#lapis faq

[pumpkinetics]

Hi! Sorry if this question was already asked, but I was wondering how you attached your gem to your Lapis cosplay and if the gem was heavy at all?

Originally it was attached it using brads and hot glue but that was terrible, did not hold up, ripped my arm socks, made marks on my back, and the process of attaching it was painful as well. :(

Here’s how I do it now:1) cut a piece of 70-thickness interfacing that’s the same size of the flat side of the gem2) contact cement one side of the interfacing (waiting for it to dry of course) 3) put on your arm socks4) slide the piece of interfacing underneath the arm socks so that the contact cemented side is facing away from you and pin in in place,it should stick a little bit to the tights5) remove your arm socks and brush some contact cement on the outside of the arm socks on top of the area where the interfacing is glued/pinned on, make sure to get the cement right up to the edges of the interfacing, do not wait for this to dry6) apply contact cement to the back of your gem (this can cause discoloration, as contact cement dries somewhat yellow, but if you glue reflective paper to the backing of your gem you should be fine)7) after both cemented areas are dry, attach them and you’re done!

I used this method for my Yellow Diamond and Lapis cosplays and have had no issues with the gems peeling off. Also, because the weight of the gem is evenly distributed across the fabric, it doesn’t tug or tear it, even though the fabric used on both costumes was relatively thin and weak.

As for the weight of the gems, I make mine out of solid resin and I’ve never been bothered, or even really noticed the weight since I started using this method.

If you’re not familiar with contact cement, here’s a great informational article on Barge cement by Punished Props:http://punishedprops.com/2014/10/21/contact-cement-king-barge/(this link talks about how to use it on foam but the same principals will apply to fabric and gems)

Weldwood contact cement (the red container) also works pretty well, plus you don’t have to order it online if you have access to a Lowes or Home Depot.

As for applying gems to skin, I suggest using spirit gum, as it works for @danekez, but I’m not sure how well it would work for heavier gems.

Sorry for the long response, I hope this helps you out!

[pumpkinetics]

Hi! I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing with me how you managed to cut the neck hole in your arm socks for your Lapis cosplay small enough to have the edge concealed under the straps of your halter top, without the tights stretching and ripping from putting them on and taking them off? This was a huge issue for me when I made arm socks of my own for my lapis cosplay. Thank you very much in advance! ^^

We Love Color’s small size (and I think this goes for child sizes too) has like a little circular serged panty-liner thing at the crotch; I usually use that for reference. I would cut that area out entirely for normal arm socks but for Lapis, I leave kind of a crescent moon shape when cutting out panty-liner thing, and then cut the hole for the neck farther forward than normal. 

This is usually covered by the halter top strap and the bow when worn and it provides a little extra strength to keep the neck hole from stretching out in the back.

When applied to medium size and up, you would just cut the neck hole way farther forward than you normally would. 

Also, If you’ve already made your Lapis arm socks, you can just stitch up the backside a bit, matching with the original serged line going down the center of the back. That kind of saved me when I mis-cut the arm socks for my winged Lapis cosplay haha.

I hope this helps, tell me if you need me to go into more detail or provide some drawings!

[pumpkinetics]

Hi there, so I bought some of your body stockings for Lapis, but what would you recommend for a character that wears a strapless garment, like Marceline in her Whywolf dress?

Oh awesome! I hope you liked them!

Unfortunately for the arm socks “illusion” to work, there needs to be a piece of fabric or something to cover the transition from the arm sock fabric to the neck. 

If you want to go perfectly canon, I suggest using PAX for your arms. If I were to do it though (I personally hate painting my arms) I’d probably sew an elastic black choker onto the neckline or something along those lines.

If you wanted to go with straps, you could sew the arm socks into some thicker straps and cut the excess in the neck and back areas. I’ve personally never tried this myself, but I think they would be likely to slip down throughout the day.

I hope this helps!

[pumpkinetics]

If you don't mind my asking, I was wondering what color Milliskin you used for Lapis' dress. I've been trying to find reference images for the fabric color but have been having difficulty differentiating between all the different lighting. Thank you!

Oh man it took me a long time and a lot of sample ordering to get those colors perfectly matched. I ordered with a few other cosplayers with similar colors in their costumes and did a few returns so I can’t be 100% sure these are correct but I believe I used Spandex House’s Milliskin Matte Sapphire for the medium blue and NY Fashion Center’s Milliskin Matte Royal for the dark blue. (I used Casa-brand dress fabric for the electric blue skirt lining) 

If you have the time, order some swatches of these to see if you like the way they go together (and also to check that I’m not giving you the completely wrong colors) Pro tip: if you order multiple similarly colored swatches from Spandex House, PLEASE emphasize in the extra notes during check-out to label the swatches with the name of the fabric color, because they will not do that automatically (for some reason????) This will save you the guessing game I went through so close to the con.

I am so picky and intense with color matching that I’m considering doing a tutorial on my methods for matching body paint, leggings colors, fabric colors, and wig colors perfectly. Would anyone be interested?

[pumpkinetics]

Omg I just saw your Lapis cosplay in the tag and I have to ask, how did you make your wings?? Do you have a guide??

I altered cowbuttcrunchies’ tutorial to work with arm socks!

[pumpkinetics]

Hi! What sort of fabric did you use for the Lapis dress, and where did you find it? Thanks! <3

For my old Lapis cosplay, I used regular cotton.

For my new Lapis, I used milliskin matte spandex for everything but the skirt lining, for which I used casa brand dress fabric to give the skirt more structure and flow that the heavy spandex could not.

Milliskin matte spandex tends to be pretty expensive, they do however have bathing suit and dancewear fabrics at Jo-anns which would likely work just fine for a lot less! The only reason I ordered such expensive stuff is because I was being very picky about colors :V

I hope this helps you out!

[pumpkinetics]

I do not know if you have answered this question yet or not, but how exactly did you sharpie dye your wig? I am not so sure how you would do it or if it is exactly as it sounds.

I used to combine 3 or 4 sticks of sharpie with small bath of 90% rubbing alcohol, but lately I’ve been finding that doing that is not altering the color nearly as much as I would like. 

I actually suggest using Rit fabric dye! I used it to dye heartenedsoldier’s Peridot wig as well as duckducknerd’s Jasper wig! I only needed very slight colors but I found the dye to be very effective. 

Here is a link to a great color reference from Arda Wigs, as well as an explanation of the process!

http://arda-wigs.com/blogs/tutorials/8163793-dyeing-arda-wigs-with-fabric-dye

[anyapanda]

do you use body paint all over for lapis or any tights etc.? would you mind telling me what you use, your skin looks great!

Aww thanks so much! For my default Lapis, I just literally paint everything with the help of a very patient friend. I use Snazaroo in turquoise, and although it flakes a bunch after a while, it’s very easy to apply, washes out of literally everything, and is super gentle, so for those reasons I can totally recommend it. c: