Elastigirl Cosplay

Elastigirl Ground Pose

I just completed Elastigirl in time for LFCC! I watched the Incredibles 2 and immediately began working on this. This was a super spur of the moment cosplay, so a lot of the material was made from leftover fabrics. The silver was leftovers from Stocking, the belt is from an Amy Pond scrap, and the gloves are from an old pair of leggings. The whole thing was surprisingly easy to make.Elastigirl Face

I made the leotard by looking closely at knit leotards and shirts that fit me and drawing that shape onto the fabric. This fabric is always a bit of a pain to work with because pins make holes in it, but I can get away with putting the pins through the seam allowance so it worked out. The fabric also doesn’t fray, so I left the edges raw around the leg holes and wrists. I made the Elastigirl symbol in GIMP and applied it the same way that I applied the stripes to my 13th Doctor shirt. If you want your own, here’s a link to the one I made.

Elastigirl Sitting

In the Incredibles 2, Elastigirl wears elbow length gloves and boots that go up to her thighs. I, unfortunately, was unable to find boots or gloves that were that long. I decided to make the gloves and leave the boots for now, the leotard was warm enough already and I wasn’t about to add another layer. The gloves are made from an old pair of leggings that had ripped by tracing around my arm and sewing with a narrow zig-zag stitch. I do not recommend this fabric. They barely have any stretch to them, and because of this, I had to add length to the fingers for my long nails. They’re also very difficult to get on, and the fabric rips very easily. It probably would have been worth buying fabric for these.

Elastigirl Face 2

I recorded a video of how I did my makeup and styled the wig and will have that up next week!

Razor’s Hat from World Enough and Time

I was recently asked to make Razor’s Hat from the Doctor Who episode World Enough and Time. I wrote up a pattern just in case anyone else was interested in making one for themself!

What you’ll need:

  • US size 6 needles (4.0 mm)
  • Double knit yarn

I used Stylecraft Special DK in Dark Brown Shade 1004

I found that if you want to make your hat distressed in a similar way to the show, it is easier to prevent unraveling if you create the distressing as you go. I’ve included two versions of the hat, one with distressing and one without.

The hat sits very different just from folding the brim!

Unfamiliar terms explained:

DSPU: drop stitch and pull out stitches all the way to the brim, pick up a stitch on your left needle, ready to be worked as the next stitch

CO 112 stitches in the round

With Distressing

Row 1-17: (K2, P2) 28 times
Row 18: (K2, P2) 2 times, K2, DSPU, P2, (K2, P2) 25 times [112 st]
Row 19-20: (K2, P2) 28 times
Row 21: K112
Row 22-33: (K2, P2) 28 times
Row 34: (K2, P2) 17 times, K2, DSPU, P2 (K2, P2) 10 times [112 st]
Row 35-40: (K2, P2) 28 times
Row 41: (K2, P2) 16 times, K1, DSPU, K1, P2 (K2, P2) 11 times [112 st]
Row 42-47: K112
Row 48: K71, DSPU, K 41 [112 st]
Row 49-51: K112

Without Distressing

Row 1-20: (K2, P2) 28 times
Row 21: K112
Row 22-41: (K2, P2) 28 times
Row 42-51: K112

Both Versions

Row 52-61: P112
Row 62-71: K112
Row 72-81: P112
Row 82-91: K112
Row 92-101: P112
Row 102-111: K112
Row 112-120: P112
Row 121: K2tog [56 st]

After working the last row, pull a piece of yarn through and pull as tight as possible. Weave in your ends and your hat is complete!

Lup from The Adventure Zone

I recently completed a cosplay of the character Lup from the podcast The Adventure Zone. The Adventure Zone is an adventure comedy D&D podcast hosted by the McElroys. Lup is an accomplished elf wizard and is one of the first inter planar explorers.

