#merlin cosplay

[owldusk]

Merthur Cosplay

I did this cosplay with @humanshark in July 2020. (I recently figured out how Tumblr works). Today, it's the 24th of December. It's been 11 years since the last episode aired. So yeah, here are some cosplay pictures and a little GIF :)

[ikol-cosplay]

Physician's apprentice

📷: Winterman Photography

[kneelbeforeclefairy]

Happy mordredmas! Only the Merlin fandom picks the saddest episode to be our fandom day but that's the Merlin fans for you. Anyway enjoy @bestnoncannonship and my Merthur cosplays and experience the pain one more time.

[mvrlance]

visiting puzzlewood for bbc merlin anniversary

[thenerdysewist]

Making My Morgana Cosplay

I watched Merlin for the first time in 2015/2016, and was immediately obsessed with Morgana's Season 4 Coat.

At the time, I hadn't really gotten into sewing yet. I knew how to sew, but I'd only made one project bigger than a pair of pajama pants. But then the pandemic hit, and I was stuck inside with too much time on my hands. I rewatched Merlin (and have multiple times since 2020), and realized that I likely had the skills to make that coat so it became my pandemic project.

Materials:

My first concern was the materials. The coat is full length, with full sleeves and a train. That would require a lot of specialty (expensive) material, and I was pretty broke considering I had been laid off. Plus, new fabric is also pretty bad for the environment. So my goal was to thrift any and all material I could. I got lucky.

I found a king size comforter set at the thrift store for $10, and that meant I got both the specialty material and the lining in one

I found a lace skirt at a different thrift store for the sleeves of the under-dress, and a green prom dress to modify.

After much digging and swearing I found left over fabric from another cosplay to use as the green fabric in the hood and sleeves

A friend was moving and cleaning out her closet, meaning I was able to thrift the belt buckle from a belt she was going to donate

The only material I purchased new was the trim I used for the belt.

Process:

The first step was picking apart the comforter set. I probably could have just cut it open in order to render it into two flat pieces of usable material, but I knew the yardage would be a tight fit, so I used a seam ripper to separate the three layers of fabric from the layer of batting. (I think while I introduced a friend to Merlin).

I used a combination of patterns from my stash to get the pieces I needed. I used the hood from Simplicity 1771A, and the sleeves and skirt from Simplicity 8013. Looking back I likely could have used the bodice as well, but I felt the angle of the neckline was wrong, so I drafted my own bodice pattern using a t-shirt and the angle from the neckline of McCalls M7502.

I decided to make a mock up first. I only had the fabric from the comforter to set to work with, and there wasn't a lot. I didn't want to risk cutting into it, and then realizing it didn't fit. So I used an old white sheet to make the first draft.

Initially I thought the coat was a coat-dress, but noticed the detail that when Morgana walked, you could see the lining flash at the front. So I cut the bodice on the fold, and turned the skirt backwards. The front was meant to go on the fold and the back was two pieces to accommodate for a zipper. However, knowing I needed a train, I added a train to the front panel and made that the back, and then made the two back panels the front panels. I sewed them part of the way down to give it a skirt look, but left the bottom open so that the lining would flash when I walked. It ended up looking like this.

As you can tell from my face, I didn't like how it was laying. It didn't have the same shape as her coat, at which point I realized the front should be separate to make it close like a coat would, rather than a dress would. So I seam ripped the front skirt panels apart and cut the bodice front up the middle. I tried it back on and it looked like this:

(You can also tell by image quality that my old phone gave up the ghost and I had to get a new one, which had a much better camera)

I liked this a lot better, but there were still more adjustments I needed to make. I didn't like the angle of the neckline, and I felt like the train was too long. So I made those adjustments to the pattern, and made a second mock up out of a sheet set that my mom had cannibalized for her own sewing project.

With all the adjustments, the second mock up ended up looking like this.

I was now happy with the angle of the neckline and the length of the train, and felt ready to move onto working with the actual materials I bought.

I cut out all the pieces twice; once from the specialty material and once from the black backing material from the comforter set I used for the lining. I also cut additional lining for the hood and sleeves out of the green fabric since Morgana's coat has that contrast lining. I started by stitching the specialty fabric together.

Once that was done, I stitched all the lining pieces together. Then I pinned the specialty fabric to the lining with the hood in between the two layers so that it when I turned everything inside out, the hood would be on the outside.

I ended up not liking how the hood looked.

It came from too far back on the neckline. and that meant I had to pick apart the shoulder and neck seams and redo it. I redid this step probably four times because the fabric was thick, heavy, and slippery. It refused to stay in place, and I was constantly catching parts of the fabric I shouldn't.

Next was the sleeves. Which literally made me cry from frustration. Sleeves are my kryptonite at the best of times, but I was also working with fabric that was heavy, slippery, and thick, in a narrow arm hole. After several screaming matches with my sewing machine, and a stress and frustration induced break down, my mom ended up inserting the sleeves for me. (Thank you, Mom!)

Then I finally got to see the fully assembled garment and I was thrilled! It really looked like it was shaping up to look like Morgana's coat.

I completed the hem on both the lining and specialty material and the bulk of the garment was complete! But I still needed her belt, and I wanted to make have an under-dress since you can see a flash of the skirt under the coat while Morgana walks. For that, I just adjusted a prom dress that I found at the thriftstore. I shortened it, moved the skirt to be right under the bust, and added straps. I didn't think to get photos of that process since it was mostly pinning and cutting.

I did however, have to make my own lace sleeves for the dress since you can see lace sleeves under Morgana's coat. For this I traced the sleeve of a shirt I already owned.

