Budget Cosplay
“Clothes make a statment. Costumes tell a story.”
-Mason Cooley
USEFUL WEBSITES FOR:
IDEAS / EXECUTION / BUDGET FRIENDLY
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POLIVORE.COM is an excellent site that takes off the rack street clothes and creates ensembles that resemble a whole range of show characters. These quick links are for Disney, Dr. Who, even Pirates!
STYLISH GEEK is probably one of THE BEST and MOST CREATIVE do-it-yourself cosplayers I have ever laid eyes on! Give her site a thorough look/see!
aliexpress is very hard for me. I LOVE the budget friendly shopping on pretty much ANYTHING for my costume needs. However, I am sure it is all made in Chinese sweatshops. It's a hard decision to buy from this site. Definitely on the fence!
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TECHNIQUES
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AGEING / DYEING
Hand Sewing:

Machine Sewing:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EasySewing4Beginners
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Great tutorial with lots of detail!
Don't want to use real dirt? Buy "clean dirt", just don't expect it wash off clean either!

Tips for the Inevitable Mistake:
Don't waste money on Dye:
Unless you need a very specific color, I've dyed fabric with tea, coffee, food coloring, beets, old water colors from a garage sale.
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Tip: Do yourself a favor:
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Invest in a pair of sewing scissors that you ONLY use for sewing (NO paper cutting!!)
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A seam ripper can be your best tool.
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Double stick tape can help you determine length before you cut (remember, there's no going back after that cut off!) and even if you don't want to cut and sew it can hold up for an entire length of a con!
When I'm not fangirl-ing I work in Film/TV. I worked in the costume department for a Feature Film and had the opportunity to work alongside some extremely talented Ager/Dyers.
These folk age, distress and destroy clothes for a living. Sometimes you need modern clothes to look lived in and worn; Loved or hated. Costumes help tell the story of the characters and it takes an artist to implement this simple and complex tool.
You don't need to necessarily go out and buy a small butane torch and soddering iron (although asking for them for Christmas is always fun!)
Take a look around your home. Anything can be made into a distressing tool. Wire brush, old scissors, sandpaper, pencils, pushpins, broken plastic.
Have fun with it and don't think too hard about it. The great part about distressing is that your audience doesn't know if you 'messed up' or not!