G A R N E T " D A G G E R " T I L . A L E X A N D R O S
Final Fantasy IX
V E L V E T of V A L E N T I N E
Odin Sphere
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The Inspiration
Sometime around 2011, a bunch of my friends were talking about cosplaying from Odin Sphere. Gwendolyn and Mercedes were quickly snapped up and, knowing nothing about the game, I was stuck with Velvet. Then I researched, and watched the entire compilation of story elements from the game; Velvet became my favorite character, and I started collecting fabrics. The group fell apart, and my confidence in myself and my body faded, so I stuck the fabric away, to be used on something else later. There it sat for several years, until Summer 2016 when I faltered in my work on Garnet, and needed something that I felt I could crank out before my upcoming con. I still had everything to make Velvet, including a wig that no one seemed to want to buy. Seemed a little something like Fate.
The Build
All of the red elements (hood, 'skirt', and sleeves) were made from a red-shot-black faux silk that I found in the JoAnn red tags sometime in 2011. All of these pieces were drafted by hand, with the sarong/skirt and hood being fully lined in the same fabric. The hood also consists of 7 appliqued and satin stsitched stars made of gold silk dupioni. The veil is made of black peach skin and various black lace trims, all permanently attached to a modified felt hat base. The jewelry is made of strong gold filigree beads and black bugle beads, with filigree stars laid over sealed foamie stars. The wig is a Epic Cosplay "Hera" in Caramel Blonde, and is unstyled except for pinning back the bangs, and combing out the curls for a softer look.
The black shirt is made from stretch velvet and was hand-sewn to a deconstructed bra, for shape and stability. The rest sleeves and gold ruffles (made from the same silk dupioni as the stars on the hood) were hand-sewn to the shirt as well. The red sleeves are faux slash-sleeve style, with the insets cut on the opposite grain as the rest of the fabric, to give a very small amount of contrast.
The skirt/sarong is a modified circle skirt -- more like an Egg skirt, with the front being longer than the back. The 'waist drape' is made of black peachskin with a burgundy net overlay. The stockings are a pair of fishnet striped thigh-highs, which I chose for the added texture. The garters were made using a lovely pre-made organza ruffle trim I got from JoAnn; I sewed 2 strips together, with a strip of Peach Skin top-stitched over the center. the garters and stockings were hand-sewn to a pair of tights to keep them up while I wore them. The shoes were a pair of kitten heel pumps in 'faux suede' that I ordered on ebay. when they arrived, they were more of a velveteen or velour than faux suede, but that worked out in my favor. :)
