Immobliss
New Member
For Saboten Con 2015 I decided to make the Art Book version of Fuu Hououji from the anime series Magic Knight Rayearth. This is one of the largest undertakings I have had with a costume as I could not locate any pre-made patterns for the cloth portions (aside from a cloak which I had to modify anyways) and I had to customize a sword that was light weight (I had to carry it for 13 hours) but sturdy.
I began with the clothing. Fuu wears the following: 1 double layered skirt with loose pleats, 1 white over dress that is floor length with loose pleats, 2 pleated arm glovelettes, 2 pleated leg warmers, 1 pleated belt scrunchy thing, 1 hooded cloak and a pair of white slouch boots with gold trim and gem details.
I started with the skirt and used a standard circle skirt pattern with a larger cut then added elastic to the waist band that was smaller than my waist and pulled the skirt into loose pleats so it rippled. Here was the result...
With the skirt complete I moved on to the over dress. My first attempt was clean and well made but it did not flow and the weight of the fabric prevented it from draping properly (basically it was too fragile for what I required). Therefore I made a second go at it. To create the pattern I used an old black dress and traced its outline using an wash out fabric pen. I then flared the skirt outward more and sewed up the side seams. For the front split I placed the dress on, drew the line for separation and for the waist line. After removing the dress I drew the lines to cut out the front opening then I added elastic to the waist and used the same pleating method from the circle skirt to give the dress more volume. I was most pleased with the final result (even though it took about 3 yards of fabric to get there O.O ).
With the over dress done I made quick work of the gloves, leg warmers and the unusually pleated/scrunched belt. I simply cut squares that were three times as long as the length of the glove/leg warmer/belt then pleated them on the go while sewing.
The Cloak was fairly simple as well. I had a pattern for the cloak itself but I did not have a pattern for the hood so I measured the cloak's mouth length then created a hood from scratch. With the clothing complete I purchased a pair of used boots from a second hand store, removed the belts from the boot, painted them white then cut out detail patterns and attached gold painted foam with a green gem to match the character's shoes.
Now I had the final tasks remaining: style the wig, create the chest adornment armor, create the tiara and create the nearly 6.5 foot sword Fuu carries. The wig require assistance as I am not skilled in this area. With some practice a friend and I figured out how to wet curl a VERY straight blond wig (wet the wig hair, quickly wrap it around a super heated curling instrument, hold for 10 seconds, release and blast it with ridiculous amounts of hair spray). The wig held really well
The chest adornment was rather simple (same for the tiara). I used foam, worbla and hand drawn patterns to create the chest "armor" Fuu wears. For the tiara, I used a pre-made head band and wrapped it in Worbla then set custom cast gems for extra detail. NOTE: All of my gems were custom cast using some pre-made/custom molds and Easy Cast Resin. I painted the gems with nail polish on the back and a bit of glitter on the front to give the gems more depth and color (dyed resin is not as clear and I wanted more depth in my gems).
With everything complete I finally moved on to planning my sword. I started with insulation foam, a dowell rod and some carving. That failed. So then on moved on to cutting the ENTIRE sword out of insulation foam. To stabilize the hilt/handle/pommel I cut out pieces of Worbla and laid them VERY carefully onto the insulation foam (insulation foam is not heat graded - it deteriorates when extreme heat, like a heat gun, or paint is applied to it so BE CAREFUL). Some of the foam collapsed under the heat however; the Worbla was pliable enough and hard enough to accommodate this collapse, allowing me to hide the defect. I also used some Worbla to stabilize where the hilt and blade connected. The blade itself is just insulation foam. I intend to cover it in thermoplastic in the future but it held up really well at the convention I went to (NOTE: it wobbles so take care when posing that you do not put too much weight on it or it will bow). Another NOTE: Insulation foam caves under spray paint. If you choose to use this material be sure you paint it with a wood glue/acrylic mixture (one part wood glue, one part acrylic). The final result was most satisfying considering I had to remake this in under 10 hours the day before the event.
And here is the complete costume!
I began with the clothing. Fuu wears the following: 1 double layered skirt with loose pleats, 1 white over dress that is floor length with loose pleats, 2 pleated arm glovelettes, 2 pleated leg warmers, 1 pleated belt scrunchy thing, 1 hooded cloak and a pair of white slouch boots with gold trim and gem details.
I started with the skirt and used a standard circle skirt pattern with a larger cut then added elastic to the waist band that was smaller than my waist and pulled the skirt into loose pleats so it rippled. Here was the result...
With the skirt complete I moved on to the over dress. My first attempt was clean and well made but it did not flow and the weight of the fabric prevented it from draping properly (basically it was too fragile for what I required). Therefore I made a second go at it. To create the pattern I used an old black dress and traced its outline using an wash out fabric pen. I then flared the skirt outward more and sewed up the side seams. For the front split I placed the dress on, drew the line for separation and for the waist line. After removing the dress I drew the lines to cut out the front opening then I added elastic to the waist and used the same pleating method from the circle skirt to give the dress more volume. I was most pleased with the final result (even though it took about 3 yards of fabric to get there O.O ).
With the over dress done I made quick work of the gloves, leg warmers and the unusually pleated/scrunched belt. I simply cut squares that were three times as long as the length of the glove/leg warmer/belt then pleated them on the go while sewing.
The Cloak was fairly simple as well. I had a pattern for the cloak itself but I did not have a pattern for the hood so I measured the cloak's mouth length then created a hood from scratch. With the clothing complete I purchased a pair of used boots from a second hand store, removed the belts from the boot, painted them white then cut out detail patterns and attached gold painted foam with a green gem to match the character's shoes.
Now I had the final tasks remaining: style the wig, create the chest adornment armor, create the tiara and create the nearly 6.5 foot sword Fuu carries. The wig require assistance as I am not skilled in this area. With some practice a friend and I figured out how to wet curl a VERY straight blond wig (wet the wig hair, quickly wrap it around a super heated curling instrument, hold for 10 seconds, release and blast it with ridiculous amounts of hair spray). The wig held really well
The chest adornment was rather simple (same for the tiara). I used foam, worbla and hand drawn patterns to create the chest "armor" Fuu wears. For the tiara, I used a pre-made head band and wrapped it in Worbla then set custom cast gems for extra detail. NOTE: All of my gems were custom cast using some pre-made/custom molds and Easy Cast Resin. I painted the gems with nail polish on the back and a bit of glitter on the front to give the gems more depth and color (dyed resin is not as clear and I wanted more depth in my gems).
With everything complete I finally moved on to planning my sword. I started with insulation foam, a dowell rod and some carving. That failed. So then on moved on to cutting the ENTIRE sword out of insulation foam. To stabilize the hilt/handle/pommel I cut out pieces of Worbla and laid them VERY carefully onto the insulation foam (insulation foam is not heat graded - it deteriorates when extreme heat, like a heat gun, or paint is applied to it so BE CAREFUL). Some of the foam collapsed under the heat however; the Worbla was pliable enough and hard enough to accommodate this collapse, allowing me to hide the defect. I also used some Worbla to stabilize where the hilt and blade connected. The blade itself is just insulation foam. I intend to cover it in thermoplastic in the future but it held up really well at the convention I went to (NOTE: it wobbles so take care when posing that you do not put too much weight on it or it will bow). Another NOTE: Insulation foam caves under spray paint. If you choose to use this material be sure you paint it with a wood glue/acrylic mixture (one part wood glue, one part acrylic). The final result was most satisfying considering I had to remake this in under 10 hours the day before the event.
And here is the complete costume!
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