Carmilla Build Log

At long last, here is the Build Log for Carmilla!

I made her with the intent to wear at the Swedish Cosplay Championships 2024, and through some sort of miracle I pulled through a wearable result in time for that. Needless to say I've got some complex feelings about this cosplay as I still don't feel that it's living up to my vision, despite reworking her almost entirely in the time between SCC2024 and Volta2024. She still requires a lot of work done, but I'll see when I'm in a headspace to get there.

In any case, I hope this log will provide some insight into how I made her, as I know this is a fairly well known character but rarely cosplayed. As usual, I'm not sponsored by anyone so if I mention specific brands that's just as a reference point in case you want to use what I did in making your own.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the wig, as it's iconic and definitely the piece that would make or break the entire look. So let's start there!

I started out with a red lacefront wig of the same model and make as for Malenia, from WigIsFashion (not sponsored). I chose this since I knew how the wig would behave and what wefts I could use that matched the colour from coscraft.co.uk (also not sponsored).

I then straightened the whole thing to get an idea of how I wanted to rework the front and also if I needed to add even more hair in order to cover the hair-horns later on.

I had a VERY hard time figuring out the new hairline, mostly since this lace was obviously already integrated into the wig and so I couldn't simply place it flat with a fold to make both sides symmetrical. I drafted and tried it on many many times in this process to ensure that I had a contour to work with that I was happy with. This was also my first time ever ventilating lace, and in retrospect I might've saved myself a lot of time if I had just gotten a regular wig, done the front separately and then integrated that instead of reworking an existing front.

Not only did I ventilate all the hair for the new hairline, but I also went in between all of the preexisting rows of ventilated hair and added more. This was to really give a thick and full front, seeing as Carmilla has a lot of volume going on in general for the front and top part of her style.

The hairline in progress and then finished.

I then went on to patterning the base templates for the hair horns.

I then cut out 4 pieces of the structure in high density styrofoam, and created the headband going underneath the wig with two long spikes/screws to place the horns on.

After heating up the headband to the shape I wanted, I placed it onto the styrofoam pieces and carved channels for where the spikes should fit into each of the pieces prior to gluing them together.

After gluing all of the styrofoam pieces together using glue specifically for styrofoam (so it doesn't melt), I carved down the shape, added some more styrofoam, carved that down and sanded.

Once they were sanded, I added red felt on top of the shapes and started gluing down the hair. I used separate wefts for this, and glued them in a spiral starting at the top of the shape. I didn't do this the entire way around the shape, as the lengths of the hair would cover it up nicely.

To create all the hair-accessories I started out with making my models in Blender. Around this time I had received a PLA printer for Christmas so I figured why not use it and work with this type of 3D print. I had previously only worked with my resin printer for very small pieces, so the process of using PLA was a new learning experience for me.

The first version of the prints, especially the bands, had a lot of weird geometry going on. I solved this by using a lot of filler and sanding it down, but eventually decided to rework the model and print it again with a smoother surface of the hollowings.

After sanding all parts, I went over them with a couple layers of spray filler as well. The difference, especially for the bands, was quite an increase in quality.

Finally I painted them using a couple different shades of gold, added some shading and a clear-coat spray varnish. All of these pieces are removable from the final hair-horns, as I wanted to have the chance to adjust the hair in case of any loose strands or such when it's been transported.

The way the wig is assembled for wear, is that the hairband with spikes is permanently fixed to the wig, which is otherwise kept loose. Once the hair-horns are added onto the spikes, they are kept together in the top with a small ribbon and snap button. The front of the hair of the wig is then laid on top, and the bangles in front as well as the long semi-flat shape in back.

Everything assembled prior to trimming the overall length and the lace. This is also with the first version of the accessories that were reprinted for the final wear. The jewelry in front is permanently stitched in place in the lace.

That's pretty much it for the wig!

Next let's take a look at the jewelry. Carmilla has a very wide necklace, and a pair of earrings. I tried out a lot of different methods to get these pieces the way I wanted, and ended up with a combination of all for the final result.

