Here's my Level 10 Caleb Widogast cosplay progress thread! Based on @ornerine's art with some modifications and mixing and matching some of the GREAT alternate layers she gave us.

Here is some of the art I had sketched out before the level 10 designs dropped and then me trying to figure out how to combine things - I am still figuring out what I want to do with the outer coat but am 100% in love with Caleb's under layers in the alternate designs.

Lapels look a little big and goofy because I have an extra 1/2" seam allowance added to all the edges, but here's the mock-up for the inner jerkin.

Also reposting these here - I'm gonna try to weave a diamond patterned fabric for one half of the jerkin. I can't get the diamonds as big as in the concept art, but I love the look of it!! Here's some sample squares I made to test the weaving draft and shrinkage after washing.

Also idk if this will get done for Katsu, but here's the start of a horribly over-engineered glove of blasting that may happen at some point.

Belt buckle progress! I'm getting faster at modeling and printing these. Still gotta finish the belt tongue, but I'd love to be able to cast the finished versions this weekend.

Tongue is a little fat at the base, but I am a lazy modeler and it's GOOD ENUF. Need to sand off the layer lines and hopefully I can cast with the bronze pellets that @el3phantbird sent me tomorrow!!

Bronze casting success!! 1st attempt cooled off too quickly but 2nd try is almost perfect. I put up some video on how I did the sand casting in my IG stories if y'all want some Midwesterner doing dumb stuff with fire in their backyard energy.

Also I just really like this time lapse of packing the sand into the flask even though it's not 100% perfect

Back to weaving! Prayer circle that I actually got the heddles threaded correctly because I am terrified I messed up somewhere and have to redo some significant portion of 800ish individually threaded yarn bits here

I THINK.... IT'S GOOD??

WHEEEEEEE

Human brain: Don't polish this too much, if you do it'll highlight all the casting defects and you'll be sad about how messy it looks

Goblin brain: hueheubeje shiny :)

First test piece for the coat lining is done! I'm using an iridescent heat transfer vinyl on top of a matte poly satin. I am REALLY excited about how the color shift looks so here's me spinning around in my bathroom.

When I was shopping to upgrade my cutting machine, the biggest deciding factor between a Silhouette Cameo 4 and a Cricut Maker was matless, continuous cutting. Cutting a whole 5ft roll of vinyl is great...except it has made loading and roller differentials VERY ANXIETY INDUCING

Nothing like killing a whole roll of vinyl because your rollers can't keep it straight and the software has decided it's necessary to spool all the way to the bottom and back to the top multiple times during your cutting job even though you told it to minimize that!!!

Okay, FINALLY got a successful test cut on a full 5' roll of HTV (albeit the one I ruined before, I didn't want to sacrifice another one!). I had to split the pattern and add pauses to force the Cameo to cut each section completely before advancing. Feat some test cuts on paper

Today is probably going to be very boring updates-wise because sanding PLA is boring. I have been procrastinating on these beacon handles for 9+ months because it's just... not interesting, but I can't advance to later stages without it. :I

WE DID IT LADS

Vinyl for the lining is all cut out!!

Slowly getting out of sanding hell and into painting. These are the handles for the Beacon and the little split hotdog looking things are what are (hopefully) going to be a way for them to get some stability while resting against the edges of the dodecahedron.

Weaving in long stretches is really stressing out my back, so to take sitting breaks I'm messing around with modeling in Blender. This is very minor but I thought it would be cool to make an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location. (that's what Caleb has, right??)

I'm also...plugging away... this feels like it will never end. :| I'm averaging about 10 inches of weaving per night and I need at least 100, I think.

SWATCH BLOCK SWATCH BLOCK

My color matrix came from @myfabricdesigns!! I'm using their faux linen slub for Caleb's funky scarf because it's got a really nice drape and feels soft! I've gotta finalize my color picks and then I can get the scarf fabric printed!

