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Hiddenrose21 β RWBY - Blake Belladonna
#blake #cosplay #mcmexpo #blakebelladonna #rwby #rwbycosplay #rwbyroosterteeth
Published: 2014-10-31 15:35:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 1688; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 19
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So at MCM Expo I cosplayed Blake Belladonna from Rooster Teeth's show RWBY. I had such a great time, and everyone at the meet was so lovely! At the end of the meet myself along with a Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were asked to stay and do a few more pictures as our own team RWBY, which was amazing! It was my first time ever doing anything like that, so I probably look a little awkward, but hopefully the next time I get to do proper pictures (hoping there will be a next time) I'll be a little more comfortable. Blake was the first costume I made all by myself, normally my girlfriend helps me, so I'm pretty proud of it.ΒWhat do you guys think?
Photography by TorrentPhotography
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Comments: 30
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Awesome cosplay! Do you mind if I ask how you made it?
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Thanks so much!
Which bit of it? Or do you mean all of it in general?
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All of it in general
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Also if you're cosplaying Blake lemme know how it goes, I'd love to see pictures!
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I got some cool pictures of my Blake cosplay if you still want to see (I know we haven't spoken in a while though)! I ended up only making the gambol shroud, but I think the cosplay still turned out pretty good! I'm going to try to learn how to sew this summer so I can make my own from scratch!
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Hey, sorry for the super late reply I've not been on here in aaaages. I'd love to see, that's so awesome!
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It's no problem! I haven't uploaded any photos here, but I have some on my Instagram www.instagram.com/ink_crown/ Β Β
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Omg you make such an incredible Blake!
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Aww thank you so much! 
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Kay, I'll kinda work my way down the costume then
The bow and main waistcoat part are made of the same material, a plain black cotton of a medium weight. The bow is made my cutting two rectangles, stitching them together, flipping inside out so seams are inside, and then a hemmed strip of the same material wrapped around the middle to make it into the bow shape. This was then slid onto a black headband.
Wig was just bought, then the fringe styled a bit.Β
Neck scarf part made of black tshirt material of the right size for my neck rolled over multiple times to give Β it a bit of bulk and then stitched in place, before being attached to the shirt.
The base white shirt is just a crop top I bought on ebay.
The black waistcoat is made from 4 pieces: 2 parallelogram(ish) shaped pieces at the front, and two oblongs-with-triangles-at-the-bottom (awkward wording but I hope you know what I mean) at the back, all with interfacing attached. This got stitched together and then I kinda altered it to fit whilst I was wearing it because I wanted it to be quite close fitting. Then it was all edged using black bias tape, black lace added around the front upper diagonal portions, and straps of thick black elastic added. Whilst it does have a button, it actually fastens with a snap closure hidden on the underside of the garment, because I thought it would lay better and I didn't want to have to do a buttonhole >_<
Arm brace is made of the same black tshirt material, measured to my arm and hemmed, held in place with body tape where needed but it didn't really slip.
The grey band is made of a lighter cotton, measured round my hem and stitched. This was pinned onto the arm brace.
The wraps on the arms are made of black bias tape, and are body taped into place. I definitely need to get a stronger body tape next time, because the small set of wraps would stay fine but the longer one kept unattaching.
The shorts are just white shorts I bought on ebay. In fact, they're two pairs stitched together (one inside the other) because I wanted to make sure they were opaque. I then cut slits into them and stitched in the zips myself.
Tights are a purple pair I bought off ebay that I then dip dyed. Make sure you have someone around to help you for this bit, because getting them from the stove to the sink can be a bit tricky whilst trying to hold the tights and the pot of dye. For tights you need to use acid dye to dye them, as normal dye can't be taken up by the nylon fibres. Acid dyes need to be heated on the stove, so once everything's set up just dip them in as far as you need the dye to go up to, and gradually pull them out over the time the instructions tell you to leave them in for. I found it easiest using a coat hanger for trousers (you know the ones with clips on either end), clipping each foot of the tights into each clip, that way you can pull both sides of the tights out evenly. Be careful when rinsing the dye out too, you need to make sure to rinse in the direction you dyed them, otherwise the dye will end up running onto the parts you haven't dyed.
Boots are just a pair of ankle boots
I hope that made sense! If there are any other bits I've missed/you need clarification on just let me know
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Thank you so much for the detailed reply! I've been considering making a Blake costume, but I don't think I would ever be able to get the vest right. I don't own a sewing machine (I also don't know how to use one) so I would have to do it by hand. It seems so complicated though! The only thing I've ever sewn is a shirt that had a hole in it, and once I made an apron out of a pillowcase...
The other parts of the costume don't seem too hard to make/find, except for the tights and the zipper on the shorts. Have you ever bought a cosplay costume before? If I don't end up making a costume, I'll probably buy one, but I don't know of any trustworthy sellers.Β
I'll definitely let you know how it goes! I'll probably cosplay as her in the fall, so it'll be a while before then 
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No worries!
