Hello!
Here we have the "build log" for Mitsuri Kanroji, or well the parts that I made myself - the socks and the sword. I purchsed the uniform online and commissioned the wig from Mitternacht Cosplay since I just wanted a low-effort fun cosplay. However the socks probably drained my sanity more than i could have anticipated, at least they came out OK in the end.
Materials used for the socks: * Matte stretchy fabric in pea-green and petrol-blue * Dark green acrylic paint * Silicon ribbon
* duct tape and plastic wrap for patterning
Materials used for the sword:
* Lightweight wood
* Worbla
* 2mm foam
* 5mm high density foam
* foamclay
* pizza boxes
* woodglue for priming
* acrylic paints
So let's start with the socks! I begun with making the patterns through wrapping my leg in plastic and then duct tape on top. When I had taped myself up, I drew the lines for where the stripes should go.
After I cut myself out of the duct tape I transferred the pattens onto paper, and then onto the fabric and pinned all parts together. And tested the fit while it was still only pinned to see if I needed to make any adjustments to how tight they were becoming.
After sewing the socks together using an elastic stitch on my sewing machine, I started putting the blue top parts on. While wearing the skirt I measured the parts to the length I wanted and pinned the edges.
After sewing the blue part to the sock I pinned my silicone ribbon to the top fold part and sewed it also with an elastic stitch.
Very neat stitches!
Since I used this silicone ribbon, the socks stay up really nice and I don't have to make an additional "leggings-part" to wear.
The finished socks before painting. I put some extra sock-glue when wearing them with the full costume and they really do stay where I put them.
I painted the socks with a flat brush using dark green acrylic paint. Here I've put some sock glue as well to make them stay while I twisted around to paint the seams.
And that's all for the socks! Now on to the sword.
I started with tracing the base sword shape on my plank of wood.
Then I sawed it out using a handsaw
When the base was sawed, I carved down the wood using a carpetknife... Mostly because I had no better knives available. After I had carved the blade's edge down I sanded it with a rough grit sandpaper to make it smooth.
After I was happy with the shape and smoothness, I proceeded to cover it in Worbla. The reason why I cover it is to add another layer of stability and protection from dents to the wood.
Before adding the handguard and handle details, i made the sheath. I used the same method as for my sheath to the sword for Griffith, wrapping pizza-boxes around the sword to get the general shape and then covering it in 2mm foam.
Then I proceeded to make digital versions of the handguard and decorations for the handle and printed them to use as templates. I cut the "flower" shape in 5mm high density foam and remaining decorations in 2mm foam. I hotglued the flower handguard on, and used contact cement for the handle. To cover some seams on the handle i put a little foamclay.
Finishing it up, I primed both the sword and the sheath with some woodglue and painted with acrylic paints. I freehand painted the kanji on the blade with a tiny brush.
(mid painting)
That's about it! I've yet to clearcoat spray the sword since I had very little time making the blade and couldn't wait for it to dry but I'll get to that someday. The sword took aproximately 3 days to make, and the socks took what feels like an eternity hah.
To see the nice photos of this cosplay, head on over to the dedicated page! And as usual thank you for reading. If you have any questions or would like to know more feel free to contact me!