Want to cosplay but bad at sewing

flowerhoney

So I'm going to San Diego Comic Con this summer (so excited) and I'm really interested in cosplaying. I did Zatanna at PAX prime this year and it was a serious blast!

For zatanna, I found all the articles of clothing I needed and just pieced it together without actually making anything. That was all well and good for her outfit and I might wear it again (minus the high heels, that was a really terrible idea) but this year I want to try some new characters! The only problem is I'm not sure I can get away with shopping this time...

I'm thinking of doing Lady Blackhawk and/or evil Mary Marvel

Lady Blackhawk

Spoiler:

evil Mary Marvel

Spoiler:

I would love to try to cosplay these lovely ladies but I don't really know how to sew or how to make a pattern, or even where to start! I've tried to googling for some starting points but all I'm getting are other people's amazing costumes beautifully tailored out of latex!

Should I take an incredible ballsy stab at costume making or throw in the towel? I have a friend who kicks ass at costume design, but she's a busy girl and I couldn't ask her to make it for me. Cosplay is a lot of fun, but I dont want to be shamed at comic con with a bad costume

Thanks H/A!

Iruka

With the second, you may be able to find a wet suit and a ruffled bottom bathing suit like this:
http://www.theorchidboutique.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/m/a/main_large1_7.jpg

and just combine them some how. I cant sew, So I cant help you there, but I would try and minimize what you have to create, and maybe your friend wouldn't mind making a seam or two if the parts are all in place.

I mean its pretty much this http://www.dancewearsolutions.com/dancewear/leotards/TB41.aspx?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=datafeed

With a mini skirt and a lightning bolt.

flowerhoney

yeah thats pretty true!!
I'm hoping it would be fairly easy to add a little skirt to that and maybe some gloves and then like applique on a lighting bolt or something

Thanks iruka!

Bliss 101

I'd look into dancewear stores for the second costume. For example, you could go with this in black combined with this skirt in black. Then some black gloves and some kind of homologous recombinaltion tiniker for the neck.

For the first one, check out some shops that sell goth/military style clothing. You can probably find someting with a similar style, but you'll need luck to find something that can accommodate the badge. Some kind of a cropped biker jacket + short skirt look would also work as a more modern version, in my opinion, but a biker jacket would probably get a bit hot and uncomfortable after a while.

Skoal Cat

Your best bet at the jacket in the first one, without much skill, is to sew/glue/otherwise attach piping and buttons to a normal jacket make it SEEM like that style

flowerhoney

I'm thinking mary marvel is gonna be the easiest to pull of with the least amount of sewing. I think my friend will be able to help me make pleats for the skirt and I can just buy gloves and boots. Adding the lighting bolt shouldn't be too much trouble either

Thanks everyone! This is a good start

mts

You could also see about a figure skating ensemble. that seems spot on based on the limited amount of figure skating i watch.

tada



not 100% but that was like 2 minnutes of searching to illustrate the point