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[Su-san]

I'm going to be Commissioned to do...

Links "Fire Deity" Tunic, Sword - Majora's Mask

Zelda's Dress and head thingy (not sure what it is actually) - Ocarina of Time

"Dark" Link Tunic, Dark Master Sword, Dark Hylian Shield - Zelda II and Ocarina of Time
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And then there's my cosplay...

Ocarina of Time Link- Tunic, Master Sword, Hylian Shield. (I'm skipping Navi.... she and Fi are too annoying... maybe they're related?)

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How am I gonna do this all?! The Fire Deity Link is for my Father (....), Zelda's Dress is for my Best friend and "Dark" Link is for my Onee-chan..... and of course Ocarina of time Link is mine.. I need to get it all done by Supanova, Sydney next year..... can anyone give me some Ideas on how I could get this all done?

[Rangiku12]

Ocarina of Time link Tutorial: http://meowaboutcosplay.com/guides_t...ink.html#tunic

As for the other Link..he has armor on so i dont know..and a quick search in the Zelda Section of the forums could get you some more answers..Hope this helps

[StarsCASSiOPEiA]

The nice thing is, you do have a year. That's lots of time to plan!

I would break each cosplay down by element, and do them in batches. Have the wigs for all three? Might as well style all of them while you have the supplies anyways! Cutting wood for the Master Sword? Just cut three instead of one. Batch work is great for that.

The nice thing about Dark Link is that you can essentially use the same pattern, assuming you and your sister are similar in size. A lot of this will involve just repetition of techniques.

Take it slowly, for sure. Concentrating on one piece at a time and getting started now should save you a lot of headache! And since you have the manpower close at hand, maybe have your family members help you in small ways (ex, by pinning fabric for you while you sew, painting base coats on the props, or cutting patterns you've already traced). That makes the work go a lot more quickly! Best of luck to you.

[Viveeh]

(It's actually Fierce Deity, not Fire Deity. <.<)

[Su-san]

Originally Posted by StarsCASSiOPEiA

The nice thing is, you do have a year. That's lots of time to plan!

I would break each cosplay down by element, and do them in batches. Have the wigs for all three? Might as well style all of them while you have the supplies anyways! Cutting wood for the Master Sword? Just cut three instead of one. Batch work is great for that.

The nice thing about Dark Link is that you can essentially use the same pattern, assuming you and your sister are similar in size. A lot of this will involve just repetition of techniques.

Take it slowly, for sure. Concentrating on one piece at a time and getting started now should save you a lot of headache! And since you have the manpower close at hand, maybe have your family members help you in small ways (ex, by pinning fabric for you while you sew, painting base coats on the props, or cutting patterns you've already traced). That makes the work go a lot more quickly! Best of luck to you.

Well... my dad doesn't care about his Fire Deity hair.... My Onee-chan is going to pin her hair up, My friend is going with her hair as it is (cause she doesn't really care) and I have my Sweden (Berwald Oxenstierna from Hetalia) wig which I've already dealt with.

Well the thing is... my Master Sword making have to be done at School, as my School has every single tool you'd need for the Master Swords..... My dad doesn't have much he I can use to cut wood with in our garage... mostly stuff to do with Electrics.... but I'm sure that I could get into the wood tech room to make these... (since I've got my school wrapped around my little finger)

My family is more than happy to help (especially since I'm making my dad's cosplay for him) and that they'll do what ever they can to help me.


But I just wanna say thank you~! You've kinda helped me get my position into view.... which makes it easier to reach the goal~!

[Su-san]

Originally Posted by Viveeh

(It's actually Fierce Deity, not Fire Deity. <.<)

..... oh gawd..... how *bashes head against Wii console with Majora's Mask on it* can I not know that?! *stops Bashing....* Ok... so listen up people! Everytime I wrote "Fire Deity" imagine that it is actually "Fierce deity" m'kay?!

And thanks for telling me that ve~!

[StarsCASSiOPEiA]

Like I said, enlist whatever familial help you can get-- it's a great way to spend time with them too! My dad and I have a blast designing/constructing props together, so maybe you can bond with your family over tunic patterning, haha?

Setting little goals at intervals will help you get everything accomplished. Glad to have been of help, and if you want any more advice (as I'm working slowly on a Link cosplay too), I'd be happy to help.

[Rangiku12]

I've found out writing everything you need down in a notebook can help a lot to. Plus sketches of the outfits..help as well.

