Entered 2015 Con-nichiwa's masquerade with Mr.B as Mikorin and won Best Journeyman!
Construction Notes:
I always find myself hoarding decent scrap pieces from my different cosplay projects. It's become a bit of an issue as of late, and thus Kashima is the first of (hopefully >^<) many cosplay made nearly entirely of left over materials.
Which is actually a little sad, given that I would have picked far different materials to work with.
-Coat
I wanted to maintain somewhat feminine waistline, so I went with Simplicity 2581 for the coat and altered in the tails. Quite a bit had to be taken out of the center, as well, so that it'd lay properly. I used black matte satin for the cuffs and collar, and white matte satin and cotton lining for body. I would have preferred rose patterned brocade or even cotton sateen, though. Gold detailing was made of folded faux silk traced with a soldering iron and attached via spray adhesive.
-Vest
Again, I wanted to keep a girlish figure. Layers do tend to bulk you up, ya know. I used a generic womens vest pattern. The outside is black target bottomweight and lined with white gabardine. Decorative trim was attached using Aleen's Fabric Hot Glue Sticks. I love this stuff, but be warned, it will seep into your fabric. Found some awesome brass rose buttons at JoAnn, too.
-Cravat
Sewn rectangular piece of lilac chiffon.
-Pants
First pants with pocket, I am never going back! I used McCall 7003, as it is high-waisted and narrow towards the calves. However . . . I underestimated the size of my booty so it was a pretty tight fit. I used a very breathable grey mystery fabric, though, so it turned out okay.
-Sword
Neither my partner in crime or I have very good wood working skills and we wanted to be able to strike the blades against each other. We bought a couple of katana-style wooden swords from Earth Bound to serve as our base. After spraypainting and sealing them, I made the hand guards by sandwiching floral tape covered wire frames between craft foam. We then decorated them with fabric, trims, and scrap book stickers. Super happy with them.
>u<