Oh, woof... I'm really glad I double-checked the colors with swatches because I had no idea there was going to be this much difference between my monitor and irl colors. Far left is my first draft, middle right is the color-corrected version.

I found a way to sit that doesn't murder my back! I've been filming time lapses to make a weaving compilation video but I thought this angle was funny because you can see the slow creep of the loom to the left as I beat it towards me.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

WE'RE OFF THE LOOM BOYS

Prewash done! I think I accidentally made a stretch knit? I'm really pleased because it shrank the exact amount I was expecting it to based off my sample square. I'll definitely be backing this with a light iron-on interfacing to make it not sag weirdly.

I am boo boo the fool

I thought this out, triple checked it, even said to @pearlbaecosplay "hey do you ever have the fear when you're cutting out asymmetrical pieces that you'll mirror it wrong"

GUESS WHAT I DID

THE LAPEL PIECE IS ON THE WRONG SIDE

I have ¿enough??? extra fabric to cut another one BUT NOT MUCH

Okay, better news? @pearlbaecosplay and I found out that having the lapel insert cut on grain like I originally planned made our eyeballs mad, and it looks better if the warp grain exactly bisects the angle of either the top corner or lower corner of the triangle the lapel makes.

I have enough fabric left to try both options, but just to make sure I orient the grain the best way I'm gonna put cutting this last piece out on the back burner until I can put everything on a dress form to double check everything.

Dotted lines = possible grain orientations.

I'm not allowed to post progress after midnight because apparently I forget to put things in the thread https://twitter.com/Ivorivet/status/1221671173823565824?s=19

Tonight has not been a good night for my brain so I'm sticking to something easy and mindless. Weeding out the last few rolls of HTV for the lining.

Menswear is really hard. Need to make a few tweaks to the collar pattern so it doesn't choke me, then cut out the final lapel piece from the woven fabric scraps. (This is actually the reversed lapel pinned in place to check the pattern direction!) Making progress slowly!

It still needs to have half the lining put in and be hemmed, but LAPEL WRANGLING WAS A SUCCESS

Trying to tie up loose ends today and keep myself motivated by spending 90 min or less chunks of time on multiple projects instead of trying to marathon through one. Tunic is done minus closures (check out that arm hole), and I'm working on clasps for the coat!

Finishing up the day with a quick win mini-project because sewing hooks & bars and fussing with collars is not super fun. @pearlbaecosplay sent me a link to some clear unicorn ornaments and now thanks to iDye poly and Sharpies we have amber unicorns.

Sometimes when you're making copies of stuff and you're on a deadline, it's fine to say "good enough!"

I can't solder this metal, so to make buttons I tried embedding copper wire in the sand which worked okay?? Then I decided to not be lazy and fix my model to give it a tab.

When you oversize your lapel pieces so you can draw on them and some kid comes and yells at you about a white dragon with blue eyes

I'm pretty happy with the mock-up for the coat now! I use felt for this type of stuff because I feel like it helps simulate the drape of the final fabric, but it also gets stretched out pretty easily so I hope my pattern isn't distorted...

All the lining and outer pieces for the coat are cut out! I'm hanging them overnight to let them stretch before sewing any long seams. @pearlbaecosplay is also being a darling and providing tons of tailoring advice, including my first pad stitched collar. My ham is very fancy!

WEE WOO WEE WOO

I AM ASSIGNING EVERYONE WHO SEES ME AT KATSU A VERY IMPORTANT TASK

I NEED YOU TO ASK ME IF I PUT POCKETS IN MY COSTUME AND IF I DIDN'T YOU HAVE TO MERCILESSLY MAKE FUN OF ME

Pad stitching on undercollar is done! It's S P R I N G Y

I am STRESSING OUT over applying this HTV because I have to piece two very long pieces together and make them match up along a 5' long repeat. I pressed and peeled back one section and I'm pretty sure the carrier plastic shrank very slightly.

