Thorin Fem Cosplay Part 1

Richmond WizardCon 2015

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This is the finished product, the result of about sixteen hours of sewing (in a row, because procrastination is a way of life). 

    This piece of kit is held together by unicorn tears and an unholy amount of hot glue, the use of which will be explained later. 

    What you'll need: 

                ~A knee-length blue dress/romper. Preferably with no patterns or else something very subtle. Get comfortable with cutting it the hell up. I got mine from Goodwill for about eight bucks. 

                 ~ A dark blue piece of fabric, long enough width-wise to wrap around your body comfortably, with a bit to spare. Mine was originally used to make a Tudor style Mole for a Chemistry Project (Anne Moleyn. Her head was detachable) and I happened to have leftover fabric. Make sure it's not too heavy, you'll want to be able to adhere it easily and not roast in your costume. 

                ~Your armor. I'll show you how to make chainmail in a minute. This will cost you about three dollars from both Dollar Tree and Michaels. 

               ~A black belt, preferably with some sort of square buckle. The buckle doesn't need to be silver, you can do that on your own with silver metallic paint. 

              ~ Gold thread. Get a lot of it, you'll need it for the wig as well as the dress. 

              ~ A black peacoat. If you can, get a lighter coat- I roasted all day, and the convention centre was about thirty degrees. 

            

  ~ Boots.  These particular beauties were obtained from Goodwill, and the fur was adhered with hot glue and leftover fur from the jacket. 

  ~Brown bear-like fur, from whatever fabric store is nearest you. I procured mine from Joann's, but they are hella expensive, so I would suggest either bulking up on coupons or else going somewhere else. 

  ~ A wig. I always buy mine from Yopo Wigs. Great quality hair, and fairly inexpensive. I think I paid about fourteen dollars for a mid-back length black wig, plus shipping. 

   ~ Grey tights. You're going to be wearing a lot of dark colours, so black tights are a little much. 

   ~ Thread and hot glue. Obviously. 

   ~Cheap hairspray for maximum hold, and, if you have light hair like me, some sort of temporary color spray. 

How to: 

•   Lets start with your dress thing. You're going to want to do this part quickly, with a sewing machine if you have one. Thorin has a V shaped neckline, but be careful how deep you cut yours. I cut mine a bit too deep for my taste, mostly because I didn't have a bust to measure on. Take the frayed, cut edges and fold them over so that you have a smooth line. Use your sewing machine (or, if you must, do this by hand) to bind the edges to the fabric, creating a hem. Do this about 1 inch deep into the neckline, enough that you have room to cut small holes about a half inch across to string some of the golden thread through. Once you've cut the holes, I would recommend installing some eyelets or sewing up the jagged edges of the hole through carding to prevent further fraying. Set this aside. 
• Next we'll do the chainmail. For this you'll want to be in an open area, with excellent ventilation. What you'll need for this is as follows     

          -A mesh laundry bag from the dollar store. 

          - "Hammered Finish" silver metallic spray from Michaels. 

    You'll want to cut your bag so that the seam is gone. Spray the paint onto the bag evenly. Don't worry about missing a few spots or having an uneven finish, as this will be under a huge ton of fabric. 

This is what it's going to look like after a fair bit. 

You're not going to need all of this, so don't worry if it's not perfect, especially at the edges. Also, it's going to stink for pretty much ever, and be a little stiff for a few days, so do this ahead of time. For real friends, this one you can't really leave off. 

• If you're super fed up with all this clothing crap by now, fret not! Let's deviate to the wig. Yopo usually ships in about two days, and depending on how ridiculously late you've waited to start this, you'll want to start the wig as soon as possible. The Yopo wigs ordinarily come straight, so for this you'll have to tease it up. Separate the hair into three portions: two front pieces, a top bit, and a large back portion. The top bit is going to be the small bump thing, so don't worry about that just yet. 

                 Braid the large section in the back loosely, making sure to keep the teased volume as much as possible. Spray with your crappy hairspray to keep its hold. Now take the golden thread and make small rings in the hair, as seen in the picture. Pin the thread in place, and spray the living hell out of it. When you're ready to wear it, separate your hairline from ear to ear and pin into place atop the bumpy bit. If your hair is dark, mazels, you don't have to do anything else. But I would suggest using the color spray anyways. It won't look as ridiculous as the one in the photo does. Party City was closed by the time we got there the night before (who the FRACK closes at 8 on a Saturday? I ask you.) so we bought a big pallet of black eyeshadow and rubbed it into my hair. Use baby powder- or else unscented talcum powder, non-medicated- to create the little grey streaks.