the stash

strider gotta stride

[krainecommissions]

Bias Tape Armhole Facings

Need to make something sleeveless but don’t feel like cutting out facings for the armholes? You can use bias tape instead. It’ll give you a nice clean look, and it’s quick and easy to do.

Keep reading

[mimicosplays]

hope it can be helpful to someone~

[elisescostumes]

Machine smocking tutorial

While working on my Eleanor Guthrie cosplay, I researched how to do smocking with a sewing machine (rather than by hand) I’m quite pleased how it turned out, and I thought I’d share a little tutorial. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out! 

What you’ll need:

Sewing machine with decorative stitches

Embroidery thread (I used Gütermann Sulky Cotton Multicolor in grey/beige tones)

A ruler or measuring tape

Chalk or disappearing marker

1.  First, you must decide on your ratio (how much fabric you will gather), and mark your gathering stitches lines. I went for a 1:3 ratio and marked lines 18cm long. My desired final gathered length is 6cm. My lines are 1.5cm apart, but you can experiment with lines closer or wider apart for a different effect.

2.  After sewing a long gathering stitch on each line that you marked in step 1, gather your fabric down to the length you decided in the first step (in my case, 6cm). Press your fabric to set the pleats.

3.  Go back to your sewing machine and sew decorative stitches _between _each gathering line. This will permanently set the pleats. Note: smocking isn’t elastic like shirring is, don’t confuse them! They kinda look the same and they both reduce the width of your garment by gathering fabric, but they have very different in behavior: shirring keeps its elasticity by using elastic thread as the bobbin thread, while smocking is permanent. I see smocking as something more decorative rather than functional, like shirring is.

4.  Remove all your gathering stitches (the most tedious task of them all!), give your fabric another good press with steam, and there you go! Admire your beautiful smocked piece!

And done!

There are many other methods, including smocking by hand, but I hope this short tutorial will have inspired you to give it a try! Smocking is not difficult and the final result is sure to make a statement on your costume! 

Liked this tutorial? Don’t hesitate to share it! Sharing is caring! ♥

[patterncospatterns]

2B| Cosplay Pattern Tutorial | Nier Automata

Do you have a new suggestion for patterns? Please tell me in the comments!

[thedollymaker]

A Dolly Maker’s Guide to Sewing: Part 2

|  PART 1  |  PART 2  |

Everything that you make, sadly, requires stitches.  There are many ways to stitch and there are many different types of things to stitch.  For example, if you were making something kinda big like a cushion/item of clothing etc. the easiest way to sew that would be with a sewing machine.  They do everything in a uniform manner, it’s super fast to do it and you can control the speed of it too.  

Personally, for most of the things I make with the dolls and zombies.  I stitch everything by hand.  As I said in my first tutorial, I am entirely self taught.  There will be people out there who probably teach these things better and have higher skills level than I but I hope it’ll help.

STITCH TYPES

There are lots and lots of different stitches out there but I try to keep it pretty simple because I am a pretty simple person hehehehe I laugh, but it’s true

Back Stitching Back stitching is a really simple way to keep things together.

With your pieces of fabric pinned together, you take your appropriate needle with your chosen thread colour and then make stitches along the length of the section that your sewing.  Once you’ve gone all the way along, you then basically go back along the stitches you have already made 

Then you will have a complete line of solid stitches. That should look something like this:

It took me a while to be able to sew in a straight line, so expect wonky stitches if your new to this.  When I use this, it’s mainly to hold pieces of the dolls clothing together.  However, you can use it in another way.  

Lets say for arguments sake that I ripped the seam on my trousers and I wanted to sew it back up again.  Turn the trousers inside out and pin together the two sides and then use the back stitch on it.  Turn them back the right way round and *BOOM*

Sewn together and the stitching is on the inside.

RUNNING STITCHES A running stitch is basically the exact same as a back stitch, with only one difference; instead of sewing the stitches one at a time, you basically put your needle through the fabric in one hit to put your line of stitches in, hence the name because your “running” it through the fabric.  In all honesty, it’s not a stitch I ever use.  Felt is kinda too thick for it to work effectively, it’s hard to keep it straight too.  Finer fabrics I can see it working but it just looks fugly when I do it which may just tell you more about my basic bitch skill levels.

