied it the same way that I applied the stripes to my 13th Doctor shirt. If you want your own, here's a link to the one I made.
In the Incredibles 2, Elastigirl wears elbow length gloves and boots that go up to her thighs. I, unfortunately, was unable to find boots or gloves that were that long. I decided to make the gloves and leave the boots for now, the leotard was warm enough already and I wasn't about to add another layer. The gloves are made from an old pair of leggings that had ripped by tracing around my arm and sewing with a narrow zig-zag stitch. I do not recommend this fabric. They barely have any stretch to them, and because of this, I had to add length to the fingers for my long nails. They're also very difficult to get on, and the fabric rips very easily. It probably would have been worth buying fabric for these.
I recorded a video of how I did my makeup and styled the wig and will have that up next week!
Lup from The Adventure Zone
I recently completed a cosplay of the character Lup from the podcast The Adventure Zone. The Adventure Zone is an adventure comedy D&D podcast hosted by the McElroys. Lup is an accomplished elf wizard and is one of the first inter planar explorers.
Since The Adventure Zone is solely audial, I based my costume on glowbat's art of the character. The maroon shirt and ears I bought specifically for this costume, while the earrings and shoes are items I already owned. I didn't have a sweatshirt that worked for this costume, but I did have a red pullover, so I cut it in half up the front and sewed the pockets closed. The gloves are just plain black gloves with the fingers cut off.
The wig and shorts were probably the most time intensive part of the wold project. I dip dyed the wig using sharpie ink and rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle, which I documented here. I made the shorts by cutting a pair of jeans at the knee, painting on the flames, and rolling up the raw edge of the shorts. The paint I used for the flames is a 50/50 mix of acrylic paint (for color) and acrylic fabric medium (to set the paint into the fabric). I actually really like these shorts, and have been wearing them out of cosplay quite a bit!
It was so bright the whole weekend, all the makeup I did didn't show up an camera! Luckily I took this picture of my makeup inside, where all the freckles show up! Unfortunately, in this image the ears I bought are very obviously a different color than my skin. Whoops!
I wore Lup to London MCM May on both the Friday and Saturday. It was super cool to get to go to meet ups on both days and see everyone's interpretations of the characters. I'm looking forward to changing pieces of this cosplay and wearing it again to a different convention!
13th Doctor Striped Socks
13th Doctor Socks
These socks were super fun to make, so I wrote up the pattern and made a video tutorial! Let me know what you think, and be sure to let me know if you make a pair!
https://youtu.be/iFmZZbX1GSE
Materials:
Special Stylecraft Double Knit in Lapis
Special Stylecraft Double Knit in Duck Egg
3.25 mm Knitting Needles (US3/UK11)
Pattern:
Cast on 60 stitches in Dark Blue
K1P1 all the way around for 8 rows
K all the way around for 8 rows
*Switch to Light Blue, K all the way around for 4 rows
Switch to Dark Blue, K all the way around for 4 rows
Repeat from * four times, making a total of 5 Dark Blue and 5 Light Blue stripes
Switch to Light Blue, K all the way around for one and a half rowsShift needles so that you can start the heel from the center back of the work
HEEL & TOE
K 15 stitches, turn
Row 1: sl st, P29, turn
Row 2: sl st, K28, turn
Row 3: sl st, P27, turn
Row 4: sl st, K26, turn
Row 5: sl st, P25, turn
Row 6: sl st, K24, turn
Row 7: sl st, P23, turn
Row 8: sl st, K22, turn
Row 9: sl st, P21, turn
Row 10: sl st, K20, turn
Row 11: sl st, P19, turn
Row 12: sl st, K18, turn
Row 13: sl st, P17, turn
Row 14: sl st, K16, turn
Row 15: sl st, P15, turn
Row 16: sl st, K14, pick up stitch from between previous worked stitch and next stitch on left needle (denoted as m1), k2tog, turn
Row 17: P15, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 18: K16, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 19: P17, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 20: K18, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 21: P19, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 22: K20, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 23: P21, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 24: K22, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 25: P23, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 26: K24, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 27: P25, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 28: K26, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 29: P27, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 30: K28, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 31: P29, m1, p2tog, turn
HEEL ONLY
Row 32: K 15
Adjust stitches so that you can continue working with your Light Blue yarn where you left off. Complete that row in knit stitch, and then do two more rows of knit stitch in Light Blue.
*Switch to Dark Blue, K all the way around for 4 rowsSwitch to Light Blue, P all the way around for 4 rows
Repeat from * until your sock is the right length for your foot.
