Hello again my Geeks and welcome to another edition of “Can the Geek make a cosplay with no online tutorials and a low budget??”
My next convention is coming up fast, and I wanted to do a different character, but I have a large group of friends that cosplay characters from the Naruto series, so I wanted to try to stick to the theme, so I asked everyone in my group what characters we always seem to be missing and the general consensus was:
I REALLY like to make props…so Tenten with her giant scroll it is! I opted to do the Naruto Shippuden version as she’s a bit more mature and I hate wearing pink.
So first thing I did was make a plan and set a budget. The hardest part of any cosplay (for me anyways) is setting a budget and STICKING to it…I tend to buy buy buy until my craft room is full but my cosplay is only half finished, which leaves me with a half done cosplay and starving moths in my wallet.
So here we have the list of items that I won’t need to purchase/make because I already have them. But for the sake of my readers, I will list where I found them originally so that you can find them yourselves!:
Weapons: Fake kunai and shuriken mostly, but since Tenten is a weapons expert, feel free to go a little crazy as long as they are suitable for a shinobi world…I purchased most of mine from either Aliexpress or Wish. I prefer Wish because they have better customer service and a three week shipping time, where with Aliexpress, if it gets lost or doesn’t arrive in time, you don’t have a lot of options to recover your money.
Gloves and Headguard: I already have these from my Kakashi cosplay as I mentioned earlier, so no budget needed! I found my military gloves on Wish for less than $10 for a super awesome sturdy pair (way better than those cheap plastic ones that come with the cosplays), and my headguard I found on Wish as well for under $10.
Wig: Shockingly, this is the first cosplay I’ve ever done with brown hair…I budgeted $60 because I wanted something more high quality that I could style and create buns! I bought my new wig from Freedom Wigs (saw an ad online). Sadly, the wig was not great, I ordered the thickest available, but there were bald spots all over. With no return policy I was out $60 and back to shopping… 😦
I ended up purchasing from https://ardawigscanada.ca/ I chose the Derek style in Spanish Brown and picked up a pair of matching braid buns in the same shade https://ardawigscanada.ca/products/braid-bun – obviously with my first wig being unuseable, I was already having to go over budget, but I spent another $60 or so on these items and was super happy when they arrived!
Once I had everything I needed, I had to start with one element at a time, so I chose the pants.
Pants: For these, I hit up Value Village and found a pair of burgundy nurses scrubs in my size that, with a couple of small alterations, would be perfect.
I used elastic to lift and crinkle the ankles with some basic loop stitches, and hand cut semi-triangles of white fabric (I used a black sharpie for the lines) and sewed it by hand over the pockets. The White details are just for show, the pockets are still 100% useable!!
Tunic: As I mentioned earlier, I spent $20 on a new long sleeved t-shirt that I could alter. Generally with cosplay I hate purchasing new clothing items because I’m usually hacking them into pieces or altering them so much that they no longer look like the original purchase. But, I am running low on time, so I spent the money and made due.
I took the above pants to Fabricland to match the colors and fabric types as closely as possible and found a near perfect match (spent $15 on one meter).
I cut three different strips out of the fabric:
1) A pair of cuffs, I measured three inches high and cut it long enough that it could wrap around the wrist of the t-shirt sleeve without bunching it.
2) A two inch wide strip long enough to wrap around the bottom hem of the t-shirt with some overlap just in case
3) Another two inch strip long enough to reach from the center of the collar, all the way to the hem of the t-shirt
I also picked up some solid white bias tape and attached it to the t-shirt collar to create a more stiff looking mandarin style collar.
For sewing, I usually use Speed Sew, saving myself hours of frustration. I’ts a fabric glue that has amazing hold and dries quickly, so it’s also a great idea to keep it in your cosplay emergency bag!
I did the wrist cuffs first. I carefully glued the cuffs on, making sure to match up the edges if it overlapped and trying to line up the edges with the seam on the actual shirt.
Secondly I did the strip from the collar to the hem, making sure to angle it just slightly, because it doesn’t point straight down
Thirdly I glued on the bottom hem strip, again being careful to line up the seams as well as lining up the overlap.
Fourthly I cut three inch strips of golden colored rope and hand sewed it onto the chest area to create the appearance of the closures that you see on her top.
Scroll: This is my favorite part of planning (I LOVE making props)…I decided to go with PVC plumbing Pipe for the scroll base for light weight. Then I knew I would need fabric, piping, paint and other random sundries, so off to the hardware store I go!
I used linen coloured cotton and hand painted kanji symbols on it with black acrylic paint, I left it out for three days just to make sure it didn’t smudge!
Then I used Speed Sew glue to attach the linen to a dark green fabric that I had cut to fit my scroll base. This stuff is a non-sewers dream!!! Just make sure t to follow the application instructions. Then let dry. it dries very fast, but until it dries it can be moved a bit, but take care when you are placing your fabric, the white glue can show up on darker fabrics!
Next I used a multi-tool (yes, that’s the name of the tool) to cut parallel rectangular holes in either side of the PVC pipe for the straps to go in. Then I sanded, primed and painted the entire thing, including the end caps.
Once the paint was fully dry, I attached the fabric to the tube (I chose to wrap and Speed Sew the fabric tightly around the base, but sewing by hand would work as well) and then slipped the canvas straps through to create shoulder straps. I wanted to be able to carry my scroll hands free while walking about. then I replaced the end caps (which are still 100% removeable btw so you can store con-goodies inside)
I struggled to find a pair of shoes that matched hers, so I opted to wear a pair that I found in my closet. I regret nothing…except walking around a convention for twelve hours in heels…I regret that.
Here was my final product! I hope you love it, and that my tutorial helps anyone hoping to do a Tenten cosplay!
Original Budget: $125
Total Spent (including two wigs) $235 (or $175 if you don’t count the bad wig)
- Shirt $20 – Pants $10 – Various fabrics $70 – Paints and supplies $15 – Wigs $120
Total hours to create: Less than eight hours of total crafting!
The Purrfect Blog 