Dragon Con is over, I’m home, and it’s almost time to go back to being me. I have just one more day of “freedom” before I dive back into work.
I’ve already started brainstorming on the next cosplays, though, and I can’t wait to start the actual construction. The sad thing is, cosplay takes money…and we went through a lot of it on our trip. Granted, we had budgeted and saved specifically for that, so it’s not bad, but I’m dying to get started on the next projects.
I already have the base pattern for the steampunk Cyclops (and thanks to my husband’s discovery of the Steampunk Hatters booth at Dragon Con, a color scheme) and some ideas for the steampunk Dark Phoenix, one of which I started toying around with this morning. In the wee hours. When I yet again could not sleep. *Sigh*
Anywho, I’m going to make a craft foam “breastplate” phoenix symbol (my own design) to wear over the corset and shirt. I think I’m going to attach it with a harness, but I’m not sure yet. I have to play around with it first. Kinda would help if I had the outfit made before diving into this, but who am I to do things in the right order? 😉
Using some sketch paper, I made a rough mock-up of the basic wing and body shapes of the phoenix. I plan on making the design kind of 3D, so I will probably go back and sketch in some additional flames or other embellishment to layer on once I start making it. I’m debating on using only thin craft foam or going full-armor and using that flooring foam as a base. You know, the foam squares that lock together like puzzle pieces? Thicker than craft foam, so it would be more durable, plus the bonus of more “padding” in the bust zone. Which I need. A lot. And I can still add the craft foam on top for more dimension and detail.
Thankfully, I’m a good guesser of how big I needed the paper “wings” (translation: bra cup areas of the breastplate) to be…I only had to sketch and cut one wing to get my template. I like the phoenix body I sketched, but am debating on making it a bit bigger since the wings are so large in proportion. It still looks cool and all; just want to be sure of how I want things before I start cutting the actual foam.
This one might end up being another tutorial. Now that I’m more comfortable making things, I think I’ll do more photo-guided instructions like I did with the “boob pockets” on my corset…a corset which I need to remake, but that has nothing to do with the boob pockets. They turned out great, and I had great cleavage all day. I just picked the wrong fabric to try to use as lining, so it kinda fell apart a bit. Beyond simple repair. Nuts.
Off I go to play with paper, tape, glue, and foam. Being an adult is great!
AJ Mullican, Author 