For reference, I had a total of 5 Dark Blue and 5 Light Blue stripes for my UK size 5 feet.
Refer back to the heel instructions and work the toe the same as the heel.
Complete the sock with kitchener stitch and weave in your ends.
Tada! You now have your own pair of 13th Doctor Socks!
13th Doctor Stripe Shirt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HukW_UES1IwI decided to try something a little different and branch off into video! This is a video about how I made a shirt for my 13th Doctor cosplay.If you're making this yourself, you will need:
- Navy Scoop Neck T-Shirt (I found mine in Primark)
- Dark Colour Transfer Papers
- Stripe Pattern
- Iron
- Ironing Board
- Scissors
- Pins/Chalk/Tape
This is my first time making a tutorial video, so any feedback is appreciated!
Star Butterfly
There was a huge Disney meet on the third day of London MCM, which I went to dressed as Star Butterfly. Star Butterfly is a character from the Disney show Star vs the Forces of Evil.
For this cosplay, I made the dress and the headband, painted the shoes, and styled the wig. Making the dress was much more of a pain than I originally thought it would be. I had to shape the front of the dress by curving each of the front stripe pieces just right, but I had a lot of trouble doing this. I finally got the shape of the front right and attached to the back, when I discovered I'd somehow made the front piece much wider than the back piece. The bodice somehow still fit, but the front panel wrapped around further than I wanted it to. The skirt went on with little fuss, although I did somehow catch extra fabric in the hem a few times. I lined the bodice of the dress with darted teal fabric - I wasn't about to try and stripe the inside too!
This is the first time I've properly styled a wig for a cosplay. I styled it using craft glue, which meant the front of the wig didn't move at all during the day. The headband was made by hot gluing fabric over an alice band, then hot gluing stuffing filled fabric horns onto that.The shoes I painted with multiple layers of acrylic paint to match Star's shoes in the show. In the show she wears rabbit faced boots instead, but I had to work with what I had. I also sewed, painted, and glued on little rabbit ears to the shoes, but those fell off very quickly. The paint on the rubber soles of the shoes scraped off pretty quickly. I unfortunately didn't think to take pictures of the shoes before the convention.
This cosplay was so cute I ended up wearing it for Halloween! Since I'm on a costume course, many people wore really, really good costumes. This costume was lots of fun, and I plan on wearing the dress again as normal clothing.
Nardole from Doctor Who
On the second day of London MCM, I wore a cosplay of Nardole from the Doctor Who episode Eaters of Light. I'm starting with the second day because I neglected to get pictures of the costume I wore the first day, but hopefully I'll get some soon.
The Nardole costume consisted of a hand knit hat, a sweatshirt, pajama pants, and a kilt. The kilt was simply a huge piece of fabric with serged edges. Unlike how the kilt is worn in the show, I wore mine the same way that one would wear a great kilt.
Since the sweatshirt was fairly simple in design, I opted to modify a blue zip up sweatshirt I already had instead of making one from scratch. I started by taking out the zipper and the hoodie cord. Then, I added buttonholes and large wooden buttons down the front of the hoodie. Even though I'd taken out the bright white hoodie cord, the eyelets in the hood were still visible in bright silver, so I buttonhole stitched all the way around them.
The hat I wore is one I've already posted about, and have actually written up a pattern for, so be sure to check that out!This is, by far, one of the most comfortable cosplays I have ever worn. I basically got to walk around in pajamas all day, it was great!
Wilf's Hat from The End of Time
After knitting two of Nardole's hats, I felt as though I needed more hats. Why? I don't know, I can't possibly find the time to wear them all if I keep making them at this speed! This hat is Wilf's hat from the Doctor Who episode The End of Time. I remember when I first watched the episode I noticed the hat, but I didn't think I'd end up making it because it looked so complex.
Fast forward to a few months later, and I've knitted up the hat! I found a this lovely pattern by Patricia Schönhold on Ravelry. It was my first time knitting from a chart, as well as my first time knitting bobbles. The pattern was easy to understand, and I had no problems with any of it.
I knitted this hat up with Stylecraft Special DK in Lipstick (this might be wrong, I've lost the label) with size 8 (5.0 mm) knitting needles. I realize I've used Stylecraft in most of my recent projects. That's because Stylecraft is really easy for me to get and it comes in a huge number of colors.
I did end up changing the pattern just a bit. Near the crown of the head, I added two extra twists in the large cables. Because of this, the number of stitches I had on my needles did not match up with the pattern and I ended up decreasing differently. I don't remember exactly what I did, but the difference is visible.
