Construction Details:

♥~Corset~♥
I made a fully steel-boned corset and covered it to achieve the look of Mami's corset. This was the first real corset I've ever made. XD I used coutil for the under-layer for it strength & durability, and a moleskin fabric for the outer layer (and yes the back is accurate). As for the trim: the white parts are scalloped beading lace & ¼" Swiss double-faced satin ribbon that were found locally (A super lucky find!). I also made and used bias-tape and faux boning casing trim from the skirt fabric so that all the accenting would match and be consistent.

The belts are real leather that came in a continuous strap and I worked with and tooled to make the 3 "belts". For the hardware I choose matching floral embellished, stainless steel, buckles and keepers in keeping with the western flavor and floral theme of Mami's design. The buckles are real metal but the keepers I had to resin cast, shape down, re-cast, and paint them since the metal ones I received were too tall for my straps and looked odd. (thanks to sephygoth for helping cast them since I was running out of time). The belts & buckles are fully functional.

♥~Shirt~♥
I had leftover white shirting from a previous cosplay that seemed great for the job. The pattern was for a basic shirt that I've had in my pattern stash, which I altered to fit me a little better than the default shape. It only took a few hours to cut and sew the base white together. The edging is bias tape I made from the skirt fabric. The tab-closures, also made from the skirt fabric, are fully functional. I even added two little mother of pearl buttons to the sleeve cuffs.

♥~Neck Bow~♥
I made the bow from 2 sizes (5/8" & 1") of ribbon, since Mami's bow is clearly two distinct sizes in width. I used a golden-yellow Swiss double-faced satin ribbon and one hook & eye set, for easy attachment & removal. All the sewing in the bow was hand done.

♥~Arm-warmers~♥
Made from a basic stretch poplin, I used my simple bell-shaped armlet pattern from my pattern library and I just added a cuff to it.

♥~Gloves~♥
I bought some second-hand vintage brown leather gloves, altered them to make them fingerless, and carefully painted the gold trim detail with some awesome leather paint.

♥~Skirt~♥
I found this lovely gold-tan silk suiting fabric; depending on the lighting it can look more gold or more tan. ♥ I has an interesting woven texture that I think fits Mami's design well, while still being silk which makes it fitting for a Magical Girl.

I made a basic circle skirt pattern and simple waistband from the suiting. The brown bias binding trim was made from the same moleskin fabric I used for the outer corset layer.

♥~Hat~♥
I made the hat from a faux suede material, buckram, gross-grain ribbon, a little felt & a ton of feathers (so much fluff XD). This was the second hat I've ever made, the first in this style.

♥~Soul Gem~♥
Made from wire and sculpey with a custom resin-cast gem (again thanks to some help from sephygoth). It's mounted to a hair clip so that it can be attached to & removed from the wig with ease.

♥~Hair Clip~♥
I drafted from scratch a flower pattern based on all my reference material. I then for a lack of time made them from funfoam and metallic paint "armor-style" to get that metal-ish look.

♥~Socks & Boots~♥
The socks were ordered online. The socks are a ribbed dark purple wool. As for the boots, I painted, dyed, and altered a pair of second-hand western-style cowboy boots.

Personal Thoughts:

When I started watching "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" I couldn't stop, I was riveted to my seat, it was that good! Mami was my second favorite character to Homura but I opted to cosplay Mami since that seemed to be a no-brainier for me...she's cute, blonde, and busty to boot; a win-win formula for me. XD I found that the more I worked on this cosplay the more attached to her I got and now she's my favorite character.

This cosplay would have been done for Dragon*con 2011 but heath reasons made me postpone it until Katsucon 2012, but that's ok cause I really love how it came out! ♥

Styling Notes

Her drill curls were driving me up the wall, I wanted a particular look and I was running out of time @_@ So to keep my sanity I opted for more natural curls. I did cut & style the bangs and I changed up the elastics they had in the wig for some clear elastics since I wanted the ties to be subtle.

Wig Review

I do have to say styling a heat resistant wig is so much nicer and quicker to do especially for softer styles like her bangs.

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