Katawa Shoujo Forums

A few people I've talked to were interested in a cosplay reference sheet for the girls' school uniform, so I drew one up to the best of my knowledge. I'll draw up specific details for each of the heroines later.

Please let me know if I got something wrong in the picture!
*Note: Not every single seam on the blouse is drawn; only the major ones are shown.



A lot of the data was gathered from studying the in-game art, the newer character sheets, and asking two of the artists for the game (a big Thank You for answering my questions so patiently!). The general consensus was that the in-game sprites are more 'official' than the game CGs. I then applied whatever sewing knowledge I have about basic blouse construction to make the seams and closure realistic.

Shizune and Hanako's pleats seem to alternate between box pleats and knife plates in different game sprites and CG. I will try to ask around for more clarification on this issue later.

Some basic construction suggestions:

- Use a blouse pattern that has the characteristic front seams.
- Use cotton sateen for the blouse and line it to prevent it from being too sheer.
- Use a bottomweight fabric for the skirt, like twill or poplin. 100% cotton fabrics will hold pleats exceptionally well and feel softer. 65%/35% cotton-polyester fabrics will wrinkle less and flare out a little more.
- The skirt should be made with a zipper or button closure instead of pull-on with an elasticated waist so that there's no unsightly bulging.

I hope this helps aspiring Katawa Shoujo cosplayers out there.

I love shit like this.

Good job.

Looks like you've put quite a bit of thought into this o.O

Do you plan on cosplaying as any character from KS by any chance?

Yay! Thanks for making this! Printing will be way less taxing on folks' printers than a bunch of screenshots
About those seams on the sleeves, though... I can't really see them in the pictures and they seem a bit strange. It feels like they should be lower, where the puff would connect to the thinner, straight part of the sleeve.

ZeratulsDownfall wrote:Do you plan on cosplaying as any character from KS by any chance?

Yes, I am planning a group cosplay with a few friends. We're going to have a Kenji (completely unrelated to the above ref sheet ) in the group at the very least. Thank gods that the newest Harry Potter movie is coming out in July; it should put out more of those scarves and glasses in the market at least.

Lon wrote:About those seams on the sleeves, though... I can't really see them in the pictures and they seem a bit strange. It feels like they should be lower, where the puff would connect to the thinner, straight part of the sleeve.

Thanks for pointing it out. Yeah, I noticed that error, too, earlier today and I'll be replacing the above reference sheet with the correction as soon as I get my tablet going.
Those seams lines were really prominent in the original concept sketch and earlier character planning sheets, which have been stuck in my mind since 2007, so that's probably why I accidentally drew them on. ^^;;

Could you please make a reference sheet for the boy's version of the uniform?
I have a convention coming up and wouldn't mind doing the blazer and pants. Shirts and a black tie I have, and I might write a big sight saying "Hi, I'm Hisao and I have a very serious heart condition."

Nachoman wrote:Could you please make a reference sheet for the boy's version of the uniform?
I have a convention coming up and wouldn't mind doing the blazer and pants. Shirts and a black tie I have, and I might write a big sight saying "Hi, I'm Hisao and I have a very serious heart condition."

Or put on a scarf and glasses and ROW ROW, FIGHT THE CONSPIRACY~.

Nachoman wrote:Could you please make a reference sheet for the boy's version of the uniform?
I have a convention coming up and wouldn't mind doing the blazer and pants. Shirts and a black tie I have, and I might write a big sight saying "Hi, I'm Hisao and I have a very serious heart condition."

Yes, I can, in a little bit.
However I'd recommend just buying a regular green suit set (or blazer + pants) from your local thrift/secondhand store like Goodwill, since it should be pretty easy to score them for under $20 combined. It'll cost a whole lot less time and money than making your own from scratch. Plus it's guaranteed to fit well and look robust. Buy a packet of white bias tape from your fabric/craft store and apply that on the edges of the blazer collar and you're done.

