This particular costume was a test of patience and careful planning. Because I opted to make her so early in her release, I had few references to work with. I made everything from scratch, minus my hat and boots (both were heavily altered pieces). My fabrics were light cotton shirting, suede, faux leather, and suiting. The patchwork was done with an embroidery machine. The vest took about three mock ups before I settled on a final pattern I liked. To pay tribute to her introduction in her animated short and her map in the game, I lined the vest in a Route 66 fabric for something fun. All of the bias tape and trims are custom made by me as I found no pre-made gold or black to match the overall look.

The armor pieces were constructed from craft foam, using an x-acto blade and a dremel. My boyfriend was kind enough to pull her model from the game and from that, I was able to create a pattern for her armor.The same went for her belt buckle, glove and forearm armor as well. The belting on her waist is one of my favorite pieces as I had to get very creative with the “bombs” she carried. They are actually created from piping used in plumbing from Home Depot. I sanded down the smooth plastic and then primed and painted them, adding foam pieces for detail. To hold them onto the faux leather belt, I actually used extra wide elastic that made them easily removable for travel.

One of my favorite techniques that I got to learn more about was 3D printing. My gun prop and the pin on my hat were 3D printed from files pulled from the game done by a friend with a printer. I taught myself how to finish the print pieces properly to make it look as smooth as possible. This required a lot of priming and sanding and a lot of patience. But the end result made me feel so proud that I was able to assemble and properly finish my prop .