[mokulen22]

"a year is a long time" is not a good way of thinking. Banish it from your mind -- it is only going to be counter-productive to think you have all this time.

Schedule yourself "cosplay time" each week, so you're realistically planning your time over this year -- you don't want to be working on cosplay the night before.

haha, I am giving you advise I don't even follow, I feel bad if I didn't say that :P I am usually the one up until 3am the day before the con cursing myself for not working harder.

P.S. Why does only your sister get a Japanese honorific? Do you also call your dad, otousan? Sorry, I just thought it was odd.

[nyokun]

Agreeing with everyone else's suggestions about time management.

Write a schedule down for sewing/crafting time. What I did was make a list of the top three costumes that need doing, break it down in to costume components as well as what materials are needed, and keep a progress bar next to each section of the costume. Wound up betting 5 costumes done in 6 months that way. And if there's small stuff you can work on while, say, on the bus or at lunch break or whenever you're just loafing about, then bring it with you and work on it.

[TimeWitch]

Time management is critical. I agree with all the other wise folks on here. Make your list of each character's necessities then prioritize those items which are CRITICAL to making the Cosplay group. In other words, the costume is critical because nothing else will portray that character more. The swords ect are important, yes... but not as important as the main outfit.

Make sure to start on those folks who are DEFINITE. I've made costumes and the ones who came for fittings and helped out got preference after my own.

I would start with pictures and then look around for parts and pieces at second hand stores or here at Cosplay. Gather up fabric and patterns during sales using coupons. I usually cut a pattern out while watching TV or on a planned Cosplay work day. When you are sitting around with nothing to do, work on some element of your cosplay then check it off your to do list.

It took me some time to make Zuko's sword so I did start that early. One idea for your Fierce Diety would be a 8 inch wide by 2 inch thick by 8 foot long board and cutting out the infinity form on it with a jig saw. Then use files to get the blade tip angle. Use the extra wood to make the hilt and a large dowel for the handle which you will attatch with screws and wood glue.

This is just an idea of how I begin to plan out one article with an idea on keeping cost down. Take your time on each step and be careful because a major mistake can be frustrating and costly.

Have fun! Bring the others into the process...it makes it even more exciting for everyone.

[Nandra]

I'd definitely check out the very first post in the main Legend of Zelda Cosplay thread. It's a fantastic resource for techniques and materials; just reading through a few of the tutes might really help out.

[rj_sosongco]

Some tips I've learned:

- Don't even think about the year you THINK have. Treat it as having half of that time. With so much stuff, it'll take more time than you'll think. Unless you've perfected your techniques and can crank out perfectly fitted patterns and builds the first time, be prepared for multiple fittings, changes, and remakes. Remember, you'd rather be a few months early than a day late.

- RESEARCH. Make sure you have all your information done, and a plan to make everything. Get reference from every angle you can think of. Make measurements. Draw patterns. COMMIT to your plan, and stay away from deviating from it unless you know it will save time or look better with the same amount of work. The last thing you want to do with so many items is change gears midway.

- Prioritize the components by the most time and labor intensive. Tackle those first. The only easy things I'd do first are things that you can get 100% in a short amount of time (I'm talking a few hours to 100%) Don't spend days on a sash, if you've got armor that needs sculpting/molding/casting/paper macheing/etc. You can spend a night before the con gluing a seam in a pinch, but you can't spend that night fiberglassing armor or patterning.

- Do batch work, like suggested above. Style all the wigs at once. Get all your fabric at once, and use coupons to get it on sale. Do all fittings at once. Save props for last and build them all together.

- CHECKLISTS. These can help you keep track of what to do, what's been done, what needs doing, and what is in progress. And crossing off something on your list is an incredible morale booster.

- Schedule dedicated time to cosplay work. Even if it's an hour a day, that's 365 hours of working time already, if you work every day. You don't need to work 7 days a week, if you work more hours each time. But by scheduling a day of cosplay a week, or a few hours each weeknight, you can focus and be more productive than trying to squeeze work in during random moments.

[Su-san]

Ahh~! Thank you all so much~! Luckily my friends (Who Commissioned the Dark Link and Princess Zelda) are now helping a lot more with theirs.... by Switching to easier characters for them) and my father is making me do all the shopping for him for his new "Professor Layton" cosplay.... *sigh* He only decided this about a few seconds ago... and my friends told me an hour ago....