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Utilizing your reference images, take measurements that
correspond to your body such as the length of your forearm,
hand width, shoulder width, etc. Always compare the costume
to your own body proportions. It doesn’t matter how big, small,
or strangely shaped a character is; the end goal is to make the
shapes fit with your own. This is especially important for armor
because unlike clothing it has little or no give to it. Sometimes it
helps to have a friend help you draw/cut out shapes while they
are on you, or you could buy a mannequin/dress form that can
adjust to your size. A duct tape dummy is fantastic for draping if
you want a body double.
Use plastic wrap or Press’n Seal to wrap around a part of your
body, such as your forearm, and then cut it open. This will be a
basic shape of your body part that you can lay flat and use as a
guide when creating the final shape of your armor piece (such
as a bracer). For more organic shapes, you might need to cut a
few darts to lay the piece flat. This technique is most useful for
limbs and helmets.
You can alternatively trace around different body parts to
create a starting point. If you trace the outline of your arm, and
then add a couple of inches to each side, you’ll have a rough
half-piece of the arm for your pattern. Most shapes found in
armor can lie flat when broken down. Always look for basic
shapes such as circles, squares, and triangles. If it helps to draw
out basic shapes first and connect the dots to make an armor
piece, then that’s one possible solution. Your pattern pieces
don’t need to be clean to be effective, and you can always
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COSPLAYCULTURE