Last minute Halloween costume - Kakashi / ninja mask pattern

So you may or may not remember that I used to make a not insignificant amount of money selling Naruto cosplay costumes on Ebay. I gratefully gave it up when I got the online job last year, and while I haven't returned to that job, I have absolutely no desire to go back to the sewing mines either. Because of that, I've been meaning to post my patterns for a while for the benefit of any cosplayers who want to make their own Kakashi costume, starting with the mask (which also makes a good generic ninja mask). I had meant to post this earlier than the day before Halloween, but I had a sick kid this week instead. And hey, tomorrow's Saturday and you'll have all day to sew before the evening. This mask shouldn't take even a novice sewist more than an hour. And cosplay is a yearlong hobby, so hopefully if you're preparing for a con this can help you as well.

A note before starting: at some point I may work up a good tutorial with pretty pictures and everything, but right now, I have a sick kid and a young baby and if I waited until I had time, you'll have to wait until they're in junior high. So instead, I'm going to assume you know the basics of sewing and am going to just give basic text instructions. Really, it isn't hard at all.

You will need:

-Black or dark blue stretchy fabric. Joann Fabrics has a nice rib knit with a bit of lycra to give it a nice stretch without getting misshapen, but anything that lets you breathe through it will do. I would get half a yard to have enough for making mistakes.

-Something that lets you mark on dark fabric, such as a white pencil, or my personal favorite, this white marking pen with ink that disappears after a while. Or failing that, a gel pen with bright, sparkly ink will often show up well enough.

-six inches hook and loop tape (aka Velcro). Velcro makes an iron-on velcro that works really well and will save you tons of time. It's a bit spendy, but since you only need six inches or so, you can get a small pack and not spend much.

Here's the basic pattern marked with instructions (click for full size):



However, it needs to be 10 x 9, which is too big for one piece of paper, so here's the version that prints on two pieces of paper, to cut out and tape together:



This mask generally fits about a range of 12-16 inch neck. If you suspect your neck is larger or smaller than average, adjust the width of the cloth accordingly.

1. Cut a piece of cloth 10 inches tall by 18 inches wide, and fold in half to make a 10 x 9 inch piece.
2. Lay the pattern on top of the cloth and trace it.
3. Sew along the lines for the nose and the chin. Trim along the sewn lines.
4. Cut along the two other lines.
5. Fold over the raw edges with about a half inch seam allowance and sew.
6. Cut the velcro in half so you have two three inch pieces of hook and two three inch pieces of loop. Attach to the back of the neck - one set on the outside (I recommend the scratchy side, so you don't have it scratching your neck) and one on the inside of the other side.

When you're done, it should look like this:



And you're done!

I hope these directions make a bit of sense. Really, it's not any more complicated than cut out and hem. Happy cosplaying!