Help a n00b out will ya?

[murasume]

Why hello I am a complete novice at cosplay but I am planning on attending the Kumricon this year  and would like to dress up as a character from the Tekken game series (my favorite). I was thinking Kazuya from tekken 5 would be awesome. I am somewhat at a loss as to how to start... is there any FAQs or something to get me started? Any experts out there with tips?

[~boogiepop~]

Get lots of reference pictures! Try finding a pattern at a pattern store as well that you can modify for the costume so you can judge how much fabric you need :3 That's how I get started.

[EveofAbyss]

Just from looking at the pictures of Kazuya, I'd say it looks like pants made of pleather would work pretty well. You would have to then embroider or paint on the flames. Pleather you can get at any fabric store, and then I'd say you get more pleather or some material of matching color, cut it into the flame shapes and paint it, then sew it or attach it to the pants in some way, or just paint the flames straight onto the pants.

[murasume]

Thanks for the tips ! Am I gonna need a sewing machine or something? I hear they're pretty expensive and I would have no clue on how to use it anyways... Also, I have an almost 4 year old daughter who I would love to make something for her too and take her with me, are children allowed? Obviouslly, she would be with me the whole time.

[EveofAbyss]

Yeah, kids are totally allowed! Family cosplay is encouraged. There are some really cute child cosplays that can be done. Lots of people like to opt for child-friendly things like Pikachu (or any pokemon for that matter), animals, or simply a fuzzy jumper with a catears headband. There are some nice possibilities with that. But, for your question, yes, kids are most definitely allowed. ^_^

And for the other question, you would probably need a sewing machine to sew the pleather into the pattern for pants. You could do it by hand, and as long as you take your time and do a tight sewing job, that would probably work just as well. And if that doesn't seem satisfactory, there are people on here who make costumes for a living, or at least have sewing machines that I am sure they wouldn't mind lending. (I speak for others because I have no sewing machine of my own, heh). Anyway, best of fortune to you with this costume!