Yeah hand sewing can be a pain. I've always been quite nervous about using machines, so this was the first costume I made alone, normally I have my partner helping me. It's totally doable without a machine though, but the vest would be the tough bit.Β
The tights were something I struggled with a bit, just because I started out looking to buy them but I couldn't find any that were the right colours, all the ones I saw had pink at the bottom rather than purple. Quite a lot of people use them, or just use black tights, but it was a personal preference thing so I decided to custom dye them. I also started off trying normal fabric dye which didn't work at all >_<
I haven't bought one before, I've always made them or bought pieces for them if they had basic components. You could always commission one? Might be a bit pricier, but you know you're going to get a good quality costume because you'll be able to look at the person's work and know it's theirs rather than a stolen image (which might be an issue with people selling stuff on ebay)
Her season 2 costume might be a little easier to make from hand potentially, aside from the little buttcape thing. It's next on my cosplay list, so I'll be making that soon and can let you know if it is easier if you want.Β
I can't wait to see how it goes for you! And thank you so so much! <33
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Dying does seem tricky (dying clothes, I mean
I went to an anime convention in the winter with a costume I bought (it was a very nice costume, but it was expensive), and my brother's girlfriend was kind of shaming me for buying it because she claimed it would have been simple to make. I felt bad about it afterwards, which is why I thought of trying to make a Blake outfit, though that was probably not a good reason to.Β
It's frustrating to see so many clearly copied or similar images on Ebay and Amazon because it's not easy to tell which seller to trust.Β
Her season 2 costume looked cool, but I personally prefer her original one. It seems more "ninja-like" to me.
You're welcome! Thank you so much for all of your help! I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me about your cosplays!
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Yeah, more than anything for the dyeing you need an extra pair of hands, but its not too tricky.
Aww that sucks, there's nothing wrong with buying a costume! But I get wanting to make it, making it is fun too
I know what you mean, the original one is cooler.
And no worries! I'm always happy to help! If you want I could try and put up the basic pattern I used? I altered the outfit whilst I was wearing it to make it fit better, but I made a pattern to get the rough shape before I altered it. I don't know of that would be of any use
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I think trying to make it would be fun, yet extremely challenging at the same time. I've seen some fantastic handmade costumes that I didn't believe were handmade. At the convention I went to, there were four girls who dressed as Madoka Magica characters and and I just couldn't believe that they could make their costumes look so authentic; I honestly thought they'd bought them.
Really? That would be awesome, if it's not too much trouble for you! You are so nice!
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Oh my goodness I'm so sorry I forgot to sort out that pattern >_< My workload at uni has kinda got a tad out of control, but hopefully I should be able to sort it out soon! I'm so sorry! <3
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It's no problem at all! I'm sorry for the late reply! I've had much more schoolwork the past few weeks than I anticipated to have as well.
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Gah again it's been a while since I've got back to you about this, so many deadlines atm >_<
I've just put up a post about how I made my Blake cosplay over on my tumblr Β that has a rough outline of the pattern I used
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This is awesome! Thanks for being so detailed!
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Challenges are good, through challenging ourselves we get better at things
I love finding costumes like that, where you can't tell if the person made it or not, so much skill! I have so much respect for people who can make their costumes look so perfect.
Yeah I should be able to sort something out over the next few days and upload it soon
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I completely forgot to ask you one very important question. Where did you get Blake's weapon? I saw an amazing one someone on dA made out of wood that they cut and painted but I have zero experience in that area and would probably end up cutting off my hand if I tried to use any dangerous machinery.Β
Haha thanks again for all of your cosplay help!
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I made it in a couple of days, it was a very rushed job but I'm planning on making it again before I cosplay her again in May. It was the first time I actually finished a prop, so it was a bit of a learning curve. That version is made of multiple layers of foam board that's been cut to shape, sanded, primed, sanded again, and painted. No dangerous machinery required, the most dangerous thing was a craft knife. It served the purpose and looks okay in pictures, but it's a bit small and I'm going to try and make one that has the sheath actually come away from the sword. The new one will be made of EVA foam and should be a bit better finished now that I have an electric sander. I'm hopefully gonna be documenting the process of making the new one and making a post about how I made that, so I'll let you know when I post that
I might even get my butt in gear and do a version of the instructions in image form so I can upload it on here too, time permitting
And no worries! I hope I'm of some use, I always feel like I'm being as clear as mud.
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Wow, you're really skilled at these kind of things! I don't think I would have been able to do that on my own without any instruction or guidelines to follow. Just curious, how do you sand foam? I thought foam was usually soft.
No, don't worry! Your instructions are very clear!
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Aww thank you! Trust me, if you could see the prop up close you'd see it's pretty bad.Β
It's not foam as in a soft craft foam, foam board is a sturdy board with solid foam between sheets of paper, like this . EVA foam is another kind of stiffer foam which is basically the same stuff as a lot of craft foams but thicker and sturdier, the same sort of stuff yoga mats and kids play area floor tiles are made of. It gets used for props and armour a lot, but if you need it to bend you have to heat it with a heat gun. Both EVA and foam board can be sanded because they're more solidΒ
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Even if it does look bad, the rest of your costume is awesome to make up for it!
I see, thanks for explaining! This might be another stupid question, but how do you sand foam?Β
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Just sandpaper, though you can use powered sanding tools too
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Haha that's what I thought! I was just making sure.
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