Cosplay Q&A

Got a question about a cosplay? How about on how to build something? What about needing a review on a company? Ask away! Occassional tutorials/information will be posted along with answering *your* questions. Any tutorials or information that isn't made me will get linked to the original creator for credit. Due note: No cosplay bashing will be on this site. We all started somewhere and we're all at different levels.

[sartorialadventure]

Here is the Blog of the Game of Thrones Costume Maker

There is so much going on in that crazy HBO show Game of Thrones that we rarely get to stop and appreciate the finer details that go into its creation. Michelle Carragher is the talented embroiderer and illustrator behind the lavish costumes worn by many of the characters, and her blog is like a se

Michelle Carragher’s blog includes instructions on how to create this dragon scale effect in fabric!

“For Sansa’s wedding dress the designer Michele Clapton wanted to have an embroidered band that wrapped around which symbolistically told Sansa’s life from the Tully and Stark beginnings to the entanglement with the Lannisters,” says Michelle, “The dress colour was still very much Sansa Stark and the embroidery had pale golden tones but woven through the story are ripe red pomegranates, the red colour symbolising the growing Lannister influence over her.

[thememacat]

I love this kind of needlework.  I hope this starts a trend!

[pisaracos]

Wig Hack Wednesday #6 ! Want to make your ponytail wig more believable with top volume? Ponytail clips are cool but they can be uncomfortable after long hours of wearing. You can make seamless high ponytail with this method for characters like Kasumi (Dead or Alive), Widowmaker (Overwatch), or Medea (Fate/Grand Order) For this demo, I used a Sandy Brown Jeannie base wig from Arda Wigs. The Jeannie comes with a tied up ponytail wig with a ponytail clip. You can use normal non-ponytail wig as a start as well. Make sure to alter the wig so you can tie it up for the stubbed part and use extra wefts for the high ponytail part.

- Undo the tail of the Jeannie base wig and re-tie it higher. Use elastic band for this instead of rubber band so that it won’t melt against hot glue later. Cut off the extra length of the tail as closely as you can to the tied area. Stub with hot glue. - Cut a piece of cardboard for the tail’s “extension”. - Hot glue the cardboard piece to the top of the tail, going around it. I used a half-piece, but if you need extra support, cut a bigger piece so that you can completely wrap it around the tail. - Add paper to the top of the cardboard using packaging tape. You can stack it higher if you wish but keep the weight in mind. - Take the butterfly clip out of the ponytail clip that comes with the Jeannie. Cut the piece in half. - Use the bottom piece from the last step to glue onto the top of the tail. Start gluing near the tied area first. - Section off the hair so it’s easier to neatly glue it down to the paper form. Start from the top area, and then the two sides. - Remember the other half piece from the ponytail clip earlier? Cut it in half again and use one of the halves to glue to the underside of your big ponytail to close the gap. - Brush the hair and hairspray it in place and you have a strong high ponytail! Since it’s heavy-back, you may need to sew in some wig clips or zig zag flexi comb inside the wig cap by the hairline to make sure the wig doesn’t slide backward when you walk around.

[vickysmemecenter]

How to make different types of sleeves

In this video u will learn how to make different types of Puff Sleeve, Origami sleeve, and Tulip or petal sleeve,Petal sleeves

Useful and will use later.

[kamuicosplay]

The Book of Cosplay Sewing is out now! It’s only 5$! 

https://www.kamuicosplay.com/product/cosplaysewingdownload/

If you always had struggle with fabric and your sewing machine, this is the perfect volume to start! I wrote it especially for cosplayers and guide you from choosing the right material, over pattern making to finishing a complete costume! Hope you like it! :)

[fahrlightloki]

Useful!!!

[komomocosplay]

The Juliet Strap. Bridals best kept secret.

You’ll find them on most strapless bridal gowns, if the style allows for it, but you wont see much mention of them online.

