A beginner’s guide to choosing and working with fabrics for cosplay
Choosing the right kind of fabric and treating it right when sewing can greatly improve the finished look of your cosplay. Here are a few tips on how to decide what fabrics to buy and how to treat and work with it when making your cosplay.
Deciding what fabric to pick
So you have picked a character and decided to make the cosplay yourself and are now ready to buy fabric for it.
The first thing you need to do is to find a couple of good reference picture of your character from different angles and see how many different fabrics you will need.
The next step is to try to decide what kind of fabric you will need, this step can be really tricky if you don’t have any previous experience with fabrics.
A good way to start figuring it out is to think about what qualities you want the fabric to have. Is the character wearing a formfit catsuit? Then the fabric should be stretchy like a four-way stretch spandex or a lycra. Is the character wearing a corset? Then the fabric should be stiff and a bit thicker. Is the character wearing a light and airy skirt? etc etc Write up the qualities you want the different fabrics in your cosplay to have and start doing some research.
Look at what kind of fabrics other people used in a similar garment or what recommendations the sewing patterns of the similar clothes say.
Another tip is to think what kind of person your character is. Is it a princess? Then maybe the fabric she would wear would be a bit more expensive looking and not just a simple cotton. Is it a hobbit? Then maybe the fabric should be natural and not synthetic.
Difference between Synthetic and Natural fabrics:
There is a lot of different kind of fabrics but they all fall under two main types; Synthetic and natural fabrics.
Natural fabrics are made from either the fibers of plants or animals (wool, hair etc). Examples are: Cotton, linen, silk, wool etc.
Synthetic fabrics are made from fibers made in scientific way and are produced from chemicals. Examples are: Polyester, Nylon, Spandex, acrylic etc.
Blend fabrics is as it sounds a mix of the both fibers to create a textile that has properties from both fibers.
Buying fabrics in store vs online:
If you have access to a fabric store that sells more than just curtain fabrics then it’s a great opportunity to get to know how different fabrics feels and works. Don’t be afraid to take help of the employees of the store and ask what kind of fabric would work for the garment. Bring a photo of your character so you can check how the color looks and if you already have a piece of your cosplay ready and you need a fabric in a similar color take a sample with you so you can check so it match.
I highly recommend bringing a camera (or your phone) to the store and take photos of the fabric you are thinking of buying. Most fabric looks different with a flash and can get really shiny or change color. Since you probably want photos of your finished cosplay it is important to check so the fabric looks good both on and off camera.
This is for example photos of the same fabric taken in different lights:
If you don’t have a fabric store close to you or could not find the fabric you were looking for, buying fabrics online is a great second option. Buying fabrics online can be hard since you don’t have the opportunity to touch it, feel it and see how it flows, it can also be hard to see the exact color of it. I therefore recommend that you order some fabric samples of the fabric you are interested in before buying several yards of it. Fabric samples are often not very expensive and it is a great way to get to see how it looks and feel before deciding.
A tip is to save the fabric samples or cut out a piece of your fabric and write on a note what kind of fabric it is and where you bought it and then save it in a folder. This makes it really easy to later when you are going to make another cosplay to just check the folder and see if any of those fabrics would work for that cosplay.
