14th May 2011: That image I was talking about that didn't show I fail at sizing images Dx
14th May 2011: Wow, how have I not written one of these yet? Maybe because I didn't want to, title. Mleh.
OKay, this cosplay has been a beautiful nightmare. I adore working on it, but oh my goodness. SO MUCH TRACING! AND IRONING! AND CRAP!
Since others (and my future self) might want to know my unconventional method of making the swirls, here we go. First, you need:
Bondaweb
Tracing paper (I'm not going to get into the tracing though, it's basic)
Lite Heat&Bond
Heavy Heat&Bond
White bias
White spare fabric
The usual sewing stuff
Get your rainbow color (ie: Subaru's is blue) and put it on your white. You can bond it down if you want (I did), but it's not really necessary. Though it might make things easier...I'm not sure. Then sew your white bias border on the straight part of your rainbow color (and onto your jacket/pants/whatever you're sewing). Next, make your swirl (You're going to want a main swirl design for all the different clouds you have on one paper if possible, you'll be tracing over them a lot). So you have your swirl...now trace it onto the Lite Heat&Bond, and bond it onto some white fabric (NOT your main piece, some EXTRA fabric) then cut it out. Place it on your cloud as well as you can, iron it on (two dots!) and let it sit for a few minutes. Once it's cool, sew it down. Since it's light, it's not gonna hold well on its own, so do this. This'll also hold down/reinforce your rainbow color. Next, do the exact same thing with the Heavy H&B, except don't sew it down as it's not designed to be sewn. Then let that cool and...presto! You get what I have in my image, freshly bonded/sewn/bonded again swirly!
And yay for my tassel idea working! x3 For the tassel, I just sewed it down ontop of the Lite bonded swirl while sewing the swirl down.