Cosplay Organization: Storing cosplays

When you've been cosplay for as long as I have, you start gathering a lot of cosplays, supplies, and parts. So what do you do with it all? Here's some suggestions on how to keep things organized and compact.

After all these years, I've made over a hundred cosplays. At first, I had put as many as I could in garment bags. I would even double up cosplays from the same series to "save space." After a few years, I realized that this was definitely not the best way. So now I only keep my more complicated and/or fragile cosplays in garment bags. In addition, since I have an unfinished basement, I hang all these cosplays in one of those fabric closets. I suggest getting one with a metal frame. It'll hold up much better to the all the weight. Alternatively, you could make something out of PVC. This is the one I bought from target. So far it's holding up pretty well!

In addition to hanging cosplays, I also place their accessories and other items needed for it (like wigs) inside the bag. You can see a few examples below. Snow White has her head band which sits on the hanger easily. Adam Taurus has his wig, horns, and gloves. Both pretty simple outfits. My last example is General Cross. He's got Tincanpy, his hat, wig, belt, gloves, mask, and glasses. To keep it neat, I have a box that holds the smaller pieces (the gray box you see in the lower right of the bag).

For all my smaller cosplays that are just a simple outfit (with or without minimal accessories), I now keep them in totes. To make it easier to find things, I keep a piece of paper with a list of everything inside that tote at the very top. I eventually have plans to make a "My Cosplay" binder that will have a list of all my cosplays I've made and where they are stored. But that's for another blog later on. Clear totes are nice because you can see through them, but I still make a list just for convenience.

My Taokaka cosplay is too big and has to many accessories though. So I have the outfit in a bag and all the accessories in a photo box that's stacked with other boxes. I've collected all sorts of different pattern and colored boxes for each cosplay. They all stack nice and neat on top of each other too. These boxes are great for keeping wigs and accessories together for those simpler cosplays. (Fun bonus: the black container in the middle holds all my personal pattern pieces from previous cosplays! Though it's getting pretty full too, haha).

I don't have to many armor and prop pieces. But I keep all armor and larger props inside of totes as well. My Elspeth Sun's Champion cosplay is all kept in one tote for convenience. Somehow I managed to get 90% of my other pieces into one really large black tote. You have to get creative to fit it all in there! But it keeps them safe from accidental damage which is definitely a plus (especially when I moved).

I don't have any pictures of my swords, staffs, and other weapons (I just couldn't get a good shot, sorry!). Some people mount their props on the wall to display them (and keep them off the floor!). I don't have that kind of wall space so mine are leaning against the wall in a corner. I have even seen some people put them in a barrel! Some of the props that break down into pieces are laying across the top of the fabric closet that the cosplays are hanging in.

And that is how I store all of my cosplays, their accessories, armors, and props. Hopefully this helps you keep things more organized! What do you do to keep things organized? I would love to see! Got any other suggestions or questions? Leave a comment below!

~Serenity

Fabric Organization

For the next few blogs, I will be focusing on organizing your fabric collection and all your cosplay items. Today, we'll start off with fabric organization! This is something I struggled with for quite a while. I kept some fabrics on bolts/rolls against a wall, some in totes, and some stacked in bags. Some are in my sewing room, some are in a closet and some are in the basement. Anytime I wanted to find a fabric, it would take hours to find.

I've come up with a solution to help me find fabrics quicker. It's in no way perfect, but it's at least a start.

Bolts and Rolls
You think it would make things easier to keep fabric on bolts or on rolls instead of folded and into totes. The good thing about leaving them on a bolt (or roll) is you will have less creases to deal with when its time to use the fabric. If you have the proper shelving to hold bolts of fabric, then by all means, keep them on it! But I (and most cosplayers I know) have very limited space. So the fabrics I decided to keep on a bolt are either more fragile materials (ones that crease/damage easily and such) or ones that I have a whole bolt worth (8+ yards). Everything else, I took off a bolt and placed in a tote. I left any fabrics on rolls as is but only because I don't have many of them. Most of them are vinyls, leather/pleathers, or velvets that could get damaged if folded up. I also made sure to place them in plastic sleeves to help protect them as well. My sewing table is really wide so my bolts of fabrics are all stored underneath it (with plenty of room for my machine petal and my feet). My rolls of fabrics are stored in the back corner of the closet in my sewing room or on a shelf in the same closet. This shelf is really high up where you have to physically look up into the closet to see. So it's a perfect place for each access while keeping it off the floor! You can see how my stuff is store in the pictures below.

Totes, totes, and more totes
So how do you make it easier to find what you're looking for? First off, I organize all my totes by type of fabrics. I have one for knits, one for cottons, one for fleece, and so forth. I also have a separate tote for fabrics that I bought for specific cosplays (aka the never ending future cosplay list).

