Backlash cosplay: Pants

     The gentleman decided to do a military-style take on his cosplay for Backlash, since he's not super keen on the idea of spandex. I certainly can't blame him, I didn't want to do it for his partner, Taboo, either.

     Since the gentleman wears BDU pants for work anyway, he ordered a pair in dark blue as a base to start from. They were a little light, so I dyed them darker, then took off the cargo pockets, so I could add the white stripes. This is where I very much appreciate heavy fabric in general, and ripstop in particular - once you get a seam partly unraveled, you can just rip the two pieces apart, knowing the seam will go and not the fabric itself. 

     It took some doing to find white ripstop material, since most people want ripstop for tough wearing, which is not really synonymous with situations where white would be useful. I did eventually find a reputable website that had it though, and ordered the 2 yard minimum. Turns out it's good I overordered, because one layer of it against the dark blue looked kind of dingy. Two layers, though, looked pretty decent, so I cut out basic shapes to the gentleman's dimensions and sewed them on.

Backlash cosplay: Dagger

     After seeing me work on Thor, the gentleman decided he wanted to build a cosplay as well, albeit in a slightly different manner. I like looking at things and then seeing how I can make them. The gentleman does not believe he has crafting skills, but he can network like crazy, so he recruited various crafters he knows to do the different parts. Naturally, he came to me for the outfit/ sewing parts, but that's a different post. Rather than have a real dagger made (which would cost goodness knows how much), he asked if I had any ideas. Here's a reference picture:

     I have not yet had much experience making weaponry, but some google searching led me to the idea of making the blade out of a lightweight wood, then building up the handle and guard around it. First things first, though: come up with a pattern so I know what size wood to get. Drew up some sketches, got approval, and cut a rough draft out of an eva foam mat that was too chewed up to use for actual cosplay.