So, I'm planning on going to Anime North come May, and I wanna do a Riza Hawkeye cosplay. Thing is, I've never had the full chance to cosplay like this. I would occasionally cosplay for like a day thing with friends around town when events were on, but this will be my biggest yet. And I'm not sure how to go about doing it. I want to make my own costume, but I know surprisingly little about making clothes. I can sew, but I haven't made anything large in a very long time. I have just patched things, mostly. So I was wondering if any of you who cosplay regularly, or even only sometimes, would have some tips for a beginner like me? I will be buying a wig, as my hair is neither long enough nor blonde enough to use lol.

My big questions are like how do you make the patterns? Do you make the patterns yourself? How do you know what fabrics to use? How do you make the embellishments like the cord or the watch? Or her guns and holsters?