Minene Uryuu- DIY Tights

So I've been trying to get the outfit for Ninth over and done with, and the last thing that I needed to do was to either purchase or make the socks/tights shown below.

In what is probably still my favorite picture, because isn't kicking Yuno fun? Not like she doesn't deserve it...

After countless internet searches for thigh high striped socks in this color scheme, I finally gave up and decided to go all DIY on some tights.  So I ordered THESE off of Amazon, and they fit well.  Then came the fun part - how the hell to get those horizontal lines nice, clean, and even.

First I made a template out of a cereal box, because drawing straight lines free-hand is just a no no in any case.  

In a fit of sheer brilliance, I tried to paint one of the lines while I was actually wearing the tights, reasoning that who better to act as a dummy than myself!  Well.  Unless you are insanely flexible and inhumanly accurate at painting straight lines on a curved surface (even with a template taped to your leg), this is just a terrible idea.  

I feel like she could have done it.

So then I did what I should have done in the first place and made a cardboard "leg" to stick in the tights.  Then I just used acrylic paint to go over the template, making sure that I measured evenly between each of the lines.

Just so.

 The template was pinned in place with paper clips, and several layers of paint were needed to make sure that it showed up on the fabric (since it kept soaking through onto the cardboard underneath - or in that one case, onto my leg).  After the paint dried completely, I covered it with a couple of coats of clear nail polish to keep it from cracking.

Everything went better than expected.  Except now I have to do it all again >_< 

This is definitely a time consuming process, but I felt like the results turned out pretty nicely.  And for those of you who count nine stripes on Minene's tights where mine only have eight, I may have made a counting error.  And for the rest of you, pretend I never said that.

~Kathryn

Posted in: animazement,cosplay,DIY tights,Kathryn,Minene Uryuu,Mirai Nikki,Ninth,striped tights,Tutorial