BLANKET STITCHES Blanket stitches are the most common way to stitch together felt and I used to use it to sew my things together.   it basically is a stitch you wrap around the outer edge of the fabric with a little gap between the stitch.  The aim is to try and keep it even and neat.  Please forgive the blurry photo, like I said in the last post…  it was like 2am when I took these photos so excuse the dodgy quality.

BLANKET STITCH - THEDOLLYMAKER VARIATION In the above photo, on the left side there is the traditional blanket stitch.  On the right side is my variation.  After a while when I was sewing things up, I started to find that I didn’t really like the basic blanket stitch because of the gap it meant that the stuffing could get out.  My solution?  Tweek it.  I started to put the stitches right on top of each other to sew things together instead and I’ve just ran with it ever since.

[basiliskos]

How to make Kylo Ren Pleats

Hi Guys, I’ve had a few people ask me how I made the pleats on my Kylo Ren outfit (under-tunic and sleeves), so I’ve complied a quick tutorial on how to tackle this horrifying task.

Alright, there are a few ways to do this, but the method I’ve used for my outfit requires two separate pieces of fabric. This overall looks and feels neater although it can be a bit of a hassle.

PART I: For this example, my “pleated layer” is a heavy black cotton and my “foundation layer” is a paper towel (it was the only non-black piece of fabric I had around). Don’t forget you’ll be folding the pleats so you’ll need substantially more “pleated layer” fabric than “foundation layer”. You will need about 3x as much pleated fabric as you will need foundation. It’s better to err on the safe side though, and go for around 3.5x as much.

Pin the two fabrics together with the “pleated” on top. You can have the “foundation layer” cut to the shape of your patterns. I would keep the pleated fabric in a rectangle though.

PART II: Gather up some “pleated-layer” fabric while keeping the “foundation layer” as straight and flat as possible (I usually just tape it to the table or pin it to the floor). Make a fold whatever size you want and pin it down.

PART III: Iron that sucker down. Very important. I’ve found that if you don’t iron after every pleat, you get very ugly, wavy, and disproportionate pleats. You must iron it down with a high heat to get to to crease. Once you iron it, lift UP the fold and pin the “pleated” to the “foundation”. This essentially holds the pleat in place on the foundation.

PART IV: Rinse and repeat. Make sure that each new pleat made under the previous one is SUBSTANTIALLY far underneath so that when you go to sew it, you don’t pull the pleat out.

Follow the pattern: Fold + Pin pleat itself + Iron + Pin under pleat

…fold, pin, iron, pin. I’ve gone through a lot of trial and error to find that rhythm.

PART V: SEW IT DOWN! Lift up the pleat and sew the two pieces of fabric together. Pull the pins out as you go. If you have a very large piece of fabric, you can use painter’s tape to hold the pleats in place. (Tape adjacent to the pleats).

You should get something that looks like this in the end after you’ve taken out the pins and tape. Iron the entire thing down again to get those creases straight.

Congrats! You’ve make pleats! Perfect for making the sleeves and under tunic of our favorite angsty edgelord. 

Put on your favorite SciFi movies to play in the background and happy pleating!

[secretlyastrider]

made a 707 doll .... gotta say that was hard af

[epiccosplaywigs]

We’ve gotten multiple requests for a bang cutting tutorial, so here it is! What type of bang? All of them!

[shakespearesconesandstars]

MCU Winter Soldier’s Arm

So, it’s at three in the morning that, after seeing a gif, I begin having revelations/disturbing thoughts/deep contemplations about the bionics and biology of the Winter Soldier’s arm. And, of course, at three in the morning, that’s when I start assembling pictures and diagrams. 

Here’s a normal shoulder, and then the Winter Soldier’s. What gets me is that it’s not just a plug-in prosthesis that joins neatly up with his shoulder joint and the bone structures there. 

As seen here, all of these muscles: 

are what you need to actually move an arm and shoulder. With structures even as far down and centralized as the pecs, the muscles there bunch up in the shoulder region. As seen on the Winter Soldier, all of the places where his upper chest/pectoral, and shoulder muscles should be bunched up are (whether partially grafted with or entirely) metal. 

