Construction Details:

Shirt - Modified from a simple button-down shirt pattern. The black fabric is stretch sateen, and all the teal fabric is pure cotton. I replaced the usual button placket with hidden snaps (gave myself a lovely blister on my thumb, too, when I hit it with a hammer while installing the snaps), and sewed on false pockets.

Skirt - Tried a new method for the pleated skirt, which was to plan the measurements as if I was going to make a half-circle skirt (I've found circle skirts are too full, even for pleats), but instead took the dimensions and cut each of the 15 pleats individually. Less of a nightmare to cut and iron. It worked beautifully and saved yardage. Except for the part where I made it a 14-pleat skirt at first, and then it was indecently short and I had to rip out stitches to add in one more pleat and make it hand lower on my hips. Always over-estimate your length measurements! O_O

Gloves - I hate sewing gloves, I hate it. But I didn't think I could dye a pair to match the teal perfectly, so I sewed them from the same fabric. Had to cut on the bias to allow for a little stretch (gloves should ideally be made of stretch fabric). They're a bit snug, but still probably the best I've done on gloves so far.

Belts and Armband - The black patterns on the belt and armband were hand-painted with black fabric paint, with the help of much painter's tape to keep my lines straight. The armband is tacked to the sleeve to keep it in place.
Both belts are heavily interfaced, and the padding on the shoulder strap has a scrap of fleece sewn inside to actually make it soft and comfortable. The belts are both loose enough to be slid over my head, so they don't require any closures. The buckles, hardware, and (cellphone) holster all came from eBay, though the black straps on the holster were sewn from leftover car upholstery 'leather.'

Hairbands - Probably the most difficult part of the costume, oddly. Made of the black sateen with a stripe of hot pink acrylic paint, they hold their floaty square shape with an enclosed strip of bendable aluminum mesh (usually used to repair screen doors). They slide into the wig with a bobby pin at the base of the square.

Wig - An eBay purchase. Short base wig with two clip-on pigtails. I wish it had been more green, but such is the danger of buying on eBay, where your monitor color may vary.

Shoes - More eBay! Simple black loafers with a chunky heel, because I'm short. The tights are something I already had around the house.

Makeup - I was lucky enough to find a limited-edition teal mascara a while back, so I use that to color in my eyebrows.

Megaphone - Modified from a cheap malfunctioning megaphone I found online. I used my handy dremel tool to carve a crack into the plastic, and sanded down any sharp edges. Since the actual voice functions didn't work anyways, I glued the battery compartment shut (it kept popping open), spray-painted it black and white, and hand-painted the inner spike and rim. The pink cord was a long CAT5 cable that I sliced the jacks off of and painted hot pink. Someday when I learn about proper wiring and battery packs, I would love to replace the pink cord with pink EL wire (and maybe do her hairbands, too).

Personal Thoughts:

I never saw myself cosplaying Miku (I always saw myself as more of a Rin Kagamine), but then I fell in love with the song Love is War. And well, since I have the wig now, might as well add some other Miku variants in the future...

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