Bard - Aion (Beritra Set)
Worn at:
Katsucon 2015 - Washington DC
Anime North 2015 - Toronto
Montreal ComicCon 2016 - Montreal
Why this costume:
The goal for taking on this costume was to take part in another group cosplay and to further my leather working and corset skills. Mission accomplished.
Description:
Corset: The corset is lined with twill and has gross grain ribbon as bone casing. It has spiral steel boning throughout except for plastic boning by the eyelets in the back. The top layer is lamb skin leather with the seams stitched down flat. I also added a faux channel down the center by twin needle stitching.
Appliques: The top of the corset and the cross design are veg tan leather appliques I made from scratch. First step: I sketched the designs then trace them to the leather. Second step: I cut out the pieces with an exacto knife then shape them while damp. Third step: I dye them with acrylic leather dye using a basic paint brush. Fourth step: Added accents with Martha Stewart pearl acrylic paint. Final steps: Punch holes in the leather with an awl then hand stitch it down to the corset.
Other appliques were made from leather scraps leftover from cutting out the corset pattern pieces. Acrylic paint was also applied to these pieces before they were hand stitched to the corset and machine stitched to the skirt.
Top: I got a sheer black spandex from Spandex World while in New York that I assembled into a shirt. The lace collar is a separate piece made of two kinds of lace: a stretch lace around the neck and a wide non-stretch lace for the frill.
Skirt: This thing was a monster. Since I grossly underestimated how much fabric I would need for circle skirts the layers were made with long straight pieces that were double box-pleated, meaning it was 8 layers thick for one tier of the skirt. For extra frill there is horsehair brain installed all along the edge of the skirt. I also made my own leather piping for trim by cutting strips of stretch pleather and stitching them closed with a piece of cord inside using a zipper foot.
Tights: I cut apart two sets of tights to get one sheer and one opaque leg. I skipped on installing the leather trim down the centre since the nylon was unforgiving.
Crown: It is made of 2 layers of Worbla. I heated the rough side and stuck it to a matching piece then curved it to shape. Heating the rough side meant I did not need to add any primer before painting because the surface remained smooth. It is attached to a white headband with hot glue - but that didn't last long so I'll likely glue it with E6000 next time.
Harp & Bow: A special thanks to ShuShuWafflez for the blueprint for this prop. It really helped speed things along.
The bow was made of Worbla scraps that I reheated and rolled into a tube. There is a foam ball at the end surrounded by friendly plastic petals. I primed it with self-leveling gel, then black gesso, and finally Martha Stewart paint and Golden interference paint.
The base (centre rod) of the harp is a wooden dowel with all extra details being foam (yoga mat or craft foam) covered in Worbla. The bottom has a pvc pipe connector to have a removable point at the bottom for easy transit. I cast the gems at the bottom of the harp and backed them with blue reflective wrapping paper. The large gem at the top is from Michael's. Two blue LEDs are embedded next to the base of the gem to light it up. The harp was primed with self-levelling gel, then coated in black gesso and finished with Blue Golden medium interference paint details. Martha Stewart paint was used for the inside of the harp with one thin layer of interference on top. If you layer too much pearlescent/shimmer paint the colour washes out and it just looks white, so you have to get the right amount.
Pic of : Paint job, detachable bottom piece, and side pieces to the gem which holds the LEDs
Katsucon 2015 - Washington DC
Anime North 2015 - Toronto
Montreal ComicCon 2016 - Montreal
Why this costume:
The goal for taking on this costume was to take part in another group cosplay and to further my leather working and corset skills. Mission accomplished.
Description:
Corset: The corset is lined with twill and has gross grain ribbon as bone casing. It has spiral steel boning throughout except for plastic boning by the eyelets in the back. The top layer is lamb skin leather with the seams stitched down flat. I also added a faux channel down the center by twin needle stitching.
Appliques: The top of the corset and the cross design are veg tan leather appliques I made from scratch. First step: I sketched the designs then trace them to the leather. Second step: I cut out the pieces with an exacto knife then shape them while damp. Third step: I dye them with acrylic leather dye using a basic paint brush. Fourth step: Added accents with Martha Stewart pearl acrylic paint. Final steps: Punch holes in the leather with an awl then hand stitch it down to the corset.
Other appliques were made from leather scraps leftover from cutting out the corset pattern pieces. Acrylic paint was also applied to these pieces before they were hand stitched to the corset and machine stitched to the skirt.
Top: I got a sheer black spandex from Spandex World while in New York that I assembled into a shirt. The lace collar is a separate piece made of two kinds of lace: a stretch lace around the neck and a wide non-stretch lace for the frill.
Skirt: This thing was a monster. Since I grossly underestimated how much fabric I would need for circle skirts the layers were made with long straight pieces that were double box-pleated, meaning it was 8 layers thick for one tier of the skirt. For extra frill there is horsehair brain installed all along the edge of the skirt. I also made my own leather piping for trim by cutting strips of stretch pleather and stitching them closed with a piece of cord inside using a zipper foot.
Tights: I cut apart two sets of tights to get one sheer and one opaque leg. I skipped on installing the leather trim down the centre since the nylon was unforgiving.
Crown: It is made of 2 layers of Worbla. I heated the rough side and stuck it to a matching piece then curved it to shape. Heating the rough side meant I did not need to add any primer before painting because the surface remained smooth. It is attached to a white headband with hot glue - but that didn't last long so I'll likely glue it with E6000 next time.
Harp & Bow: A special thanks to ShuShuWafflez for the blueprint for this prop. It really helped speed things along.
The bow was made of Worbla scraps that I reheated and rolled into a tube. There is a foam ball at the end surrounded by friendly plastic petals. I primed it with self-leveling gel, then black gesso, and finally Martha Stewart paint and Golden interference paint.
The base (centre rod) of the harp is a wooden dowel with all extra details being foam (yoga mat or craft foam) covered in Worbla. The bottom has a pvc pipe connector to have a removable point at the bottom for easy transit. I cast the gems at the bottom of the harp and backed them with blue reflective wrapping paper. The large gem at the top is from Michael's. Two blue LEDs are embedded next to the base of the gem to light it up. The harp was primed with self-levelling gel, then coated in black gesso and finished with Blue Golden medium interference paint details. Martha Stewart paint was used for the inside of the harp with one thin layer of interference on top. If you layer too much pearlescent/shimmer paint the colour washes out and it just looks white, so you have to get the right amount.
Pic of : Paint job, detachable bottom piece, and side pieces to the gem which holds the LEDs
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