First time posting here and I wanted to start off with one of my favorite recent projects: Grian’s elytra
I also want to show off more of my progress with builds since I don’t do that often anywhere else
The idea
To say this project was painful is accurate, but the final result was well worth it.
Many Grian cosplays I’ve seen have the full parrot wings, but I was inspired by a Mumbo cosplayer I briefly met at a convention in 2022 who had a set of elytra wings on his back, and I wanted to make a version that was a “what if the hermits customized their elytras”. Hence, the parrot theme stayed with the mini layers of feathers at the top
The process
To start a cosplay I will often sketch out a character reference that is fairly accurate to the final build. What’s not shown here are the 10+ pages in my sketchbooks with the different designs for the wings, outfit variations, many accessories, as well as a visual breakdown of all the layer and steps to things.
Out of all the wing designs, I picked my favorite and traced my sketchbook design of the wings onto an digital art program an cut it into 8.5x11 pages, printed it, and cut it out.
I then used some very incompatible and tricky fabrics to cut and sew each side.
The inner side of the elytra has a holographic vinyl layer and the outer side has a layer of cotton with some shimmery toile on top.
The insect wing detailing could have been drawn on and then stitched over, but I decided to freehand the majority of it with some guide points dotted here and there to make it mostly symmetrical based on the original sketch.
To finish it off, I made some feather layers from flannel and stitched them along the top
The final step was to add the harness the elytra connects to since I wanted it to be obvious these wings were not a part of the character, rather just an accessory.
Using a pattern from this Etsy listing, I cut faux leather using it and used rivets and cording to keep it together
And there you have it! My Grian elytra!
The full cosplay project isn’t fully done yet, but at least the wings are
So I was wanting to dye my hair pink midwinter so it’d fade my spring, I’ve been meaning to make another skull mask, it was supposed to snow the third week of January and somehow Technoblade always seemed to end up in the snow. Therefore. Things happened. I was only intending to take photos of it, but then I heard this song and my brain just went MMMM THIS SCENE AND THIS SCENE AND THIS SCENE AND- so I made a short. Or at least it was intended to be a short, but for some reason, YouTube won’t upload good audio, which is annoying, because tumblr doesn’t like high res imaging. Regardless, I’m really, really happy with this. Also here’s the slightly shortened youtube version if anyone’s interested.
Here’s the concept art for the costume beside what it actually turned out as. Material list below cut.
Mask: foam core which is a staple, but I tried duck masking tape instead of regular scotch tape in hopes the paint wouldn’t peal off it’s held up so much better thus far. Tusks and teeth are cosclay. Then acrylic paint and I don’t remember what the clear coat is called.
Crown: also foam core, but I did use scotch tape for it. Not as happy with it because there are a lot of creases, but I was too lazy to try and find a different medium. Painted with an oil based gold paint which actually covered very well and I barely used any of it.
Actual Mouth Tusks: also cosclay with acrylic paint for the white and the same oil based gold for the tusk cap thing.
Cloak: red fleece that I weathered with acrylic paint (and painted myself and the kitchen floor in the process), and long pile fleece for the hood lining. The buttons are cosclay that I, again, painted with the same gold. And the chains I just bought in bulk off amazon cuz I’ll probably use it again.
Corset Belt: some random faux leather I had leftover from a former project, and the laces are just ribbon.
Sword: a past friend made it for me forever ago, and it’s just been lying around.
Shirt: a random find from Goodwill that I about shrieked at when I found.
Pants: I can’t remember where I got them, I’ve had them for a while, they’re just high waisted corduroy.
I really wanted glasses, but I couldn’t find the ones was planning to use. Which is obnoxious. Because Techno deserves to see. But it’s not supposed to snow again for a while, so unfortunately, no glasses.
Also, this is the first time I’ve wished I had long hair since I cut it off almost three years ago because aesthetically it would have been really nice, but I’m less hung up on that than I am the glasses lol
Shrub is just such a CUTIE! 💖🌳 We love his little backpack and pretty colors!🍓
Don't forget, you can see all of our WIPs, project announcements, and get early access to finished costumes on our Patreon! Check the link in our bio. https://www.patreon.com/PoeProductions
I made my own crafting table! Also had fun putting some special touches on it. I'll ramble about the details under the cut + show some sketches I had.
Shoutout to @fawnpawn because their crafting table post got me inspired.
So initially, I wanted to make a Minecraft cosplay of some sort. I love the game and the community, but I didn't know if I wanted to be a specific content creator or other. I settled on making Alex/Steve designs as a starting point.
Originally, I wanted to make the crafting table a bag, similar to what @/fawnpawn had. Ultimately, I decided it was something I could add later if I wanted. The first two images below were the first sketches I made in 2022. The crafting table would be an actual functional bag, where the top could slide off.
I had a mini cardboard prototype which I lost the sliding component to...it was fun to play around with it while it lasted.
So! The materials I used were as follows:
Cardboard
Hot Glue
Acrylic Paint
Chipboard (1/8" thick) (these were the vertical strips of wood on the sides)
Corkboard
Stick
The other details (like the seed packet and rope) were coin envelopes and scrap fabric. These were also free materials I snagged from a community material bin since I don't have the means to buy foam or actual wood.
The entire process was very scuffed.
I made the base of the box with cardboard. It isn't an exact square because I was too tired to measure properly (it's like 60 cm x 63 cm). I added more standing cardboard inside so it can hold weight at top
I then painted some parts on the outside with maroon/dark purple paint. This was for the parts showing between the "wooden planks" on the outside. All that was left to paint was the top grid which is admittedly off-center. shhhhhhhhh
et voila, box head
The tools were painted with kind of a Borderlands style. I thought it'd look cool and make it look more interesting than keeping it minecraft-accurate. I also used silver metallic paint so they're shiny :D
The sides of the crafting table still felt empty, even with the tools, so I added some in-game items for fun. I also wanted to add some mention of some content creators I enjoy, hence the Philza and Technoblade pins (and the checkered pattern for BajanCanadian lol).
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this. I don't know if I'll ever finish the full cosplay, but thanks for reading the ramble ;>
I finally finished it and got the makeup and everything- The respirator is made from painted foam core, the the tnt is cut PVC pipe with red constriction paper glued to it, and the overalls were based loosely on a pair of overalls I had already, but brought the waist up and changed a few things here and there. Overall really happy with how this came out and I’ve warn the overalls casually an embarrassing number of times because I just really love how they fit and look.
Also just obligatory ooc as I spin and trip over myself because
Shrub has been POE APPROVED! ✨ 😌 Poe loves to gently nibble on fursuit hands!
If you want to see more of Poe, check out his page @poe.bird ! AND if you love him as much as we do, check out our store to grab some Poe pins! 💖 https://poeproductions.org/store/