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't go through my fabrics that often. And I have fabric back from when I first started sewing (over 15 years ago). I don't always remember what I have (which can be troublesome if you constantly buy more of something you already own). You could make a list of what fabrics you have in each tote. Or, what I do, is cut a small corner off each piece of fabric and place it in a small container (or Ziploc bag). Once done, you just place it directly in the tote. So next time you need to look for a fabric, or remind yourself of what you have, you'll have a small collection of each piece in one convenient spot. I personally used Ziploc bags and wrote on the outside which tote it belongs to just in case it gets separated from the tote. I've also debating on taping it to the outside of the tote so I don't even have to open the tote to see what's inside. Alternatively, you can also buy clear totes so you can see through, which was my original intention, but you don't always see each piece of fabric that way.

So that's how I store and locate all my fabrics. I spent a few weeks going through each tote and organizing them by type and clipping off a corner of each piece. It's not something that can be done overnight (unless you have one to two totes). I have at least four or five more totes of fabrics not shown. And there are the new fabrics I just purchased which are in bags in the sewing room. It's a never ending process but if you keep up with it, it'll stay neat and easy to find!

Some upcoming organization blogs I will be doing are:

• Trims
• Notions
• Sample ordering
• Cosplays
• Armors and props
• Wigs

So keep an eye out for some more organization tips! What kind of methods do you use to keep track of your fabrics? Let me know in the comment section below! I love seeing other peoples methods!

~Serenity

No new progress

I haven't really worked on Mei in a while. So sadly, there is no new progress. I had planned to go to Pax Unplugged but things changed and now I won't be going. That means I can procrastinate even longer! Haha.

Instead, I have been spending my time organizing my fabric collection and my cosplays. I've taken a few photos and decided that I will do a series of blogs on how to keep your fabric and cosplays organized. This will include how to make it easy to find everything and how to store cosplays you wear frequently versus cosplays you retired (and refuse to leg go).

So keep an eye out for these posts!

~Serenity

Mei Cosplay Tutorial: Hair Accessories (Chang'e Skin; Overwatch)

Let's take a look at Mei's hair accessories. Just like with everything else, I started off by drafting a pattern. I had to redraw it a few times since the first time it was to big, then to small.

I made both pieces out of eva foam and craft foam. The bigger hair piece was covered in black worbla for extra stability (though you don't have to if you don't want to). I apologize a head of time for the follow pictures; they are screen caps from the videos I did. First, I traced then cut out the two shapes out of thick eva foam. Then I cut another piece out of craft foam and cut the center out it. I used contact cement to glue both layers of foam together. Once dry, I used my dremel to bevel the edges of both pieces.

As I mentioned before, it is optional to cover it in worbla. If you aren't, then simply glue both pieces together. If you do choose to, here's what I did. I cut a piece big enough to go around each piece (I did one at a time). Heat up the worbla and lay it on top. Gently press down into the worbla to get the raised detail on the inside. After that, lightly smooth the worbla down the sides and wrap it underneath. You may have to reheat the piece if you don't move fast enough. I also cut triangles into each corner of the worbla that's hanging off the edge. It'll make it a little neater and less bulky on the underside. Repeat for the second piece. After both are made, heat the top of the hexagon and the bottom of the triangle. Press both pieces together. Make sure you get it right the first time, because there is no removing it if you mess it up! (at least not without having to fix a lot of problems). For the flower, I cut it out of a piece of worbla and placed it right on top. I heated up a bunch of scrap pieces of worbla and rolled it into a ball for the center piece to the flower. I waited to attach it till after it was all painted because I figured it would be easier to paint in the long run.

For the hair stick, I cut all the pieces out of eva foam as well. I used my dremel to round off the edges and smooth it out. I made the ball the same way I did the ball for the flower (merged scrap worbla together). Once again, I waited to attach the ball until after it was all painted. I found some hair sticks at Wal-Mart which I attached everything too. Then I primed and painted it all.

The hair stick simply slides into my wig. I attached magnets to the back of the hair piece and into my wig so the hair piece can be taken on/off with ease. This is super helpful for transporting and for future wig maintenance.

Everything is starting to look A-Mei-Zing! Haha. Hope you found this write up useful!

~Serenity

Mei Cosplay Tutorial: Belt Accessory (Overwatch; Chang'e Skin)

It's been a very busy week so I'm only going to go over how I made Mei's belt this week. I didn't get as many progress pictures as I'd like, but I did record most of it. I will eventually make a speed run on how to make it as well. So here goes!

