We planned a trip to Hyperjapan, Earls Court, this year and my lovely husband, Simon, decided he wanted to go in cosplay as one of his favourite characters, Choji from Naruto.
Time again was running short so he decided to help!
Actually he took to sewing like a duck to water and the costume came together beautifully.
We used his basic shirt pattern putting the yoke and back piece together cutting it as one, lengthening it and shaping the fronts. Some of the front band was removed, the basic sleeve pattern used and I drew a pattern for the lengthened and shaped cuffs.
The main jacket was sewn using red sheeting with the rectangle embellishments being sewn as separate shapes so that they could be wadded and then appliqued on and it fastened with an open-ended zip. The front grey piece needed to be separate so he could get in and out of the costume easily and I again used his shirt pattern to get the correct size. This was cut in three pieces which were sewn together with wadding. Originally we thought that we could attach each grey strip to the jacket with velcro but as things evolved we realised that this wasnt practical so to make it one total piece we placed it onto a rectangle of red fabric and sewed each piece down.
Straps were added to the front grey piece which was then sewn to the shoulders and to make it stay flat and still on the front, it was fastened with velcro and poppers. My husband drew out the front symbol and I painted it on with fabric paints. It was a bit of a rush job but the end result was worth it.
The wig was bought by from a local fancy dress shop and my sister cut and styled it. Lots of people said that it was the best Choji costume they had seen.
Simon now has the sewing bug and is currently planning his next cosplay outfit and also some everyday clothes, nothing simple though!
What Mimi Does 