I’ve made a lot of Pokemon cosplays, but never one of my favorites…Until Flareon
This cosplay kinda started with a wedding.
My friend’s wedding colors were Orange and Teal, like a Minnesota sunset. After being assigned our orange dresses, one of the other bridesmaids and I joked that we could turn them into Charizard cosplays. This was probably the start of my idea, however it took close to a year before I acted on it
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Later that year, some of my online cosplay friends proposed the idea of an Eeveelutions/D&D Classes cosplay group. I wanted a cosplay I could dance in, which meant avoiding armor, so I asked if anyone would be disappointed if I chose Flareon and sorcerer, since I had the perfect orange dress for it. The group was really supportive! (Fireball anyone?)
So I grabbed my tablet and started designing.
Image left: Shopping for bridesmaids dresses. This was the style my friend ultimately ended up choosing for us to wear.
This cosplay took a few tries to get to a design I was happy with. However, some details remained consistent.
I wanted godets to add volume to the skirt.
I wanted a long cape or sleeve details.
I wanted a cowl around my neck.
I landed on a design (pictured right) that felt like it would be fun to make, and wear, AND dance in. I planned to separate the top of the dress from the bottom. Remove the frilly cap sleeves, and add a cape inspired by Firefly Path.
Part of the inspiration for my design came from materials I found on Facebook marketplace. I had acquired a lot of orange fabric from random fabric de-stashes that popped up in my Facebook marketplace recommendations. With my materials at the ready, and my design in place, I had no more excuses to procrastinate this project anymore. Since I gave myself the deadline of Anime Central 2022, I had to dive in and just cut fabric.
Image Right: The final design I chose for this Flareon cosplay.
Making the first cut is always the hardest part. However, I set myself up for success by basting the skirt and the top, and pinning the heck out of everything, so that I could preserve the pleats in both parts of the garment. I left the basting stitch and pins in the skirt and top until I added the waistband that would support them and permanently secure the pleats.
The next step was making the cape and the godets. For the cape I happened to find a FireFly Path pattern at JoAnns (Hooray for $2 pattern sales!) and this pattern included a version of their signature cape. I had some trial and error for how I wanted to position the 4 cape panels. Ultimately they did not match the image pictured left. The frilly edges (which is actually the selvage of the fabric that I thought looked pretty) did not end up facing the front. Clearly this fabric is not orange, so I needed to dye it. To make sure the cape pieces ended up back in the correct locations, I added small, color coded basting stitches so I could individually identify each panel.
The godets went through some trial and error before I reached a pattern I liked. The length of the godets was determined by measuring the distance from the floor to the bottom of my butt cheeks. I like the look of dress trains that start there, (thanks wedding dress shopping for teaching me that) and I didn’t have much else to help me choose. Thankfully it ended up looking very nice all the way around the dress, not just at my butt! Originally I had planned for half circle godets, but after making one, I could tell that was going to be WAY too much fabric. I folded it in half to see how a quarter circle looked and was much happier.
Image Left: The Bridesmaid dress is not separated and additions to the dress pinned on to see how it will look.
After cutting out all of the godets and cape pieces, I brought the fabric upstairs, and prepared to dye it. I knew my fabric was synthetic from what the seller had told me, so I knew I would need synthetic fabric dye. I did a quick, but kinda inconclusive, “burn test” anyway, to try to determine what type of fabric I had. Based on how quickly it took the dye, I’m very certain it’s mostly made of nylon!
Cutting the skirt for the godets was the second hardest set of cuts I had to make (besides separating the top from the skirt), because for 4 of them I only got one chance to do it right! The other 4 I was able to open seams on the dress to add the godets. I measured the same length all around the skirt and made cuts to add in the dyed fabric. I also added a waistband during this time.
Sewing the stretch fabric godets to the very not-stretch skirt fabric was not an easy process. My walking-foot was a necessity. That and a million pins!
Image Right: The waistband and godets pinned into the skirt.
After so much sewing, I needed a break from working with that skirt! So I turned my attention to the belt. Belly dance belts are an important part of the costume. So I wanted to bedazzle the heck out of this belt. But to start, I needed to make a pattern for it. To make patterns that perfectly fit an area of one’s body, one of the best methods I learned is to first wrap that area of your body in saran wrap, and then cover all of the saran wrap in duct tape. Next draw your design directly onto the duct tape in sharpie. Only one half has to really look the way you want it to, because the pattern can be mirrored for the other side. I like to draw my design while looking in a mirror. Next step is to cut yourself out of the wrapping. Make sure to not cut your clothing! Lay the pattern flat and cut out your design (Or at least one side of it). Transfer this design to pattern paper and add seam allowance if necessary. Use the paper pattern when cutting out your actual fabric.
Image left: Sometimes the most unconventional materials are really useful!
