Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
Marvel Comics

Inspiration: I made this costume to participate in an amazing opportunity of being featured on a variant cover of Marvel’s Spider-Woman as part of their Cosplay Cover project. I also think Spider-Woman is an awesome character and I loved her new look!

Materials/Construction Details: Spider-Woman’s new costume features an asymmetrical motorcycle jacket. I wasn’t able to find a good pattern for this, so with the help of a few mock-ups, I designed my own pattern for the top. The jacket is made of thick moleskin spandex, which I used poly dye to get the fabric to a deeper red color. Since Spider-Woman often wears her jacket unzipped, it was important to me that I made it fully functional, so the finished jacket zips diagonally up the side and snaps shut along the top. The art only shows three snaps keeping the fold shut, but to keep the line flush, I had to use a strip of rigilene and hide a few more snaps on the underside. The spider emblem was cut out of spandex backed in wonderunder and then ironed in place. I used a small zig-zag stitch around the edges of the design to hold it in place, but still allow it to stretch with the spandex. The small yellow triangle on the collar was made of worbla and glued in place.

The black sleeves of the jacket and the pants were made out of thin neoprene. Three silver dome studs were installed into the shoulders of each sleeve. The belt was made out of yellow spandex over stiff interfacing, which velcroed together in the back.

I found some black suede boots with patent leather toes and heels that I thought were perfect for the costume. I hemmed the top of the boots and then used fabric paint to make the suede parts red with a point in the front. I also purchased the gloves, but had to paint the palm and two fingers red using Angelus leather paint. Though it took several coats to cover the black gloves completely, painting thin black lines across the palm of the gloves was the hardest part of the process.

The wings/webs on Spider-Woman’s costume posed a challenge since when she’s not gliding, they are basically non-existent. Therefore, I decided to make mine so that they attached on for photos, but then could be removed. The tiniest hook and eyes were used so that the attachment would be unnoticeable on the jacket when I wasn’t wearing the wings. I used white chiffon for the base of the wing and glued on black painted worbla strips for the spines.

The glasses were also made from worbla. I purchased some yellow lensed sunglasses, painted the frames red, and then used craft foam to design the shape of her glasses. Once I had the shape down, I used that craft foam as a pattern for my worbla pieces. I heat formed these pieces to match the curve of the glasses and then primed them and painted them. Super glue attached the final worbla pieces to the glasses themselves.

Wig: This wig is the Buttercup from Arda in black. I used a blow-dryer to switch the part to the other side, cut some length off the back, and trimmed bangs in.