1. The Puppeteer: Jacket

Year: 2013/2014

Source: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag multiplayer

Conventions attended: Armageddon 2013, EB Expo 2013, Supanova (Melbourne & Sydney) 2014

Awards: Placed 2-5th in Ubisoft's E3 Fan Video Contest - Cosplay Category 2014

Promo image

Official artwork

The Puppeteer is still the most technical costume I've made just because of the amount of new skills and techniques I had to learn: silicone moulding, resin casting, leather work, millinery, Worbla, woodwork, patterning, how to make a pair of trousers!

At the time of making, the game hadn't been released yet and there was very little reference material. The two images above, a promo/demo gameplay video, and maybe one cosplayer were the only references I had.

Photo: John Jennings
Photo edit: Illumis Creations

Photo: John Jennings
Convention: Armageddon 2013

Photo: John Jennings
Convention: Armageddon 2013

Original photo: John Jennings
Photo edit; TitanZee Productions

Patterning 

This was the first time I'd used a dress form and tried to create a pattern on a mannequin so this was a little dodgy. The bust/shoulder measurements are a fraction too big compared to me which didn't help...

1. I marked the outlines of the pattern with masking tape. I only did one side.

2-4. I pinned up sheets of crepe paper and then sketched the jacket shape with a permanent marker and cut it out. Don't cut the angled bottom panels of the jacket yet. Because of the drape of the bottom half of the jacket and it alternates colour of blue/red, I used an old bed sheet and pinned it, then drew a rough outline with a highlighter.

Making the toile

5. Highlighter marks for the red panels.

6. I then took the crepe pattern and made a toile out of another old bed sheet. With the correct length for the back centre panel, I marked out the slope of the rest of the panels, and cut.

7. Studying reference pictures, I wanted the two back red panels to be partially hidden, so it allows the jacket to fan out (2017 edit: they're called godets). Try on the toile and make sure it fits! Make any modifications if necessary. Unpick the toile and use them to trace out your pattern pieces onto paper.

8. The actual jacket. When fanned out there's a fairly steep slope of the hem, but because of how it's sitting, the back panel looks longer. In retrospect, the front of the jacket is too short, so if that were longer, it may have fixed up the angle problem...

Trying to pattern the collar.

The collar was an absolute logistical nightmare and I re-made the collar a number of times and even then I wasn't entirely happy with the final one because it stuck out too much at the back. I should have added a seam in the centre back to counter that.

Attempt #1 at the sleeves

Like the collar, I ended up re-making the sleeves multiple times because something always went wrong. The first sleeve (above) was sewn as one piece but I found it to be very restrictive and didn't look/feel right.

Attempt #?

I can't remember if this was the correct one in the end. I was patterning the sleeves late at night and I stuffed up the pattern one too many times where the panels or the seam were in the wrong spot. All the panels in the jacket are separate. I know one cosplayer made the base jacket blue and then sewed the red panels on top, but I didn't want to do that.

Essentially, there are two layers to the sleeve. One is the puffed sleeve and the other is the full arm panelled sleeve, both attached at the armhole. This allowed the two layers of sleeves to move independently of each other and made for easier arm movement.

The jacket does up with an open-ended zip in the front. The leather waist cincher was modified from my Mulan corset pattern. It contains a cotton duck underlining with plastic boning and the leather layer was hand sewn in the back of the car on ride up to Canberra.

The Puppeteer @ EB Expo 2013, Sydney

Date: 2013
Character: The Puppeteer
Source: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag multiplayer
Materials: leather, wool felt hat, quilting cotton, broadcloth, worbla, clearcast resin
Conventions attended: Armageddon 2013, EB Expo 2013

Convention: EB Expo 2013

Convention: EB Expo 2013, Ubisoft Booth

This was my first interstate convention and I debuted The Puppeteer after furiously trying to finish it in the hotel room in Sydney. I drafted the jacket pattern myself, and made everything except the belts. The potion bottles were resin cast and I styled a wool felt hat base into a tricorn using hat wire, lace and bias binding.

With Michael Hampden, Senior Game Designer of ACIV
Convention: EB Expo 2013

I was lucky enough to grab a photo with Michael Hampden, the senior game designer of ACIV after the Sunday Q&A session before he had to rush off to catch his flight.

02. The Smuggler - Costume break-down

So you've gathered as much research as you possibly can on the costume. Now's the time to break it down by listing each piece that makes up the costume. See image below.

See all the different layers? I went the extra mile and made a really rough scale mock-up of the costume on a little artists mannequin. It helped me get my head around what pieces I needed to make and the basic shape of the pattern pieces.

