Creating Lessie: Mistborn Era 2
Mistcoat
Similar to a Mistcloak, a Mistcoat is a duster that is shredded from the waist down.
For the Mistcoat, I used this pattern by Vogue, but altered it heavily.
For starters, I shredded the bottom half with several different kinds of woven fabrics ripped into shreds. I also left off the sleeves, and brought in the waist to help give a more fitted shape rather than the Kimono style from the pattern.
Then, I wanted to add a thin velvet trim, but of course, I was 2 inches too short. That lead me to do some applique on the corners of the coat to hide the gap in the trim. But I ended up loving those accents a lot!
Sewing the coat certainly took a long time. I think this was the most involved piece for my Mistborn Lessie cosplay.
Good to mention that this cosplay is not official. Lessie’s character is more obscure than, Vin so I just did what I wanted here!
Clothes
First, I started with a tan button up shirt I got at a clothing store. Why sew something when I can find almost the exact right thing for about $20? The materials would probably cost me double that plus all the time sewing.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to wear blue jeans or what at first, but I wanted this costume to be more colorful than Vin’s Mistborn outfit. Era Two is a more vivid version of Scadrial, so I wanted my costume to match.
After the Mistcoat was done, I settled on mustard yellow jeans. I thought they jived with the maroon Mistcoat nicely.
Gear
Every law keeper needs to be able to defend themselves whether that be from criminals running from the sheriff or from an over curious cactus.
I used something called a Training Revolver which is made of stiff rubber. It started out as a super loud lime green color!
I had fun painting this to make my fake prop revolver. I added faux-embossing with pieces of die cut paper covered with gunmetal grey paint colors to give it a more sophisticated and antique aesthetic.
Photoshoot
The horse’s name is Chili, he is about 9 years old. He was a barrel and cutting horse but had to retire from a bum knee. He’s happy and spunky.
I’m still tripping out over how special this was. I got to ride PLUS do a cosplay photoshoot. Two highlight events colliding like that was a phenomenal experience. Wow!
I want to thank and Sarah for being the horse handler who took great care of me and Mr. Chili.
This fine equine belongs to a friend of a friend, who graciously allowed us to borrow their pasture and their horse for the photoshoot.
Special thanks to Mr. Chili who was a great sport and a very hansom guy indeed. He earned his apple. I think he’d be down for another ride in the roughs.
Sewing
A couple special components for this Lessie Cosplay costume from the Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson is the vest. I wanted the fabric to be woven brocade with braided trim, and settled on a semi-Victorian inspired style.
I drafted the pattern for the vest from scratch, something I am very proud of. Because of this I tailored the cut and look exactly how I wanted! Hooray!
Secondly, I worked on a crossbody bag to serve as a satchel. I sewed a simple canvas bag and then tie-dyed it with tea to weather it and give the stained, worn look I wanted for this Lessie cowgirl cosplay costume.
Leatherworking
What a great opportunity to wear my Steel Alphabet belt again! I reused that from Vin’s Mistborn costume because it’s cool beans partner.
But this time I had a couple challenges. I had already spent my money on leather, not cowboy boots. Because of budget, I decided to try and make half chaps that would cover ankle boots I already owned. They took a very long time to fabricate, I think they turned out great, and the fringe takes the cake.
No cowgirl would be complete without a proper hat. I used the Indiana Hat pattern with the wide brim from DieselPunk.ro and made the hat myself. Fantastic pattern as always Tony.
I also make the straps and attached the hardware for my cross-body bag.
Last, I worked on basket stamping techniques and designed my own pattern for my leather holster for my prop revolver. Yeehaw!
Inspiration
Since Lessie is an important but rarely seen character, there isn’t a mountain of fan art that I could find of her specifically. However, I did see several examples from Mr. Ben McSweeney, so thank you for those Mistborn Era 2 references from the Alloy of Law and The Bands of Mourning. Cheers!
I’m not sure how many hours went into Lessie’s cosplay from the Alloy of Law. At least a hundred hours I know, over 3 months. That’s actually quite fast for me! Definitely helps to build on previous knowledge while pushing to try new crafting techniques. I did have excellent motivation to finish this costume before Dragonsteel 2022!