Here, (on my phone) I drew out how more natural muscle patterns would be going without the interruption of the prosthetic. And here’s what looks to be going on: 

At the seam of the prosthetic, we can see a glimpse of material that seems to extend down, following the basic lines of where musculature would need to be to support movement- which leads me to believe that at least in the front, that metal had to be extended (or at least extended by way of more flexible wiring to at least graft and connect to existing muscles and nerves) down through his entire pectoral muscles. Sure, his entire pec might not have to have been recreated/replaced by metal and wiring, but I’m getting the feeling that the lighter colored metallic structure at the seam continues farther down into his chest in order to connect to existing muscles and nerves. Depending on how far down they had to take things, they may or may not have had to anchor the pec and under arm metal structures to his ribcage. 

Now, onto the back. 

The scapula and other skeletal structures in the shoulder area are all pretty necessary for movement, and although Bucky only seemed to lose below the upper bicep after the fall, the scapula alone couldn’t support the weight and power of his new arm. So, I’m guessing that they left both the scapula and collarbone, but would have needed to reinforce both bone structures with metal (this includes shoulder joint and socket, if they were still intact enough); and all of that, they’d need to anchor to his spine/rib cage to keep the weight balanced and make sure the muscles and cartilage didn’t rip and tear with the weight of the arm during standing and fighting and such. 

As for what they’d do about the muscles needed for arm movement in the back, I don’t have a clue- for weight and efficiency’s sake, they probably would have done their best to preserve and connect existing nerves and musculature on his back to the arm, after reinforcing bone structures. Given that the muscles in the back and shoulder connect to the spine and neck, that would be a whole lot of metal to try and anchor down if they replaced everything back there with straight up metal (as opposed to connecting wiring and such to the muscles already there). 

So, whether or not this taught anyone new, I feel it’s certainly an interesting line of thinking, to consider just how far and how deep the socket, reinforcement, and overall prosthetic goes into the musculoskeletal structures of his chest, torso, and back. As for the wiring required to get the level of responsiveness and finesse that his arm has, I can’t begin to imagine how they had to integrate their technology into his nervous system- that might be a post for another day, and possibly by someone who has more than a basic understanding of anatomy (that’s what degrees are for!). Are there any more lessons to this? Well, I’m a biology geek and a Marvel geek, for one, and once more, we can reinforce that Hydra is fucking terrifying and horrible organization- albeit, one with surgeons that had remarkably, ridiculously, spectacularly advanced technology and understandings of bionics even in the 40s. 

[preved-medved]

Ooh, nice, this is super well-researched and full of troubling implications. I love fics and stuff that really get into the possible functionality (or lack thereof) in the metal arm.

[stele3]

I’m of the very firm opinion that there has to be some kind of mesh stretching over his pectorals to anchor the arm to his sternum. I did a lot of thinking about the weight of the arm here and how Bucky’s posture and stride compensate for the weight here; from both the math and SebStan’s excellent physical acting, it’s clear that the arm weighs a fuckton. Far too much to be held in place by the shoulder or pectoral girdle: the collarbone is a delicate beast (I say that having broken both of mine in my life) and not something that you want to rely on to hold up anything. Same with the ribs. The scapula, meanwhile, is literally not attached to any other part of the skeleton. Nothing locks it into place, not like the shoulder or hip ball-and-socket joints; it just kind of floats over the ribs, kept there by the many, many back and shoulder muscles.

So my guess: metal reinforcement of the collarbone, ribs, scapula, and probably the upper vertebrae (at least C7, the knobby guy at the base of your neck), along with sub-dermal meshing that attaches to his sternum and between his scapula and spine to keep his pectorals, trapezius, and rhomboids from tearing every time he throws a punch.

[secretlyastrider]

ive never made something as extra as this shirt

[secretlyastrider]

inuyasha @ndk first time at ndk denver a pretty fun con! i had a lot of fun. thanks lyle miller for that free ticket? sorry your gf didnt want to come tho r i p

[ohicosplay]

Cosplay 101: Adhesives

This is meant as a beginner primer for adhesives (that we use [enough to know a bit about {mostly}]). This is meant as an outline that covers the general details of each kind of adhesive. The links direct to the wikipedia page on the adhesive if you want to know more about the full details.

