Thursday, March 17, 2011

Foam Pouch Template

I was a little pissed when I couldn't find an affordable white pouch for my Idamaria cosplay in the stores . And with the time ticking by, I was left with no choice but to make one.

JIM_2028 copy

And with my past experience in making pouches, I must say they are a b*tch to handle. But I managed to 'invent' a simple method of pouch making with foam. Yes, foam.

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Obviously, this kind of pouches are only suitable for certain characters. So use your own judgment =)

Materials you need:

  1. At least B3 sized foam in the colour of your choice
  2. Scissor / Penknife
  3. Sewing equipment ( sewing machine, needle etc)
  4. Pencil
  5. Ruler

Step 1.
Start by measuring and calculating the size of your pouch. Resize the template as required. One very important factor in cosplay that many overlook, is making sure your props and accessories are proportionate to the wearer. So take note that what might look suitable on me might be too big for you etc.

Step 2.
Draft the template out on your foam according to your own measurements.

TCC_Pouch template_Final
 Step 3.
Cut the foam along the red solid lines.

Step 4.
Sew along the green and magenta dashed lines. The green dashed lines will be sewed together with the green dashed lines. While the magenta dashed lines will be sewed together with the magenta dashed lines.

Leave the orange dashed lines alone, they appear only as a visual guideline of where to fold. If you need belt holes, then slit the foam along the two red slit lines.

Step 5.
Attach velcro (I used superglue) or your preferred fastener/hooks to the pouch cover and you're done!

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As you can tell, using foam eliminates the trouble of having to interlock the edges and gives a nice smooth plasticy effect.

A gentle warning; it might be good to avoid storing heavy objects and suspend the pouch on the slits. Even though the pouch itself is resilient enough, dangling the weight through the slits can tear the foam above the slits.

AFAX2010_WIP 045
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, remember to comment!

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