With the Smuggler, you have:

Costume (red):

• puffy sleeved under-shirt
• shirt collar and bottom part of the shirt (not a complete shirt)
• leather-plated tunic
• skirt panels (front)
• leather armour skirt
• cloak with the 3 layers + hood
• underskirt panels
• blue sash thing under the shirt front
• pants with the ruffled white lining

Accessories (purple):

• Templar brooch
• boot covers
• gloves
• cloak chain
• belt 
• metal vambrace (forearm)
• hidden blade + bracer
• boots
• metal greaves (legs)

This is where you make construction decisions. Like with the shirt tails/collar - do you want to make it as one shirt, or cheat and make it two separate pieces? You won't see the mid-section of the shirt anyway because it's covered by the leather tunic, so do you really want to do that extra detail work? It also gets pretty warm in the leather tunic, so do you need that extra layer as well? Is it worth sacrificing comfort and time for design?

I'll expand more on the inverted hidden blade and the greaves in their own posts.

Tip: print out the image of your character and sketch over the top of it. It helps you picture the shape of a piece, especially if you need to picture what the back of the leather skirt looks like (as an example).

01. Researching 'The Smuggler'

Research: one of the most important things you need to do before any project! If there's one thing I've learnt in all my years of design projects, it's that you never stop researching. It's an on-going process because you'll discover things as you go along which can make or break your project. I believe that you can never have too much research.

So where do I usually start? Google. Enough said :P Then books, the game, etc.

The only tutorial for the Smuggler cosplay that I have managed to find (so far) is SubitoAllegra's. Not so much as a detailed step-by-step tutorial, but more of a process diary. It was still pretty useful though. To sum up what Allegra says:

Research not only includes images, but also:

• character profile
• types of fabrics suitable for the character's profession and environment
• where can you buy certain items (ebay, local craft stores, etc.)
• the construction of clothes, patterns, etc.
• other cosplayer's versions of the same costume (tumblr: here and here, WorldCosplay 01 / 02, DeviantArt)

You can get a great hi-res image of the Smuggler in basic gear at the Assassin's Creed wiki.

It's also a good idea to brainstorm possible poses and photo compositions for when you've completed the costume and are ready to face the paparazzi. This just ensures that you can actually move in it and how much detail do you need to put into it that you want the camera to see?

Why the Smuggler (aka Lia de Russo)?

(c) 2013 Glen Yeo

This was a bit an ambitious choice for a first cosplay, but I'm extremely pleased with the finished result.

One of my friends has been into cosplay for many years and she always dressed up for conventions. It was only in the last few years that I discovered the nerdy fun of conventions and wanted to be part of the cosplay action, but I was always too shy and scared to.

Check out this concept artwork:

(c) Ubisoft

Look at all that detail! The one on the left is the in-game base character, while the centre and right images are the Smuggler in her elite gear (a fact I didn't discover until much later on) that you can unlock in multi-player. The elite gear just appealed to me. Maybe it was the puffy sleeves, and the cloak! I love cloaks...

Originally, I thought she was an assassin because of her weapon of choice - the inverted hidden blade. But she wears a Templar brooch and I remember reading on SubitoAllegra's Smuggler tutorial that she's paid by the Vatican. I thought I read somewhere that she works for herself so she could go either way. Maybe I just made that up; I honestly can't remember.

Funnily enough, Allegra's tutorial didn't scare me away from attempting the Smuggler.

PAX Aus 2013: Saturday

What a busy two weeks it's been. First Oz Comic-Con, and then the first international PAX Aus held in Melbourne at the Melbourne Showgrounds the last few days.

I only went the Saturday, and despite not actually playing any of the games and the weather being a typical rainy Melbourne winter, I had a lot of fun. I mainly went for the Ubisoft booth who did show a demo of AC4: BF, but it was gameplay I'd already seen online from the Sony E3 panel. Oh well, fingers crossed for EB Expo in October in Sydney for an actual playable demo.

I cosplayed once again as The Smuggler. Between OCC and PAX, I had accepted to help my cousin sew the jacket for her 'Yang' cosplay from Rooster Teeth's new series, "RWBY' so unfortunately a lot of my time was taken up with that instead of fixing up problems with my own costume. Once again, I was up late and experienced PAX on 4 hours sleep, and was literally pinned into my costume. That white ruffled layer of the pants is driving me nuts! But I think I have another possible solution so I have to try that at some point... Those boot covers were re-made as well since the original had unsightly paint marks on them.

