The Fabric Alchemist

When I initially set out to cosplay as Korra I planned to cast the boyfriend as Mako. At that early planning stage I was also hoping to gather together a large group of friends to cosplay as other characters from the Last Airbender Universe. Time got away from us, and I opted to go ahead as Korra (and drag Greg along with me).

But I felt just a little cliche making my boyfriend cosplay as…well…my boyfriend.

Amon was the next logical choice, for many reasons. Greg has indicated his preference before for hooded characters (i.e. Ezio), so I had a hunch he would consent to dressing as Amon (hood AND mask). In terms of photographs, it gave us more to work with. Rather than striking bending poses or acting “lovey,” we could pretend to kick the shit out of each other all day. 🙂

Mask

We knew the mask was going to be the big hurdle for this costume. So we turned to Etsy and KurlyShenanigans. We are very pleased with the mask. It looks great and seems comfortable; Greg wore it for two convention days.

Tunic

Amon’s costume went through two phases. The first tunic was going to be a stashbusting masterpiece. Except for the small insignificant detail that it did not fit properly.

For the second attempt, I made the tunic’s front hem longer and adjusted the angle of the hem as it curves around to the back. The basis of this tunic pattern was the undertunic pattern I made for my Ezio costume, which in turn was developed from Simplicity Pattern #9887.

Here is a quick illustration for how I adjusted the Simplicity tunic pattern into Ezio’s understunic and then into Amon’s costume.

The stand-up collar is 4-inch high rectangle (plus seam allowance) with a length that corresponds with the tunic’s neckline. If you can, use interfacing between the two fabric layers of the stand-up collar to give more rigidity.

I drew the brown collar directly onto the main tunic pattern to ensure it would match the curve and length of the neckline, then traced the collar template to create a single pattern piece (front and back) with seam allowances.

• Cut 2 pieces on the fold
• Sew approximately 75% with right sides together
• Then turn right sides out, press with iron and top stitch.

I used this tutorial by Leena Lahteenmaki to draft Amon’s hood. Make sure that the bottom measurement matches the neckline and brown collar length. I attached the bottom of the hood to the brown collar before attaching them as one unit to the tunic by sewing one long line at the edge of the tunic’s neckline. I did this to reduce the number of times I would sew directly onto the tunic. The bottom edge of the brown collar is not sewn to the tunic, but the gold buttons were sewn through all layers of fabric and help to keep that brown collar in place.

Greg wore his own standard cotton knit long sleeve undershirt and black slacks under the tunic, and no one was the wiser. 🙂

Bracers and Shoulder Guards

Fake vinyl makes good armor in a short amount of time. I tried to complete the greaves (or boot covers), but finding the right shape for each piece was taking too long (and I was working at 1am the night before ECCC). I was not in the right mindset to take on that challenge.

Using a 9×12 inch piece of paper, I sketched the shape of the shoulder guards (and I’ve seemingly lost track of that pattern template). Brown bias tape (self made from the same scrap fabric I used for the brown collar) was used for the lines on the armor. It also helped me conceal the white fuzzy edges of the fake vinyl.

For the bracers take the following measurements:

• Circumference of upper forearm (just below elbow)
• Circumference of wrist
• Length of forearm (between the two preceding measurements)
• Distance from wrist to base of fingers (flap over hands below is 4 x 4.5 inches, with curved corners)

Learning Opportunities

• The stretchy nature of the cotton twill fabric used for the tunic and front panel caused the button holes to be larger than I intended. We had to wrap pipe cleaners around the button shanks to prevent them from falling out of the button holes.
• Accomodate for more movement ease in the bracers and reduce the length so it doesn’t bump into the elbows.
• One day I will take another stab at greaves.

Costume creation is getting easier as I build up my collection of pattern templates that fit myself and Greg. I need to spend some time transferring many of these patterns onto thicker drawing paper so they are easier to access and less prone to tearing every time I unfold them. My cat has a love for tissue paper, which she demonstrates by leaving bit marks in my patterns.

For those of you in the Seattle Area, I am told that there will be a Legend of Korra group cosplay at Sakura-Con. I am not sure I will be able to attend, but I am sure it is going to be fun!