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The Hero’s Closet

09pauldron10

Published on December 19, 2020 at × in 09pauldron10

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finished pauldron on dress form with mail vest

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Hey there!

I’m Gillian, a cosplayer, writer, editor, and occasional illustrator with an unruly fabric habit. I love patternmaking, fabric manipulation, embellishment, and big, ambitious projects.

My book The Hero’s Closet is available now!

Swipe for full length!

I recently reminded mysel

Bootmaking, round 2! I chose a much stiffer leathe

Bootmaking, round 2! I chose a much stiffer leather this time around, which gives the finished uppers a ton more structure and body. It’s definitely going to make my life harder for the second half, when I’m forming them around the lasts and stitching on soles, but they’re already looking much livelier and more bootlike and I’m much happier with them.
Just like the first pair, these are assembled with lapped seams and all the external stitching is done by hand. I switched the center back to a butted seam with a reinforcement strip stitched over the top, which worked better in the stiffer leather, and used 4mm stitching punches to pre-punch all the holes. In addition to making the stitches very even, the punches create an angled hole that gives the stitch a slight slant. It’s a lot of work for something that in the end looks very similar to a machine stitch, but the saddle stitch is a bit tougher and I can use a heavy topstitching thread throughout (which even a lot of industrials I’ve used tend to struggle with.)
I’ve got just under two weeks left, which will hopefully be just enough to carve the insoles, do all the lasting and soling, and build the heels.
#cosplaywip #cosprogress #cosplayshoes #cosplaycobbler #cosmaker #leathercrafting #witchercosplay #ciricosplay

Apparently I like making swords now? Baffling. I’ve been working on Utena for AnimeNYC and was worried about getting the Sword of Dios done in time, but then I just sort of went ahead and ground the whole thing out in one ten-hour binge.
I used basically the same method I used for my Ciri sword, but slightly simplified since this one doesn’t have a silly cutout in it. I started with a 1/8” kite rod core, and made the blade with creased oaktag backed in kobracast. I bulked up the hilt by wrapping the core in cotton string, then wrapped it in worbla and sculpted the details on top. The stone in the hilt is crystal worbla pellets colored with liquid watercolor (which was a bit awkward to work with and dyed my hands green) and a little bit of metallic powder pigment. I finished it with a rose-shaped bead for the pommel, held on with a loop of wire and a scrap of kobracast. Just needs priming and painting now!
#cosplayprop #propbuilding #worbla #utena #utenacosplay #swordofdios #animenyc #cosplaywip #cosprogress #cosmaker

So Tifa is nearly there except for a bit more leat

So Tifa is nearly there except for a bit more leatherwork and the gloves, and the Empress is still simmering along (currently waiting for a mildly obscene quantity of embroidery thread to ship.) But in the meantime I have NEWS my friends because my Monstress obsession cannot be stopped

A few months back when I turned THAT page in issue 28 and frightened the neighbors with my shrieks, I reluctantly tucked the Warlord’s battle gear away in the’ someday’ file because I am but a small underemployed costumer in these perilous times and a colossal armor build was RIGHT OUT.

But then along came the fine folks at @worblana with their sponsored build program, and now I’m delighted to announce that heavy armor Warlord is a GO. As soon as I got the news I started sketching, so here's a whole mess of me trying to plan out specific shapes and construction details so I can start making the patterns.

I ended up not going for the sci-fi-flavored on-page version, but for one of the concept sketches included as bonus material in the trade collection, as I think this one will lend itself a little better to being sculpted by hand. Definitely making the sword though; it’s basically the ultimate in over-the-top fantasy sword nonsense and I haven’t done any props in this style yet.

The Cosplay Supplies lovelies are providing Worbla’s Black Art that I’ll be using to build the sword, armor, and helmet. Since this is a sponsored build I’ll be doing a couple of detailed tutorials for the Worbla site in addition to my more informal documentation here, so this is your chance if you’ve been wanting a closer look at how I work with the stuff. I haven’t done a full armor build since Maika, and I’m hyped to apply some of the more detailed sculpting methods I acquired making Ciri’s bits and pieces. Plus, you know, keeping busy does a brain good. Hope you’ll follow along with me!

#worblasblackart #worbla #cosplayarmor #monstresscosplay #cosplans #cosplaywip

Stealing my own thunder a bit but holy heck dudes

Stealing my own thunder a bit but holy heck dudes check it out. My sister @kathleenconahan commissioned me to make a Tifa for her as well, and while mine’s still in progress hers got shipped out at the beginning of this month. She just sent these photos of the whole thing (which are way radder than anything I can get while holed up in my brooklyn cave, lbr) and I’m beside myself with glee.

Kathleen made her own earrings, materia wristband, and gloves, with hand-etched aluminum plates. I made the skort, tops, leather vambrace, belt/suspenders, socks, and arm warmers. 📸 by @jeremysilvertongue

#tifacosplay #tifalockhartcosplay #ff7cosplay #ffviicosplay #finalfantasycosplay #leatherarmor #cosplayarmor #cosplaycommission

SheProp Challenge day 12: favorite character. This

SheProp Challenge day 12: favorite character. This one deserves a real post, yes? Maika is my favorite character I’ve cosplayed for a lot of reasons - her toughness, her resilience, her gradual process of making peace with an internal demon that periodically sneaks out and eats people.

I based this armor on the cover of Monstress issue 13, which I adored so much that I completed most of the build in the two months between when the cover was revealed and the issue actually came out. It was my first big go at worbla armor, and you could call it my first attempt at monster building as well. (I want to remake Zinn at some point, but it’ll probably be a new version for Empress rather than a revisit of this one.)

I wish I could bring Maika out more often but she’s also by far my most difficult costume to wear, between the ridiculous amount of worbla and the floppy unbalanced demon arm. I can manage maybe two hours before I have to go lie down, so she’ll probably never make it to NYCC, for example.

I’m perpetually astonished that Monstress doesn’t get more cosplayers; it’s a glorious fantasy epic with the kind of detail-rich visuals that most of my friends salivate over. I’m about to dive back into my Shaman Empress build, so there’ll be lots more monstress content around here pretty soon, but more people should join @pitchforkcosplay and me in yelling about this series.

#shepropchallenge #monstress #monstresscosplay #worblaarmor #worblasfinestart #cosplayarmor

Recent Posts

How I made Ciri’s Boots
Building Ciri’s Sword and Scabbard
Ciri’s Armor (Pauldron and Poleyns)
Ciri Chainmail
Embroidery Purgatory

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