HOW I MADE MY FEM!CHANCE FROM DATE EVERYTHING COSPLAY
First off, thank you all for the overwhelming love on this cosplay!! I genuinely didn’t expect such a huge reaction but please know my heart has been FLUTTERING since Saturday ♥️🎲
That being said: between Tumblr and TikTok, I’ve had a crazy amount of requests asking how I made the cosplay! And considering the INTENSE lack of Chance cosplays online, babes I’m NOT gatekeeping my process!! Let’s flood some conventions with this Chronicler Cutie!!
As a note, I deeply didn’t record any video of my process for 2 reasons
1. I didn’t think it would blow up the way it did!
2. I made this is under two days amidst a con crunch and was more concerned about coming out alive with a costume haha
But I do have many process photos which will be shared here. If you have any specific questions about something, please feel free to DM me! I may not be the fastest replier but I’ll gladly explain the best I can!
ANYWAYS TUTORIAL TIME
To begin, here’s a checklist of all the main parts Chance’s costume is comprised of, followed by where I found them/if I made them:
• A brownish/off-white button up (I used a short sleeve shirt because it’s insanely hot here, but you could also use a long sleeve and roll up/cuff the sleeves at your elbows)
Thrift store find! I literally walked into the men’s section and it was hanging there like the holy grail.
• Black paper bag style shorts
Another secondhand find on Depop!
• A crimson red vest or corset/stay
Depop again!
• Some type of reddish goldish boots
I had some reddish leather boots in my closet (donation from a friend), I just relaced them with some sparkly gold laces I found at a local knickknacks store.
• His D20 hood
TOTALLY HOMEMADE BABY 🙂↕️
• TTRPG leather dice bracelets
Once again, had the leather bracelets in my closet. I picked out the dice from a local tabletop gaming store (sorry, wasn’t sacrificing my own dice stash for a cosplay)
• A gemstone-y bracelet
I also made this one! Trip to the local bead store, looking for colours that resembled him
• Rectangular reddish sunglasses
Knickknack store find again, this was pure luck!
• A red rope belt
Dollarstore craft section rope that I tied into a belt!
• A brooch to hold the hood together
TBH I forgot I needed this until the day of the con, but I luckily have a button maker, so I quickly photoshopped an image of a red and gold D20 onto a red background and pressed it!
• A big red D20!
Amazon purchase, unfortunately (I’m not immune to the convenience of large corporations)
OPTIONAL
• A brown wig (I have dyed hair!)
• Red contact lenses
• Fun socks (I had some D&D ones that were a cute touch to add under the boots)
• Cute D20/D&D accessories! Nerd out!!
I added these lovely earrings I bought from the convention the day before from “Conquest Crafts”! So cutie!!
• Too many useless facts about TTRPGs stuck in your head
Having a past with these kinds of games helps because you probably already have Chance’s brainrot!
MAKING THE SHORTS
YOU WILL NEED
Black paper-bag style shorts
Gold fabric paint (I used Tulip’s puffy paint, in the shade Metallic Gold)
Cardboard (so the paint doesn’t bleed through)
A sacrificial paintbrush (it will never be the same again after puffy paint)
Optional
Printer paper
Clear packing tape
Frog tape
Exacto knife + cutting mat
A sponge brush
I’ll be honest y’all, I could’ve freehanded these designs but a girl was lazy. So naturally I headed to photoshop, zoomed in on Chance’s sprite, and make templates for each of the designs on his shorts. Each one was about half the size of a sheet of standard printer paper (8.5” x 11”).
PRINT THOSE MFS OUT!!
After that, I realized the printer paper would be way too flimsy to withstand paint without ripping, so I took some clear packing tape and covered the design on both sides.
Then using an exacto knife and mat, I cut out the designs to make super cheap stencils.
I also cut some thick cardboard down into the shape of the pants so I could fit it inside and prevent paint bleeding!
Then, following the placement of Chance’s pants, I taped the stencils down with frog tape and sponge brushed the paint down, cleaning it up with my paintbrush as needed. Eventually you’ll fill the shorts and it’ll look something like this. Let it dry for the recommended time and redo on the back side!
Let the shorts dry and you’re done!
MAKING THE CORSET
You will need:
A red corset or vest
Gold fabric paint (still using the Tulip brand)
A paintbrush
Cardboard
Off-white bias tape
White thread
Sewing pins
Optional:
The same stuff you needed to make the stencil earlier.
