Construction Details:

My friend Sumikins and I always said that if we were ever given the opportunity to go to the World Cosplay Summit, we would make costumes from Princess Tutu. When we won, we were both ecstatic to go to Japan but I was also very nervous because I had never made such a large dress before and I only had 6 weeks to make it. I started off with a historic dress pattern to use as a base and modified the heck out of the bodice. The bodice is 3 layers: stretch denim with steel and spiral boning, a jacquard and peach skin outer shell, and a polyester lining. All of my fabric started off white and I dyed it in a diluted mixture of brown and yellow fabric dye to achieve an ivory tint. The appliqué on the front of the bodice was hand sewn and I used braided trim to create lines that radiate out from the appliqué. Next I took about 15-20 packs of crystals and hand sewed them along the bottom of the trim to help balance out some of the sparkle of the appliqué (which you can really only see in person/video, sadly, though the sparkle is really beautiful!). Next I sewed rows of pearls onto the trim and added lace to the top to give the bodice some dimension. There is a separating zipper in the back. I pattered the sleeves as 3 separate “balls” and sewed them together. I filled each section with polyfill and lined the inside with white cotton. I also added trim to the sleeves (along with pearls and crystals) and hand sewed small flowers onto each point where the trim overlapped with a row of pearls. There is about 8 yards of lace at the bottom of the sleeves and 2 layers per sleeve. The shoulder pieces are made from foam (the kind found in shoulder pads) and feather trim and are hand sewn to the bodice. The skirts were kind of complicated for me because they involved so many layers. There is a hoopskirt underneath, a tulle petticoat on top, a bum roll (to create lift near my hips), a peach skin tiered underskirt, and a brocade overskirt, and 2 detachable brocade pieces. The underskirt was the most difficult piece and took the longest amount of time. Each tier is lined and has hand-gathered gold silk and silver trim attached to each piece (though I later replaced the trim with rhinestones). Each tier was sewn onto a cotton underskirt and has a waistband that closes with hook and eyes. Next, I sewed the brocade overskirt directly onto the underskirt. There are 2 separate brocade pieces that attach with snaps and/or decorative buttons.

Personal Thoughts:

I am very happy with the finished product and think it's probably my best constructed costume to date. It was a time-consuming project but definitely worth it in the end!

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