Magi Cosplay Tutorial: Yamuraiha's Hat
Alright, instead of being a responsible adult, I'm going to show you how I made Yamuraiha's hat for about $3! Also, because typing her name out is murder on my hands, she will be known as Yamu from now on.
I don't know why I decided to cosplay her, especially since someone I know already does her, but hey, whatever, right? She's a really admirable character and I can't wait do finish her up! I wont be making the staff though since I have waaaaay too many props and I don't need any more. Really, I don't.
Let's get started!
Step 1: Materials
You will need:
- 1 witch hat
- Hot/cold glue gun (depending on how amazing you are)
- Floral Wire ($1 at Dollar Tree)
- Sewing needle
- Black thread (or whatever color you need for the hat)
- Black Hair Band thingie ($1 at the Dollar Store - or less at discount stores)
The hat I picked up today at a thrift store for $0.60, and the wire was only $1. If your Dollar Tree or other Dollar Store doesn't have floral wire, you can get bags of 10 2 ft lengths of floral wire at Joanns for like $2 which is a really good deal. I'm not sure how much the sewing needles are, but I got them for free from a relative.
I am in no way good at making hats, so I highly suggest just getting one at your local thrift store. Otherwise you'll spend $5 on a yard of Unicorn Buckram and heck-knows-how-much on the black material, and then you have to worry about getting the right kind and all that.
The one I have is made from a polyester. It flopped over and the cone would not stay up! So, being the cosplayer I am, I said, "I can fix that!" and fix it I did. And that's mainly what this tutorial is about. Making it stand up properly.
Step 2: Use some wire
So now what you're going to do is flip your hat inside out.
Find the stitch along the backside where the two sides of the cone were sewn together.
Take your wire (Oh yeah, you'll need something to cut it with) and measure the length of that stitch and take off an inch so the wire doesn't poke through the top and create a hole when you wear it.
Thread your needle
Put the wire along that stitch. I wish I could tell you the name of the stitch I used, but I made it up. I'm sure its a real stitch but I don't know what its called.
Basically, I used a slip stitch twice on top of each other every inch or so, and then pulled the needle through each thread that layed over the wire to create what looked like an X on the wire. This secures it in place. Continually tug at it a bit so you know it'll stay.
Extra points: Every 4 inches put a blob of hot glue there, but don't use the glue to glue the whole thing down or you'll ruin the hat and it'll look stupid.
I hope you can see that I made little X's over the wire. Remember the wire goes along the back so any fugliness stays in the back where the camera wont see.
After you do that, you'll notice your hat still wont stay up straight. That's fine.
Because when you put it on, that's when it will be up straight. By using the wire you can bend it to look like Yamu's hat. Surprisingly there's very few reference pictures for this! Basically it looks like a ratterrier ear where it stands up straight and then flops back at the point. You can also look at Aladdin's Season 2 hat. It's basically the same thing. Actually, if you're cosplaying Aladdin Season 2 then you can just use this method to make yourself a hat~
If any wires are sticking out, use the hot glue gun to put a dab on the ends to keep them down.
Turn your hat right side out.
Step 3: Add the Headband thingie
Now that the wire is in, put it on your head. Granted that it stays up, how does it fit? Is it snug? Is it loose? Now, Headbang. I do this with all my head gear (wigs, hats, etc) to make sure I can do ANYTHING I want without having to worry about much more than smoothing out my hair. If it stays on your head pretty well, you can skip this step. If it moves around and you don't like it moving around so much, this is where you need the headband.
Basically just sew it on with a bunch of slip stitches. Tug on it occasionally so you know it wont come off.
Here you can see my headband is firmly attached to my hat's brim. I sewed it onto the stitch that keeps the brim and cone-shape together.
Next, try it on and fix it til you like it! Bend the wire til you get the desired shape! Then, you're done!
I'm really bad at taking photos, but this is me wearing it. the end is curved back like Yamu's. Because the headband is black like the hat you can't see it! I also put it in at an angle which keeps it in place even more.
As a further option, you can put another wire along the front in step 2, but I think this takes away from the natural look of Yamu's hat. I wanted it to look like it had a mind of its own.
Hopefully this was a simple thing to do for you! It took me about 20 minutes to do, so hopefully this tutorial will help you do it in even less time! :)
Disclaimer: Image does not belong to me
