SkunkyArt | JoeNittoly — Zaka (Valkyria Chronicles) Cosplay

The main fabric used in the pants, shirt and vest, is a summer weight cotton twill. For the pants, I followed a hiking pants pattern, but modified it to include the piping design. The shirt was made with a button-down shirt pattern, but modified to incorporate the dark contrast pieces under the arms. For the vest, I used the same button-down shirt pattern, but modified it to remove the sleeves, added the piping, and added a larger lapel and taller collar. I made the piping from old blue jeans, using the lighter inside colour of the fabric. The stripes and checkered details were broadcloth.

The gaitors are made from faux leather lined with scrap cotton twill to stiffen them. I reverse-engineered the pattern from my actual hiking gaitors and added strips of white faux fur to the inside top and bottom edges to make them appear fur-lined. They are fastened with velcro.

The Squad 7 insignia patch was made by printing the actual game graphic onto special printer-friendly heat-transfer vinyl, ironing that onto fabric, and sewing around the edge with a dense zig-zag stitch to make it look like a real sew-on patch.

The map case is made from faux leather with a clear vinyl sheet. (It holds a real topographic map of Algonquin Park, one of my favourite places to go backcountry camping.)

For his bandanna, I painted the red design onto off-white broadcloth with dollar store acrylic paint, which holds up perfectly well for a weekend convention.