WIP Vaati

[Rei the Wannabe Ninja]

This is Vaati. I am a Vaati fangirl. I have been for a very long time. I have always wanted to cosplay him. Several factors kept me from it, one of which was that... well, the outfit's boring. SOOOO, around a year or so ago, I held a contest on Deviant Art for folks to redesign Vaati. The winning entry would be cosplayed.

This is the winning entry. You may have seen it before - it's a super awesome design so it doesn't surprise me.

WELLP, I started working on it. So here's a WIP thread!  

[Rei the Wannabe Ninja]

PLANS:
It's all rather simple, just a lot to put together. The tunic will be kept light, probably cotton or a cotton blend. I'll be wearing a chest binder underneath, not to mention I live in FLORIDA. A light tunic is a favor to myself! The pants will have to be some modified pattern made with a classy bottomweight. I'm going for sateen for this, matching all other red pieces such as the capelet and peeking "sleeves" with the same fabric.

The cape is a doozy and where the most work will no doubt be going. The red capelet will be a separate piece from the bulk of the indigo/purple cape. The bigger cape is going to be done with hopefully a sateen, the purple part being done with some clever lining, so it's all one piece and I don't have capes everywhere. Before attaching lining to cape, I will be hand embroidering the designs upon the indigo cape. In order to prevent layers from shifting while moving, the capelet and cape will be attached via heavy duty snaps. Snaps may also possibly be attached to the capelet and tunic to prevent shifting layers there as well.

The armor is going to be made with wonderflex. I have no idea how this will go. I've never worked with it before. >.> It will be detachable upon the cape via industrial strength velcro. I swear by this stuff - it does NOT like to come off once attached, making ideal for a convention situation.

The boots will be rigged with partial boot covers and will be attachable via velcro. The boot attachments will likely be made from styrofoam reinforced with plaster.

Contrary to the design, I will be going with complete black gloves (I don't want to have to body paint my fingers!) and will likely just stick with the backhand plate.

All red jewels will be made from resin. The resin will remain clear, with the back of the ges being painted to give the eye within the red effect.

The hat... is still being planned out. It will probably be the last thing I cover.

PROGRESS SO FAR:

1/2/14
I'm beginning with the easiest bit, the tunic. This is because it requires the least amount of fabric, and I don't have the funds to buy ALL of the fabric necessary to make the hat and cape. I'd rather buy it all at once so I don't have to worry about color differences.



1/12/14
Time for another update! My boots came in as scheduled Friday!


They're really nice boots. I'm hoping that the edits I will add onto it for the cosplay will be temporary, as I'd love to use these outside cosplay as well. Either sitcky back velcro or double sided tape, hopefully!

Also, tonight I got around to finally cutting the fabric.





I had to cut four of everything since I'm doubling the layers here, which isn' a bad thing. Just took more time. :3

I'm hoping tomorrow I can cut out cape pieces as well as do some pattern edits for the lining.

The supplies I have so far.

Light Purple Cotton: $23.70*
Black Lining: $2.50
Bias Tape in various color/sizes: $10.56
Purple Lining: $11.21**
Dark Blue Sateen: $33.95**
Cape Pattern: $3.99**
Tunic Pattern: $11.37**
Boots: $36.09*

Total Thus Far: $133.37

*denotes an item in which a coupon was used
** denotes an item bought on sale