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I honestly got super busy being in a few aerial productions as well as a whole snowball of events in my personal life and had to make the decision to step away from cosplay in the month of May and June (which is kind of a lie since I was also making costuming for those productions, which I will post here too). But what it meant was that I had to put on hold all the things I wanted to do with this blog, but also all the cool projects I was working on.

So here’s what I was supposed to work on/am working on:

-I was trying to get something ready for Denver Fan Expo’s competition, which ultimately didn’t happen, and won’t now that it’s way way over

-I was working on figuring out how to color stretch vinyl in a way that will work long-term. I actually got a really decent number of swatches I was working on, but haven’t yet found the solution I’m looking for. I’m excited to post about this though, and to dive back into it.

-I’ve been making a new mannequin for myself. I got pretty far with this, I have the main body done, I’m just unhappy with the stand and feel like I want to redo the whole thing (which I definitely don’t have time for) but I’ll post about its progress soon

-I’m trying to get ready for DragonCon, which is actually a kind of insane amount of work even when I’m not planning on competing in any competitions. I want to take much more costuming than I did last year and have 2 groups that I’m trying to finish cosplays for, so other cosplans are on hold until I get these

-I’ve been building a large metal pannier for a 1700s inspired fantasy dress…and failing miserably! I’ve rebuilt this dang thing 4 times now and keep thinking I’ve figured it out only for cold cruel reality to showcase how far I have to go…I’ll get there, it’ll get done

Long story short, I might not have been posting, but I’m definitely working on cosplay stuff. I’m also terrible at posting WIPs! I’ll get there, promise!

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This is a pretty easy project. I’d give it an intermediate level. It requires just a bit of basic sewing and some understanding of form, but since you build it right off your own calf it’s fairly simple in the long run. We’re gonna use the plastic wrap and tape method to get these together!

What you’re going to need:
-Some cheap a$$ boots you don’t mind destroying*
-Plastic wrap or plastic bags that can fit over the boot
-Tape, this can be duct tape, packing tape, masking tape or pretty much any other type of tape. I just recommend something around 2″ wide as it will speed up the process
-The boot cover fabric (I used around 1.5 yards of black pleather)
-Lining fabric (I recommend just using leftover non-stretch fabric from your stash, and depending on the boot you choose you may be able to skip this entirely)
-Thread matching the boot fabric
-Glue (I recommend E6000, if you decide to make a temporary boot cover you can skip this and use elastic instead)

*You can use boots that you like, but gluing and sewing the bootcover to the shoe is my recommended way of adding them to the final boot, so I recommend cheap boots from the thrift store that fit reasonably well but that you don’t mind destroying. You CAN even use ankle boots to make these, as long as you’re good with creating the form of the boot with some paper or foam(under the plastic wrap). You DO however want boots that have a zipper closure unless you’re more experienced with sewing and are comfortable adding in a zipper yourself

1. First things first get your boots and tailor them as needed. In this case I removed the tops and most of the insides since the insides were falling apart on these. You do whatever you need done to get the basic shape you want.

2. Put your boot on. If the boot isn’t the right shape you’re going to pad the boot and your calf until it is. You can use foam, paper, plastic bags and tape to create the right shape. Then you’re going to cover the whole thing in plastic wrap or your plastic bags. You’re going to carefully (without messing up the shape of the boot, tape around the plastic bags until the plastic and tape is form fitting to the boot. (Did I forget to take pictures of this step, yes, but here’s a photo of me doing the process with a different shoe:

3. Draw on the completed tape sculpture some lines for where you want the seams to go. Make sure to mark the top of the boot, as well as where you want it to glue into the shoe. In the case of my pirate boots I wanted the toe and heel of the actual boot to be visible and instead only glued along the bottom sides of the boot covers. I also recommend adding in some marks to help with attaching pieces together after the fact.

It’s also OKAY if you’re not exactly sure where you want all the seams to go just yet. Mark the ones you do know, the top and bottom of the boot, the zipper, and at least one vertical seam that goes from the top to the bottom (you’re going to cut along this line to get yourself out).

4. Cut yourself out of the boot along the vertical line and cut out your pieces where you want the seams to go. If you didn’t mark these before, you’re going to need to mark these now.

In my case I forgot to mark the top of the boots…don’t be like me.

5. Now you’re going to adjust the pattern as needed. In this case I wanted the boot covers to be taller and fold over so I just adjusted them in the flat pattern. To create a flat pattern stick your plastic pattern onto a piece of paper and trace around it. Don’t forget to add seam allowance! (I recommend 5/8 of an inch)

For a little bit more of an explanation for how to make the pattern, or how these pieces go together here are a couple diagrams for you to look at:

6. Sew the pieces together. You’re basically going to sew them into one big tube and then attach them to the boot. You want all pieces facing each other. When you attach these to the boot the face of the pieces should be in the inside (the part that you want showing). You’ll then fold the top part of the tube over the boot. Then glue down the ends and you’re done!

I should have taken more photos but here’s a couple helpful tips instead:
-Understitch your seams to the lining when working with a thick material, it will help the seams fold better.
-to use less leather you can cut the inner Lining in two and use a sturdy fabric at the 1.5 inch mark from the top
-Don’t forget to hem the bottoms and along the zipper
-If you don’t want to glue and sew the boot covers directly to the boots you can use a mix of snaps and elastic to attach them instead
-No need to fully finish seams, but I do recommend double top stitching where you want flat seams

And voila! Pirate boots!

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Pronouns : She/Her
(or the pronouns of the character I’m cosplaying)

Birthday : April 4

Residency : Denver, CO

Sewing Since : 2006
Cosplaying Since : 2014
Competing Since : 2024

I’m a cosplayer from Colorado. I only started doing cosplay competitions last year, but I’ve been sewing for almost 20 years and cosplaying for around 10. I meant to start competing about 7 years ago, but well, life got in the way of that one. So while I’m new to competing in cosplay I’m definitely not new to cosplay in general.

So far I’ve competed twice. My first competition was at Fort Collins Comic Con 2024 (a small local con in northern Colorado), where I won Best in Beginner and also Audience Favorite for my blue coat Stede Bonnet cosplay. I had an absolutely amazing time competing so I planned to compete again. The second competition I got to be a part of was Colorado Anime Fest 2025 where I competed at intermediate level and won Historical Acuity for my Hua Cheng cosplay. More competitions are planned, and I’m excited about this cosplay journey I’m going on.

I’m also an aerialist and a performer. When I get to combine both together I’m ecstatic!

That’s all for now!

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