The Lazy Cosplayer's Guide: Amaurotine Robe
Here there be Shadowbringers spoilers! If you’ve clicked you’re probably already aware of this but I figured I’d cover my bases regardless.
If you know me at all you’ll know that Final Fantasy XIV has more or less taken over everything I do. It’s all I seem to play, post about, and make costumes from. Seriously, I made four FFXIV costumes last year (including commissions) and am working on two more right now for clients with another two planned for myself later this year. This is my life now. I live here. Thankfully, Square Enix managed to do a huge favour for those who play and are interested in cosplaying from XIV but might not be so craftily-inclined with Shadowbringers, giving us what may be the only easy costume to make from the entire game: Amaroutines.
Amaurotines really know what’s up. An ancient city of highly educated scholars, philosophers, and what have yous, they apparently realized that the best way for a productive society to flourish was to have everyone wear pajamas 24/7. The Amaurotine snuggie, as it’s been affectionately called, is a simple A-line robe with a hood and cowl. It is also incredibly comfortable. No joke, I could wear this thing forever. I almost didn’t take it off when I took photos.
Given the simplicity of the outfit I mused publicly on Twitter about doing a tutorial on how folks could make a super easy version of their own, to which people responded favourably. So, here we are. Let’s make the thing.
What you’ll need:
I’ll say it now—this costume uses a LOT of fabric. More fabric than you think you’ll need. Ultimately it depends on how full you want the bottom of the robe to be, but it’s better to err on the side of getting more than less.
55-60” wide black fabric of choice (something that drapes nicely and isn’t see-through) - approximately 3.5x your height
matching thread
measuring tape
chalk or similar to mark fabric
Making this costume assumes you have the means to sew, whether it be by machine or hand. I used a serger to make mine as the material I used frays and I wanted to have nicely finished edges (also to make it washable in case I spill something on it), but if that’s not an option you can use a zigzag stitch or pinking shears instead. If you’re using something that doesn’t fray, such as fleece or knit, this step is unnecessary. There’s also a small bit of hand sewing at the very end.
All measurements are in inches and include a 1/2 inch seam allowance because that’s what I use. Sorry to any metric-minded folks.
How to do it:
First things first you will need to take some measurements! Everything you’ll need to measure out will be based on these, so make sure they’re accurate.
height
chest (fullest part)
armscye (around arm at shoulder with room—approximately 18 to 20”)
arm length (shoulder to where palm meets fingers)
Got those? Good. Let’s get started.
Step 1: Main Body
Find somewhere you can lay your fabric out with enough space to draw out and cut everything. For the body you will want to mark and cut two rectangles with the following dimensions, making sure to note what the a measurement is for later.
On the top piece mark a line down the centre lengthwise and cut ONLY that piece. This is the front of the robe.
On the front robe pieces mark lines 3” from the line you just cut and 6” down, connecting them with a slight curve. On the back, find the centre point and mark to each side lines 3” out and 1.5” down. Connect these with a slight curve. Cut along these lines to create the neck opening.
Lay your pieces flat on top of each other, matching the edges of the neck opening, and pin and stitch along the edges on either side to create the shoulder seams. Press flat.
To create the arm openings, lay out the pieces once more and ensure the long edges on both sides are even. Measuring down from the shoulder seam you just sewed, mark half your armscye measurement minus 1/2”. Measure 1” in from the edge along the shoulder seam and draw straight down, connecting to the point you marked with a slight curve as shown. Cut along this line, making sure to cut both the front and back of the body.
Step 2: Sleeves
Draw a rectangle using your arm length measurement and armscye measurement plus 2”.
Mark the centre of the rectangle going lengthwise. Measure 1” down from this edge and draw a line going across as a guide. Using measuring tape or a ruler, find the halfway point of your armscye measurement plus 1” and place that on this centre point. Mark the ends on the line you just drew
Draw straight lines from these points to the corners to create the under arm seam. Connect the centre point at the edge to the points 1” below with a slight curve to create the sleeve cap as seen below.
Cut two and fold in half to make sure they are symmetrical.