I haven’t been able to find any tutorials, no explanation, just the occasional reference on a bridal site. Sometimes they’re wrongly called a waist stay, other times I’ve seen them called an elastic bustier, but Juliet strap is what we call them, and its less confusing. The manufacturers who make our dresses for us (I work with a bridal designer) have never been confused when we asked for a Juliet strap in a dress.

Its a wide strap of elastic thats sewn into the side seams and has a closure like a bra band. I’ve seen them up to about 8 inches wide, the one in the picture is about 3.

What does a Juliet strap do? It holds the front of the dress to you! If its wide enough, it will also act as a bit of a corset. 

The strap helps hold the front up, and against your body. And keeps the movement of the front to a minimum. If you’re worried about a dress falling down, or not giving enough support in the front, its an easy alteration that will improve the fit. however, It works best with boning.

It would be the perfect addition to a bunny suit, or strapless dresses like Neo Queen serenity. 

[cowbuttcrunchies]

Cosplay Tutorial: How to Create Worbla Feathers

By popular request: it’s the worbla feather tutorial!!

For Tsukki’s Legend of Karasuno cosplay, I decided to go with a heavy crow motif, and what better way to do that than covering myself in feather armor?  I ended up crafting close to 100 in total between the shield, gauntlet, and pauldrons, using a few different tweaks for different armor pieces.  However all of my feathers were made in one of two ways: either by sandwiching worbla around foam for a very thick, large feather, or by stacking two pieces of worbla for a thinner but very sturdy feather that is thick enough to etch deep details into.  Read on for these two methods!

Keep reading

[cowbuttcrunchies]

Unfortunately coletterie.com does not have a tumblr, but this image is so helpful I had to share.  So often people ask us what fabric they should use for a certain cosplay, and two things you should always ask yourself are: 1) how much does it need to flow, and 2) how heavy does it need to be.  Sheen and texture are obviously important as well, but picking a weight and stiffness is the first thing you should tackle.

From The Coletterie’s awesome blog post:

When you choose a fabric for your sewing project, ask yourself these questions to decide on an appropriate weight:

Should my fabric be sheer or opaque?

Will a light fabric be difficult to sew for this project?

Will the fabric be sturdy enough to tolerate stress on the seams?

Will the heaviness of the fabric cause bulky seams?

And to decide on an appropriate amount of drape:

Will the fabric have enough drape to flow the way I want?

Will the fabric have enough stiffness to have the structure and crispness I want?

[dangerous-ladies]

Tutorials and Costume Notes

“THE BIG ONES”

The following are our most popular tutorials, so they get a place of honour up top so that they are easier found :)

Custom thigh highs

Spandex boots

Basic capes

Cupcake “Madoka” skirts 

GENERAL SEWING:

What is broadcloth for, anyway?

How do I avoid burning polyester with my iron?

Where do I go to learn to line things?

What is bias tape?

Where do I go to learn to sew?

Why should I use shoulder pads?

Notes on sewing vinyl/pleather

What do you do with retired costumes?

Learning at an advanced level

Why line a petticoat?

Why should I do mock-ups?

What is a knit?

What is horsehair braid?

Painting denim/heavyweights

How do I make my costumes look clean and professional?

Tips for sewing gloves

Washing your costumes

Finishing seams

WHAT FABRIC FOR… 

What fabric should I line with?

What fabric for mock-ups?

What fabric for a character who lives in the desert?

What fabric for sailor shirts?

What fabric do I use for a flowy tunic?

What fabric for a schoolgirl jacket?

What fabric for an Assassin novice/period character?

PATTERNING:

How important are pattern blocks?

How do measurements on your tutorials work?

How do different patterns effect the shape of a hood?

What do we draft patterns on?

Keeping patterns clean and organized

Tools for marking patterns/fabric

SEWING MACHINES: 

What To Look For 

What To Look For 2 

What machines do we have? 

Stop-And-Start Buttons 

Sergers 

Vintage Machines 

Embroidery Machines

Recommendations

FOOTWEAR:

Painting Boots 

Custom Printed Tights 

Making Custom Thigh Highs  

Stenciled Designs on Tights

High Heel Tips 

First Time in High Heels? 