I started out with sculpting all of the pieces in Blender, and then doing a lot of math (ugh) to measure and scale all the bits accurately to make the whole necklace seamless while still looking as intended. In the references, all of these pieces are very uniform in their shape, but that won't work in reality so they had to work more like a trapeze. That is to say, smaller in the top, wider in the bottom.

I then printed all parts in PLA to ensure the scale was as I wanted (gently taping them together on the backside, and re-printed the centerpiece using my resin printer as that achieves the higher detail required for the piece. Initially my intent was to use the same method here as I had done for Malenia's belt squares and "cast" them all using thibra, however this was only feasible for the center piece.

I used the resin print as a master, and made a mould in silicone that could withstand high temperatures. I then made many many attempts at the centerpiece in Thibra until I achieved one I was happy with. The reason I didn't want to use the resin print is due to the fragile nature of the resin once cured, and the hoops would be very small and thin - creating a risk of it breaking when handled and worn. I prefer to instead use small screw-hoops that I heat up and insert directly into the thibra.

As for all the other parts of the necklace, I decided to use the PLA prints. Which meant a painstaking amount of sanding by hand to get all the detail defined and print-lines eradicated. I then used the same procedure of heat-pressing screw-hoops into the tops, and gently sprayed filler onto them.

As for the earrings, I did print them in PLA (as seen to the left) but figured they would look even better in resin (to the right) so I reprinted them in resin and used them for the final version.

The jewelry then received the same painting treatment as the hair accessories with varying shades of gold, shading, and a finish with clear-coat varnish.

Now let's get into all the fabric work. I've rarely done any type of ballgowns or just gowns in general, so this was a big hurdle to get over. It's also the part of the costume I feel needs most work to improve, whenever that day comes.

Carmilla has an extremely narrow waist, with a poofy hip section - but no way to have a corset to help shaping due to the extreme plunge in front. So I opted to make a pair of shorts to fill out the shape, more than only petticoats would.

I started with sketching out my plan for how this should all come together, taking inspiration from how dragqueens would alter their proportions. I then used a thin but strong spandex/lycra to start the shape of the shorts and tracing where I wanted my soft foam fillets to be placed.

I then placed my fillets and stretched another layer of spandex fabric on top to make sure that the fillet would fit after attaching the "pocket" onto the shorts, and pinned it down.

After that I carefully stitched the pockets on using an elastic stitch, trimmed the excess and inserted the foam fillets. I closed up the pockets and added an elastic in top in a "V" shape. These shorts sit quite low overall, and this V shape helped to enable a very low plunge in the final dress as well as something that the petticoats could attach to in order to keep them down so they wouldn't start bulging up or show through the plunge.

The finished shorts prior to inserting the fillets in the pockets.

Next was the gloves. I opted to keep the white "skin"-gloves separate from the red long gloves so I could take them off easier both for convenience of using my phone/handling things and also wash them without risking any red to bleed into the white fabric.

I used one of my previous handturkey-patterns for this and drew it onto a thin white spandex/lycra. I then basted them, and stitched with an elastic stitch on my regular sewing machine.

For the nails I had ordered a bunch of absolutely ridiculously long nails, which I spray painted red to ensure full coverage and later superglued onto the gloves.

For the red gloves I don't have a whole lot of pictures, but it's following the standard procedure of mock-up->pattern->tracing->sewing

The fabric of choice for these red gloves were a kind of stretch velvet, in the closest matching shade of red I could find to go along with the rest of the dress. I did consider making them out of the same (non stretch) velvet with a zipper, but opted for a complete glove instead.

No ballgown is complete without petticoats, and for this one I made three! They all follow the same "model" of basically just taking an absurd amount of fabric and scrunching it in the top. I didn't make any sections or layers, as Carmillas dress slims down a bit toward the bottom instead of at the top as a normal ballgown would. So I wanted maximum volume by the hips, not so much by the feet.I put placeholder-foam bits around the hip area where my shorts would go, and worked layer by layer. Or skirt by skirt, as it were.

Starting with one layer of Tulle.

The one layer of Organza.

And finishing it off with one layer of satin duchesse in a semi-shiny white.

Having the petticoats done was essential to start patterning the rest of the dress, to ensure the fit and proportions.

