Hood, Ears, and Jacket- I used Simplicity 1095 as the pattern for the jacket. It was already a perfectly shaped cropped jacket and hood combo for Sunset Dragon's design, so I didn't make any alterations. All I did was add a yellow satin oval on the top of the hood using wonder under and I also cut little tiny slits for wire (mounted to my wig) to slip through and hold my ears in place. A method similar to this. In order to make the ears, I used super soft fleece in black for the base and added yellow satin bands to make the stripes. The ears are two parts, a front and a back, and are cut into a pointy oval shape. Once I pinned the stripes to each side (front and back) of the ears, I sewed them all the way around and stuffed them with cotton fluff. I then gathered the bottom of the ears to make a flat-ish base. I didn't totally close the opening on the bottom of the ears, I left a little bit of space fir the wire to slip through and stabilize the ears. The earring is an actually hoop earring I found at some store, I just painted it gold and stuck it through the ear in the proper place!

Scarf- Made from red gabrdine and some leftover dyed fabric. I cut out a rectangle long enough to fit over my head, but still small enought to stay relatively close to my face. I sewed it up, hand-stitched the blue bit where my nose would be and viola! Neck/face scarf! I did use double sided tape to stick the blue part to my nose so that it wouldn't shift around during photoshoots. 

Wig- Just a simple black wig from amazon. All I did was trim the bangs and braid it!

Bodysuit- I used Kwik Sew 3608 as the base for the bodysuit, and I made some slight modifications to Sunset Dragon's original design to add some visual interest to an otherwise all black costume. Instead of making a simple strapless bodysuit, I instead made a bodysuit with the sides cut out and I then layered a sheer, black-on-black patterned, burnout velvet over top. I had wanted the color of my skin to show through the cutouts of the base layer (made from black lycra) and then be masked by sheerness of the top layer of fabric, However, the top layer was more opaque then I thought, so this didn't go quite as planned. However, I think the burnout velvet still added enough visual interest to the costume!

Waist Skirt and Train Tail- The waist skirt is a super short circle skirt (giving it that flowy effect) made out of silk organza. I dip dyed the silk organza once it had been cut and hemmed to create the ombre effect. I then added rhinestones to re-create the sparkly-ness of the skirt in the design. Silver ribbon was added to hold the skirt on and recreate the silver trim in the design. The silver moon is just one of those pre-cut wooden shapes you can find at the craft store. I painted it silver and glued a safety pin to the back so it could attach to my bodysuit. The silver ribbin is held up by the same safety pin. I struggled quite a bit with the tail portion of this costume mostly because I couldn't really tell what it was attached to. The jacket? The waist? The bodysuit? I didn't want to risk the weight of the tail pulling down the jacket or my bodysuit, so I opted to make it attached around my waist via snaps. I cut the tail out of the same black gabardine I used to make the jacket and I used heat-n-bond to attach the yellow stripe. To match the jacket in a technical sense, I covered the outside edges of the tail with black bias tape. I used the black bias tape arpund the top edge as a 'belt' to attach the snaps to in order to hold the tail around my waist. 

Arm Accessories- On the right arm I cut a strip of burnout velvet fabric and a wrapped it around my arm, trying my best to match the design. It's held in place by a well-tied knot and a small safety pin. For the bit around the top of the right arm I used black ribbon and interpreted the gold circles and little tiny bells. I hand stichted tiny gold bells all the way around the bottom of the ribbon and used velcro to secure it tightly around my arm. On the left arm, the glove was dyed using the same batch of dye and dip-dyeing technique as the waist skirt. Rhinestones were glued on to add some sparkle. 

Leg Wraps- The leg wraps are made of the same burnout velvet as the bodysuit. I cut out a base that was patterned to fit my leg and then pinned a bunch of lycra strips in varrying ways in order to create a kinda faux-wrap. Once the stripes were pinned and sewed down, I just added one stitch up the back and closed them up! I followed this tutorial for the faup-wrap and I think they came out beautifully!. The knee pads are just craft foam painted and glued together, they are held onto the leg wraps with velcro. 

Shoes- Just simple black wedges I bought at a shoe store. I opted not to paint them yellow so I could use them for other costumes. 

Swords- By far the most challenging part of the costume! I'm not a prop person, so this was a perfect little prop for me to cut my teeth on! I started with a plastic machete base (leftover from Halloween) I bought off eBay. I first added the swirly bit and red gem on the base using epoxy sculpt. Then, I added the 'W' shapes cut out of black, thicher then usual, craft foam to either side of the blade. I added the 3-D detail with another layer thin craft foam on top of the 'W'. I added the crescent moons last, they are also made from craft foam! Once everything was painted and glued together, I think my swords looked pretty darn cool!

The first time wearing this costume, I actually left the leg wraps in my hotel room. So unfortunately, all the group shots and the other photos taken at Katsucon are missing a key element of the costume. I hope that doesn't distract too much from my hard work and hope that you still enjoy the photos!