Learning how to create custom cosplay outfits

“I wanted to go all out for my first Faire as an adult, so I decided to learn a new skill for it: EVA foam molding. Armed with scissors, a hot glue gun and several YouTube tutorials, I made plans for and clobbered together a shoulder pauldron. Making it was a journey; despite meticulously using all my handy skills to recheck measurements and cut out shapes, there were inevitably parts I needed to improvise. For example, ny original plan for hinges didn’t work out, so I had to rush to the hardware store to buy the tiniest PVC piping I had ever seen in my life. I made it work, though, and have never felt prouder showing off my foam armor.”

“First I thought I would try and order myself a tunic to save on sewing time, I spent $45 and the "tunic" turned out to be a fleecy sweatshirt with a pixilated graphic on the front. I got really bummed out but luckily one of my friends bought it off of me. [...] I spent another $60 on sewing supplies (costume satin, fabrics, threads, etc...) and I tried sewing them together just now and the machine ripped apart the part where I was going to sew on the thumb. So I basically wasted 4 hours doing that.”

“I went home after the con to see how much it was to buy, only to realise it was way out of any budget I currently had. So that's when the switch began. I was determined to bring my idea of being a clonetrooper to life, so I did some research and discovered EVA foam and some brilliant templates and tutorials I could use.”