Echo from Pandora Hearts Cosplay Breakdown

 Echo from Pandora Hearts

Echo was definitely not the type of character I'm used to cosplaying. Her personality is way more passive and quiet then I am used to. Nevertheless I was still for some reason drawn to her. I liked the transition from quiet/passive to ultra bad ass in an instant. After watching Pandora Hearts for the first time I really fell in love with the series. Originally I had felt like making this would be pretty strait forward, however it proved to be much more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated.

The first issue I ran into was the fact that Echo, like many anime characters, suffers from "Anime Proportions." You all probably know what I'm talking about here. In this case Echo has these freakishly long legs, while still being one of the shortest characters. This would be an issue for me considering I'm 5'8" and a full grown adult >.<

But by adjusting the pattern a bit I was able to make it some what proportioned to my body. Granted it meant making a shorter skirt than I'm comfortable wearing. Luckily I had some shorts to wear underneath..

The pattern was hand drafted, and I started off with the blue dress as a base. I wanted to have the white center peice actually connect the dress in the front, but later I decided that might be a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, so I "faked it" so to speak.

 

 That is an example of the dress base. This is a later picture when I added the buttons on it, becasue I didn't get a picture of it initially. 

After making the dress, I decided to move on to the sleeves next since I needed the dress done to fit them properly.

Originally I got super excited about this cosplay simply for the fact that I didn't have to attach the sleeve to anything SINCE I HATE DOING THAT. But really these turned out to me just as big of a pain. Three failed pattern attempts later, I had things going.

 I marked my designs on it first using sewing chalk

On top of the strange design, this sleeve posed another issue for me.

Bias....

I decided the best way to achieve the look in the ref pictures was to use bias. I'm not use to sewing it with such detail, so it took me a while. I suppose the extra time paid off though, because the designs on the sleeve didn't turn out NEAR as bad as I thought it would.

My dog looks so enthusiastic..

After finishing the bottom I added a cuff at the top and Ta-Duh! My weird unattached sleeve was finished!

I made a second sleeve and then moved on to the front white piece.

I drafted the pattern and double the fabric so it would be nice and sturdy. After that I got to try the automatic button hole maker on my new sewing machine.

I got way too excited about this..

GAHHH I love that feature!! The old sewing machine I was using didn't have this and I had to do it by hand. I can't imagine ever doing one now without this! I made 8 button holes in a flash, and it couldn't have been easier.

Double checking to see if it looked right..

And there.. After that things were starting to come together. I marked where I wanted the button to go on the blue dress underneath. But before I could put the buttons on I had to solve a small issue. 

I needed the right color buttons.

In the ref pictures, they are a really nice periwinkle color (that was my favorite color as a child :3) the problem was in my local fabric stores, this color button only came with 2 in packs of 8, and I wasn't about to buy 5 packs of buttons just to get 2 of the colors I needed. I probably would have been able to buy them online somehwere, but I was short in time so I improvised..

So I decided to hand paint all of them!

I used acrylic paint to achieve the exact color I wanted. However the paint I used created some what of a powered matte finish on the buttons, and I knew it would come off with the slightest scratch. To solve this issue, I used a good old clear coat to make it shine and protect the paint.

The result was awesome! They ended up looking like I bought them that way.

After that the buttons were attached to the blue dress as illustrated earlier, and they seemed to line up OK!

The tie was also made during that time, which you can see in the photo. I just used some left over black satin and ribbon bias to make it. It attaches in the front with velcro :)

From here on it was crunch time, and I didn't get as many pictures. For the dress shirt underneath I found a mens dress shirt from the thrift store and added my own sleeves to it. I made hand pressed ruffles for it that would stick out of the blue sleeves. After that I put the finishing touches on it by adding the covered buttons near the armpit area and attaching ribbon to them, which ran through previously made loops on the detachable sleeves to the back where the bows were. 

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about.

While it looks like in the ref pics that the sleeve is held on entirely by that button loop system, I was worried it may not hold or sit properly so I sewed the sleeve to the top of the armpits on the blues dress just in case. As a result it was much more secured, and I was still able to move just fine in it.

 Test run!

After that things were pretty much done besides the stockings. I threw those together real fast and basically made them boot covers to go over my shoes. for this costume I styled my first wig as well. I used a Jaguar in Silver from Arda wigs, which can be used for another costume as well. My contacts were grey, and purchased from Pinky. I want to start getting in the habit of reviewing lenses as I buy them so look for that soon.

Photo by Daniel Ramirez. Do not use or alter without consent.

After all that here is the final result! 

I'm excited to report I won my first craftsmanship award with this costume at
Nebraskon 2012!

Guess all that work paid off :) This actually ended up being a pretty fun costume to make! I was very happy to see it come together and even more excited to win an award for it. I'm planning on wearing this again soon and hope to maybe get some pictures with other Pandora Hearts Cosplayers. I haven't seen many around my local conventions, however I did see another Echo cosplayer at Nebraskon which was neat :D

Anyways sorry for the somewhat abrupt end to this write up. The holidays are already keeping me really busy so finding time to update stuff is beginning to get difficult. But I'm looking forward to next year with new con's and new costumes :) 

See you soon!

-QK