Hi!
Some people asked me how i made my kimonos =X i don't know if i can explain well but i'll try o/ I hope i can help someway...
First at all:
> Find a good seamstress! Even if they just make ordinary cloths, if you explain with care and show pictures and references, the will be able to make a amazing costume!! Please, DON'T try to do it yourself if it's your first cosplay and you can't sew well!!!! For your first costume, choose something more simple and small, not because you can't do something amazing, but because conventions are hot, have a lot of people, you need to stay some time in the same position for taking pics (and people ask a lot of pics), so for first costume choose something simple so you feel how is it to cosplay, if you like, if you can do that all without get in a bad mood =)
> That's important: I really don't get it right at the first time i try! I try again, and again, and again if it's necessary! Just don't give up if you don't like the first result you got..
Let's start! o/
REAL kimonos are too difficult to make D: watch this if you don't think so xD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGTl4FGwxOA
i'll try to explain a simple one, and some things are "culturally wrong" xD but the costume will look nice..
THE SLEEVES:
Here in pic #1 we have the mold for the sleeves.. Depends on the kind of kimono you wanna do, i got #1 -A for simple ones and #1-B for other type (and sometimes you need to do a "underskirt", like InuYasha.. InuYasha's white shirt is like #1-A, and the red one is like #1-B)... I tryed to draw how it will look in the kimono (the draw below)....
In green that's a line, in the midle of the sleeves, right? You need to measure your arm, from your shoulder till your hand (bend the arm a little to measure).. and ALWAYS leave about 2 cm for giving space to sew
THE BACK:
In the back it's this mold... the sleeves shall have space, can't be to tight... Can you see a red line in the mold? You need to measure this! Start in your chest (OR in your shoulder, if you're including the sleeves space) and it go to whatever you want it to go... Til your knee, til the ground xD
THE FRONT:
the front part is like half of the back part! The only difference is the "V" collar!
As you can see, you'll need 2 parts like that! Because in a kimono you need to put one above the other, and you use another piece (called OBI) to hold.
STEP ONE:
Now we advance a little.. Time to sew the parts! In this draw you can see the molds #1-A, #2 and #3! Same colors means you're gonig to sew them! Do this with both sides (each side of the back part goes a sleeve and a front part)
I tried to do something clear (fail?).. xD
STEP TWO:
should look like this now.. And you still need to sew the sleeves (sorry, it would seem very polluted if I had put the figure above)
STEP THREE:
The final detail, the kimonos have a part in the collar and all along it's extention that makes then look very delicate... We're making a simple version, so a simple way to do this detail is put it above the front parts (from one, going through the collar, including the back part, til the other front part end)..
it's a strip of tissue (about 20cm), finish it's border, folding the border twice, and sew it. So, fold in half, so you'll have a cute small strip, that have 2 borders..
Sew it in all kimono's extension (like i said, front part, collar in back part, other front part, til it ends)... (Marked with red lines in next figure)
This detail can be done in another way, easier! if you don't want to finish the borders (that you do folding the border twice, and sew it) just fold the cloth in half, and sew directly in the kimono.. Easier, but not cutest..
It's hard to explain everything... X_X.. PLEASE ask if you don't understood! I can explain again, and i can try to explain how i make other things..
I don't bite =)
I hope i could help someone xD
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Brazucas, queridos, sinto muito, foi em inglês mesmo, pq os gringo fica me perguntando cumé que eu faço os kimono (pq eu tenho mto cosplay de InuYasha), e eu n aguento mais explica repetidas vezes em ingreis em lugares que n da pra explica direito coisa nenhuma =P
Mas depois eu traduzo tudo, ou vcs botam no google mesm... ;D
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