Painting Rubber Boots 

Making Shoes From Scratch

Paint Colours for Vanellope Tights

NOTES ON PARTICULAR COSTUMES:

Poison Ivy 

Captain America 

Fire Emblem: Awakening: Lissa’s hoopskirts, Henry/Say’ri’s loincloths, Chrom’s trim, Panne overview

Satsuki and Nonon’s pleated dresses without waist seams

Serah Farron’s belt (Final Fantasy 13)

Ledo’s catsuit (Suisui no Gargantia)

Josephine’s shirt (Dragon Age)

Ruby’s petticoat (RWBY)

STRETCH FABRICS:

Attaching Applique to Spandex 

Embroidery and Satin-Stitching on Spandex 

Ironing Spandex 

Recommendations for Attaching Logos 

Fabrics For Catsuits 

Crisp Necklines With Knit 

Can I alter a one-piece catsuit to be two pieces? 

Shortcuts to make bodysuits

CAPES:

Basic Single-Layer Capes 

Tips for Safe Capes 

Collared Capes 

Channeling for Articulated Capes 

Cape Closures 

Fabric Options

Preventing lined capes from “drifting”

BATGIRLS:

StephBatgirl Cowl 

Batgirl Bracers 

Easy Belt Pouches 

More Notes on Pouches 

“Black Bat” Cape 

Steph’s “Robin” Leggings 

Zentai Suit Sellers 

Non-Wholesale Bodysuit Sellers

SUPERGIRLS:

General Tag 

Spandex Boots 

General Tips 

Making the Emblem 

Turner Skirt 

Turner Cape Pattern 

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA:

Tomoe Mami | Boots | Shirt Pattern | Mami’s Rifle Tag  | Rifle Pattern | Installing Horsehair | Links

Akemi Homura | Tights

Kyoko Sakura | Hoodie Source | Prep List | Order of Assembly

Miki Sayaka | Sword Pattern

Madoka Kaname | Petticoat Tutorial | Two-Part Skirts | Cupcake Skirt

 Other: Simple Bows | Soul Gem Commission Interest | Attaching Soul Gems

FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING:

This section would honestly be massive on its own, so it can be found over on its own masterlist. Even if you’re not cosplaying from FEA, it has some interesting stuff.

SAILOR SCOUTS:

Lining

Material choices

AESTHETICS:

Make-Up Products

Body Wizardry

Faking Large Breasts + Binding Resources

Tips for Defined Waistlines 

Hiding Leg Cellulite

Slimming Pants

Tall Cosplayers

Face/Body Paint Brands

Two-Coloured Lips

Breast support for costumes with open fronts

Keeping cool in costume

ARMOR:

What They Don’t Tell You About Worbla

PROPS AND ACCESSORIES:

Wearing Helmets 

Wing-Making Resources 

How do I prime a plastic?

What are our moulds made of?

WIGS:

Anchoring Ponytail Wigs 

Maintaining Long Wigs 

Wig Sources with Fast Shipping 

Where to Get Inexpensive but Good Wigs

Tips for Curly Wigs

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Flight Illusions

SHOPPING:

Where did you get your pale dance tights?

On Milanoo and wholesale

More on Milanoo and wholesale

COMMUNITY:

Talking To Your Parents

Cosplay Group Etiquette 

Financial Tips 

Being Body Positive 

On Criticizing Concept Artists

Staying Motivated

How to Get Started

Why Don’t We Do Commissions?

Our Approach to Group Cosplay

Do We Work Out?

RECIPES:

Banana Bread

[anachronisminaction]

Itsy Bitsy Hems

When hemming super sheer and delicate fabrics, I am always reminded of that quote from Futurama, “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.”