PAX opened at 10am but I didn't arrive until 10:30am-ish and didn't get into the venue until 11am because I took time to adjust my costume at the car, but I was able to just walk straight through the Queue Room. The line to get into the carpark took at least 20 minutes just slow crawling it in. It didn't help that there was a weapons and mililtaria expo going on at the same time in another part of the Showgrounds.

The day was spent mainly wandering around the Expo Hall and meeting up with a few friends. I liked that PAX had organised tunnels of undercover marquees to herd people around and keep us out of the rain. Good job!

At 3pm, a cosplay photo shoot had been organised on Facebook in the Queue Room and I was able to meet up with some fellow AC cosplayers who I had been talking to through the group. It was great to be able to share tips and ideas on the making of the costumes and props and just meeting some very talented people overall. While we were hanging around in the Queue Room, one photographer went to take a photo of me and 'Connor', then asked, "Were you Mulan at Comic-Con?" which took me completely by surprise. I thought I recognised him too, but I wasn't sure (turns out it was That Guy Jye.)

(c) 2013 Jye O'Toole (That Guy Jye)

PAX Aus Cosplay FB group
Credit: Michael Anderson

My bent 'hidden' blade :(
Credit: Brett Woolgar

The Smuggler and Sharpshooter. Multiplayer characters, oh yeah.
Credit: Lisa Bryant

Ok, so I may have taken the liberty of wearing the Assassin's logo necklace which I know is not part of The Smuggler's outfit (she wears a Templar brooch), but I figured if no one knows who I am, then at least they know what game I'm from (if the costume design wasn't enough of an indicator).

Credit: Lisa Bryant

Connor and Sharpshooter, including all the props (minus the guns) were made by Lisa (DeviantArt / Mudget Makes). And I can tell you, she did a hell of a great job! With my new-found friends, we headed back over to the Ubisoft booth and took this photo:

"Home, sweet home"
Credit: Lisa Bryant

Thank you to the Ubisoft staff member who took this photo for us :) A lot of people thought I was a variation of Ezio, even a couple of the Ubi Aus team!

My own experience at PAX was amazing. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself just wandering around in cosplay and observing. For others who waited in line for panels, etc, I've seen some not so nice comments, so it all depends on who you talk to, I guess.

Again, thank you to everyone who complimented my costume. I noticed that my hood was crooked in a lot of them >_< and I know I looked a bit tired in a few. *sigh* It's because I was.

I'm looking forward to EB Expo in October. I promised myself and my bank account a break from cosplaying/sewing, but it seems my brain, in it's over-excitement has other ideas. It's already eager to start working on another AC cosplay in time for the release of AC4 and EB Expo and if it works out, coordinating my cosplay with Lisa and her boyfriend's AC4 cosplays. Let's see how we go, shall we? ;)

Oz Comic Con 2013 Saturday: Mulan cosplay

Credit: Jye O'Toole (That Guy Jye)

Ta-da! Revealing my second cosplay: Mulan! I originally had one made by a friend back in 2005 for the Melbourne City Romp, but it was a rushed job and I didn't like my design choices/alterations. The maroon overskirt is recycled from the first version. This costume has been a long time coming. 

I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to make. It looked simple enough. Yeah... this took longer than expected and I only just finished it before I went to OCC. The shirt is still missing that blue frilly part of the collar though. I had work from 3am-11am on Friday and was up until 2am Saturday working on the corset. I managed to only get 3 hours sleep within a 45 hour period. Yep. I'm surprised I even managed to last the whole of Saturday because I went to 'Disney on Ice: Princesses and Heroes' the same evening. Not in costume though. But, saying that, this is actually a fairly good costume for beginners because you can make it as simple or advanced as you like.

The sleeves went through 2 re-designs and the corset was completed in about 3 days. I've never made a corset before and it was a lot of work, but not nearly as scary as it seems. I had a couple of fashion corsets that I'd bought from Charlotte Russe during my time in Orlando, FL so I was able to analyse their construction which helped. After many Google searches for patterns and how-to videos on drafting patterns, I managed to find one and made my own alterations to it (lengthening it and making it fit over the bust). Luckily the girl's measurements were similar to my own. So glad I didn't have to draft one from scratch.

I've noticed that a lot of Mulan cosplayers go for satin materials which I like, but, ironically, it's too costume-y for me. I decided to use a suiting material called 'Panama Stretch' for the shirt and skirt instead. It hangs really well and doesn't reflect. My hairstyling skills are non-existant, so my Mulan is after her failed Matchmaker visit.

I bumped into these girls on the upper level:

  

Royal Exhibition Hall. Renaissance inspired architecture.  I can imagine Ezio jumping his way through this building.

