Help on Kairi and Namine cosplay for 2010!

[pikachusweetie]

Hi, there! Ish me, Ami-chan, a.k.a. one of the few Tifas at the convention. ^^ Well, my friends and I are planning ahead, and we're going to do KH next year. I'm going to go as Kairi, and my friend's going as Namine. I might have a Xion, too. X3

My question is this: any of you who have tackled this cosplay before, would you mind giving me some tips? Maybe a tutorial you found? I know Namine is going to be pretty easy, but I'm concerned about Kairi. XP Does anyone know if my efforts are hopeless and I should just buy the cosplay, or make it with some guidelines? Thanks!

Oh, and P.S.- Does anyone know what kind of a wig would be good for Kairi? My hair is not red, obviously. Or purplish brown or whatevertheheck color it is. XDDD

[pikachusweetie]

Okay, well, since this board is practically dead, I want to bring up a more specific question. Does anyone know how to go about Kairi's dress? With the zippers and whatnot?



There's a reference pic for the front. I'll find one for the back later.

[tuesdayDrama]

I don't know if anyone offered advice to you already regarding this, but about the zippers.

They are quite long, and I'm not sure if you could find zippers quite that long. I know there are 24" separating ones I found at Joann's yesterday, and possibly even longer (I was looking for small ones for a midriff jacket myself).

But, if the length required cannot be found, I suggest using two—one from torso to waist, then waist to end of the fabric. Since she is wearing a belt, you could hide the spot where they meet beneath it. To do this you would take the long zipper and sew it so that its zipper tong(is that the term for the piece you actually zip up?) is hidden beneath the belt. Then, start the second one right where that one ends— that way, it looks like one long, continuous zipper.

The middle zipper needs this done, but slightly different because it has two zipper tongs (i'm calling them that for the time being, since I'm too lazy to look up the term right now) Again, the zippers will meet where the belt where sit. Lay the first zipper so that the tong is at the top of the dress. Where it's foot ends, lay the second, shorter, zipper's foot right below it. That way, it looks like one continuous zipper with two tongs.

Of course, this means the belt will have to be rigid and secure enough that it won't move and reveal the ends of the zippers.

For the little silver circular pieces near the zippers, I'd use either small, silver buttons and sew them onto the dress; or, use snap on buttons (they won't be used, but they will sit flat on the fabric, whereas the buttons won't be quite as so.

I hope I've helped a little, I'd go into more but I'm about out of time before I have to head out.

[pikachusweetie]

Wow! Thank you so much for the advice! That gives me a great start. X3

[tuesdayDrama]

You're very welcome, I'm glad I could help. I just thought of something that needs addressed about the side zippers. The middle piece of fabric that houses the center zipper is set lower at the bottom of the dress than the two sides, so to get the zipper to work, you would probably have to cut the fabric at an angle with just enough there so that you can sew down that side of the bottom zipper and still keep the appearance of the fabric being different lengths.

Also, I don't know if you're planning on making the dress in two pieces or one—in regards to th white under "shirt" beneath the pink. One piece would be easier to sew it together, but I fear harder to actually get the outfit on unless the back would be made to open and close. From the banner in your sig, it looks like she merely has a seam. Although, there are ways of making zippers appear invisible which could allow you to create the dress as one piece and get in and out from the back.

Regardless, you still have to make separate pieces for each section, so the white part could be either midriff or full length top (whichever is your preference since the lower half won't be seen thanks to the pink). It appears to have a seam across the chest which could be created by cutting the fabric in two pieces then sewing it together, or merely allowing enough fabric lengthwise to create a fold inside that is stitched out of sight. It will give the same effect (I've used it on my purple vest).

If you wanted to sew it to the pink fabric, I would recommend sewing it in pink thread where the top triangle sections of fabric are and around under the arms and to the back to secure it. It's really up to you how you'd sew it, but it seems easier to hide those stitches in that manner than if you tried to sew it anywhere on the actual dress.

The hood appears a little tricky in the sense that it attaches to the top straps. I assume that the top would have to be a halter in order ot get the hood to work correctly. If you have more reference shots, that would give a better knowledge of how the hood works (unless she never has it pulled up onto her head). I would think it's a halter strap, so I would suggest some type of elastic band or fabric with give similar to elastic so that this could be slid on and off of your head without needing tied. That way, you could sew the bottom edge of the gray hood directly under this white band. Otherwise, it would become rather complicated and require you to hem the middle of the hood so that you could allow the halter straps to tie around the nape of the neck.

Sorry if I've gone over things you already know how to do (and I'm sure I have). I just thought I'd offer a bit more advice.

By the way, did you find anything on a wig? I like to use http:www.wigs-us.com/index.php I think they have reasonable prices on MOST of the wigs (aside from two brands, and the human hair wigs) with the cheapest shipping. $4.55 for parcel post, and $4.95 for priority mail. Some will recommend amphigory.com/wigs.html, and they do have a nice selection of wigs but have shipping that to my address (2 horus south of St. Louis) would be about ten bucks.

Plus, wigs-us has Last Call wigs where they're marked down for their final clearance. I just bought a short wig, kanekalon fibers, for $13.99. I suppose it depends on personal opinion, but I think both sites would end up costing the same in some cases (where Amphigory has lower priced wigs but higher shipping and Wigs-us has higher prices and lower shipping).

[pikachusweetie]

Yeah, I knew about Amphigory, but not the other site. Thanks a million! ^^ I love all of this help, because frankly, I am a new cosplayer. X3

[tuesdayDrama]

This wig, I dunno if you're interested, kinda looks (to me) like Kairi's hair (the 1BTRD900 Black Cherry with Burgundy red tips) you'd just have to cut some of the pices in front so it looked like her bangs:
wigs-us.com/index.php?productID=293

Again, I'm glad to help. For cosplay, I'm "new" in the sense I've never truly been to a convention. But I'm not new to creating things with fabric. Last year, I modified a jacket pattern for Halloween so it looked midriff in front but long in back. I've made plush dolls from patterns I've made and seem to be pretty good (in my own opinion) at reasoning out 2D and 3D images. Sometimes, it takes me a few tries, but I can usually get it.
I'm not intending to brag by any means because I'm not professional at this or anything, so I hope it doesn't seem like I'm being conceited.

04/16/09 I just noticed while on wikia for KH2, those aren't solid silver buttons on her dress at all, they're actually eyelets because you can see through the middles.