It's all on!! I'm not a fan of the pillowing, which is due to the slight stretchiness on the bias of the fabric, so I'll probably be backing this with a very light fusible interfacing. The color is exactly what I wanted though!

I'm also incredibly happy because my scarf fabric came in from @myfabricdesigns yesterday!! I made my lv. 1 scarf by sewing two prefab scarves together but I constantly fidget with trying to keep the seam from showing... so I treated myself and got a continuous 4 yds of this.

I. AM. SO PUMPED. ABOUT THIS FABRIC.

I was really hoping that the faux linen slub from @myfabricdesigns would allow me to "draw a thread" since this scarf is basically a giant rectangle, and it did!! Pulling out a some thread gave me a guideline to cut an easy straight line.

You know what very silly oversight I made last night?

I didn't put any HTV on the collar upper and I thought I was done with it all

But I got to put everything on my dressform to get an idea of how I want the pattern direction to go, and it's starting to look like a costume!!

Took a moment to try on my Taako trousers with everything because I was planning on using the same pattern for Caleb's, and like... it's not that bad?? Colors clash a little but they'd do in a pinch. It's weird how they look way less green from far away.

...Also I am mildly horrified by trying to imagine the scenario of how Caleb Widogast would end up obtaining pants from Taako Adventurezone.

Tried using a light fusible interfacing to stabilize the stretchy fashion fabric, hated how it looked, so I'm trying to keep it from stretching by putting twill tape in a lot of the seams. Hopefully this will work??

TO BE FAIR

IT WAS PROFESSIONALLY FUSED TOGETHER

https://twitter.com/pearlbaecosplay/status/1226288801271730176?s=19

I didn't realize I hadn't posted the final belt yet! Plus a quick transmuter's stone out of stash stuff because I really liked that detail on the character sketches even if it didn't make it into the final art.

Pants are done! I took a minute to check how everything layers together. I want this coat done so bad but I need to finish the wig first. We're getting close!!

Liam: so Caleb's hair is getting pretty long

Me: ........that means I ought to just leave the wig like this, right

Hair up: man ponytail. Disheveled. Brooding.

Hair down: call me beep me if you wanna reach me

Finished my belts! I wanted to reuse the pouch I had for my level 1 Caleb but still make it able to be used for either costume. I set some snap rivets into the back and now it's removable from the pouch backing!

I'm putting myself to bed because I am in a very rage-inducing stage rn. The coat is very heavy and because of how large the tails are, every time I try to sew/iron one, the weight of the other three make it hard to hold in place. It's like fighting an angry, tired toddler.

The inside of this collar will never see the light of day again and I am acutely aware of why many people who do padstitching like to post pictures before their work is cask-of-amontillado'd away

Welp I had a minor meltdown last night because everything was going really well and then setting in the sleeves was just VERY BAD. @pearlbaecosplay gave me some sanity-saving advice and this boy is in my suitcase now. It's wearable!

HEY WOW THIS THREAD BLEW UP

I am SO thankful for all the kind words and support you guys have given me during this process. I don't normally go this hard on cosplay, but there were so many techniques I've wanted to try for a long time that could be used here. I love y'all.

Also just to be candid here since I feel like sharing screw-ups is important too - here is what it looks like when you're setting in your sleeves at 1 am and FLIPPING OUT about how it's not behaving like you thought. I wanna redo these after the con.

Mini update: I still have some tweaks I'd like to make before ECCC but I've made the scarf fabric available here! https://myfabricdesigns.com/Artist/ivorivet/Blog/Show/487

It's not a continuous piece because the website can't handle my 4yd monstrosity. Also I'm not making $ off this - just sharing to help!

Putting this in the thread too - here's how I did the lining fabric! The big write up is probably not gonna be ready for another few weeks. https://twitter.com/Ivorivet/status/1231462780395499521?s=19

Picking this thread back up again because I have been working on recording a demo of my first time doing lost wax casting with an at home setup and wanted to use some buttons for Caleb as my first project since they're small... IT ACTUALLY WORKED??