Swatches! What a new experience for me!
Before, with all my costumes, I just searched around the area’s Jo-anns to find the fabrics for my cosplays. Sometimes this worked out beautifully, but more than not, I was never happy with the type or color. But I was always too scared to order fabric online. How would I know what it felt like, how it would it look in different light, and how did it stretch? There were too many variables!
And that’s where the magic of swatches come in! You get to browse the internet’s magnificent selection of different colors and types of fabric, but you don’t have to commit to yards and yards of it.
For usually a small price (I’ve seen anywhere from free to $1.00) you can get a sample square of the fabric you were debating. The only problem I have run into so far is that the shipping can be ridiculous. For one of the swatches for my Popstar Ahri, it cost $5.00 to ship it to me. On the other hand though, my fur swatches from Distinctive Fabric cost me nothing! Just do a bit of research before buying swatches. I think they're more than worth their money to make sure you don't waste a whole lot more money and be dissatisfied with the fabric choice.
When looking at fabric, I usually start off with color and possibly a fabric trait as well. For my Ahri, I knew that the bodice either had to be sequined, or holographic spandex, so I started there. Once I find a plethora of fabrics I think would be best, I compile them all together in one document to see how they look side by side, and even more importantly, how they compare to the reference material. Here are some I did for Ahri:
As you can see, I’ve lined them up and put the original full reference in there, as well as a small reference icon next to each fabric to easily compare it side by side. I’ve also gone ahead and labeled what fabric they are, what stretch factor they have (located in the hearts) and numbered them so I can ask other what they think would work best based on sight. It’s a little over the top, but I love to organize things, and this helps me a ton when I need to ask for an outside opinion. (Be careful when comparing to reference material! I know that this one has a lot of bounce lighting and I compensate accordingly.)
From here, I usually narrow it down to hopefully 2 or 3 fabric choices per fabric I want. Then I get to ordering swatches! For this batch, I ordered 2, 3, and 10 I believe. While I'm at it, I try to get all the swatches I need for every cosplay if they happen to be from the same store. I usually offer up to my friends that I'm ordering swatches from a certain site so that if they need some it cuts down on the shipping factor.
Here are the swatches I received (Note that the scales have not been changed for any of these):
From here I get to play with them. I see them under different lights (daylight, white light, yellow light, indoors, outdoors, etc.), take photos of them (flash, no flash, different levels of cameras), and stretch them (how much give do they have? Too much, too little?). All of these factors add up until I decide the winner. In this case a swatch number 2 won out.
Don't forget that some fabrics can be dyed, so if it's not the right color, you can do it yourself.
tangentwithtanner
kaledo-art
gummygunk
origamiaround
romaincrisis
areudirty