Claymore: Part I
[Ashley]
Claymore: it's an action fantasy packed full of female power with an amazing story line and world. The anime had me so hooked I read the manga. And boy is the manga great! Amber and I are new to the cosplay world and our mutual passion for the show seemed like a great first step. Claymore may look like a simple cosplay but boy were we wrong!
Cosplay: Claymore
Cosplay character: Irene (also called Quick Sword Ilena).
Favorite platform: Manga - anime only covers a third of the manga and SOOOO much happens in the manga. Easy choice.
Favorite character: Jean
Least favorite character: Priscilla - for a second, I thought it'd be hard. Even with her manga backstory. No sympathy from me.
Favorite scene: Attack on the Organization
Least favorite scene: ...I don't think I have one.
THE CLOTHES
After scouring the internet for a good Claymore tutorial - an anime and manga that's been out for 10 years - we came up rather disappointed. The higher the quality, the less show and tell. Maybe we shouldn't have been such perfectionists but we can't help it. Our cosplay may not be the most high quality but I think Amber would agree we'll settle for middle tier.
As the person in the group with the most sewing experience - very little, I might say, despite my mother being a professional seamstress - I began the task of constructing the outfit. My sewing skills aren't that strong and my sewing machine very basic. (NOTE: if you have the ability to invest in a sewing machine, I recommend the 1955 Singer or a similar steel sewing machine. You can usually get them for under $100. These sewing machines are industrial grade and can sew through practically anything!) I knew right off the bat I was not prepared to learn how to sew sleeves. That's where I gave up in my free lessons from my mother as a child. So I went to find an existing shirt. The technical style is a V-waisted shirt/bodice. In the end, I chose a white leotard made of Lycra, which I made sure to buy larger than what I normally wear - leotards are skin tight and NOT flattering to fat rolls T_T I measured the shape I wanted (a cut from hip to groin) and cut it out before sewing a hem.
The next item I worked on were the capes. It's up to you whether you think the cape should be gray, off-white, or white. We went with white. I have a lot of history with Joanns so that was my go-to. I purchased a white satin that had the sheen I wanted and since its matching lining was $12.99 per yard (YIKES!), I bought broadcloth white cotton to line it (be the inside/back of the cape). To know how much you need depends on how wide you want the cape to be. We decided that we wanted the cape/backpiece to end on either side at the same place as the oversized pauldrons to try and match the original image (backpiece/cape looks flush with pauldrons as though cape actually comes from under pauldrons). In addition, we decided we wanted a longer cape to extend just past the buttock, hide any underwear issues (for comfort, thongs are not my go-to). I ended up with measurements of 22"W x 28"L.
However, before I could use this to buy the fabric, had to decide what style the cape was going to be. The dramatic waves/ruffles of the original style are hard to copy so we chose the closest option: one center box pleat and then side pleats on either side to the edge. This required a width 2.5 times my original measurement. While I'm happy with the style we chose, doing box pleats the whole way may make for a more dramatic cape. It, however, requires 3 times your width measurement.
For this pleating, I only sewed the pleating in at the top although I pleated the whole way down before sewing. So before making the pleats (but after ironing), I hemmed the remaining three sides to attach the lining and satin together and to close off my edges. Then, as previously states, I made my box pleat and then side pleats. The key is to decide how large you want your pleats. I decided I wanted three inches before measuring and marking with a pencil. Here is the video tutorial I used for reference. I then brought my marks together to make the pleats and pinned them. As previously stated, I only sewed the pleats at the top. Before unpinning it, I ironed it to emphasize effect.
You can see how it looks without the pins and just the top sewn here. The image with the pins in it is how I left it. Since they weren't ready to be worn, I wanted to give them as much time to "train" their shape.