I learned this technique from Vicky, one of my frequent co-workers on shows, who is honestly far too modest considering all of the amazing costumes she has made over the years. (She doesn’t really have social media etc.) I forget the exact reason it came up, but she said it was a favorite technique she would use on delicate dresses she made for Coleen Atwood films. The key is adding machine paper (Like from an adding or cash register machine) a nice roll of almost computer-paper weight paper, nothing fancy like the shiny chemical reactant kind. This method is a little time consuming, but with practice you can get amazingly clean hems that are 1/8” - 1/16 on even the most difficult of fabrics.  

For this tutorial I documented sewing the skirt of my Evelyn Cosplay, because the skirt is one continuous piece of fabric (about 5 yards) I really wanted the hem to be as clean as possible, and this technique is perfect for that. The Top two photos were Taken by Eric Anderson, or my finished costume at the Exposition Rose Gardens in Los Angeles.

Step 1 - Lay your fabric/hem edge on a flat surface, like a big table or the floor. It is important to let the fabric sit as you want it to be hemmed. So if its bias and you want the hem stretched out/ to ripple, stretch the fabric gently. If you want it natural - lying relaxed and so on.  pin the adding machine paper under the hem, keeping the desired hem tension. On curved areas tear and angle the paper. Basically you are using the paper to “block out” the desired hem once sewn.

Step 2 -  Stitch about 1/2” from your cut edge, as shown. (I had a 1/2” Seam allowance on my pattern) Once it’s all stitched to the paper, take out your pins and go to the iron. Using the paper as an anchor, use the iron to press the fabric on the stitch line so the seam allowance folds over onto itself. You want a clean sharpe fold.   Remove the paper gently. I find it easiest to tear one side free, taking advantage of the stitch perforations. The second side will fall away much easier; any lingering little bits can be gently wiggled loose with a pin.

Step 3 -  Stitch a second line of stitching next to the first/now the folded edge. If you stitch 1/8” your finished hem will be close to 1/8”, 1/16 will be 1/16” etc. I find I get a nicer result if I *very* gently pull the fabric taunt while sewing this second line. Using very small scissors (I have a curved pair I like for this) trim off the seam allowance as close to the second line of stitching as you can. Press.

Step 4 -  Folding the hem one more time on the second stitch line (or as close as you can get it) stitch through all layers. Again, I find I get a nicer result if I *very* gently pull the fabric taunt while sewing. Trim off your thread tails, press it again and Viola! Done.

[elicatherogue]

10 Tips From a Cosplayer

Okay, so I’ve been doin this nonsense for about 8 years now and here are my 10 biggest tips for anyone else doing this sadistic hobby (This is a bit geared towards people who make costumes just FYI. I will post another more geared for beginners or those who buy later)

1) Remember Why You Do This.

Maybe you showed up to con and were 1 of 74 Jinx’s. Or maybe your costume wasn’t as accurate as someone else’s. Or maybe it feels like everyone else made theirs and you bought yours. So what? Did you have fun? Did you meet friends, and/or bond with the people you came with? Unless you’re in the contests, remember that it ISN’T a contest. And even the contests are meant to be fun. Alternatively, don’t let any elitist fans ruin your fun.

2) Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously.

Remember that being a cosplayer doesn’t make you ‘more’ of a fan than someone who doesn’t. Remember that you do this for your own enjoyment and that is all that matters. Spend as long or as little as you want on a costume, end a con with 20 silly selfies and some new friends, compliment that other cosplayer in the same outfit because you clearly both have something in common, don’t think of them as competition.

3) Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help.

Parents, siblings, teachers, friends, neighbors, craft store employees, theater teachers, art teachers, people online. There are tons of people who could offer help with even little things like what glue to use on foam that needs heatshaping(non-flammable x-treme elmers glue is nice) , what paint to use on leggings (apparently fabric paint stretches with it just fine), ask your grandma what stitch is best for rounded edges on cotton (idk), ask a JoAnn’s associate what thread to use. In my experience store associates are extremely helpful, even with things like a second opinion on matching colors.

4) Use Coupons.