I started off by making a template out of paper for the very front of it. As you can see in this photo, my template is about the width of a piece of paper. I didn't make a full scale template since the design on her belt just repeats all the way around. Once I was happy with it, I measured my waist, then added 5 inches to it. This will be for the closure in the back. I went with industrial strength Velcro to close mine, but you can also do snaps or magnets if you so choose. Copy the outline of your template, and extend it as long as you need it to be.

I made the base out of eva foam and use craft foam to do the elevated details. Cut out all the small pieces you need for the belt, then glue them down. I prefer contact cement whenever attaching eva foam or craft foam together. It has a much strong bond. But you can hot glue, mod podge, or really just about any kind of glue.

 From here, you can go one of two paths. You can use foam to add the edge detail, then seal and paint the whole thing. Or you can cover it all in fabric. I went with the fabric method because I was worried the paint would/could crack under the stress of being bent and/or it could eventually rub off onto my outfit. By using fabric to cover it, it stays flexible and no worries of bleeding! So for this, I simple used a spray adhesive to glue down the fabric. I did it in parts, little by little since the adhesive dries pretty quick. But no worries, if it dries before you press the fabric down, you can reapply and continue! If the glue isn't fully cured, you can also pull the fabric up and reposition if need be. You want to make sure the fabric is flat and smooth with no wrinkles! When you press down on the fabric, you want to press it into all the groves created from the craft foam. Starting to look cool, right?? As a side note, your fabric should have some stretch to it to make this simpler. You can probably get away with a non-stretch fabric, but I wouldn't recommend it. It wont end up being as smooth.

Sadly past this point (minus the rope thing) is when I was in con crunch time and didn't get any progress pictures because I worked on it at the hotel (yay go me!). I was also limited to the few paints I had brought with me which is why I ended up using a darker purple instead of a brownish-purple-ish color (or whatever you want to call the color of the back drop of the belt). I simply used some acrylic paint to get that second color for the background of the belt. I wasn't worried about anything cracking as it's absorbed into the fabric (versus sitting on foam). After that dried, I folded over some light blue fabric and (in a huge rush) hot glued it to the rim of the belt. Once that was done, I glued my Velcro to the edges and made sure it fit. Yay!

To make the cap piece for the rope accessory, I made it out of eva foam and then covered it in black worbla (only for extra stability). You don't need to cover it in worbla but I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to bend or get squished when I sat down. Since I was in a rush, I only made one for each end of the rope. I use wood filler to fill in any gaps or to smooth out imperfections. Then cover it plasti-dip and finally spray paint and sealer.

For the rope, I used a round insulation foam. You can find this at any hard ware store with the plumbing. Its usually black and his a slit in it (so you can wrap it around a pipe). This stuff is super flexible and cheap! I started off with closing off the foam (pull the plastic part that protects the adhesive and close it to make it one piece). Then I sewed a tube with my fabric the same width of the foam, turned it inside out, and carefully covered the foam piece. If you did it correctly, it'll fit perfectly! After that, I sewed another piece together and simply wrapped it around the whole piece. I put a tad of glue on the back side under the part that's wrapped around to help hold it in place. You can choose to glue the whole thing down if you want instead of sewing the tubes. I just feel like it's a lot cleaner over all this way.

Before securing the pieces together, I tied some string to the end of the "rope" piece and ran it through the hole at the top of the cap. Then I hot glued the "rope" into the cap piece. I tied a few knots as close to the hole of the cap as I could, then tied it to a small metal lanyard hook. On the back of the belt, I hand sewed a small loop with strong button thread (though I will probably go back and do it out of ribbon or something a bit more sturdy). This lets me hook the rope onto the belt when needed but can be separated for easy transport and storage.

And there you have it, the belt accessory! I haven't done the pouch yet. But I will do a separate write up for it when I do. I'm sad that this was super rushed but for doing it in a few hours, it came out pretty well. I will probably end up remaking it at some point. Overall I will still do the same method for everything, I will just take the time to make it neater and more precise (and use less hot glue lol). Hope you enjoyed!

~Serenity

Mei Cosplay Tutorial: Cuffs (Overwatch; Chang'e Skin)

To finish the shirt completely, we have to make the cuffs now.

 

The cuffs are pretty simple. I patterned out a basic shape using some paper. Then, I cut it out of fabric (allowing for seam allowance) and sewed the outer edge and sides together. Turn it right side out and iron it flat, giving your edges a crisper look. To give it stability, I cut out a piece of craft foam slightly smaller than the fabric.

Slide the craft foam into the cuff, making sure the seam allowance on the inside is all to one side of the foam (otherwise it will give it extra unnecessary bulk). Once its nicely tucked in there, I top stitched along the edge of the cuff. This not only adds detail to it, but helps hold the foam in place. I also did a baste stitch along the bottom opening to help sew it to the sleeve better.