Photo taken by Kris

Since The Adventure Zone is solely audial, I based my costume on glowbat’s art of the character. The maroon shirt and ears I bought specifically for this costume, while the earrings and shoes are items I already owned. I didn’t have a sweatshirt that worked for this costume, but I did have a red pullover, so I cut it in half up the front and sewed the pockets closed. The gloves are just plain black gloves with the fingers cut off.

Photo taken by Kris

The wig and shorts were probably the most time intensive part of the wold project. I dip dyed the wig using sharpie ink and rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle, which I documented here. I made the shorts by cutting a pair of jeans at the knee, painting on the flames, and rolling up the raw edge of the shorts. The paint I used for the flames is a 50/50 mix of acrylic paint (for color) and acrylic fabric medium (to set the paint into the fabric). I actually really like these shorts, and have been wearing them out of cosplay quite a bit!

It was so bright the whole weekend, all the makeup I did didn’t show up an camera! Luckily I took this picture of my makeup inside, where all the freckles show up! Unfortunately, in this image the ears I bought are very obviously a different color than my skin. Whoops!

Lup (Alex Davies), Lup, Barry, Lup (Soph Price), Lup (Me!) – Photo taken by Kris

I wore Lup to London MCM May on both the Friday and Saturday. It was super cool to get to go to meet ups on both days and see everyone’s interpretations of the characters. I’m looking forward to changing pieces of this cosplay and wearing it again to a different convention!

Photo taken by Galactic Chief Photography

 

13th Doctor Striped Socks

These socks were super fun to make, so I wrote up the pattern and made a video tutorial! Let me know what you think, and be sure to let me know if you make a pair!

Materials:

Special Stylecraft Double Knit in Lapis
Special Stylecraft Double Knit in Duck Egg
3.25 mm Knitting Needles (US3/UK11)

Pattern:

Cast on 60 stitches in Dark Blue
K1P1 all the way around for 8 rows
K all the way around for 8 rows
*Switch to Light Blue, K all the way around for 4 rows
Switch to Dark Blue, K ass the way around for 4 rows
Repeat from * four times, making a total of 5 Dark Blue and 5 Light Blue stripes
Switch to Light Blue, K all the way around for one and a half rows
Shift needles so that you can start the heel from the center back of the work
HEEL & TOE
K 15 stitches, turn
Row 1: sl st, P29, turn
Row 2: sl st, K28, turn
Row 3: sl st, P27, turn
Row 4: sl st, K26, turn
Row 5: sl st, P25, turn
Row 6: sl st, K24, turn
Row 7: sl st, P23, turn
Row 8: sl st, K22, turn
Row 9: sl st, P21, turn
Row 10: sl st, K20, turn
Row 11: sl st, P19, turn
Row 12: sl st, K18, turn
Row 13: sl st, P17, turn
Row 14: sl st, K16, turn
Row 15: sl st, P15, turn
Row 16: sl st, K14, pick up stitch from between previous worked stitch and next stitch on left needle (denoted as m1), k2tog, turn
Row 17: P15, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 18: K16, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 19:  P17, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 20: K18, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 21: P19, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 22: K20, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 23: P21, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 24: K22, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 25: P23, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 26: K24, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 27: P25, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 28: K26, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 29: P27, m1, p2tog, turn
Row 30: K28, m1, k2tog, turn
Row 31: P29, m1, p2tog, turn
HEEL ONLY
Row 32: K 15
Adjust stitches so that you can continue working with your Light Blue yarn where you left off. Complete that row in knit stitch, and then do two more rows of knit stitch in Light Blue.
*Switch to Dark Blue, K all the way around for 4 rows
Switch to Light Blue, P all the way around for 4 rows
Repeat from * until your sock is the right length for your foot.
For reference, I had a total of 5 Dark Blue and 5 Light Blue stripes for my UK size 5 feet.
Refer back to the heel instructions and work the toe the same as the heel.
Complete the sock with kitchener stitch and weave in your ends.

13th Doctor SocksTada! You now have your own pair of 13th Doctor Socks!