I cut out a front piece and a back piece for the belt. I had plenty of left over dyed nylon (I dyed extra for exactly this reason!), so I cut out 8 strips to be used to tie the belt in place. I then began to set out beads directly onto the fabric so I could decided where I wanted to sew them on. I strung the beaded pattern on thin wire, and hand sewed the line of beads. I originally wanted to try out beaded embroidery for the flame details, but I very quickly began to run out of time. I ended up using heat transfer vinyl instead.
It was while making this belt that I started to deviate from my original design. I had removed the cap sleeves from the original dress, but hadn’t decided what to use them for yet. The fabric was pretty, so I did not want it to go to waste. I realized while a sleeve was laid next to the belt that they were almost the same length. I pined the sleeve to the belt and absolutely loved the look of it. The skirting on the belt ended up being very practical, too. While spinning, it keeps the side slit from opening too far!
Image Right: I had to get creative while posing with my in progress cosplay components.
With the fun hand sewing project completed, I made myself return to the yards and yards and yards of fabric that needed trim. I had found an antique lace ribbon at a crafting thrift store. There was not enough of this ribbon to add a trim to everything I wanted. However, cutting this ribbon in half gave me more than enough to trim the hem of the skirt, and one edge of all 4 cape panels. I lost count of how many yards it was. I attached this ribbon by first pinning it right sides together, and then flipping the hem and top stitching the ribbon so it laid flat. Doing this also encased my raw edges, which was a nice bonus. While this process was fairly simple, it was incredibly time consuming. I only had enough pins to do one hem at a time. So each of the 5 pieces had to be completely finished before I could start on the next one. It was worth it in the end. The ribbon is slightly stiff and gives a nice horse hair braid-like effect, giving the hems a shape.
Image Left: I used almost all of my pins on one of the 4 cape panels.
And then time began to run a little short, and my build turned into a crunch. I had mostly fiddly details left. Things like the arm and leg details and the most defining item of this cosplay…the Ears! I had two types of arm details: the diamond arm wraps, and simple arm bands made from the dyed nylon. For the diamonds, I originally cut out foam to use as the base. However, the foam made the pieces too bulky, and the iron-on hem tape made the diamonds stiff enough to hold their shape and support the little bit of strain the wraps would put on them. It also kept that fabric from fraying. I added the flame from the fire energy pokemon card to each diamond. The diamonds were attached with jump rings, and I used the ties from the original bridesmaid dress to secure the diamonds on both arms. For the leg diamonds, I used extra dyed nylon to create the ties. For the simple arm bands, I cut rectangular strips of the dyed nylon and sewed the ends together.
I don’t know why I put the ears off until the last minute. It wasn’t my best planning. However, I began with a headband as the base and glued the dyed nylon to it. I added a little bit of the antique lace ribbon to the center of the headband, and then sewed on all of the beads to the nylon. The ears are supported by a wire structure that is sandwiched between 2 pieces of foam, and the same orange fabric as the belt. This fabric frays spectacularly, and I decided to let it. However I did secure the fraying edges with glue, so that they would not continue to deteriorate. I used iron-on vinyl for the inner ear details and then glued the wires to the headband. I made sure the wires were under the fabric so they would not show OR get caught in my wig. I chose to glue more fabric to the bottom of the headband anyway. Just in case!
The wig I chose for this cosplay is actually a little special. I wore it to my first ACEN 11 years ago with a Tsunade cosplay. It’s showing it’s age with how frizzy it is, BUT I felt that was a perfect look to give it volume as a “tail.”
Image Right: I had sewed all of the beading into place. The curves of this headband made it especially difficult!
Did I make the mask the morning we drove out to Chicago? Yes. I did. Because I forgot to make one, and I really wanted a matching, coordinated mask for this cosplay! I also had an extra flame HTV piece, so I slapped that on it, too. I finished adding the jump rings to the diamond arm and leg wraps, as well as sewing beads on the headband, during the 8 hour drive to Chicago. This cosplay was deemed “wearable” at about midnight on the Friday of the con. One day I’ll finish a cosplay before I leave for the con!
Image Left: This is my favorite makeup that I have done for this cosplay. Hopefully I can replicate it some day!
I was very glad I debuted this cosplay at ACEN! It was surprisingly comfortable to wear, easily recognizable, and people loved the silk fans I brought with it! I ended up added a few more details to this cosplay before I wore it again at CONvergence. I spruced up the belt and headband with more beading, and I added beaded details to the top of each godet to make the skirt a little more bedazzled. I also fixed the fit on the belt so it sat a little more comfortably.
Image Right: Posing in the lobby at the main hotel of ACEN.
And Flareon is complete! As always with my cosplays, I often think about adjusting little things here and there, but I also need to just let this project be completed. I had never cosplayed one of my favorite Pokemon before. Making Flareon lit a fire in me for creating even more detailed cosplays. It’s paving the way for much more exciting cosplays plans in the future!