I'm very happy with Wilf's hat, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to make it without the pattern I found. I am glad that Patricia Schönhold put this pattern up, and I would recommend it to anyone else looking to make Wilf's hat.
Nardole's Hat from The Doctor Falls
nardole hat side 2
front nardole hat
That's right! I made another one of Nardole's hats! This one is from last week's Doctor Who episode, The Doctor Falls. It was super simple to make compared to the last one!Even though I'm very happy with how my hat turned out, the pattern I've put at the bottom of the post is slightly different from the hat pictured here. This is because the one I made is small (it fits my head, but it might not fit yours), and I mistakenly made my hat a bit too short.What you'll need:
US size 8 needles (5mm)
Double knit or worsted weight yarn
side of nardole hat
I used Stylecraft Special DK in 1035 Burgundy and 1709 Gold.
Cast on 96 st, k1, p1, all the way around for 9 inches, then work the following rows:
It may help to divide your stitches into 6 equal sections of 16 stitches
Row 1: *p2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k2tog tbl, repeat from * (total of 84 stitches)
Row 2: p1, k1, all the way around
Row 3: *k2tog, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p2tog tbl, repeat from * (total of 72 stitches)
Row 4: k1, p1, all the way around
Row 5: *p2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k2tog tbl, repeat from * (total of 60 stitches)
Row 6: p1, k1, all the way aroundRow 7: *k2tog, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p2tog tbl, repeat from * (total of 48 stitches)
Row 8: k1, p1, all the way around
Row 9: *p2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1, k2tog tbl, repeat from * (total of 36 stitches)
Row 10: p1, k1, all the way around
Row 11: *k2tog, p1, k1, p2tog tbl, repeat from * (total of 24 stitches)
Row 12: k1, p1, all the way around
Pull the yarn tail through remaining stitches, pull tight, and secure ends.
All that's left is to add your pom pom on top and you're done!
Nardole's Hat from The Eaters of Light
This is my version of the hat that Nardole wears in the Doctor Who episode The Eaters of Light. When this episode aired last week, I immediately knew that I needed to make his hat. It was fairly simple to make, and I'll share my process so that anyone who wants one can make one too.What you'll need:
US size 8 needles (5mm)
Double knit or worsted weight yarn
Special Stylecraft DK in Lemon Shade 1020
Special Stylecraft DK in Dark Brown Shade 1004
Special Stylecraft DK in Green 1116
Special Stylecraft DK in Camel 1420
Special Stylecraft DK in Spice 1711
Cast on 70 stitches in the round in dark brown (must be a multiple of 10)
Rows 1-13: k1, p1 all the way around
Row 14: fold the brim to the inside of the hat attach to previous row with k1, p1
From here on, the every row is purled. (The design is worked on top after completion)
1 row in lemon, 7 rows in spice,
1 row in green, 7 rows in camel,
1 row in lemon, 7 rows in dark brown,
1 row in spice, 7 rows in lemon,
1 row in camel, 7 rows in green,
1 row in dark brown, 7 rows in lemon,
1 row in spice, 7 rows in dark brown.
On the last row, pull a piece of yarn through all of the stitches. Do not gather it yet, it is easier to work in the design beforehand.
outside of nardole’s hat
inside of nardole's hat
The design on top is made by weaving pieces of yarn that are the same color as the single rows. They are woven around the knit stitch below this row and brought up to the stripe above at varying heights. This is difficult for me to explain, but I hope the pictures are good enough to understand what I mean. After making the design, tighten the yarn you previously pulled through the top row of stitches and secure. Make a large pom pom out of the dark brown yarn and attach it to the top.
If anyone does make this hat, be sure to let me know!
Since it's summer, I doubt I'll be wearing the hat any time soon. As soon as cold weather hits, though, I'll be wearing it all the time!
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
For the last day of MCM London, I partnered up with my friend Ruth to cosplay Panty and Stocking from the anime Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. Both of us made our own costumes.
I sewed my skirt, my shirt, my corset, my sleeves, and my leg warmers from white cotton, purple cotton, and a stretchy metallic fabric. The bracelets I painted with silver paint, and the shoes were originally white, which I covered with silver metallic fabric. Ruth patterned the wings, but we both made our own set out of wire, fabric, feathers, and hot glue.