Homeward Bound Fingerless Mittens

Homeward Bound MittensWhen I first saw this lovely brown yarn, I knew immediately that I wanted to make some sort of glove or mitten for myself from them. My aunt got the yarn from a place called Pacesetter Alpacas in Beloit, Wisconsin. It’s a wonderfully soft yarn, and I actually got to meet the alpaca from which the wool was collected! I unfortunately lost the label for this yarn, but if I remember correctly, it was a blend of two different kinds of alpacas.Homeward Bound BacksBecause this yarn was so nice, I wanted to pick the perfect pattern. After much searching, I settled on the Homeward Bound Mitts. The cables on the backs of these mittens caught my eye immediately. I hadn’t knit anything with particularly complicated cables before and this looked like a good way to challenge myself.

I made these mittens for myself in size 1 using 3.25 mm/US size 3/UK size 10 DPNs. Because I wasn’t planning on switching needles between the wrist and hand of the glove I chose a size between the two recommended in the pattern. I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t fit properly, but it turned out fine By mistake, I left off the rib on the bottom of the mittens, but I don’t think it’s too noticeable.  Homeward Bound Close UpThe pattern for these mittens was really well written, and included charts for all the cabling sections. I had never made a thumb before, and this pattern described how to knit one well enough that I made almost no mistakes! I love these mittens, and I’m almost tempted to make myself a pair in every color.

Homeward Bound Side and Back

13th Doctor Stripe Shirt

I decided to try something a little different and branch off into video! This is a video about how I made a shirt for my 13th Doctor cosplay.

If you’re making this yourself, you will need:

This is my first time making a tutorial video, so any feedback is appreciated!

Star Butterfly

There was a huge Disney meet on the third day of London MCM, which I went to dressed as Star Butterfly. Star Butterfly is a character from the Disney show Star vs the Forces of Evil.

Star Butterfly FullFor this cosplay, I made the dress and the headband, painted the shoes, and styled the wig. Making the dress was much more of a pain than I originally thought it would be. I had to shape the front of the dress by curving each of the front stripe pieces just right, but I had a lot of trouble doing this. I finally got the shape of the front right and attached to the back, when I discovered I’d somehow made the front piece much wider than the back piece. The bodice somehow still fit, but the front panel wrapped around further than I wanted it to. The skirt went on with little fuss, although I did somehow catch extra fabric in the hem a few times. I lined the bodice of the dress with darted teal fabric – I wasn’t about to try and stripe the inside too!

Star Butterfly Wig

I braided the wig during the train ride to the convention center in the hopes it wouldn’t tangle too badly before I got there.

This is the first time I’ve properly styled a wig for a cosplay. I styled it using craft glue, which meant the front of the wig didn’t move at all during the day. The headband was made by hot gluing fabric over an alice band, then hot gluing stuffing filled fabric horns onto that.

The shoes I painted with multiple layers of acrylic paint to match Star’s shoes in the show. In the show she wears rabbit faced boots instead, but I had to work with what I had. I also sewed, painted, and glued on little rabbit ears to the shoes, but those fell off very quickly. The paint on the rubber soles of the shoes scraped off pretty quickly. I unfortunately didn’t think to take pictures of the shoes before the convention.

Costume Crew Halloween

Back row: Em, Dina, Tilly, Phoebe, Maika, Kris; Front row: Katie, Ruth, Scott, Nicole, Me; Photo taken by Jay

This cosplay was so cute I ended up wearing it for Halloween! Since I’m on a costume course, many people wore really, really good costumes. This costume was lots of fun, and I plan on wearing the dress again as normal clothing.

Nardole from Doctor Who

On the second day of London MCM, I wore a cosplay of Nardole from the Doctor Who episode Eaters of Light. I’m starting with the second day because I neglected to get pictures of the costume I wore the first day, but hopefully I’ll get some soon.

