Gathering References
The first thing you should do after choosing your costume is collecting as many reference pictures as possible! This will help you with every part of making the costume, from choosing the right colors of fabric to learning some poses. It is a good idea to get as many pics as you can of the character, including at least one picture of the back of the outfit.Don't just limit it to official art either, sometines fanart can help you make sense of things, and other cosplayer's photos can help with figuring out what materials to use and how it should look in real life. Some sites I recommend searching are:
It's good to have a variety of references
Planning out the Costume
Once you have as many reference pictures as you can find you will want to start planning out the costume. You should always think of how you are going to do a costume before you decide 100% on doing it, this way you can choose something that isn't outside your abilities.It's usually a good idea to write down your brainstorming, I usually print out a picture and write my notes on there and break the costume into parts. Naruto has a jacket, pants, undershirt, headband, sandals, and a wig. I may want to buy blue contacts as well. Will I also make a prop, like a kunai or the scroll? And what parts will I make or buy? It would be easier to buy a plastic kunai than make my own.
Planning out your costume helps you figure out what needs to be done!
Make or Buy?
Now that you have chosen your character and planned out what you need, you should be able to determine if this is a costume you will be able to make yourself, or if it is better for you to buy it. You may also want to buy parts at a thrift store and alter them to fit the character's. (I go over the basics in this article, but for a more informed decision you may want to check out my Buying vs. Making article)► Buy This involves little work and is usually good for someone who can't sew, or just doesn't have the time to make a costume. There are two ways to buy a costume.
The first is getting it commissioned, this is paying someone to make the costume for you. It is good because you can get something made to your exact sizes and specifications, especially if you want certain details included. There are some sites for commissioners but you can also find commissioners in cosplay.com's marketplace.
The second is buying it premade. While this isn't always great for exact sizes, or for accuracy, it is usually cheaper and since it is already made you can get it delivered to you much quicker. One place that has a lot of pre-made costumes is ebay.
Always remember to be safe when buying online, the "commissioners NOT to go to" thread on cosplay.com is a great thread for checking out commissioners before you buy.
► Alter Altering is good for beginner sewers, or someone who needs to put together a costume fast. The outfits might not always be so accurate, but that would really depend on how close the original piece is to what you are cosplaying and how much you can alter it.
To find clothes to alter, most people check thrift stores but you can also buy clothes from regular stores or online on sites like ebay. Try to find something as close as possible to what you are making! For example, you could find a pair of orange snow pants and roll up the cuffs to use for naruto's pants.
Making a Costume, Choosing Patterns & Buying Materials
If you have decided to make your costume then you'll need to choose sewing patterns that can help you make your costume, and fabric to make the costume with. If you have experience with drafting your own patterns and choosing fabric then you can skip this sectionPatterns are templates that are traced on fabric, you cut them out and follow the directions that come in the package to create the garment the pattern is for. Unfortunately they don't make patterns for specific anime costumes (with the exception of some special patterns) so you will have to figure out which patterns to use yourself. Even really complicated outfits can be broken down into simple pattern peices you can search for. You might also have to put different patterns together to make what you want .... you might fing the perfect shirt but need sleeves from another pattern.
Patterns can be bought at most sewing stores, or online. If you want to look through some sewing patterns then check these sites:
Now you have the patterns you just need to choose the materials before you can start on your costume. If the pattern is the same thing you want to make then it should have some fabric sugguestions on the back to help you get started. Though some costumes you might need a different kind of fabric entirely so it is good to see what other cosplayers have used. You can also ask online for some sugguestions of what material to would be best.
My sugguestion for fabric shopping is to print off some reference pictures and bring them with you to the fabric store, this will help you match colours. I buy my fabric by finding all the material that matches my reference pictures and then choosing the material best suited for what I am making. If you don't have an idea of what you want before you go to the store, I sugguest you use this method too. Find the colours you want, then feel the material (especially it's weight) and see if it feels and looks like what you want.
The people at the fabric store should also be able to help you decide on fabrics. Make sure to pick up matching thread, zippers and whatever else you might need for sewing while there!
Props and Accessories
Props and accessories are also important parts of a costume so I will go over the basics of them too. Just like with making the outfit you will need reference pictures and planning. There are tons of materials that you can use to make props, some are expensive, some are cheap, and some will only work for certain things. Some of the more commonly used materials are: Wonderflex, Papermache, wood, cardboard, foamcore, insulation foam, craft foam, sculpey, clay, and model magic. Though there are millions of things that you can make props out of.Naruto uses a kunai, so it would be a good choice to make it out of wood, foamcore, cardboard and paper mache, or another method that is solid and easy to shape. Somethig smaller, like yoko's hairclip, could be made out of sculpty, model magic, or paperclay because it would be easy to shape it and have it dry fully. So choose a medium that is good for what you are making, it would be silly to make a prop out of a extremely heavy material if you plan to carry it around all day, or if you plan to make a full sized sword it would be too cosplay and impractical to make it out of clay!
My list is far from complete, there are tons of random things you can make props out of because when it comes to prop building the SHAPE is what matters. You can use papertowel rolls for parts of guns, and pockyboxes for kunai holders, you just need a creative mind and an idea of what you want the final product to look like.
Paint is the most important part of apperance because it can really make or break the final product. Alot of "fail" props could look ten times better if the paint job was improved and detail was added. With that being said you need to choose the right paints for the right jobs! Spraypaint is really good for covering large surfaces with an even layer of paint, but if you want to do tiny details it is better to use a thin paintbrush and acrylic paint. To do a good job with paint you should let each layer dry fully before adding a new layer, and you should usually do multiple layers of paint ...especially on the base. Always paint the base coat first and then add details on top of it.
Remember to prime your surface for painting (using gesso or another primer) so that the paint will have it's full effect, especially on surfaces such as wood or wondeflex. Foam MUST be primed before using some paints because foam can melt. You might also want to get a sealer, it will protect the paint against chipping, peeling, scratching, and some paints can't stand against water. You can get sealers in matte or gloss finishes.
Tutorials - Your Biggest Help!
Lastly, you will want to look into tutorials for what you are making, there are usually guides and walkthroughs for at least one part of the costume. Tutorials are a great way to figure out how to make something, even if they only give you ideas on how to do it yourself. Deviantart, cosplay.com, youtube and google are all great places to look for tutorials.This guide for naruto's sandals would be very useful to a naruto cosplayer, since the sandals aren't something you would find in stores!
Source: cosplaytutorial.com