The metallic fabric was such a pain to use because it was very stretchy and pins would leave permanent holes in it. The corset was particularly difficult because the metallic fabric had to be backed onto a stiff muslin. Hopefully I'll be able to write a more in depth post about how I made the corset despite neglecting to take photos of the whole second half of the process.
Luckily, that Sunday was the coolest of the days, meaning the costume wasn't too warm to wear. I did have an issue with the shoes, but that was mostly due to my own poor use of glue. Bits of hardened hot glue jabbed into my heel, and the fabric slowly peeled off the shoes. If I were to cover shoes with fabric again, I'd probably do it over the course of a few days using some kind of super glue, or maybe modge podge.
We also met a couple of lovely cosplayers who were cosplaying the same characters as us! I only have a link for the Panty cosplayer's Instagram, but she has some super cute cosplays on there, so definitely check out her page! I especially loved what they used for the hearts on their outfits!Photos taken by Daisy Tweed
Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor
Last weekend was London MCM 2017! I went all three days and had a fantastic time. I didn't cosplay the first day, but I wore my french fry dress and got a surprising amount of complements as well as a photo request! If I am able to track down the photo, I'll be sure to share it here!
On the second day of MCM, I dressed as the fourth regeneration of the Doctor from Doctor Who.
Most of the outfit is store bought, but I made both the scarf and the skirt. I knitted the scarf in fifty hours over the course of 5 months, starting on the first of January and finishing just last week on the 6th. My research for the scarf design was a combination of this site and meticulous combing through yarn websites. The scarf is a replica of the scarf worn by Tom Baker in the first half of season 12 of Doctor Who. I think I was able to find a very good color match with the yarn. It took a bit longer to make than I thought it would, and I made a few tiny mistakes, but I am very happy with it. I made it using US size 8 knitting needles.
The skirt is actually one I made for my costume course at uni. It's an Edwardian skirt with center back snaps and hook and eyes. I did a very good job of pattern matching each seam, which is especially evident in the back panel. The synthetic plaid fabric is backed on a black cotton, and every seam is piped with the same black cotton.
I met many lovely people at the Doctor Who meet up, but unfortunately I didn't take many pictures. I'm not really sure who took the above photo or who some of the people are in it, so please tell me if you know!
If I end up going to LFCC this year, I'll be wearing this cosplay on one of the days. I plan on adding a waistcoat and possibly some nice shoes to the costume before then.
Cosplay at Bournemouth Film and Comic Convention
The first day of BFCC (Saturday) my friend Ruth cosplayed Panty from Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt, and I cosplayed Stocking.
On Sunday, I wore my 'Kylolita' cosplay, a lolita version of Kylo Ren. I'm not sure who took the above photo, Kris is dressed as Marsolo (Marceline/Han Solo) and Nicole is dressed as Bubbleia (Princess Bubblegum/Princess Leia).
I had minor issues with the mask and hood - my neck kept showing and it was difficult for other people to hear me through the mask. I think I can fix the first problem by making a stretchy black tube to put around my neck, but the other problem can really only be fixed by taking off the mask or yelling. You might recognize the hood I'm wearing as the scoodie I made back in March.
I made the dress using a plain black cotton. It was super simple to make and only took about two days to hand sew the entire thing. The reason the dress was so easy to make is because the entire thing is rectangles and elastic. It took about 11 rectangles in total: two for the skirt, four for the ruffles, one for each sleeve, two for the bodice, and one for the bow on the back of the dress. I sewed elastic in the neckline, the hem of the sleeve, and the waist of the dress.
I used herringbone stitch for the hem, but did not hem the ruffle, and instead cut it with pinking shears to keep them from fraying. The edges of the neckline and the sleeves are just folded around the elastic and stitched down. I was having some issues with the raw edge of the fabric flipping to the outside of the dress, but I discovered that the edge can just be tucked under the elastic and it will stay in place.Be sure to like my Facebook page to keep up to date on what I'm making!
Dirk Strider Cosplay Skirt
Here we see my sister modeling a skirt I made for my friend Genny's birthday. It's a reversible knit skirt with an elastic waistband. It's based off of the character Dirk Strider from the webcomic Homestuck. I put an applique of Dirk's glasses on the orange side and and one of his hat on the black side. Genny is planning to cosplay as Dirk later on in the year, and hopefully she'll allow me to post a picture of her complete costume on my site!
The applique on this skirt was difficult to attach because the threads wouldn't catch during the stitching, and I'd take the skirt off the machine to find terrible seams. The issue might have been that I was trying to applique a knit to another knit. However, I was able to fix the applique in time for my friend's birthday, and I am very pleased with the result!