Seriously. If you can, set up an email just for coupons. Going to Michaels for a 2 dollar little thing of paint? Use that coupon they emailed you and now it’s 75 cents and you have more money for other things like fancy fabric or idk food. Check if any stores have student or teacher or senior discounts if that’s applicable, then you’ll have a discount even without coupons. Especially good for big purchases. If you’re buying everything at once there is almost definitely some sort of 5 off of 30 type of coupon out there. If you are able, this is a good way to set up a savings for con or your next costume maybe, just look at the receipt, see how much you saved and set that much (or a part) aside for food/hotel/gas/merch.

5) Look at your Source.

No matter how well you know your character or your design do not go very long without looking at the source. Working on a wig? Have a picture in front of you the whole time. Maybe sketch out the different angles beforehand. Going fabric shopping? Stare at the original. If you print out a reference pic know that it may be slightly off. If you’re doing a costume where the color seems different in every shot (like Rey from Star Wars) then pick the one you like. If you can, consider coloring or painting a swatch of the color on an index card and bringing it with you to compare. Seriously. Keep checking the source when working. It’s equivalent to “measure twice cut once”.

6) Measure Twice Cut Once.

Even in crunch. I know, it’s stressful and scary and frustrating but you know what is more frustrating and scary and stressful? It being 8pm the night before the con and you just cut that last bit of fabric too small. Or your wig too short. Seriously. Just double check yourself.

7) Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself.

Outdated meme but useful tip. If you’re getting anxious to a difficult level, or exhausted physically or mentally  address it. Take a break. Take a nap. Eat a meal. Go for a walk. Watch an episode of that show you’re trying to cosplay. Play that game. Watch cosplay videos if you’re scared of losing motivation. Just don’t push yourself too hard or you risk messing up parts of your costume and more importantly, you risk hurting yourself. Don’t work until you accidentally stab yourself with a hot iron and have a panic attack. Would you rather spend 15 minutes playing with your cat or crying and bandaging yourself?

8) Use It.

Found some fabric you love for that SnK skirt thing, but it’s infused with glitter?Who cares, use it. Every cosplay you have seen of Red Hood has a lot of leather and cargo pants but you want skinny jeans and suede? Use it. The costume is for you. Make it how you want. To quote the great Hilary Duff “Why Not?” Also, go listen to that song if you need encouragement. 

9) Enjoy The Whole Process.

Maybe it is redundant at this point but seriously. Have fun. Not just at the con, party, photoshoot, meetup etc. Have a wig styling party. You finished that jacket? Nice, wear it out shopping and be proud. Make a playlist for each character you work on or general motivational music. 8-tracks.com is great for this too. Test those seams/that hairgel/ those shoes/ flexibility by putting on your jam and dancing around. Send snapchats to your friends when you test your make up. Skype your aunt to show off that circle skirt. Put your hat on your dog. 

10) Procrastination isn’t Great.

Probably don’t put off making your costume by making a list of tips for other people.

[angelacostumery]

Making a ruffly [cupcake shaped] petticoat + skirt

Circle skirt tutorial – Ruffle/Gathering Tutorial & Info

^important stuff

[almost] finished project! 

-This will not work with very flimsy materials (such as chiffon, jersey, costume satin etc.) you need fabric with at least some natural stiffness  

-These get pretty heavy so they should be made with a fitted waistband and a zipper + snap closure. Elastics will fall down on you D:  

-This requires making at least 25 yards or ruffles, which means over 150 yards of hemming so…uh…set some time aside for making this.

-If you have a question about this, I’d be happy to answer, but for the love of god don’t ask it on anon. 

Keep in mind that circle skirts have really long hems, and when laid flat are, quite literally, a circle. This will probably equate to being more work and volume then you want.

For this I ended up cutting a half circle skirt, three inches shorter then I wanted my finished petti/skirt to be. This is a BASE, it will not be seen, and should be made from a somewhat sturdy material that will not stretch or tear. 

I cut strips of a heavy tulle netting (the scratchy awful type, not the pretty flimsy stuff used on princess skirts) until I had ten four inch by one yd strips. These get sewn together until I have one long strip, then ruffles get sewn onto the bottom.