 

I added my details doing the same applique technique as the rest of the shirt. You can also use fabric paint and paint the design on if you prefer. After that, I hand stitched the cuff closed. Then I sewed it to the sleeve. If your measurements are correct, it'll fit perfectly.

 

 

And with that, the shirt is complete! Next up, accessories! There's the belt, rope thing, purse, shoulder wrap..thing.. (lol?), earrings, and hair pieces! After that, we'll tackle the tank and gun.

 

~Serenity

 



Mei Cosplay Tutorial: the shirt and appliques (Overwatch; Chang'e Skin)

To begin working on Mei's shirt, I altered Simplicity pattern 2940. There wasn't to much I had to alter though. I used view B. I tweaked the length of it a little bit and altered the sleeves. All I did to the sleeves was straighten them instead of having the baggy loop (see picture below for example).

 



 

Once I got all the pieces cut out, I airbrushed the gradient needed for the sleeves and band. The color looks a bit on the lighter side in my reference pictures so I did them lighter than I did the pants. Once that was done, I followed the instructions for the pattern and sewed it all together. I originally had planned on doing the gold trim for the band as an applique but decided against it. So sadly, I had to unstitch the band, add the gold, then sew it back on. 

 

 

Adding Details:

The next steps are to add all the lovely details to the shirt! I did appliques for all the gold and purple designs on the shirt. This can be a long process depending on how much detail you have. I spent 6 hours working on cutting out one piece of an applique for a different cosplay. These aren't to bad but there is a bunch of them so it did take a while. As I mentioned above, I originally was going to applique the gold ends for the band, but doesn't against it. I wanted the gold to be sew into the outfit without any top stitching. So here's what I did:

 

 Step 1: Stitch gold strip past your seam allowance. Let's say you want the gold piece to be 1/4" wide and your seam allowance is 5/8". The beginning of the gold piece should be 5/8" away from the edge of the fabric. Then you will sew 1/4" from the edge of the gold.

Step 2: Fold in your corner. For Mei, these strips have angled ends. Its important to press this down so you have a clean edge. Once the whole piece is completely sewn, I go back and hand stitch this edge closed.

Step 3: Press! Flip the gold fabric over and iron it all down. This will make it have a crisp edge (and also help you baste it in place). The edge of the gold fabric should match the eddge of the white fabric. If it goes past the white fabric, just trim it down to meet it.

Step 4: Baste! Do a simple stitch near the edge (or within the seam allowance) to hold this in place. This will help prevent it from sliding or shifting on you when you go to sew the band to the shirt.

Step 5: Repeat to the rest of the band and the other side. Make sure you mark where the angled parts will be so they stay symmetrical!

 

Step 6: Sew gold edge on outer band. Since this is the outer edge of the band, you can sew this on like you would bias tape. However, you need to leave an opening where that indentation part is.

 

Step 7: Cut, fold, and press. Using the reference picture on the right, cut out the piece of fabric. Also make a snip in each corner. This will allow you to fold the fabric under. Once folded, iron it down. I hand stitched this so there wouldn't be any top stitching or visible lines. Repeat to other side.

  

For this next part you will need heat n bond sheets. You can buy this 'by the yard' at Joann Fabrics (they're located with the interfacing) or in packs (also at Joann's but you can also find it at Wal-Mart and other craft stores). Make a stencil for each different design on the shirt. Double check the sizing by taping it to the shirt (make multiply if it helps you visualize it better). Once you're happy with it, transfer the design onto the heat n bond. You will be drawing on the paper side. Copy it for as many of each design you need. Make sure you flip the design over for any that are not symmetrical! Once you've got it all traced, using an iron, iron the heat n bond to the WRONG side of the gold fabric. Do the same for the purple ones as well (I didn't take any pictures of that part, sorry!)

Now it's time to cut and assemble! Once everything is cut, you can peel the paper backing and iron the appliques to the shirt. I use a ruler to make sure my appliques were symmetrical. Depending on the fabric used, you may or may not have to do "satin stitching" along the edges. For fabrics that don't fray (like vinyl), satin stitching is not needed. When done correctly, this can give your outfit a more professional and embroidered look.  I would definitely practice a lot before diving in though. Especially on crazy curves like this. Below is a picture of my first time doing the satin stitch. Oh the horrrooorrrrr... haha. I used the scrap pieces left from cutting out the appliques to test on. Obviously you want to use thread in a color close to the fabric. I was just using white to test it out because the gold thread I have is much more pricey and I didn't want to waste it. You will also notice on my test piece that its a little wonky. It is best to use some kind of stabilizer or interfacing but for the test pieces, I just winged it.

 

Minus the sleeves, the top is now all done! Yay! I love how it turned out (especially because I made this in a day and half 'cause I rushed to get it done a few days before the con. haha..)

Anyway, hope this helps!
~Serenity