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The Hero’s Closet

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Published on December 10, 2014 at 512 × 512 in Large Blog Image

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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!

I’ve seen the Cosplay Details format going aroun

I’ve seen the Cosplay Details format going around a bit again, so here’s my pandemic build edition! Intense crafting has been a bit of a lifeline for me the last year and change, and while Tifa and the Warlord are on opposite ends of many scales, I adore both characters and the process of building them brought me a lot of joy in these calamitous times.

Both projects drew on a combination of worbla and leatherwork techniques, and although mostly on the lighter end sewing-wise they both managed to sneak in some little bits of hand embroidery and interesting patternmaking. I even reused part of Tifa’s vambrace pattern for the Warlord, since I’d already worked out the proportions for the elbow pivot that keeps the pieces aligned correctly and gives it a nice amount of mobility.

Tifa was built as a commission for my sister, and black worbla for the warlord was provided by @worblana in exchange for crafting tutorials that you can find on their website, so both costumes also represent the community that has helped keep me motivated and stocked with craft supplies during a decidedly tricky time for expensive hobbies. So I’m very grateful for that as well.

#cosplaydetails #monstresscosplay #ff7cosplay #ff7remakecosplay #tifacosplay #leatherarmor #worblasblackart #handembroidery

Wowza what a trip. It feels a little wild that all

Wowza what a trip. It feels a little wild that all this was for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it trip across the Crown Championships stage, but actually the point was all the other competitors I got to meet and the truly top-tier fabulous costumes I got to ogle. All of these were people I’d previously only met online if at all, and builds I’d admired from afar, but there’s honestly no comparison to seeing all that hard work in person and getting my nosy eyeballs right up in the fabric textures and sculpting work. I was absolutely geeking out all day and it was just the best thing.
I crunched four separate times to get the various incarnations of Ciri built over the last two years, but I’m happy to say that I actually accomplished-or-near-enough my entire upgrade list this time around. I finished the BOOTS, which was a wild project that’ll get its own wrap-up post, and I’m very happy with how the tooled leather scabbard came out as well. I need to finally plan a photoshoot now that all the elements are actually where I want them - was hoping to get a wintery Skellige one with snow but I guess that’s not going to happen this year, freaking thanks climate change 😠. Very well deserved congrats to all the winners (including armor category winner @paisleyandglue and third overall @leelookris in these photos). Also, thanks to the fabulously talented and extremely nice guy @sameertikkamasala for sending over the second picture, and super extra thanks to travel buddy and heroic handler @pitchforkcosplay for coming along on this little adventure and taking all the others. #crownchampionshipsofcosplay #c2e2 #cosplayarmor #witchercosplay

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

Spent the weekend building Tifa’s heavy-duty sus

Spent the weekend building Tifa’s heavy-duty suspenders and I’m pretty pleased with how they came out! The straps are veg tan leather, dyed with water-based dye so I could do it at midnight in my living room. The wider tabs are a thin goatskin garment leather, with light buckram glued between the layers for stability and wool felt shoulder padding. There’s also a hidden bit of elastic in the shoulder so the rigid leather straps have some give to them; hoping this makes them a little more comfortable to wear and also helps them stay put with movement.
Still have to work out attaching them to the waistband/belt; I want them to be fully removable for convenience/washability but still accurate to the art. I think I’m going to make the belt next so I’ll have it for testing when I come back to these.
#cosplaycraft #tifalockhartcosplay #tifacosplay #cosmaker #cosplaywip #leathercrafting

So I nearly forgot to talk about this at all in pr

So I nearly forgot to talk about this at all in prejudging (thanks @pitchforkcosplay for the timely reminder) but I’m actually really happy with how the new scabbard turned out and I don’t want it to get overshadowed entirely by the boots. This was my first real attempt at tooled leather, using a medium-weight veg tan leather from Tandy (don’t remember the exact thickness.) I created the pattern by wrapping the sword in tinfoil and tape, drew out the design by hand, and transferred it to the leather by rubbing a soft pencil on the back of the pattern. Then I etched the whole thing with a swivel knife and opened up the lines a bit with a modeling tool to make them more pronounced. I actually carved the whole thing twice because I wasn’t thrilled with how it came out the first time.
I cut a plastic template for the finished scabbard shape and stitched the center back seam closed over it, then slid in a dowel that I’d shaved into a point to force it into the oval shape while it dried. I also added some scraps of cardboard to ensure the finished shape would be open enough to fit the sword.
Once the scabbard was dry I re-wet it lightly and dyed it with water-based leather dye ordered from @sorrellcustomboots , then finished it off a light wax coating. I adore how this dye worked out - there’s no separate antiquing or painted weathering going on here, just the dye itself and how it settled into the tooling.
The end caps are worbla painted with metallic acrylics, and the straps are just scrap leather lightly painted with the same stuff. The upper clasp hooks into my armor strapping, and the lower strap attaches to my belt to keep the scabbard from swinging. I’ll probably do a blog post a bit later with all the wip photos, but the folks who’ve been following my stories have seen most of it already.
#leathercrafting #cosplayprop #propmaking #witchercosplay #ciricosplay #thewitcher3wildhunt #zireael

The women of Monstress fascinate me because they’re unabashedly terrible most of the time (well, except maybe Kippa.) The Warlord is exactly what you would expect from her title: brutal, remorseless, secure in her power and willing to use it. The series resists easy hero/villain categorizations, and it’s not even clear to me that she and her niece are necessarily enemies, but they’re not likely to get along either. As of last issue they’re finally in the same room and the tension is off the charts so if you’re looking for a reason to binge through five volumes this is your gentle nudge to hop to it.

I like how this picture shows off the sculpted detailing on the armor, and I’m hugely relieved at how well the worbla and leather components blend. The gloves I actually made a couple years ago for something completely different, but I felt like they fit the theme and was happy to have a reason to dig them out again.

Worbla’s Black Art for the armor was provided by @worblana , and the build tutorial is coming soon to their site. The Warlord is a concept art variant of the character from Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s Monstress.

#cosplayarmor #armorbuild #worblaarmor #worbla #worblasblackart #leatherarmor #monstress #monstresscosplay #imagecomics #cosmaker #cosplaycraft

Recent Posts

The Problem of Categorizing Cosplay
How I made Ciri’s Boots
Building Ciri’s Sword and Scabbard
Ciri’s Armor (Pauldron and Poleyns)
Ciri Chainmail

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