Obviously I did this twice since I made two, but not before every pet owner's nightmare: to be that cliché. My pin case includes my pin cushion and embroidery needles. Before I knew it - literally- my cat managed to down two sewing needles. Had to rush her to the vet in the middle of the afternoon for emergency surgery. YAY! So yeah, try not to invite your cats to help you craft. Photo for proof:
Twenty minutes later, those needles were already in her intestines (faster than normal) but thankfully, not free floating in her abdomen. Surgery removed them safe-fully and without further damage. She still hasn't learned her lesson and I am forced to be hyper-vigilant >:[
So, three days and half a bank account later, I finally got to the gorgets. There was no tutorial for this so I had to create what I wanted from scratch. I made my pattern from craft paper that I got the width and length I wanted and then added some scrap fabric to it to give me the plunge I wanted. I then laid it on my fabric - some black cotton fabric I found in the remnants bin at Joanns. In addition to the black fabric, you'll want white fabric for trim (I had enough of my satin left over that I just used that) and buckram to line the neck piece so it stays erect on your neck. I forgot the buckram so I ended up stuffing/lining it with more stiff craft paper I had. Which means I can't wash these pieces. The cotton was rather thin and I was putting paper on the inside so I used four pieces of the cotton (somewhere around 1/3-1/2 of a yard), two for each side. Again, I cut out more than my pattern to allow for seams. Not exactly necessary since the border for the gorgets is white and going over top of these edges.
I quickly stitched my doubles together before pinning the two sides together. You'll want to sew your black hems first (I labeled these "A" in the picture below). To do this, you'll need a piece of black fabric. You'll match its top side ("right side out") to the gorget's top side and then sew close to the edge. After that, fold it over and wrap it around to the other side.
You've essentially created an edge similar to a shirt collar. To finish this, you'll pin it to the other side and then on the front side, sew close to the inside edge of your new fabric (the green line). Repeat on the other two spots.
Then for the white pieces: they're sewn on the same way. The only catch is that the lower two follow a curve. I unfortunately don't have any pictures but I had to recut this piece several times. I found it easiest to put the gorget over the white fabric and then cut out an "L" shape corresponding to the edge you need to sew. But the "L" should be on the "negative" or bottom side of the fabric so that its front will match up with the gorget front. Just sew slowly around the curve so that you can gently turn your fabric.
The hardest part is when you fold the fabric over to the other side. I had to play with it to figure out how it would fold/overlap and even had to cut slits in it to get it to lay the way I wanted on the front. Then sew a seam into it like you did on the black pieces.
Feels like we should be done but we're only just getting started. Next, needed the symbols. After deciding that fabric paint was a terrible idea (sample made using a stencil not included. Just trust me that it was bad), I decided to use iron-on transfers for black fabric. Not only was it necessary because the fabric is black but my printer can't make white ink. Iron-on transfers specifically for black/dark fabrics are opaque and therefore, my image would show up. The first thing I did was get the image
right in photoshop. I recreated the symbols, made them white, and then gave them a heavy stroke in black. This step was important because I needed a thick enough black border than I could cut it out without any white beyond my symbol. To attach it, I simply followed the iron-on instructions. (As you can see, I printed extras just in case I goofed.)
For attaching I decided I wanted to use velcro but the original had a buckle design that I still wanted to imitate if possible. So I decided to use EVA foam to make those buckles for design. I made a pattern that I liked, cut out my pieces, and sanded them into the shape I liked. Then I shaped them using a heat gun to give a slight curve before coating them in plasti dip and then finishing them off with silver spray paint.
For the velcro/foam combo, I decided I wanted the buckle to hang over the top edge and that I would copy with the velcro to carry out the look. I sewed the velcro on first, soft side on my bottom piece and rough side under my top piece. My overlap with my measurements was about 1" and my velcro was just shy of 2". So I made sure to sew only an inch of my rough velco to the top piece so half would attach to the buckle. I did not use my machine for this but hand sewed a simple stitch with my thread doubled. To attach my foam buckles, I used E6000 glue which was recommended to me for attaching foam to fabric. Let me tell you, the warning section is scary: don't breath or let on any surface of you but said in more detail. Also, it can take, per the label, up to 72 hours to officially dry. Didn't want to run the risk of ruining the fabric by using contact cement so I can't tell you how that would have worked. I would have considered sewing it on if I had a curved needle - which I don't.
