When I made the Harley costume I had very little (as in almost nil) grasp of sewing. I only knew the most basic of basic sewing concepts, so I took shortcuts wherever I could. So while I do plan on improving the costume with my newly increased skill set, I'll walk you through the first iteration of the costume from the ground up.
Boots:
In the game, Harley wore wedge heels. I had to compromise quite a bit here as I couldn't find anything close (and affordable!) to looking right. I decided any thigh high boots would work and chose the Jessica-8 style of De Blossom boots. Bought them in dark brown and painted one red and one black. I used spray paint but have since learned that Meltonian Nu-Life Color Spray is an infinitely better choice. It can be a little pricy but it's flexible and doesn't chip off like spray paint.
Pants:
For the pants I just bought two pairs of leggings, one black and one red, cut them each in half down the crotch line and then sewed one half of each together. The waist was a little too high but I just rolled it over a couple times and tacked it with a couple stitches. As it's hidden by the belt it didn't matter too much what it looked like.
Belt:
I found a workable belt at Walmart for $8. At the time that style was pretty popular so the belt was hands down the easiest part! For the chain on her belt, I had some chain laying around from an old lamp that I sprayed with chrome spray paint and attached to the belt with small split rings. I also later added a small hook in the back of the belt for hanging con badges to keep them out of photos.
Shirt:
Similar to the pants, I just bought a red and a black t shirt and sewed them together. I did have to alter the sleeves and neckline, but jersey knit cotton is very forgiving even when you don't really know what you're doing.
Gloves:
The long gloves are actually two separate parts- a long sleeve and a small fingerless glove that just coveres my hand up to my wrist. I used the second leg of the leggings for each sleeve; I just altered it to fit my arm and added elastic to the top to hold it into place. The glove itself was a little tricky, but again, knit jersey is forgiving. Basically I traced my hand and made a sort of rectangle shape where the fingers go and then sewed lines between where each finger would go. Since it was knit material, there was no need to hem the ends of the fingerholes or the wrist. Again, I used scrap material left over from the pants. For the diamond pattern on the back of the gloves and on the pants, I just bought an iron-on patch in black and white. I painted the white patch red and then cut out the diamond shapes from each and ironed them onto the pants and gloves.
Choker/bracers:
I made the choker out of a thin belt I had laying around. I just cut it down and punched new holes to fit around my neck. There were plenty of suitable bracers available that I could have purchased, but I have TINY wrists and ended up having to make some that fit. I used another old belt (you may be getting the impression that I never throw anything away and you'd be right!) that I cut into strips, added studs that I ordered from eBay and then put grommets in each end. They just tie on to my wrists.
Corset:
Obviously the corset was the hardest part. There was lots of cussing, bleeding, and drinking involved, and I made three of them before I got it right. But remember- I had no idea how to sew at the time. If I could pull it off so can you! :)
To start I did a lot of reading and watching YouTube videos. I really don't remember the exact site I ended up referring to, but if you google "underbust corset drafting" you'll get a decent amound of ideas. It's really not as hard as it seems. Once I finally managed to construct the corset, I looked at lots of screenshots from the game to make the straps look right. Since I was using fairly thick vinyl pleather, I didn't worry about putting in proper boning, but I did cut up a detergent bottle and use the plastic to stiffen up the corset. I duct-taped it into the inside. It's not pretty at all on the inside and I'm not even lying! But it worked and the outside looks good. I do intend to make a better one someday but for now it looks fine. For the black straps on the body of the corset I used the remainder of the belt that I cut up for the choker.
Tattoos:
Harley has two tattoos: an armband and one on her hip. I was able to find a decent pic of the armband online but I had to mostly guess at the one on her hip since it's not completely shown. I then drew it out and scanned it into my computer. I printed the tattoos onto waterslide decal transfer paper. WARNING: This paper is NOT actually intended for tattoos and DOES NOT COME OFF EASILY!!!! It usually takes me about an hour of scraping and rubbing with Goo Gone and various lotions to remove it. Also it produces a fairly shiny tattoo which I don't really like, but I've tried a couple other papers and haven't had good results. If anyone knows of good tattoo paper, PLEASE let me know!! These tattoos also leave my skin red after they've been removed. It's doesn't hurt but there is a definite redness and slight raised area. Probably not good but hey. What's a good costume without a little suffering??