These Aladdin and Jasmine cosplayers were brave. It was absolutely freezing outside!

Jealous, Jasmine? (Aladdin's idea)

I also met Cary Elwes (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Princess Bride) who loved my costume and we ended up having a conversation about his visit to Kyoto, and I also met Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy.

If anyone has any photos of me, please share them! I hope they turned out alright >_<

Supanova 2013: Assassins Assemble!

Here's a couple photos of some AC cosplayers I met at Supanova. There were a lot of Ezio's walking around, even a group of Fem-Ezio's and a lot of Connor's in those jackets (see below). Can't remember if I saw any Altair's. There was a really good Juno cosplayer which I also saw at Melbourne Oz Comic-Con on the Saturday.

Comparing weapons

Desmond and Ezio

Kylie Chan, author of the 'Dark Heaven's' and 'Journey to Wudang' Trilogy's. Also a huge AC fan! I mentioned that I was planning to cosplay as Shao Jun in the future and she asked me to come see her again if I do.

Cosplay debut: The Smuggler (Elite)

I promised photos of my completed cosplay, so here they are. These were taken the morning before Melbourne Supanova 2013 in the CBD by a friend of mine. I had finished the costume back in November for a friend's late Halloween party, but I had only just finished the hidden blade the night before/morning of. Unfortunately, I managed to half-snap the tip of my blade before I had even left the house! >_< It was made out of foam board and I had to do a quick-repair with tape and a little piece of cardboard as a brace. I'll be replacing that foam board with something more sturdier at some point.

For a self-conscious, first-time cosplayer, I cannot express how nervous (and somewhat excited) I was walking out of the house like this and taking the train into the city. But I got a lot of positive comments from other cosplayers at Supanova and from passers-by as we were taking these shots.

Pre-Supanova test photo shoot. Location: Southgate/Arts Centre Bridge, Melbourne
Photographer: Glen Yeo (c) 2013

Pre-Supanova test photo shoot. Location: Southgate/Arts Centre Bridge, Melbourne
Photographer: Glen Yeo (c) 2013

Pre-Supanova test photo shoot. Location: Alexander Gardens, Melbourne
Photographer: Glen Yeo (c) 2013

Pre-Supanova test photo shoot. Location: Alexander Gardens, Melbourne
Photographer: Glen Yeo (c) 2013

I know it's not an environment the Smuggler would be found in, but I love the contrast between the green background and the costume.

I am so happy with how this costume turned out. The white layer of the pants need to be re-made as well because it wasn't as ruffled as I'd like it to be, as well as the boot covers (paint marks from the greaves) and the greaves (not pictured) . From the time it was completed in November to when Supanova happened in April, I had lost a little bit of weight, so everything was actually a lot looser than I had made it to be! But that can be fixed by moving the fasteners, etc.

At some point, my friend and I will plan another photoshoot in/around the city at various locations. Melbourne has some fantastic historical buildings that have a very AC feel to them. I have quite a few in mind, but 1) we need to find the time to meet up and 2) I need to gain the courage to walk around in costume again when there's not a convention on. :P

Hope you guys like it. Like I said in a previous post, I am aiming on posting some WIP shots and links to where I sourced things, but it depends if I can find the time. Feel free to contact me if you'd like information on how I made anything.

Look for me at PAX Aus 2013!

Dedicated to: Cosplay

Welcome to my new blog! This will be dedicated to my cosplay creations, including any prop work that I may do. Originally, I was posting on my personal blog, but I decided that it needed a blog of its own instead of flooding my personal one. On here I will endeavour to document my cosplay WIP and tutorials (time and work permitting).

I know that when I first decided to make my own costume, I spent countless hours Googling for sewing tutorials, etc. and a lot of the time, particularly in trying to find ones specific to The Smuggler, I came up relatively empty-handed. It didn't help that she's not a very common cosplay choice. Yes, there are thousands of tutorials out there, so I'm going to add myself to that list with tutorials on my own costumes I've made, and hopefully someone out there will find these useful!

Things that I'll include:

• Type of materials and fabrics used
• Amount of fabric needed (if possible. I haven't been keeping very good tabs on this...)
• Links to other tutorials that I found helpful.
• Pattern designs
• WIP construction photos
• Any hints and tips that I found along the way that may be helpful to others

I plan to make individual blog posts for each costume piece because otherwise a single post will be too long and I don't want to bombard readers with information all at once.

I hope this becomes a useful resource for any cosplayers out there, whatever your skill level :)

Please be patient as I set this up.