plushiluv

Pikachu cape walkthrough

Added 2022-04-14 14:49:57 +0000 UTC

Patterning outfits can be intimidating, but with the tape method it's actually not that hard! Here's a walkthrough that shows how I made this life size Pikashu's Snom cape.

I started by wrapping the plush in plastic wrap to keep it safe from the tape and marker I'll be using.

Next I covered the plush with tape. I used masking tape and I did my best to follow the shape of the plush as closely as possible. For symmetrical outfit you can get away with only taping half the plush.

I wasn't happy with the shape of the hood, so I added extra padding with paper towels to get the shape I wanted. I then re-wrapped the head, using a plasic bag this time, and re-covered the head with tape.

Once I was happy with the shape of the hood I drew the lines and seams for the cape. I made sure to label each seam so they would be easy to recognize later. I also loosely placed some dart lines.

Once everything was drawn on I very carefully cut the tape shell off of Pikachu. I also removed as much of the excess plastic wrap as possible.

For the pattern pieces to work they need to lay flat. I added several darts to the pieces until they could lay flat on my table.

I traced the tape pattern onto paper, cleaned it up and labeled all the pieces.

Next I made a test version of the cape to make sure everything was ok. I wasn't a fan of how floppy the hood was so I decided to stuff the front part to give it more structure.

Then it was onto the final cape! There were SO many pieces. Because I didn't want to sew the spikes by hand I incorporated them into the cape pattern. The best way to handle spikes is to split them in half, sew the base to the cape, then sew the spike's center seam.

To finish off the spikes I sewed a stay, an internal piece of fabric that closed up the base of the spikes, so I could stuff them and not worry about the stuffing spilling out of the spikes and into the base cape.

The rest of the cape is assembled and Pikachu is all set with his new outfit!

I really love using this method, it's SUCH a time saver especially for complicated outfits. I've also used it to pattern really complex plush shapes like Spyro's head.