I don't think Hisao wears the blazer much in the game; he's usually seen with just the white dress shirt, an undershirt, tie, and pants. Kenji is the one who religiously wear every part of the uniform and cosplay Harry Potter simultaneously.

If you're going as Hisao, just pretend to have a heart attack when you pose for photos.

Atashi wrote:Yes, I can, in a little bit.
However I'd recommend just buying a regular green suit set (or blazer + pants) from your local thrift/secondhand store like Goodwill, since it should be pretty easy to score them for under $20 combined. It'll cost a whole lot less time and money than making your own from scratch. Plus it's guaranteed to fit well and look robust. Buy a packet of white bias tape from your fabric/craft store and apply that on the edges of the blazer collar and you're done.

I don't think Hisao wears the blazer much in the game; he's usually seen with just the white dress shirt, an undershirt, tie, and pants. Kenji is the one who religiously wear every part of the uniform and cosplay Harry Potter simultaneously.

If you're going as Hisao, just pretend to have a heart attack when you pose for photos.

Thing is, I have a bunch of cotton gabardine laying around, and I bought it to make myself some field trousers and a vest. This game is a bit of a godsend to me, as I could modify things just enough to make a very good cosplay, then be able to retool the clothing back into my original plans.
I could even make myself a white cane, shave my head, get some dark glasses and go as a generic near-blind student.

Just out of curiosity, do the skirts for the Yamaku uniform have pockets? Not sure if that would be something you add yourself, or if they actually should have them.

Nachoman wrote:Could you please make a reference sheet for the boy's version of the uniform?
I have a convention coming up and wouldn't mind doing the blazer and pants. Shirts and a black tie I have, and I might write a big sight saying "Hi, I'm Hisao and I have a very serious heart condition."

How about this, "Hi, I'm Hisao and .... HNNNNGGGGG!" and drop to the floor like a pole-axed steer.

Nachoman wrote:Thing is, I have a bunch of cotton gabardine laying around, and I bought it to make myself some field trousers and a vest. This game is a bit of a godsend to me, as I could modify things just enough to make a very good cosplay, then be able to retool the clothing back into my original plans.
I could even make myself a white cane, shave my head, get some dark glasses and go as a generic near-blind student.

In that case, I would recommend just buying a pattern for a standard blazer. I just did a quick search for a men's blazer pattern in Simplicity, McCall, and Butterick's catalogs and I didn't see any, so you will have to either use a women's blazer pattern and do some minor alterations to it (should be easy since it's just taking out the darts, widening the shoulders, and reversing the button-up front) or pick up a pattern from the costume section from those pattern-makers.

The blazer has three silver buttons down the front and one smaller silver button on the left breast pocket. Sleeves have cuffs. The sleeves are about an inch or so longer than the blazer when laid flat to the sides, so the blazer shouldn't cover your butt entirely. Use white bias tape on the lapel edges, sleeve cuffs, and bottom hem of the blazer.

There is no white trim or cuff at the base of the uniform slacks.

...Yeah, I'll draw up something. Reading boxes of text is probably tiring. >_>

Waterfig wrote:Just out of curiosity, do the skirts for the Yamaku uniform have pockets? Not sure if that would be something you add yourself, or if they actually should have them.

You should ask the artists of the game about this for specifics of each character. It was mentioned early on that the uniform is not set in stone and students are allowed to modify it to their whims, so I wouldn't be surprised if not all of the girls have pockets in their skirts.

In lieu of an official answer, I would make an educated guess and say that the skirts have hidden (in-seam) pockets at the sides, because that's typically how it is with officially licensed cosplay costumes of school girl skirts from anime and games. I would recommend putting in a side pocket at least if it doesn't ruin the look of the skirt from the outside so that you have a place to hold a hotel room card or a small wallet.

Here's a tutorial for making in-seam pockets that I found to be very helpful:
http://www.burdastyle.com/howtos/show/170

Thank you, Atashi, that was actually very helpful. I appreciate it.