I spent the entire day making this same expression

The Nardole costume consisted of a hand knit hat, a sweatshirt, pajama pants, and a kilt. The kilt was simply a huge piece of fabric with serged edges. Unlike how the kilt is worn in the show, I wore mine the same way that one would wear a great kilt.

Nardole full bodySince the sweatshirt was fairly simple in design, I opted to modify a blue zip up sweatshirt I already had instead of making one from scratch. I started by taking out the zipper and the hoodie cord. Then, I added buttonholes and large wooden buttons down the front of the hoodie. Even though I’d taken out the bright white hoodie cord, the eyelets in the hood were still visible in bright silver, so I buttonhole stitched all the way around them.

Phoebe dressed as Bill Potts

The hat I wore is one I’ve already posted about, and have actually written up a pattern for, so be sure to check that out!

This is, by far, one of the most comfortable cosplays I have ever worn. I basically got to walk around in pajamas all day, it was great!

Floral Skirt, Bandana, and Pencil Case

Floral Skirt FrontOn Tuesday afternoon I headed out to Fabricland to purchase a zipper I needed for an upcoming project. While there, I spotted this floral fabric for £4.59 a meter and immediately knew I wanted to make myself a full length skirt.

Floral Skirt BackThe skirt is made from two quarter circle panels with an invisible zip on the side. I think this is the first time I’ve thought ahead when making a skirt and added two inches in length to the back before sewing the panels together. Usually when evening out the hem of a skirt I’ll have to trim down the sides and front, but not this time!

Floral Skirt Hem DetailThis skirt was the first time I’ve ever used a rolled hem sewing machine foot. It was so much easier to use than I thought it would be, and created such a neat hem! I want to use this foot for every single project I make from now on!

Floral Bandana Close UpI thought the skirt would use up almost all of the 3 meters of fabric I bought, but I was wrong. With about 70 centimeters of fabric remaining, I was able to make both a bandana and a pencil case. The bandana was pretty much just an excuse to use my rolled hem foot, as I hardly ever wear bandanas.

The pencil case was a bit fiddly to make. I needed one that would fit all my uni supplies in it, and I wanted it to be fully lined. I didn’t take any pictures of the making process, and it’s difficult to describe how I made it. However, if anyone is interested, I would be happy to make a tutorial on how to make your own.

Airborne Floral Pencil CaseI am extremely happy with everything I made, although I doubt I’ll wear the bandana with any other outfit. The pencil case has already proved very useful and hasn’t fallen apart yet. I want to make about a hundred more half circle skirts with rolled hems, they’re so simple and so comfy!

 

Wilf’s Hat from The End of Time

After knitting two of Nardole’s hats, I felt as though I needed more hats. Why? I don’t know, I can’t possibly find the time to wear them all if I keep making them at this speed! This hat is Wilf’s hat from the Doctor Who episode The End of Time. I remember when I first watched the episode I noticed the hat, but I didn’t think I’d end up making it because it looked so complex.

putting on wilf's hatFast forward to a few months later, and I’ve knitted up the hat! I found a this lovely pattern by Patricia Schönhold on Ravelry. It was my first time knitting from a chart, as well as my first time knitting bobbles. The pattern was easy to understand, and I had no problems with any of it.

wilf's hat sideI knitted this hat up with Stylecraft Special DK in Lipstick (this might be wrong, I’ve lost the label) with size 8 (5.0 mm) knitting needles. I realize I’ve used Stylecraft in most of my recent projects. That’s because Stylecraft is really easy for me to get and it comes in a huge number of colors.wilf's hat topI did end up changing the pattern just a bit. Near the crown of the head, I added two extra twists in the large cables. Because of this, the number of stitches I had on my needles did not match up with the pattern and I ended up decreasing differently. I don’t remember exactly what I did, but the difference is visible.

wilf's hat front

I’m very happy with Wilf’s hat, and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to make it without the pattern I found. I am glad that Patricia Schönhold put this pattern up, and I would recommend it to anyone else looking to make Wilf’s hat.