Alright, I've decided to do a full tutorial for how I create a cosplay! I'll be using my Cheerleader Bakugou for this, as it will be a relatively simple one to put together, and I can easily track each element of the costume as I create it.
I'll also link my cosplay page were I also post all of my cosplay stuff: Neon Crayons
I use the App Cosplanner. (along with a notebook) to track all of my costumes. My first piece of advice to anyone just getting into making their own cosplay is to download Cosplanner!
This App is an absolute gift!
Now! Time to choose a character and put together a timeline/budget for the Cosplay!
I know mine says edit at the top, that's just because I'd already began the cosplay before I decided to make this tutorial
Next! Your Component List!
For mine, I put everything from the fabric, wig, contacts & any pre -made items I'm going to need, along with laying out each item I will be making so that I can keep track of the progress for each item as they are being made.
When starting this build, I already had most of the fabric I needed, all I had to buy was some green polly pop to make bias binding tape, some yellow ribbon & an orange zipper.
I already own a perfect pair of pink sneakers (though I may end up painting them a darker shade of Pink depending on how well they go with the rest of the costume)
Same with the Wig I already owned a spiked ash blonde wig, I just need to touch up the shape/length of the spikes for Bakugou.
In this section I will put each item I need to make for the costume, here I can manage the things I will use, the way I wish to pattern and any other details I may need on hand for the individual costume parts as I'm working on them.
It also allows me to mark down dates and times for when each item needs to be completed by and even add alarms to make sure I'm focused and not forgetting/falling behind on deadlines.
Real talk, Reference hunting is absolutely my favorite part of the planning stage! It's basically just looking at and collecting images of who/what I'm cosplaying! I get to find cool pics, see other peoples costumes and I love it!
Reference hunting is my time to get hyped! Looking at other people's costumes, seeing how they did theirs, finding amazing art of the characters I love in the outfit I intend to make! I am never more inspired then at this point!
And!!!! Sometimes, you find out that a very awesome person has actually made a pattern for the cosplay you are doing! (Like with this one!)
I use this to keep track of were, when and for what a cosplay is for (i.e. convention/competition/challenge) and I also like to put an estimation on how long I think a build will take (these are subject to change as I go along and real life takes priority over costume making)
I use the summary function primarily for when I'm entering a contest and need to quickly find the details I need to fill out a competition profile for my costume.
It tracks everything from the time spent on the costume, the money you spend, how long you have until you intend to wear it. I love it! Saves me so much time when putting together my portfolios!
So! This is how I will initially start a cosplay. Hopefully this it helpful to anyone just starting out in cosplay.
I'll make another post once I begin to make my pattern explaining how I build and cut out my patterns. So keep a look out!!
