Body Suits

So....I've started drawing plans for TF:A Blurr and came to the overall conclusion that since he, like TF:A Jazz, does not wear a whole lot of "armor" pieces per se, that I was going to need to invest in a body suit. It seems like quite a few people have used these to great effect for their costumes and I had a few ideas/questions I'd like to throw out there.

Since sewing a custom-made suit from scratch isn't something I can do at my current sewing level, I was thinking that I needed to purchase one, but I didn't know what types of retailers/stores would sell something that wasn't really expensive but was overall effective for the job. And I really don't know about Ebay....Any suggestions? Or any details that people would recommend?

While I'm still on the subject, from studying Blurr, I think I could make my own face mask. But would it be wise, in the photography sense, to make a mask that was black at the neck and white around the head? I'm just really hesistant at making a full black mask, because I plan on "seeing" through Blurr's fabric face, and flashes from the camera might jump through the white face and show the "human" within.

Sorry I've posted such a mouthful. I tend to go off on tangents really easily.....and mods, I apologize in advance if this thread is in the wrong spot.

ohhh man humm well i will tell you it was a challenge when i was looking for premade bodysuits or leotards and stuff... everything was already way to styalized to be useful... i mean if thats ok with you then go for it! ide suggest like getting a compleetely black one since Blurrs base is black then from there cut out the blue stretchy fabrick pieces and either sew them on or use some sort of adhesive but sewing be better for stretchyness.

one thing i did was i hired a seamstress to do the bodysuit... not something im exactly proud of but i realy dont have much skils when it comes to sewing and i tried doing what your thinking with buying a leotard or bodysuit thats plane but it just didnt work for me... she did that part of my costume cheaper for me because for her it was easy hah!

i know her number if you like to contact her she will work with people outta state and stuff like that she told me. All ya gotta do i think is give her the materials you want and referances and so on. so like ship or mail them to her and she would probably send it back to you when it was done...

and its a custom fit too you would send her all your measurments and such that she would need... she is verry experianced and has worked for creating stage costumes for performances and on TV. she did an awesome job on my Jazz bodysuit working with fabrics that were prety tough to work with too as ive heard...

heres her name and number if you would like to check out her services!

VintyThriftage
Michele Pantera
(602)-505-6813


yeaa.. for the mask thing i had a similar issue... i dono if you know but i wear a zip on greay mask underneith to hide my neck and back of head, thats the same color as Jazz face. what i did was tucked the end of the mask down under the bodysuits neck... my bodysuit has a turtlneck of sorts... so maybie you just have a realy high turtleneck on your bodysit thats white then velcrow the white face mask to it from the inside so it left a less noticable clean seam? also i tested out different regular fabric to see how well i could see through it and some stretchy fabrics work pretty well and best thing is no body can tell where the heck your seeing from! lol i got asked that question alot since i imbedded my eyes below Jazz visor in his cheeks! XP

anyways i hope that helps feel free to E mail me too i love to see Ani Blurr come to life in your costume!

Look up dance stores in your area or online. There are ways you could go about it I think. In all honesty I suggest making everything in cottons so that your costume will breath. You lose that pretty shininess but its actually kind of comfortable to wear the costume.

1) Buy a pair of leggings (I suggest stirrup leggings since they don't ride up) from Walmart/your basic store of choice and a long sleeve leotard. Get these in the same material as you'd be covering your armor bits in if you're doing fabric over foam. Then either buy the blue material straight and sew it on as Laserbot suggested or be a lazy bones like me and buy two pairs of leggings in the right blue. Cut one pair of leggings to shorts length and sew them to the black leggings. You'll wear the leggings under the leotard. Then use the legs you cut off from blue leggings to do forearm covers and cut apart the second pair of leggings to do the vest like blue and sew that to the leotard. Sounds like a lot of work but its not.

2) Buy a black unitard, that covers the legs and arms, sew on the blue accordingly.

For the mask I'd say back the white with craft foam and make sure the black under Blurr's eyes is just big enough that you can see through that if you don't want to see through Blurr's eyes. Not only do you not have to worry about your face showing through the white but you don't have to worry that people can see your eyes through black. Otherwise I think LB's idea would be on the money.

