/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Hey /cgl/,

I want to cosplay Welkin Gunther from Valkyria Chronicles at an upcoming convention early next year, as he's a character I really like and I can actually pull it off since I'm no longer a fatass like I used to be. I'm trying to get started on this early because I have little to no clue what I'm doing and have no experience sewing beyond attaching patches onto some /k/-related stuff (poorly), so I think I might be getting a bit in over my head jumping straight to a tank commander uniform. I've done some cosplay before but nothing that actually required actual construction of clothing articles.

Can someone give me a primer in what I should be looking at buying and learning to do in the next 6 months or so? I'd like to have this done by December for a dry run at a local con, but my timeframe is pretty flexible. I've already got the official artbook for uniform reference; it's just mostly the actual footwork of sewing and using patterns that I'm in the dark on.