Cyanoacrylate: CA glue for shorthand, aka Superglue or krazyglue. However, if something is marketed as a super/krazyglue and doesn’t contain cyanoacrylate, it’s not a CA glue. This is our go-to glue. It’s strong, but a bit brittle and can melt the crap out of some materials.

Pros:

Strong

Widely available

Cleans up with acetone nicely

Can glue most things together (EVA foam, paper, styrene all work well)

Many consistencies available (thin, thick, gel)

Quick dry/cure time, can be quickened with CA accelerante

Can be mixed with baking soda for an effective gap filler (CA cement)

Safe to use on EVA foam

Readily available anywhere that sells adhesives

Cons:

Fumes/strong smell, ventilation and/or a respirator required if working with large amounts of CA glue

Brittle and non-flexible

Melts polystyrene (EPS/XPS foam aka Styrofoam)

Fumes can leave cloudy residue

Rapid exothermic reaction with leather, cotton, and wool that can cause burns and even fire

Shelf life of about a year unless kept somewhere dark and cool (like the fridge)

Polyvinyl Acetate: Also known as white glue or Elmer’s glue. Useful but a bit basic and requires open evaporation.

Pros:

Pretty safe, just don’t straight-up drink it or rub it into your eyes or nose

Great for paper and other open structure materials (fabric, some open-cell foams)

Widely available

Water-soluble

Inexpensive

Readily available anywhere that sells adhesives

Cons:

Relatively weak and brittle when cured

Needs open-air evaporation to dry

Water-soluble

Long dry/cure time

Gorilla Glue: We’ve used this one a few times and it seems to work fairly well

Pros:

Strong bond

Non-solvent, won’t melt things most of the time (stable with XPS foam)

Readily available anywhere that sells adhesives

Cons:

Needs clamping/pressure to cure properly

Long cure time

Expands during cure process, can squirt/drool out of joint (might be a good thing too, though)

E6000: A strong and flexible glue, great for fabrics or gluing things to fabrics.

Pros:

Very flexible, can hold up to a little stretching even

Strong bond with a bit of surface sanding

Can glue many kinds of things together (EVA foam, fabric, styrene, paper, leather all work well)

Dries clear (though air bubbles and edges can be visible)

Readily available anywhere that sells adhesives

Cons:

Solvent-based, will eat through polystyrene, pretty pungent smell

Long cure time

Can smear easily during curing

May ooze out of the tube and glue the cap to itself (plies might be required to unscrew the cap if this happens)

JB Weld: An incredibly strong 2-part epoxy. I use this a lot to strengthen a mechanical joint.

Pros:

Incredibly strong, can be used to join engine parts together

Fairly shock resistant

Works great on most surfaces

You can drill, tap, sand and carve it once fully cured

Cons:

Very long cure time, about 24 hours

Not flexible at all

Requires a very good joint and a lot of surface prep

Can be brittle under torsion

Needs more cleanup than single-part adhesives

2-part Epoxy: This is a massive group of adhesives so I’m only going to mark the basics

Pros/Cons:

Strong

Cure time can vary from a few minutes to days

Needs more cleanup than single-part adhesives

Ranges from glass-hard to pretty flexible after it cures

Hot-melt adhesive (aka Hot glue): A craft standard and fairly material-safe way to adhere things together.

Pros:

Works on everything that doesn’t melt or [easily] catch fire

Fairly strong with a good joint surface

Pretty safe if you don’t touch the nozzle or glue while it’s hot

Safe to use on polystyrene

Great for EVA foam armor/props

Inexpensive

Glue itself can be versatile and used for filling molds.

Glue sticks can come in a variety of colors

Cons:

Can be a bit messy, nozzle keeps leaking sometimes and leaves threads of hot glue everywhere

May be visible under thinner materials if the glue isn’t smoothed out

Can straight-up melt or ignite some materials (spot test or look up the melting point of the material)

May be only semi-permanent in some cases, depending on the surfaces

Can melt when exposed to heat (don’t leave pieces glued together with hot glue in a hot car)

Contact cement: An adhesive that is applied to both surfaces, allowed to dry, then pressed together.  Barge and Weldwood (US) are brands commonly used in cosplay. Rubber cement is not a contact cement.

