This will be my first cosplay ever made (and worn!) and I'm really stuck! I'm going to be making Chibitalia:



And what I'm planning on doing is getting a long green skirt and styling it to look like it should. Then I'll do the same to the blouse. But I have no idea how to join the blouse and the skirt... Any ideas?

And also, how do I link the ribbon to the blouse? And are there are tutorials on how to make perfect ribbons? (Sorry about looooads of questions!)

Any good shops where I can buy materials like ribbons...etc that are cheap and good quality? I know Hoobycraft is pretty good, but it's quite expensive.

Thanks,
UchihaMonster

Hello!

For attaching the blouse and skirt, I would just tuck the blouse in. but since you want to sew it, You should put the skirt and blouse inside out, and then roll the seams (If you've bought the Blouse and Skirt readymade, they will allready have seams, so you don't need to worry about this). Then, you line them up, and gather the skirt if needed. Have you seen those victorian night dresses that are like blouses but have a skirt? The blouse part of that opens to the skirt. That is what you kinda want to do, as long as the skirt waistband can fit over your head and shoulders, then this will work. If you sew the whole thing around the bottom, then the blouse will still button up.

That made no sense, did it?

1: turn the skirt and blouse inside-out.
2: Roll the hem. This can also give a bigger area to sew on.
3: Place the hems over each other on the inside (If you want an invisible join, fold the hems like they are in t-shits and clothes.)
4: Sew around the entire thing with the blouse buttoned up. This will sew in the bottom of the blouse.
5: Undo the buttons on the blouse, and slide it over your head.
6: Does it fit?

As for ribbon, I'm not sure what you mean. When I sew ribbon onto dresses, I pin it down and then sew up each sides with a sewing machine. But I'm not sure if yo umean that or the ribbon that goes around the neck?

And I buy my craft stuff from two local suppliers, I don't know if they are chain stores. I buy from Lisa's (Habadashery) And Fine Fabrics (Sells fabrics, haberdashery, and other stuff)

I hope this was helpful ^.^

I'm not really sure I understand the question all that well but I will try and answer it with how I would go about doing this. Also I'm not very familiar with the character so just going by the referance image you've provided

I'm not sure that the light green undershirt needs to be joined to the skirt at all as the white apron covers it all up. Though if your want to join them you can by turning both garments inside out and matching the bottom hem of the top to the top end of the skirt and sewing together. You may find this makes it hard to get on and off unless both parts are elasticated. If this is the case you will need to add a zip. I would opt for one thar runs down the back from the neck to about the end of your bum cheeks. This should open it up enough for you to step in and out.

When you refer to ribbon I'm a bit stuck. I don't see any ribbon in the concept art so I was wondering if you were refering to the ruffles on the apron? If you are you will need to opt for a matt fabric that is the same style as the apron so would probably be better searching for cotton bias binding instead of ribbon.

But if you wish to use ribbon ebay is a good place to go Though hobbycraft is expensive it is a good place to go touch, smell and look at fabrics My favourite fabric shop is FabricLand - they have a website but if you can get to one of their retail stores it's better and the staff have always been really helpful. I used to frequent the one in Brighton but there were other stores

So if your question is how to add the ruffles I would be tempted to make them yourself out of the fabric you have left over from making the apron. Make strips that are about 10cm wide and as long as the piece of fabric you are cutting from so for arguments sake lets say 1m. Then fold this in half inside out and sew the top seam leaving both ends open. Now turn the correct way round (the longer the piece the more fiddly this can be.) And then start pinning the fabric to the apron but with folds in it to get the effect. Then once your happy with the width of your folding (you can be accurate or random - I know I tend to make it random but you do get the hang of stuff being roughly 2cm/3cm etc apart without having to measure but if you would rather using a ruler is fine.) sew the strips into place.

I hope that helps, if it hasn't do feel free to post or pm me with a few more details as I may have got the wrong end of the stick completely *^_^* Good luck

Seconding that I'm not sure what you mean by "ribbon", I can't see any ribbons in the reference art you've posted.

I'd be inclined to just tuck the blouse into the skirt as well, it'll make life easier for you and it'll be covered up by your apron anyway.

Most chibitalias I've seen either just seem to tuck the skirt in and cover it with the apron as suggested or use a green dress. For fabrics I tend to use efabrics or just use ebay for odds and ends.

It seems really complicated, so I will tuck it in. I can't find the skirt I need so I'll need to make it myself, but that's fine since I have a plan and a good friend who's made one before. Thank you for all the help, guys! ^^ I meant the ruffles on the apron, sorry for the confusion! XD

I've got the plan sorted, now I'll just have to buy the stuff! Thanks for all the help, it seriously helped me! The closest fabric and crafts shop I have near me is Hobbycraft in Coventry, so I'll probably go there. But I'll start searching around for good deals somewhere else. Thanks for all the help, again! ^^