 The strip gets folded in half (right sides together) and sewn across the seam where the ruffles were attached. 

Then the tulle gets gathered down to the size of my skirt hem and sewn into place. It will look like this. 

Then repeat but with longer tulle! This time I used eight inch strips which were obviously sewn four inches above my four inch layer.  

Now you have a lovely A-line petticoat that just needs a zipper…but that’s not what we’re making here. We want a cupcake shaped petti! 

So that requires one more layer that starts from your waist. Measure from the waist of your skirt to where the tulle ends and add a seam allowance for ruffles.  For the length, multiply your waist measurement by four. 

Add the ruffle, and then sew something over the seam to hide fraying. In this  case I used really cheap lace. 

Then gather that down and sew it into place. 

Now the ruffles should  lay somewhat evenly but they are kind of all over the place. 

you can fix that by taking a very large needle and sewing through all the layers of tulle until they are compacted down a bit

And then you *can* sew a hoop into the petti so it will never deflate! All that really requires is hand sewing hooping wire on which isn’t very complicated at all. 

Uhmm and then the overskirt is just gathered circle skirts + a ruffle!

I think adding a waistband and zipper is pretty straight forward so i’ll leave that to you. 

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW RUFFLY MASTERPIECE!

More info on how the skirt part was made will be up here soon. 

[aelynn]

1. Cutting out foam strips

2. Sewing foam strips into tubes

3. ( Not shown; dying tubes yellow ) Covering tubes in beige nylon

4. Cutting wefts from additional wigs

5. Separating sections of the base wig

6. Sew tube to nape of neck 7. Sew all tubes to nape of neck ( aha! )

8. Glue wefts around tubes ( ribbon helps them stay sectioned off )

9. Braid sections, drape around tubes and braid the big braid

10. DECORATE AND YOU’RE DONE! ( Please note that I left out the swearing, crying, binge eating out of frustration, hours worth of combing out tangles, the pile of casualty wig hair and multiple failed attempts at the big braid cause the tubes kept getting tangled amongst each other. )

[rebelsong]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! <3

[inklins]

You deserve a fuckin medal for all that hard work can we all just take a moment to slow clap it out for this amazing gal you go sister you’ve managed to do the thing and you did a pretty damn good job

[cowbuttcrunchies]

Corsets are very finicky, very fitted, very individualized garments, so even more so than other pieces you might encounter in costume-making.  As such you should always make a mock-up before cutting into your fancy fabric with a pattern that may not fit.

That said, corsets are a pain in the ass to put together so doing a full and proper mock-up is also a pain in the ass.  A proper corset has at least two layers, with boning channels, with (preferably) steel boning cut to size for each channel.  Aka lots of work just for a test fit. Not everyone has the time to do this 2-3 times, so we take a few shortcuts.

Some corset mock-up hacks to save time and tears:

Instead of cutting your steel, capping it, and possibly finding out you’ve cut it the wrong size (and wasting it!), use plastic heavy duty zipties.  Durability doesn’t matter if all you’re doing is testing the fit.  Your local hardware store and Amazon sells them.

Instead of making a multi-layer mock up with real boning channels to stick my zip ties in, I get super macguyver and tape them to the inside of the corset, along the seamlines where they would normally go.  Masking tape is good for this because it will usually stick to muslin but can be peeled off a bit when I’m making adjustments.  Just make sure you tape it carefully, along the full pressed out length of the seam.

Putting in real grommets to do the lacing in the back is a waste of my time and 10 cents a grommet.  Instead I bought a yard of premade heavy coutil eyelet tape and basted it into the back.  It lets me lace up the test and then I can just seamrip it back off. (Grab your own here)

[ladycels]

If you would like to see more, please check out my facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/LadyCels 

You can view the full sized tutorial HERE .