Hair/makeup:
The hair was easy. I'm already blonde so all I had to do was get cheap color hairspray from Party City to spray the ends of my pigtails. Be warned though; the red does NOT wash out easily. It says on the can "not for use on blonde hair" and they weren't lying.
For the makeup I used a very light porcelain base dusted over with baby powder. In this particular incarnation Harley's face isn't pure white but rather very very pale. I use black face paint around the eyes (lately I've been using Tulip Body Art and I'm impressed with the quality.) and add false eyelashes and red lipstick.
Add a bat and you're good to go! As a precaution, I'd recommend a plastic bat. I had an aluminum bat forever but last year at a con I was told a metal bat was a weapon. I carry a plastic one now.
I know this isn't terribly useful but I hope it at least answers a few questions. And if it doesn't, ask away! Also, let me know if there's any other costumes that you want the construction details on. I'll try to be better in the future about documenting progress. :)
Here's a full body shot by Neither Noir. I love those guys!
Corset:
Obviously the corset was the hardest part. There was lots of cussing, bleeding, and drinking involved, and I made three of them before I got it right. But remember- I had no idea how to sew at the time. If I could pull it off so can you! :)
To start I did a lot of reading and watching YouTube videos. I really don't remember the exact site I ended up referring to, but if you google "underbust corset drafting" you'll get a decent amound of ideas. It's really not as hard as it seems. Once I finally managed to construct the corset, I looked at lots of screenshots from the game to make the straps look right. Since I was using fairly thick vinyl pleather, I didn't worry about putting in proper boning, but I did cut up a detergent bottle and use the plastic to stiffen up the corset. I duct-taped it into the inside. It's not pretty at all on the inside and I'm not even lying! But it worked and the outside looks good. I do intend to make a better one someday but for now it looks fine. For the black straps on the body of the corset I used the remainder of the belt that I cut up for the choker.
Tattoos:
Harley has two tattoos: an armband and one on her hip. I was able to find a decent pic of the armband online but I had to mostly guess at the one on her hip since it's not completely shown. I then drew it out and scanned it into my computer. I printed the tattoos onto waterslide decal transfer paper. WARNING: This paper is NOT actually intended for tattoos and DOES NOT COME OFF EASILY!!!! It usually takes me about an hour of scraping and rubbing with Goo Gone and various lotions to remove it. Also it produces a fairly shiny tattoo which I don't really like, but I've tried a couple other papers and haven't had good results. If anyone knows of good tattoo paper, PLEASE let me know!! These tattoos also leave my skin red after they've been removed. It's doesn't hurt but there is a definite redness and slight raised area. Probably not good but hey. What's a good costume without a little suffering??
Hair/makeup:
The hair was easy. I'm already blonde so all I had to do was get cheap color hairspray from Party City to spray the ends of my pigtails. Be warned though; the red does NOT wash out easily. It says on the can "not for use on blonde hair" and they weren't lying.
For the makeup I used a very light porcelain base dusted over with baby powder. In this particular incarnation Harley's face isn't pure white but rather very very pale. I use black face paint around the eyes (lately I've been using Tulip Body Art and I'm impressed with the quality.) and add false eyelashes and red lipstick.
Add a bat and you're good to go! As a precaution, I'd recommend a plastic bat. I had an aluminum bat forever but last year at a con I was told a metal bat was a weapon. I carry a plastic one now.
I know this isn't terribly useful but I hope it at least answers a few questions. And if it doesn't, ask away! Also, let me know if there's any other costumes that you want the construction details on. I'll try to be better in the future about documenting progress. :)
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