COSPLAY BY MCCALL’S Ala Glow Pattern Review

This pattern, like many of the newer patterns comes in glossy paper envelope and lacks tips and tricks relevant to this cosplay.

 

This pattern is a relief if you’re looking for something simple without too many steps or trips to the fabric store. Following the pattern alone, you’ll want four way stretch fabrics in either mesh, tulle, Organza, or other sheer fabrics. You’ll also want Galvanized Wire, Epoxy Putty, and Wire Cutters. The stockings and hat, to me, are afterthoughts and I don’t see myself making them. The wings, however, are great as is for many cosplays but also serve as a nice starting point for other wing designs. While I don’t think these will hold up to help you create the skeleton for large wings like you’d find on Sailor Moon, just going through the steps will help anyone unfamiliar with constructing wings become more comfortable.

 

The instructions are six pages long and the envelop contains 11 pieces. Everything in this pattern is easy to make although the wings may take a little bit for new cosplayers. Given this, I’m going to focus on the wings for the remainder of this review. The wings have 15 steps, all of which you should review and think about before attempting. I think it is important to sit and think for a moment before jumping into a new pattern concept because mistakes suck and so does panicking and searching YouTube for tutorials.

 

Making the wings will involve discipline – you’ll need to get comfortable with using wire cutters and following guides to figure out where the wires will go, when to trim the wires, when to tape them, and so on. Newbies will likely get frustrated depending on the thickness of the wire they’ve chosen if not working with 14 or 16 gauge wire as suggested in the pattern. This will be a learning experience so I’d go as far as suggesting that new people practice working with the wire first, creating the hairpin curves in advance. The instructions also include two methods for applying the internal wires which is something to appreciate. McCall’s did not need to include two methods – they could have left us to our frustrations.

 

I’m a hands-on learner and don’t learn well from just reading or just watching videos. Having a pattern that maps out how to create wings will be useful for anyone wanting to dabble into that arena. Knowing how to make smaller, delicate wings lays the groundwork for putting together your own wing designs.