to celebrate i'm gonna start a thread of all the weird and stupid things I did to make some of my fe cosplays

Leo: Had to make him twice. It was my first time making foam armor and it fell apart after every step and destroyed itself when I bent my body cause it was foamies 1mm shit. Second time around I chucked out my knee and elbw guards and redid the breastplate and reinforced--

all the spikes with cardboard from cereal boxes. Also I remade him after having planned and failed to finish 5 costumes and I didn't know how the hell to attach anything to me, so I glued on little loops of foam and used yarn to tie everything together and it worked

i also made his jewel hanging things out of model magic that didn't fully dry through for MONTHS aklsjdfsdf I don't even know if it ever did?? It was always squishy even after i rewore it in july after making them in february

Hinoka: Honestly I had bought a random dark red wig on a black friday sale for NO REASON and months later was like "hmm.... cosplay" and randomly chose hinoka. So the red and white fabric I chose? broadcloth, literally hoann's country classic (now sew classic) broadcloth

I had bought black and white twill fabric for failed projects, and I just learned about flat lining, so I used those underneath the cotton to make a very stable dress. Also I drafted the bolero with no side seams and I was SO PROUD but god adding the white trim as a result sucked

TATIANA IS PROBABLY THE 2ND WORST THING I'VE MADE it's real funny. This was a struggle cosplay if I ever made one...... but a valuable lesson in itself. I had like, 2 or 3 yards of ivory satin left over after a very failed sakizou attempt which is why she's ivory instead of white

i made the underhoop with like... nylon chiffon cause i had it left over from olivia v1. The hoop was from a gutted hoop skirt. This was also the first skirt/dress i've made so I didn't realize that "floor length" didn't mean... actual floor length so walking was a pain

i also had green crepe from somewhere??? that was used, and the darker green was SHITTY SHINY SATIN that I turned to the wrong side so it didn't look bargain bin... and the gold...... THE GOLD.

Here's little 20(?) yr old jonie struggling to find a gold fabric for their fire emblem cosplays. All they want is something consistent, and then they discover this gold satin at hoanns! What section? .....glitterbug. Glitterbug satin.

i bought a few yards, and i turned it into YARDS of bias tape for this project.... no, it didn't really want to iron, yes, it frayed badly, and no, there was no way to sew it on neatly. Yes, I lost some years off my life trying to sew it on to the tiered ruffled part

and then comes the foam pieces. Here I learned about how everyone was using ~6mm foam~ for their projects, and while I loved my 1mm foamies, I was like, well I gotta do it like everyone else! Unfortunately I had bad blades and didn't understand beveling or using contact cement

not that I really could do anything better. I was living w/ my parents w/ no vehicle and very limited amounts of money. Even buying the 2 yards of satin was a big investment for me. Also, I had no heat gun. I sealed the foam with my iron

and finally, attachments. Velcro was chosen, but not strong velcro, and it didn't really work, so with no time left, I was left w/ using safety pins and praying, and it worked out for what I needed. I felt pretty in the costume despite nobody knowing who I was, and I got to rep--

my favorite fire emblem game, which i actually didn't know it was my favorite at that time cause I never played it I made the costume instead of buying the game, but later found out echoes SCHLAPS so yay

and PA olivia, also a struggle project tbh but one that perfectly worked out and I'm honestly SO upset I made it for the shittiest con experience i've ever had :(

I made this thread talking abt weird and shitty techniques I did so unfortunately PA olivia didn't really have many that I wouldn't use again. It was mostly stash fabric and all I bought was maybe the organza?

one technique i don't really use anymore but keep in my pocket is doing satin details with heat n bond and a soldering iron. It's a real fast way to get those details without satin stitching. I still top stitched them down but if you make the costume in a week you save time

that fan was cardboard, foam, and popsicle sticks... hilariously awful but looks great from a distance.