How to do your own cosplay step by step: Caterina Sforza, Trinity Blood.

[Corycaly]

Here is my last completed cosplay: Caterin Sforza from the manga Trinity Blood. Once again I have choosen a characer from this universe because of  their elegance and the amount of details in their outfits.


I have worked several months on this project but stil today, several elements need to be added.

The main advice I'd give for such huge cosplays is to  divide  it into several little projects so you won't be overwelmedby the ton of work needed to be done.

I divided the outfit into several parts:
the cape
the hat
the corset
the vest
the white skirt
the red skirt
the shoes and gloves
the wig

I used red cotton satteen: it's a heavy soft shining awesome fabric: easy to sew, to wash, to store and not expensive. The white fabric is  an embroidered velvet I found in promo (5 usd the  3 meters).




The cape was the easiest part to sew: a long rectangle with top rounded corners. The collar was copied from a basic vampire cape pattern. It is underlined but I still have to add the white lace on the underlining.
I have drawn the crosses in a heavy embroidered cotton I had bought years ago.  I sewed golden gallon (bought on ebay) with my sewing  machine on the cross borders. I cut the cross and glued it on the cape with Patex fabric glue. It's a awesome easy to use glue: you put it on the bottom of the two elements to  be glued together, let it stay and iron it 10 or  20 minutes later. Impossible to unglue it once i's ironed: it's  solid and doesn't move at all. I didn't even have to sew the edges together!
All the gold elements were bought in aliexpress: they have to be heavily ironed to glue themselves to the fabric. I often had to use patex fabric glue to make them  stay where they were supposed to.


The red skirt was easy to make: I drawn 5 r 6 long rectangle and modified them so the bottom base is larger than the top. I glued the gold applique I bought on aliexpress
I cut apart some appliques to recreate the gold details of the reference image: it's a long but not that difficult process. The keywords are patience and precision.




Next post will be about the vest!

[Coryn]

Every time you post one of these I swear you've picked the most complicated looking costume possible. Every time I am proven wrong.

[Corycaly]

My mother says exactly the same every year! I think the common points between all my projects are  elegance  and complexity. I only make one cosplay every year because I rarely go to manga/anime conventions. The project  choose has to fascinate me and give me several months of work and headaches.

For Caterina Sforza, I wanted to focus  on the elegance. Some embroideries aren't totally identical to the reference image but I wanted the final result to be exactly like that. The iron in appliques were easy to use , it was a gain of time for me.

I used a sewing pattern (butterick 4954) I had bought ages ago for the vest. I shortened the bottom parts and increased the size of each part using geometry. It wasn't that difficult and took some hours but It gave a perfect  result.
I use old fabric (remains of Saber Lily project) to make a muslim. It means I sewed the vest first with a crap fabric to verify all fit well. Never use the final fabric without having tested the sewing pattern before!


Once the test was done, I cut and assembled the red satteen cotton.


I added some embroidery with my sewing machine, gold appliques with the patex glue and hidden pression buttons on the front. 

The corset and white skirt were made using the sewing pattern vogue 2810.
I tested the corset first with crap fabric then used embroidered white short velvet to make the final version. The corset is has a underlining and is boned: I added steel bones to add support.

here is  the underlining, you can see the bone channels:

The skirt wass easy to  make. I first used interfacing to give support to the fabric, then sewed the parts together. I added lace at the bottom but it didn't survive the convention. T___T


Next part will be about the wig!

[Corycaly]

The wig is the main element of that cosplay: huge  firm blond curls in endless waves are the main characteristic of Catherina Sforza.
I used a blonde wig from a german cosplay shop: Plastikhaar Cosplay Wig Collection , from mycostumes.de
it was a little expensive but it was perfect for the job: 100% japanese Kanekalon fiber,heat resistant,  lots of wefts, easy to brush and almost no tangle.


I pinned the wig to a headstand and divided the hair into several little braids. Each braid was used to create a curl. I carefully rolled the pieces of hair around foam  tubes and applied white glue on it. I pinned the hair into the foam tubes and let it dry one day. Once dried, the glue is transparent. I just had to unpin the hair and to put the foam



Here is the final result!

[Hasith]

Whats in that last pic is what they call Drill Hair in Manga, isn't it ?

[MahluaandMilk]

I have to admire your dedication to this project, especially as a cosplayer myself, especially because wigs. (I'll be real though, as far as Trinity Blood goes, my cosplay goal is Astharoshe, because damn.)

@Hasith Looks like it, yeah.

[Corycaly]

It's the same! Many manga characters have crazy hairstyles. There are several ways to create those drills: it's not a very difficult processus.

Here are some pictures of the final result of this cosplay!



I made the hat using a carnaval tricorn and a vet dog collar. (I know, the details are in French T__T)
https://scontent-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20032101_1346762272107132_4325629060726083166_n.png?oh=d67b1abbe1444c6a84423ff8429858ae&oe=59FA02D3

This cosplay wasn't that complicated: just lots of patience and precision. It may look impressive in the reference image but it can be divided into smaller projects. Be careful: however easy it is, you'll still need weeks if not months to make such a project.

[Corycaly]

I have to admire your dedication to this project, especially as a cosplayer myself, especially because wigs. (I'll be real though, as far as Trinity Blood goes, my cosplay goal is Astharoshe, because damn.)

@Hasith Looks like it, yeah.

Wigs are a very delicate yet important part of cosplay. I got years ago a great tutorial book called Wigcraft. It's written by Katie Bair, an impressive wig maker who won Arda Wigs tornament 2017. I don't know if that book is still available but I'd recommand it to every cosplayer, no matter their level.

I looooovve Astaroshe  outfits! The white/blue dress of hers is one my my cosplay dreams.


This other outfit is one of my 2018 projects:

[MahluaandMilk]

Honestly, her first outfit (the mostly black one, I can't remember if it's anime only) is something I'd just love to wear every day.

Trinity Blood just has excellent costuming all around though.

[Corycaly]

Thores Shibamoto is an incredible manga artist: Trinity Blood artbooks are a cosplay gold mine!

[Coryn]

Cory you will be the first person I hit up if I ever have to sneak into a renesaince festival or some sort of period piece ball. That's some crazy detail work you got there.

[Corycaly]

Thanks a lot Coryn!
That cosplay was lots of fun to make. The most complicated was probably the wig making. The other elements were easy to make. It took lots of patience and time but I'm pretty happy with the results.
It's easy to move with it, easy to put on and put off.

I think I'll wear it on some manga/anime conventions at the end of the year. I will add the lace lining to the cape and make the cross prop and hat decoration with solid materials because the first version easily broke.

[Corycaly]

Here are finally some good photos of this completed cosplay!
It's one of my favorite: easy to put on (I can put it on top of my civil clothes), ideal in winter (it keeps me warm), easy to walk with (contrary to some of my other projects lol), it's perfect!

One month ago, I took it with me at the Toulouse Game Show on the last day. I had just  one hour to make two quick photoshoots before I had to leave but it was  enough time to make great photos!

Here are two made by L'atelier de Jolf

[Corycaly]

I received three awesome pictures made in december! Those are  professional photos, I love them!
Credits: Sebastien Gourgouras Photographie
I was ill and exhausted during the photoshoot but the rresult is totally awesome!