I started by drafting the back section of the dress, as I wanted to establish this fit before moving on to the front where all the more complex details would be.

After pulling my hair out trying to figure out the sleeves (seriously what's up with them?? They're slim yet big and she has the sharpest elbows known to mankind), I attached them to my mock-up and placed a big piece of fabric in the front to start working out the shape.

After successfully sectioning out the front and all the separate pieces, I transferred them onto the mock-up fabric and pinned in place for a test fit (sans shorts and petticoats).

The front consists of three parts. The low U-shape plunge, bra "cups" and the flower-y thing in the bottom. The U part is actually not attached to her cups in the movie, so I had to work around how to keep that separate as well

...I mean seriously, like what?

Anyway, disregarding my questioning of why this ever seemed like a good choice to make in the first place, I moved on to the actual velvet.

For the plunge in front, I decided it was a good idea to reinforce it with a vlieseline part. This was to reduce any wrinkling of it, and also keep the fabric taut for the mesh I used in the center. I also did this for the "flower" section below the plunge.

Carefully tracing it out, and then ironing it on.

The whole dress assembled, after re-stitching the entire thing in the time between SCC 2024 and Volta 2024.I used a black velvet to create the details on the white "flower" part and glued them on with textile glue. There's also an invisible zipper in the back to get in and out of the entire thing.

What I had not anticipated would cause me a huge amount of stress and regret was all of the striped parts of this costume. Both in the dress itself, the sleeve-train and the hip+shoulderpads.

The bases for the hips and shoulderpads were not in themselves that much a cause of concern as I used my tried and tested method of patterning in construction paper and then creating the bases in high density EVA foam. But that's about where the fun stopped.

For each of the yellow sections with stripes on this costume, I made the yellow and black separate in order for the black to be as distinct "tubes" instead of patchwork, if that makes sense.

In order for this to work when using velvet, I had to be very precise in pinning all of the fabrics together. Ensuring that I had the same amount of black coming out on the right side for each "tube", as well as not having any of the yellow slip around as that would alter the final size of the piece. This took an absolutely ridiculous amount of time and I didn't manage it for my first wear of the costume at the SCC2024 and barely for Volta 2024 as you can see from the car-crafting photo. But once all of this was done, I applied them to my foam structures kind of like a fitted sheet and glued them in place.

The hip and shoulder pads are attached to the dress using strong snapbuttons.

The sleeve-train was also a striped mathematical mess to figure out, but somehow I did it. The hardest part of this entire process with both the sleeve-train and the dress was to ensure that all the velvet was facing the correct direction with the fuzz. If you've ever worked with velvet previously, you're likely aware that when you stroke the fabric it will be very smooth in one direction, and coarse in the other. So all of this had to be taken into account that the "stroking-direction" was the same on all pieces.

Once the sleeve fronts were all assembled, I used one giant piece of material to make a large rectangle with the stripes in each end (one to the left and one to the right). I then used a second giant piece of material and attached that in the bottom to act as the train. I don't really have any photos of this either, but imagine a large "T" shape essentially. The final thing to do for this was to ensure that there was a smooth transition between the top "T" part and the bottom.

Of course, I also can't forget the collar. This was done with a "quick and dirty" solution of ironing two layers of fabric, with one layer of worbla in the middle.

As of the time of writing, this is literally the only progress picture I have of this but it turned out OK for being something I scrambled together mere hours before the initial wear. I could iron the whole piece and while hot, shape it to it's desired shape thanks to the worbla - which then kept that shape once cooled.

All in all, I'm content with this build as it is considering the circumstances of its creation. There are details still missing like the yellow and black striped parts in the armpits, and the stripes on the collar - but one day I'll definitely revisit her and give the final glow-up that she deserves. It also serves as a reminder to myself that while I have priorities and parts of a costume that I feel are the most important or difficult, to not underestimate how much time is required for other parts that I had perhaps considered to be more easy for me to make. While that was true in the technical skills required, the sheer AMOUNT of work was more than I had anticipated.

One day, for sure, this cosplay will look the way I envision it.

For now, you can enjoy all the wonderful pictures of the current version here! https://www.darkesttearsdesign.com/carmilla-vampire-hunter-d