Tali'Zorah Cosplay: Introduction and Game Plan....

Mass Effect is one of my favourite video game series; nothing else has ever had me so involved in every aspect of it: from the story and the characters to the graphics and the soundtrack. And being the big crafty nerd I am, I love to show my appreciate for it through the medium of sewing!

Tali'Zorah captured the heart and minds of many a fan and I've always thought her costume was bad ass and that we shared the same junk in our trunk (she's got some real hips on her!) so I recently decided to recreate her iconic Mass Effect 2 costume!

SASSY

This is going to be pretty complex and a big challenge for me, I'm still not the most experiences seamstress! In fact, I only just bought a sewing machine a couple of months ago (as a congratulations present to myself after I passed my third year veterinary exams!)

More than the sewing is the helmet...I've never really made any props before and I'm not entirely sure how to go about it. I forsee a lot of EVA foam, hot glue, spray paint primer, tears and swear words on the horizon. They always say start your costume by making the hardest part so you know you can definitely complete it but I say, screw them, I'm starting with the bit I like! I'll be making her purple swirly wrap to start with:


Here's how I'm going to break down the fabric part of this costume:

This plan will almost certainly change but at least I have a general idea to begin with, I'm usually a shitty planner and jump in guns blazing with no clue how I'm going to proceed! So at least I tried this time right?! I'd also thought I'd write a bit of a list of things I'm going to need:

1) Body suit

• I could make it, but sod that, I bought one off Ebay because I'm not a total martyr ---> Bodysuit 
• Although Tali's under suit is mostly black, it does have a hexagon pattern down her torso and legs which I plan to spray paint on
• I've made a hexagon pattern on the ol' computer and I plan to use some plastic quilting template sheets (you can get them from any sewing orientated shop like C and H fabrics, John Lewis haberdashery section or Hobby craft, that kind of thing) and using a Stanley/exacto knife to cut out the template.
• The hexagon pattern and the black part of the catsuit are delineated by a grey trim of some kind so I've bought so thin grey cord (from Ebay!) which I will sew/glue around the suit to keep everything crisp and clean!

2) The Helmet

• This will be my real challenge! I've been looking around the interwebs to see what other people have made their out of and it's astounding how inventive people are! I've seen it made out of paper, foam, cast in resin and every other material in-between! 
• I'm neither inventive nor adaptable but I thought I might just be able to manage with foam. I've bought some big sheets of EVA foam matting off Ebay (Again. I literally buy 95% of everything on Ebay) and I plan on somehow forming that into something spectacular!
• At this stage, not sure how I'm going to make the purple visor but who knows, I may even follow this tutorial I saw for a DIY vacuum forming table! I'll do a bit more research on the options and then pray not to mess it up!

That's about as far as I've got on the planning front! I'm too gung-ho for real planning, I like to get stuck, stay positive and hope nothing fucks up too badly!

My next post will be on drafting the pattern for her hood....