My favorite sites for uni and leotards are http://bodysuits.stores.yahoo.net/cotmocnecunb.html and http://www.dancewearsolutions.com/Default.aspx

Just remember when ordering that dancers are tiny people, I thought a child's large would work since I'm very small but I needed the adult small. When in doubt, order a size up.

oh god yes for the love of Primus listen to her!!! DX

discomfort is to unhapieness as vynil is to bodysuit!!!

at least it looks good but omg i sweat like no other!

also theres lotsa that shiney stretchy spandex material thats still breathable i believe!

Yeah, I don't remember which Black Arachnia costume made her bodysuit from shiny purple spandex but one of them did. You could ask them how that worked out. You can also buy them premade in shiny spandex. I personally hate working with stretchy fabrics which is why I always buy premade unitards and leotards if I can. And since you're looking for black you can.

When planned out you can make a TF:A costume that is comfortable enough to wear an entire convention day.

The stuff they call Microfiber is shiney like Spandex but breathable. Most yoga wear is made of this.

I am using the shiney yoga pants for my costumes.

Thanks for all the tips everyone! Since I have a day off work tomorrow, I'll definitely try to scout out some places in town.

And yeah, I figured that if I was going to get a body suit, I'd be able to add on the blue pieces to Blurr without too much trouble. Now that I can do. XD

If you look for a place that sells KWIKI patterns, they have bodysuit patterns that you can make yourself.

Body suits are a bitch to make so I would suggest you look at dancing leotards and body suits. You can get them in almost every colour and they aren't that expensive as long as you shop around. You will need to add the neck (see my black arachnia) but that isn't hard also makes life easier if you need a two tone body suit I hope that helped

I think this is what you're looking for. :3

http://www.riversedgedancewear.com/lonsleevmocn.html

If you look elsewhere on that site there's also some with hoods and some others have glove thingies. You can get just about any style or color you can imagine and they have different sizing charts to use. From what I've heard in cosplay circles around teh intarwebz this store is pretty legit.

Ooh oh that was me! Surprisingly for my first time working with spandex, I did pretty well.

Steps I took:
-lay out newspaper on ground, tape together for big pieces
-lie on top of newspaper
-have sister (or someone you actually trust) draw your outline with a Sharpie
-cut out shape
-separate arms from body
-pin to fabric like a regular pattern
-give plenty of seam allowance
-pin along seam line and cut fabric
-use a ball-point machine needle and set it to zig-zag (single stitch per zig)
-if it doesn't fit, fix the seams

As for comfort, spandex is very breathable. The first time I wore the costume, the hotel I was in was actually too cold for regular summer wear, but sitting in the masquerade green room, I found myself to be very comfortable. I didn't get hot or cold, it was nice At Comic Con, it was much warmer and I was about as hot as I would've been in jeans and a shirt. It was like a second skin that made it feel a couple degrees warmer than it really was.

That is actually a brilliant way to make a bodysuit, thank you so much for sharing!

-takes notes-

>>;

Wow, thanks again for all the advice guys! I'm definitely (in the future) going to try and make my body suit. I had a different costume in mind that might be made a little easier with all the info from everyone here!

I also traced my body on large paper for my Swindle costume, so that I could size the pieces of coroplast to fit my body. That's a really good idea for anything really.

And/or having a double. You can make one out of duct tape, old shopping bags and a floor lamp for about $20-$30 (depending on how much tape you have to buy. Tiny peeps can get away with 2 rolls, most everyone needs 3-4).

And then you have a fun place to put your costume when you aren't wearing it!

My sister made a duct tape dummy and it freaked out my boyfriend. He said he'd never come to my house again if I made my own

Pics of this please?

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3714...id=128535569574

I was worried that when I was making it (right in front of the glass wall for the backyard) that it would frighten my great aunt and give her a heart attack. They are so freaky (and unflattering) when not clothed.

Awesome that your costume is part of the display.

Should I move this to "Fabric"?

It would probably be best there, at least, since it is a fabric discussion anyway, lol.