Step 3: Attaching the Sleeves
Match the centre of the sleeve cap with the shoulder seam on the body and pin. Pin the remainder of the sleeve along the arm opening, trying to match the ends. If the sleeve over hangs this edge by a bit this is fine.
(My advice: Pin with the sleeve on the bottom as this will be the side pushed by the feed dogs in your sewing machine. This will feed the layer through faster than the one on top and help with any extra ease!)
Sew the sleeves to the body and press.
Step 4: Adding the Gores
Time to make this thing VOLUMINOUS. Using the a measurement from earlier and the following diagram, draw and cut a rectangle from your fabric. The width determines how much volume the skirt as, so feel free to go as wide as you like as long as you have enough fabric. I recommend going at least 1/3 your chest measurement so it looks right and gives you enough space to walk.
Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner and cut. You should now have two triangular pieces of fabric.
Here comes the tricky part. Because you cut the fabric on the diagonal (bias) it means that one edge is stretchier than the other. You want to keep track of which edge is on the straight grain and which one is not.
Align the straight edge of the triangles along the front side seam of your robe with the point slightly overlapping the sleeve seam. Pin and sew.
Once that’s together, pin the back to the other side of the triangle, making sure that where the sleeves meet the body match. Be careful not to stretch this side of the triangle as you pin as it will cause ripples in the seam. At this point you can pin the underarm seam as well. Stitch and press flat.
Step 5: Hood
Try the robe on and make adjustments to the neck if necessary. Cut away more if you need room, remembering that you still need a 1/2” seam allowance.
Measure the total length of the neck opening.
Draw a rectangle on your fabric that is 18” tall (20” if you are tall and/or have a large neck opening) and half the neck opening measurement plus 1” wide. From the bottom right of the square mark 2 inches up, then draw a straight diagonal line to the bottom left to create the bottom of the hood.
Round off the top right of the square to form the shape of the hood.
Mark a point 3/4” from the top left and connect to the rounded line. Draw a second line at a right angle from this point and extend to the bottom with a slight curve. Cut two of these shapes and sew together along the curved back of the hood.
Matching the back seam of the hood to the centre back of the neck opening, pin the bottom of the hood to the neck and stitch together. Be patient as this is a tighter curve than the sleeves to avoid bunching and pleats. If any occur you can seam rip that section and re-stitch so everything lays flat.
You will most likely have extra hanging over the edge at the centre front. This is fine! Trim away the extra at the bottom so the front of the hood aligns with the centre front edge, making sure to blend the cut line to the top of the hood.
Step 6: Cowl and Finishing
Sew up the front seam with a 3/4” to 1” seam allowance (this is so you can turn over the hem at the hood), leaving the top 2” open. Press open.
Turn the edge of the hood over twice and stitch to finish.
Try everything on again and mark where things need to be hemmed on the sleeves and bottom of the robe as it will most likely be on the long side. Finish as desired.
We’re almost done! Cowl time. Cut a rectangle that is the length of the neck opening plus 8” - 10” and 9” to 12” wide, depending on how tall you want your cowl to be. Stitch the short ends together, then finish the edges.
Arrange the cowl around the hood to your liking and tack to the robe at the back, shoulders, and bottom of the neck opening using a couple of hand stitches.
Don’t mind the photoshop, the lighting this time of day is very unforgiving. :>
It’s done! That said, free free to spruce it up however you like. Want to add pockets? Insert them before you sew up the front side seam. Want to line the hood and sleeves to have that funky white glow effect? Double up on those pieces with your lining of choice and stitch them right sides together at the hem before you attach them to the body. I made mine with the plan of having a late-night party costume for FanFest and other conventions so I went real simple with it, but you do you. Grab a mask, be comfy, and go create!
I took about four hours to make this, with about half that time spent documenting steps and troubleshooting (and also dicking around with FFTBattleground on Twitch). Someone with no experience sewing could probably make it in about the same time using a machine whilst an experienced sewist could turn this into a two-hour project easily.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an @ on Twitter! I’m always around to help so don’t be shy.
— (｡ゝω・｡)ゞ
