LARP and Cosplay: Where to Start with Costume Making?

Haute Couture, Cosplay, and LARP share quite a lot in common. Clothing is often created from a drawing or idea, it's unique and personal, and, last but not least, involves many sewing techniques that make the garment special. In simpler terms, the seamstress needs the necessary skills (talents) to be creative and handle different fabrics, materials, and especially seemingly impossible combinations.

Advanced Skills or Beginner's Luck?

Certainly, an enthusiast can start making costumes for Cosplay and LARP. It's advisable to begin with simple patterns. Nowadays, there are many sewing patterns available for purchase, clearly indicating the recommended sewing skill level for the seamstress.

How to choose the right sewing pattern?
How to identify this on a pattern and what distinguishes sewing patterns from different brands can be read on these pages. The approach here is the Chanel-Style jacket, but this can also be applied to sewing patterns for Cosplay or LARP.

Sewing patterns, middle photo: www.erikbolding.com

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Once upon a time...

You've seen many beautiful, extraordinary people with even more stunning costumes and accessories on the internet, at events, and fairs. Fantastic! You want to join in! That's great because the idea is born, and where there's a will, there's a way (and a sewing machine!)

Maybe your mom is handy; she can whip up a Chanel-Style jacket or perhaps a memorable wedding dress in no time. You can ask her to make a costume for you, or you can learn to do it yourself. Sewing is trendy and totally in!
So, make it yourself! But how and where do you start? We help. Read all about different sewing pattern reviews and our handy tips and tricks.

Picture: Flexdreams

Materials Needed:
If you take a sewing pattern as a starting point, for example, for a historical cape, a coat, or a Cosplay costume, the fabric type needed is described on the back of the envelope containing the sewing pattern. The required amount of fabric is also stated, along with whether you need zippers, buttons, or lining, for instance.

If you're starting from an idea or picture, carefully examine the materials used. Sometimes, it's not easy to see, but generally, you can tell whether a fabric is fluid or if you need a rigid fabric that holds its shape well.

A cape is often made from a flowing fabric, while a harness vest might require a strong, stiff fabric. Also, check if the fabric is STRETCH. If it's close-fitting, you can assume it's made of elastic material.

Tips & Tricks:

• Always buy TOO MUCH fabric. It's better to have too much than too little, and it's not a big deal if you accidentally cut two left sleeves.
  
• Start with cheap fabric like TEXTURE or TERLENKA. These are often listed under the "Carnival Fabrics" category on online fabric stores. They have fun prints, but UNI TEXTURE is also often included. This fabric is easy to sew, super strong, doesn't wrinkle, and is always affordable.
  
• Cosplay often uses vibrant colors. These are not usually on the first pages as recommended or popular choices in online fabric stores. So, take a bit more time or specifically search by color.
  
• LARP fabrics tend to be a bit dull in color – moss green, coffee or dark brown, off-white, beige, anthracite, burgundy, etc. In other words: stick to the earthy colors: brown, orange, green, grey. (No black or blue!) These also aren't the popular colors on online fabric stores. Feel free to scroll to the last pages...
  
• In physical fabric stores or at markets, you often find the most beautiful fabrics for costume making in the least attractive places. In the back of the store, in the Carnival section, or in a second stand with sale coupons. All the fabrics together might look messy and cheap. But don't be fooled. You can often come across the most beautiful fabrics here for a stunning Cosplay costume, such as McCall's Eventide or for LARP: Assassin Greed.
  
• TAKE YOUR TIME. A longer search for good materials is better than rushing. Creating the costume will take a lot of time, and the nicer the fabric, the more spectacular the end result!
  

Haute couture & Cosplay