I used my two ugliest "buckles" for mine (aka the test one), which you can see aren't pretty. And you can see the inside seam a bit of that upper "collar": aka. what happens when you're too cheap for surger (there are fabric glues that are supposed to prevent fraying. I've used them. They dry clear like they say but not before staining/bleeding through the fabric. Aka, everyone knows you used glue).
Claymore: it's an action fantasy packed full of female power with an amazing story line and world. The anime had me so hooked I read the manga. And boy is the manga great! Amber and I are new to the cosplay world and our mutual passion for the show seemed like a great first step. Claymore may look like a simple cosplay but boy were we wrong!
Cosplay: Claymore
Cosplay character: Irene (also called Quick Sword Ilena).
Favorite platform: Manga - anime only covers a third of the manga and SOOOO much happens in the manga. Easy choice.
Favorite character: Jean
Least favorite character: Priscilla - for a second, I thought it'd be hard. Even with her manga backstory. No sympathy from me.
Favorite scene: Attack on the Organization
Least favorite scene: ...I don't think I have one.
THE CLOTHES
After scouring the internet for a good Claymore tutorial - an anime and manga that's been out for 10 years - we came up rather disappointed. The higher the quality, the less show and tell. Maybe we shouldn't have been such perfectionists but we can't help it. Our cosplay may not be the most high quality but I think Amber would agree we'll settle for middle tier.
As the person in the group with the most sewing experience - very little, I might say, despite my mother being a professional seamstress - I began the task of constructing the outfit. My sewing skills aren't that strong and my sewing machine very basic. (NOTE: if you have the ability to invest in a sewing machine, I recommend the 1955 Singer or a similar steel sewing machine. You can usually get them for under $100. These sewing machines are industrial grade and can sew through practically anything!) I knew right off the bat I was not prepared to learn how to sew sleeves. That's where I gave up in my free lessons from my mother as a child. So I went to find an existing shirt. The technical style is a V-waisted shirt/bodice. In the end, I chose a white leotard made of Lycra, which I made sure to buy larger than what I normally wear - leotards are skin tight and NOT flattering to fat rolls T_T I measured the shape I wanted (a cut from hip to groin) and cut it out before sewing a hem.
As you can see from the first picture, I had extra 3/4" on that hem which I did not trim. That is because I was unsure of how I was going to attach the faulds to the outfit. As a plus, you can also let the hem back out if you realize you made it too short. If you don't have a surger, you can use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine over the edge of the hem to seal it when you're happy with it. Most Important: use nylon thread as it is more flexible. I had a lot of polyester thread lying around, which I used. However, since taking these pictures, I have pulled the hem due to the thread. Nylon isn't going to solve the issue so you'll still have to be careful but it's a better choice.
Also, make sure you use the appropriate needle on your sewing machine. I broke A LOT of needles using a basic needle for this fabric instead of a ball point needle. Even though my machine claims it can sew through 5 layers of denim :/
For pants, we used high-waited thick white leggings. They will still show some things through, such as panty-line, but we didn't have the patience to make fake leather pants or the like.
However, before I could use this to buy the fabric, had to decide what style the cape was going to be. The dramatic waves/ruffles of the original style are hard to copy so we chose the closest option: one center box pleat and then side pleats on either side to the edge. This required a width 2.5 times my original measurement. While I'm happy with the style we chose, doing box pleats the whole way may make for a more dramatic cape. It, however, requires 3 times your width measurement.
For this pleating, I only sewed the pleating in at the top although I pleated the whole way down before sewing. So before making the pleats (but after ironing), I hemmed the remaining three sides to attach the lining and satin together and to close off my edges. Then, as previously states, I made my box pleat and then side pleats. The key is to decide how large you want your pleats. I decided I wanted three inches before measuring and marking with a pencil. Here is the video tutorial I used for reference. I then brought my marks together to make the pleats and pinned them. As previously stated, I only sewed the pleats at the top. Before unpinning it, I ironed it to emphasize effect.You can see how it looks without the pins and just the top sewn here. The image with the pins in it is how I left it. Since they weren't ready to be worn, I wanted to give them as much time to "train" their shape.
