Madeleine from Dragon's Dogma
PAX South 2018
Photos by Tobious Photography
MATERIALS
- Suede
- Suiting
- Cotton
- Ribbons
- Embroidery floss
- Medium interfacing
PROCESS
Although PAX is more of an expo and less of a con, I wanted to bring a video game cosplay from probably my favorite Xbox game, Dragon's Dogma, which does not get nearly enough love as it should have (Come on, Capcom! Market this game better!).
I started with the base: the fluffy petticoat. I used my Classical Puppets lolita petti, which was perfect because of its bell shape and strong construction. Video game characters often have costumes with extreme proportions, so it's important to play those up in cosplay. My main areas of focus were on the poofy skirt and the ridiculously poofy sleeves. With the petti ready, I moved on to the green dress. I modified a princess seam pattern (McCalls 6896) for the top and made a basic rectangle skirt with a box pleated waist. I love pleated waists because the pleats help the skirt stand up and give it a little bit more shape. Also... I hate gathering fabric! I did hand sewn eyelets for the front closure out of embroidery floss.
Dress done, onto the jacket. For this, I actually just drew out some basic flat shapes on pink scrap fabric. With the low underboob neckline (Does that count as a neckline? A boobline?), having a perfectly fitted coat wasn't super important. I found this really pretty orangey brown suede and figured it was fabric fit for a female traveling merchant. With the main body of the jacket done, it was time to suck it up and sew some poofy sleeves. The upper sleeves are your basic oversized puff sleeve with medium weight interfacing on the inside. After I got the main sleeve done, I went back in and made little cut outs for the white fabric to peek through, and that's just right onto the sleeve. I'm all about faux linings when I can make it work! I did the same faux shirt lining for the bottom of the sleeves, and finished them all off with satin ribbon. Note for the future: Don't assume that anything tied in a knot will stay knotted.
With that headache over, I moved onto making the white undershirt and her little red pouch. I got super lucky and found this LUXURIOUS and textured drapery fabric on remnant clearance and it made the coolest little drawstring bag! I did a little hand embroidery and did a split stitch to make the criss-cross shapes and finished it off with some tassels and a fabric belt. I wish more characters had fun drawstring bags!
The boots and tights were already from my closet, and the belt came off of Amazon. Wig was by Arda, and although not the ideal color (Ack, backorder!), I love the style of the wig! It's a very comfortable costume, so I hope it gets more wears in the future!