[katvalkyrie]

For the attachments on my vambraces I used leather straps, but since I needed to get my arm in I added elastic to one end to allow some stretch. When it’s on my arm there’s no evidence of the strapping which is how it looks in game. I’m really happy with how it tuned out.

#cosplay #worbla #leather #diablo #doomcrusader #diablo3 #diablocosplay #d3 #armor

[dangerous-ladies]

I dig this, this is a neat approach to straps without buckles.

[cosplayqna]

A queue has been created

Long time; no see! Finally had a chance to sit down and go through a few of the saved tutorials on here and add them to the queue. I’ll be working on keeping that queue filled as much as I can. 

Please remember that I am here to help, so if you have questions, please ask away! Thank you all for waiting and supporting this blog. I should have a bit of a revamp on it coming up, including a meet the person behind the screen!

[lovely-hikari-cosplay]

Cellophane Wings Tutorial

Hello everyone! I was asked to show how I made my wings for my friend, Tia *I’m not sure if she has a Tumblr*

So, the materials you’ll need are:

-Pliers

-Tape (preferrably duck/duct or electrical)

-Lighter/Matches

-Wire Hangers

-Cellophane

-Spray Adhesive

-Clothing Iron

-Towel + Sturdy surface

**Copper/Malleable Wiring**

First thing you want to do is untwist the hanger and get it as straight as possible. From there, you’re going to shape it to the basic frame or silhouette that you desire for your character.

After shaping it, you’re going to twist the loose ends together and tape it to hold their shape, as shown above. **If you have any over hanging wire after untwisting, use your pliers and hundred power to to cut it off**

Next, You can decide whether you want your inner details to be out of wire or cellophane. I suggest using wire for wings that look veiny, like Tinkerbell’s, and cellophane for more mythical wings like in Winx Club.

I used copper wire because it was much easier to shape than the spare hanger wire. To keep everything together, I wrapped the frame in duck tape, making sure to lock in the detail wire. I also attached the inner wires to themselves the same way, but without wrapping all the way around. (Does that make sense???)

Next, cut out two sheets (or more depending on detail)of cellophane in any colour. (I used iridescent here). Make sure they are the same size or that one is bigger than another. Spray some adhesive on one sheet and put your wing frame on to it, *DON’T PRESS DOWN YET, your fingers will get sticky and it’s annoying.** 

Spray more adhesive on the wire frame and also the second sheet of cellophane. Place the second sheet glue side down onto the wire frame and press well, but not too hard. You want the cellophane to get into the curves and corners of the wings, but you don’t want it to tear.

**That jumbled mess up there is all four wings glued down**

Then, heat up your clothing iron. I had mine set on Linen/Cotton, which is the highest setting for mine, I believe, but i did have it on the lower end of High. Lay down a towel on your sturdy surface and place your wing on it. Lay another, thinner (not TOO thin) towel upon it. Then, take your iron and just run over the towel where you know your wings are (I like to spray the steam from my iron before I do this). 

Go over absolutely every area. Leave no stone unturned and pay special attention to the areas that the cellophane was restricted from adhereing to. I think I did this for about 5-7 minutes, lifting up the iron and towel occasionally to check the status.

Once the cellophane is heated up, it’ll look like the wire frame has been vacuum sealed. At this point, let the whole thing cool down and cut off the excess plastic.

Now, go into a well ventilated area or open some windows, because we’re going to be burning some plastic.

Using a lighter, run the flame gently over the trimmed edges to close up any gaps that may have appeared. BE CAREFUL, if you leave the flame there too long, the platic will burn away, creating a hole that may travel.

**NOTE: If you want to create burn patterns, quickly and I mean QUICKLY bring the the flame to the areas you want to burn out. You have to be fast so that a giant hole isn’t created.

Once that’s over with, pick your favourite way of securing wings to your back and you’re finished! I embedded my wings into the back plate of my armor using styrofoam. But you could also make them like corsetwear or affix them to be like a back pack of sorts.

**Me as Tatl from Majora’s Mask**

**Photo by @crossroadimages**

Happy cosplaying!