Dragon Age Inquisition – Morrigan: Corset, blouse and gloves

Hi everybody! (Hi, doctor Niiick). It’s been a while since I wrote my last tutorial. Don’t cry, because this is gonna change. I have a few tutorials left to write and I’m planning new costumes and stuff, so you can expect a bunch of updates in this humble blog. I’ve also gladly translated into english my most popular and requested tutorials (Tali and Maya) for my fellow cosplayers from all around the world.

As you may already know, you can check out all my tutorials in my tutorial list and se which ones are translated. All my explanations from the end of 2014 on are written both in english and spanish.

Without further ado, I’ll start my Morrigan corset, blouse and gloves explanation.

Picture by Jesús Clares. Commissioned for EA España.

To make this corset, I used a grey textured pleather (I love textureeees), I altered a basic corset pattern to get the shape of the original model: open and pointy on the front, with high hips and slightly pointy in the back.

As corsets are a kind of cloth that have to fit tight, I reduced a couple centimeters my waist contour measure. I think it worked because while wearing it I feel like dying.

I copied the patterns into the pleather fabric and also into a lining one. I sewed all the pieces together, the pleather in one hand and the lining on the other.

For the visible pleather part, I added extra seams at, approximately, one centimeter from the joining seams. This way I made lanes for the whalebones.

I added seams a couple milimeters besides the ones I made before just to make it look as the original model.

I put the whalebones in.

Once the corset had its structure, I sewed the pleather part and the lining together, I turned it inside out, I sewed the edges and the corset was done.

This corset doesn’t have eyelets to close it. Instead, it has boot hooks. I had to investigate because I’d never used these elements before. Luckily, I found them on Ebay.

These hooks have to be installed with a special machine. I had to go to a leather craftsman shop for this purpose. The guy at the shop was so kind to me. He even asked me for reference images (every cosplayer’s dream) and he put them exactly as I wanted. I know it’s maybe stupid, but I think these elements are pretty important to make this corset accurately.

I put more than 2.000 hot fix tacks using an applicator and tweezers to get them in place. This is one of those tasks in which you have to stop thinking and just do it or you’ll end up going crazy. I put them in groups of ten and then pressed them with the applicator, I did this consecutuively till I put fourty million of them.

Finally I sewed the black guipure ornaments on the lower part and I glued a thick golden ribbon on the edge.

To make the blouse, I altered a basic blouse pattern and I moved the scye dart to include it in the waist dart. I did this to avoid having an ugly lateral seam on my chest. I used some tutorials in spanish to learn how to do this, so I’m afraid you’ll have to practice your google fu to find them in english.

I drew the pattern on the brocade fabric and on the lining fabric.

As this garment have open sleeves joined with buttons, I made the patterns in the brocade fabric and in the lining separately and I made one extra lining full sleeve to put inside and cover my arm.

I sewed a gold brown pipin and the black guipure integrated in the seam between the lining and the brocade fabric.

I sewed the buttons on the sleeves, sewed pleather cuffs with some more tacks and the blouse was finished.

The central golden ornament with scales was made using Worbla. I made a piece adapted to the shape of my chest and I glued with epoxy glue big plastic sequins (thank you, Sae, for this good Idea. I’d had been cutting little stupid circles for years). I primed it with wood glue and I painted it with a layer of brown acrylic paint. I painted it golden with this paste. I love it because it makes it look quite real.

This ornament is joined to the blouse with velcro and lets me fasten the blouse.

Pijamaaaaarrrr.

I used black pleather for the gloves. There’s nothing special with these gloves, I used a regular glove pattern. Then I made the over-glove patterns with the seam matching the glove one. That’s why they look weird when spreaded out.