Pros:

Very strong, practically permanent once bonded together

Great for EVA foam armor/props (the main go-to for a lot of foamsmiths)

Cons:

Fumes require ventilation and/or a respirator

Requires a ready supply of brushes for application

Shelf life up three months to a year depending on storing conditions. Throw away if the cement begins to set up in the container

Melts polystyrene

Cures in 5-10 minutes, but EVA foam may require a second coat due to its tendency to absorb materials

[xarinzuther]

New tutorial on my channel about making custom molds and shapes from resin, if you want to make shapes that are beyond what normal molds sell. In this video I make a Mitamah, from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice.

[hellocrissey]

DIY Tattoo Tights/Stockings Tutorial

Sorry for not posting often! :( But as promised, here’s another easy DIY tutorial! :) I’ve been seeing this trend for quite sometime now and I think it really looks cute ! I’ll be teaching you how to transfer your design/drawing on to your stockings. If you want to use a design you found on the internet, please make sure you’re going to use it personally / do not make any form of profit from the material — better yet, contact the artist and ask permission if you can use his/her illustration/design :) Art theft is not cool. There are dozens of sites that provide stock illustration/vector/materials — all of which you can use! (Make sure to read the copyright/description before downloading and using any)

MATERIALS:

• Tights / Stockings (nude or beige)

• Fabric Pen (Available in bookstores / office warehouse)

• Carton / Used folder

• Masking Tape ***

STEP 1:

Print out your design (8.5” x 11”). If you’re using a black pen, it’ll be better if you print it out in gray/light color so you won’t get confused when you’re tracing over the design.

After printing out the desired design, tape the sheet on to your carton/folder. Make sure to tape all sides to avoid any paper movements. 

***

STEP 2:

Once attached, roll up your carton until you form an arch.

Tip: You can measure the arch width using your thigh :p

Tape both sides to hold the cartons form/ hold it in place

***

Step 3:

Insert your carton inside the leg of your stockings.

Make sure to push it down to the area where the stockings start to get thinner. *see dotted lines ~ Please note that the area above the dotted lines will not be visible unless of course you’re going commando/no shorts/no skirt HEHE :p

***

Step 4:

Grabe your fabric pen and carefully trace over the lineart :)

PS: Buy the fine tip pen to make tracing details easier.

Be patient! :))

***

Step 5:

Allow the ink to settle in and dry overnight *just to be sure* although it dries as fast as 5 min ._. hihi

You should have something like this.

t

***

FINAL PRODUCT:

Super easy right? :) Show me yours if you make one ^u^ Hope this helps! 

This is super cheap too! Cost me around P40 (stockings) and (P75) for the pen ~ roughly P150? :)

Likes, comments, and shares are always loved <3

[secretlyastrider]

This is my first addition in a Cosplay101 series. I started talking a little bit about pattern making in this video. Let me know if you have any questions! 

[allthecraftandthings]

Storing sewing patterns

So at the end of the last semester, my costume design teacher had us clean up the class room. And put me in charge of organizing the sewing patterns and  all of them were in yellow envelops with the pattern picture on it. Right now I’m doing a bit of spring cleaning before Imbolc and I have so many patterns that don’t fit in the original packaging anymore, so I wanted to share what I’m doing with all my patterns with EVERYONE!

The envelope is 10in/13in

Cut out the picture in the front and all the info in the back.

Glue it!

Put the pattern and institutions in the envelope.

And your DONE! You can also write what kind of patter it is on the envelope so you can organize what type of pattern it is. I still have more patterns to sort out but I don’t mind ^_^

[cosplaytutorial]

TUTORIAL: Armor using Crayola Model Magic

Tutorial by Xero-Cosplay Tutorial Link: http://xero-cosplay.deviantart.com/art/TUTORIAL-Armor-using-Crayola-Model-Magic-326554209