Obviously I did this twice since I made two, but not before every pet owner's nightmare: to be that cliché. My pin case includes my pin cushion and embroidery needles. Before I knew it - literally- my cat managed to down two sewing needles. Had to rush her to the vet in the middle of the afternoon for emergency surgery. YAY! So yeah, try not to invite your cats to help you craft. Photo for proof:
So, three days and half a bank account later, I finally got to the gorgets. There was no tutorial for this so I had to create what I wanted from scratch. I made my pattern from craft paper that I got the width and length I wanted and then added some scrap fabric to it to give me the plunge I wanted. I then laid it on my fabric - some black cotton fabric I found in the remnants bin at Joanns. In addition to the black fabric, you'll want white fabric for trim (I had enough of my satin left over that I just used that) and buckram to line the neck piece so it stays erect on your neck. I forgot the buckram so I ended up stuffing/lining it with more stiff craft paper I had. Which means I can't wash these pieces. The cotton was rather thin and I was putting paper on the inside so I used four pieces of the cotton (somewhere around 1/3-1/2 of a yard), two for each side. Again, I cut out more than my pattern to allow for seams. Not exactly necessary since the border for the gorgets is white and going over top of these edges.I quickly stitched my doubles together before pinning the two sides together. You'll want to sew your black hems first (I labeled these "A" in the picture below). To do this, you'll need a piece of black fabric. You'll match its top side ("right side out") to the gorget's top side and then sew close to the edge. After that, fold it over and wrap it around to the other side.
Then for the white pieces: they're sewn on the same way. The only catch is that the lower two follow a curve. I unfortunately don't have any pictures but I had to recut this piece several times. I found it easiest to put the gorget over the white fabric and then cut out an "L" shape corresponding to the edge you need to sew. But the "L" should be on the "negative" or bottom side of the fabric so that its front will match up with the gorget front. Just sew slowly around the curve so that you can gently turn your fabric.
The hardest part is when you fold the fabric over to the other side. I had to play with it to figure out how it would fold/overlap and even had to cut slits in it to get it to lay the way I wanted on the front. Then sew a seam into it like you did on the black pieces.
Feels like we should be done but we're only just getting started. Next, needed the symbols. After deciding that fabric paint was a terrible idea (sample made using a stencil not included. Just trust me that it was bad), I decided to use iron-on transfers for black fabric. Not only was it necessary because the fabric is black but my printer can't make white ink. Iron-on transfers specifically for black/dark fabrics are opaque and therefore, my image would show up. The first thing I did was get the image
For attaching I decided I wanted to use velcro but the original had a buckle design that I still wanted to imitate if possible. So I decided to use EVA foam to make those buckles for design. I made a pattern that I liked, cut out my pieces, and sanded them into the shape I liked. Then I shaped them using a heat gun to give a slight curve before coating them in plasti dip and then finishing them off with silver spray paint.
For the velcro/foam combo, I decided I wanted the buckle to hang over the top edge and that I would copy with the velcro to carry out the look. I sewed the velcro on first, soft side on my bottom piece and rough side under my top piece. My overlap with my measurements was about 1" and my velcro was just shy of 2". So I made sure to sew only an inch of my rough velco to the top piece so half would attach to the buckle. I did not use my machine for this but hand sewed a simple stitch with my thread doubled. To attach my foam buckles, I used E6000 glue which was recommended to me for attaching foam to fabric. Let me tell you, the warning section is scary: don't breath or let on any surface of you but said in more detail. Also, it can take, per the label, up to 72 hours to officially dry. Didn't want to run the risk of ruining the fabric by using contact cement so I can't tell you how that would have worked. I would have considered sewing it on if I had a curved needle - which I don't.
With that, the base outfit is done! Phweh! I wish I could say I feel much better having that done. But that was the easy part. Things to come: bracers, pauldrons, "necklace", back-piece, harness, faulds, boot covers/add-ons.
Thanks for reading,
Ashley
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