Gold rope/lacing for the corset
Patience.
For this one I did the same process of creating a stencil from Chance’s original sprite. Unfortunately, there’s no real head on image of his G&G rulebook so there was a lot of warp tool involved to get the layer sitting correctly. The stencil size should be just smaller than the size of each side panel of your vest/corset.
Using the same method as the pants, I taped up the corset and applied the stencil one side at a time (I was not cutting TWO of those fuckers). Because of the fine details in this design, I chose to use a paintbrush to apply the paint instead of a sponge brush. 20/10 recommend, even though it takes longer. Let the paint dry fully before the next step.
Next I wanted to add the pages of Chance’s G&G rulebook. For that I opted for bias tape, cutting them into varying length strips and pinning them across the top of the corset. I used 3 for each side. Then I sewed them in place! Woohoo! (This was disgustingly difficult and my least favourite part of the process). I gave the bias tape a little trim after I finished sewing (to shape the ends and remove any fraying), then dabbed a little liquid stitch on the ends to prevent fraying. Finally, I relaced the corset with some gold cord from the dollar store.
MAKING THE UNDERSHIRT
You will need:
Brown button up shirt
Black fabric marker
A ruler
Creativity
To make the shirt, I wanted to make sure I was only drawing grids and maps on the parts that were visible underneath the corset. I tried on the shirt beneath the finished corset and marked it with safety pins.
I then made equal grid lines across the front, back, and sleeves on the shirt with the fabric marker.
Chance’s sprite doesn’t have a ton of his maps visible, with the exception of the heart shaped ocean on his right arm- that was the only part I kept canon! Otherwise, I used my experience with D&D mapping to doodle simple maps across the gridding. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to look hand drawn! If you’re less comfortable freestyling, look up some TTRPG maps as inspiration! Then I added a quick hem to the sleeves to help them sit on my arms better.
MAKING THE HOOD
You will need:
Approx. 1m of red cotton broadcloth to match the corset/vest
Approx. 1m of gold bridal satin (I got both of these at Fabricland)
Gold fabric paint (Same tulip brand again!)
A paintbrush (I found an angled tip one the easiest to use)
Some printer paper and a soft ruler to draft the pattern
A sewing machine (trust me, you do not want to handsew if you can help it)
So before this, I had never actually made a hood, nor did I know how to make a pattern. I ended up following this shark hood tutorial by @/edgypancake on TikTok because it had the nice cloak-style wrap around bit on the front. I just omitted the shark parts.
I found it super easy to follow and had a pattern drawn up in no time! I then cut my fabric out and did the preliminary sewing. Please note: in my sleepiness, I did sew it a bit poorly and ended up making the wrapping bits much shorter than anticipated. Just be cautious of how easy it was and stick to your allotted seam allowance as best you can!
After the sewing was finished and I had flipped everything the right way around, I gave the hood a quick iron around the seams to keep everything flattened in place.
Then comes the part that makes you want to rip your hair out: the D20 pattern. Please allot time for crying; it's a crucial step.
Luckily, I found a cosplayer who had already made a Chance cosplay hood on TikTok (@/pickledagony) and followed their arrangement of the D20 pattern. I traced a preliminary pattern onto the outside of the hood with chalk, then went in with my gold paint and paintbrush freehand once I felt satisfied with the placement.
You can tell I was tired by this point in the process...
After that I tried it on, adjusted it to where I wanted it to sit, and safety-pinned it to the bias tape on the corset.
MAKING THE DICE BRACELET
You will need:
A green D6
A red D8
A purple D4
An orange (or in my case, yellow) D12
One pink D10 and one blue D10
Some black leather bracelets
Super glue
For this, I honestly just looked at the placement of the dice on Chance's sprite and superglued the plastic dice directly onto the leather. I was working with 5 different bracelets instead of 1, so I just made sure they lined up to my liking when I was wearing them.
Crazy easy, just make sure you apply pressure until the glue's set.
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER (and take a terrible mirror selfie!)
AND THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
If you've made it up to this point, congratulations! You're one patient individual to deal with all that rambling!
But I hope this helps as a reference for anyone who may want to create their own Chance cosplay! While not necessary, I'd really appreciate a tag if you end up using it, either here on Tumblr or @formalhedgehog on TikTok (plus I always want to see more content of this silly D20).
Best of luck on your costuming journeys ahead, my dear travellers. May the crits be ever in your favour!
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