Then I made a mock up which was way too tight. I added a little extra width, and made another mock up which fit. So then I was able to cut the sleeves out of the lace I removed from the skirt, and I stitched it into the armhole created by adding straps to the modified dress.

As you can see it wasn't the neatest job, but I didn't care since it was going to be covered by the coat anyway. If I wanted to submit this for a contest or anything, I'd probably go through the trouble of making her under-dress too, but this works.

All that was left was her belt. For that, I had ordered a precut YaYa Hahn pleather trim and that gave me the width of my belt. It also gave me the length since there was just enough there to wrap around my waist with some overlap. I cut a strip from the green fabric I used for the sleeves and hood, and black fabric for the belt lining since I was out of the green fabric.

Stitched those together, and flipped it right side out. I left one end open so I could insert two loops to attach the belt buckle to the belt. Then I pinned the trim to the belt and ironed it on. It was iron on trim so I didn't have to sew it.

I inserted the loops through the belt buckle, then tucked the ends into the belt and stitched it closed.

Reveal:

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I am jazzed by how this turned out. I think it looks so much like Morgana. I might need to fix the hem since the first time I wore it, twigs started getting caught in the hem, but that is an issue for future me. My issues are actually more with my makeup. I tried to learn contouring for this. I literally haven't worn makeup since 2019 and I only did basics then. So if anyone wants to let me know tips and tricks, my ask box is open. I also still don't know how for photos.

This project took well over a year to complete. Part of it was the amount of mock ups I did, but part of it was the process of tracking down materials. It took weeks for me to find the right green fabric and I actually bought multiple other fabrics that I returned because they weren't right for it. That it was in my own stash was such a relief while simultaneously the most annoying thing ever. The second snag was finding the belt buckle. I had to get one in the right dimensions to fit the trim for the belt, and apparently belt buckles are impossible to find in a size bigger than an inch. It was complete luck that my friend found something in her closet while she was moving. (If you have buckle resources, please hit me up. I need buckles for another project I'm working on now, and can't find buckles small enough.)

This is the biggest project I've done so far, and I am so proud of myself for it.

[verdraaidzaamheid]

My favourite picture of my Morgana cosplay.

[gaiussaidno]

i went to the renfaire as Merlin SPECIFICALLY to do this!! 2 nights of crafting crunch and i managed to pull his outfit together! might do a proper photoshoot later uwu

[thenerdyindividual]

I finished my Morgana cosplay

[dollopheadedmerlin]

It is the 10 year Merlin Finale Anniversary!! The only reason I haven't been cosplaying him is because I am INCREDIBLY picky with my Merlin cosplay, more than any other character I've worked on. And because of this, he has been unfinished (and still is) for years whilst I look for the perfect peices of his costume and try to find time and resources to make props. I almost didn't cosplay him this year because I still wasn't done, I'm using a placeholder jacket, I ordered the wrong fabric for the neckerchief, etc. But Merlin is about 98% of my personality and I knew I had to get into him for the 10 year, and honestly? I was super nervous I was gonna be bummed out by how it looked but cosplaying him for the first time in years just felt SO GOOD. And I've gotten a lot better at makeup since then and it all just turned out a lot better than I was expecting. Now I am super excited to get back to work on him and commission his jacket and find some space in my tiny little home to finish making excalibur, refurbish my Sidhe staff, and hopefully start making even more props from the show! I cannot describe how much this show means to me and how much it has influenced my life and my personality and even set me on a good path to learn more about the Arthurian legend, old pagan mythos and culture from England and Ireland, Wales, and Scotland! It truly is a huge part of my life and I ADORE engaging with it. Come talk to me about Merlin ANY TIME 💖

[uchihanitro]

Merlin cosplay by caroangulito (DeviantArt)

[queen-of-obsessing]

Cosplay (and also face) reveal! This year for Comic-Con 2023 I got to wear the famous blue and red garb of none other than Merlin Emrys! All the pieces were sourced from second-hand closets within my home country of Canada. @steve-needs-a-hug and I traipsed all over the city putting this together, and I’m very proud of how it turned out and that I got the chance to wear such an iconic outfit (even if no one recognized me - curse of being in a niche fandom). 

Soppy monologue under the cut lol 

Out of all the fandoms I’ve been in, outfits I’ve put together, this is the one that has meant the most to me. Following this show in the last three to seven months has been a journey and a half! I’ve laughed, cried (like...really cried), overanalyzed things way too fucking much, and I’ve met some of the nicest people in this fandom. I never thought that I would be in a fanbase that felt so cozy, or that my silly one-shot ideas would get as much love as they had (800 notes?? is batshit insane). It’s been wild.

But more importantly, this character off Merlin has been one of my favourite characters. Ever. He is so wonderfully imperfect. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of fun I’ve had plotting with him and watching the show, following his downward spiral. I’VE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM HIM. He is a hero, but not your typical hero. Kind. Complex. Tragic. Passionate. I love him so much. 

Anyway. That’s my blurb. You’re all the best. Merlin’s the best (even though he also sucks at times - see 5x05). But yeah. What a journey, I can’t wait to don the outfit again in August for Toronto’s con. 

[ikol-cosplay]

When it rains you cosplay the behind the scenes pics

📷: @wanderingtrickster

[gwaine-lover]

Cosplayer merlino.wyllt on the Instagram

He's part of Merlin Italian Cosplay & GdR Community - post about them here

[1shadowhole]

Yo are any Merlin fans gonna be at Lucca Comics tomorrow and the day after?

[irishyuri]

irish yaoi cooldown sketch <3

[supertroutfish]

In a land of myth, and a time of magic... 🏰🐉🗡️📜🔮