Hello, my dear followers and vermin in the eyes of Morbo! Today I’m going to show you a cool product that makes light.
After binge playing Saints Row III and Saints Row IV, I wanted to make a design from this great saga and I fell in love with the Deckers Specialist, a band whose main aesthetic characteristic is that crazy similarity with the style from Tron.
We all more or less know the famous EL wire (electroluminescent cable), which became so popular among cosplayers; especially after the premiere of the aforementioned Tron Legacy. Even we spoke about the first cosplays we saw wearing these striking decorations.
I was researching to make the cosplay in question and I found the EL wire ready to sew in the “Elwirecraft” store on Ebay. Super cool!
This cable comes with an added tab so it can be sewn in the same way as piping. If you don’t know what a live is, I’ll give you the tutorial with which I learned how to make it and install it. It also includes the connector and the same store sells the battery holders (drivers) and accessories, so you don’t need to know anything about electronics to make them work. Also, the electroluminescent strip can be cut to any measurement in case there are extra centimeters at the ends.
I made my patterns for the sweatshirt (if you have questions here is a very complete post on how I make my patterns). The parts marked in blue-green color are those where the cables go.
I cut the different pieces to be able to install them. In the image below the cutouts are a scale reproduction because I don’t know where I put the original patterns. I don’t include the collar pattern because I copied it from a jacket I have at home (I’m terrible at making collars).
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I chose black ponte di roma fabric to make the sweatshirt, since I was looking for a cloth that had a certain sporty appearance and did not need a lining. I transferred patterns and started sewing the cable.
In this crappy diagram I have put where each wire begins and ends. I used four one-meter cables for the areas that go from the chest to the back and for the sleeves. I have painted each cable a different color to make it easier to distinguish. I have placed the bats at the beginning of the cables, that is, the part that is attached to the connector, and the bubbles at the end.
Additionally, I used a three-meter cable that goes from the neck, through the chest and bottom and back to the neck. I didn’t sew this one like a piping; I simply left the plastic tab on the inside, leaving the cable visible right on the edge.
Just the same way that any other type of piping is sewn, it is first basted on one of the edges of the piece and, later, on the piece with which it must be joined.
The plastic is quite hard to be sewn by hand, so it is a bit of a heavy and painful task. And you have to be especially careful not to stick the needle into the cable because, if that happens, the section that goes from the puncture to the end of it will not glow. I had to change an entire wire in the sleeve because I stuck the sewing machine needle in it and lost it from the junction with the connector, a horror!
I still have to remove some threads from the basting, but it’s finished. I put blue bias binding on the inside edges to embellish it a little in case the shine doesn’t show up well in daylight.
As you can see in the images, all the cables are joined by small extensions and splitters that meet in the battery holder.
I love the result. I think it’s fun to have learned such cool things from playing such an absurd game.
The rest of the clothing and decorations in this cosplay are no mystery. I bought the red t-shirt and modified it by cutting out the V-shaped neckline, adding the black bias tape, and painting the Deckers skull with fabric paint.
The knee pad is made of thin EVA foam lined with red leatherette and painted with acrylics sewn onto a white spandex piece.
I made that kind of metal plate that she wears on her back with PVC and EVA foam. It is attached to the chest by straps like a backpack.
Since I will be wearing skates, I have simply added a fake black pleather boot cover full of straps.
And the skirt is very short. It is made with blue and pink satin. I only had to pattern the part that goes from the high hip to the low hip and I didn’t need to make darts because the front opening is adjusted with laces. The blue ruffles are straight strips cut to the desired width, trimmed with lace and attached to the pink part.
My boyfriend is working on the replica of the hammer that these skilled skaters in the neighborhood carry and I’m dying to take him with his dangling keychain and his disco lights.
If everything goes well, we will premiere our Saints Row group at the next Japan Weekend in Madrid!
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| How nice the Deckers are! |
I finished this cosplay too soon and I don’t know what to do with my life!!
