Construction Details:

Top:

This is a princess seamed top made out of a lightweight knit (it was labeled as "wicking knit" at Joann's). The sheer portion is matching chiffon that I sewed to the top and finished the edges with tiny chiffon bias tape. I don't have a bias tape maker, so I had to make it by hand, which was a pain. Remind me to buy a bias tape maker next time. The star is the same gold pleather trim from the skirt, reverse-appliqued in place.



Skirt:

This is a full circle of organza that I dyed to get the blue tone to match the blues in the top. The trim is gold pleather trim, which keeps the bottom stiff without the use of horsehair braid. The skirt attaches in a single point in the front, so I can use the excess material required to pull the skirt down over my shoulders (there's no way it'll fit over my hips!) to create the small pleat she has in front.



Leggings, socks, shoes:

These were simply cheap leggings I bought on Aliexpress and cut shorter. The original leggings had lace trim. I might dye them ever so slightly darker so there's a bigger contrast between the leggings and my legs.

The socks are Mint Green socks from We Love Colors. They're too big on my tiny feet and tend to slip down, so I took in the backs (which still didn't help since they're still too large) and pinned them to a pair of dance tights to keep them up. The material doesn't have good recovery, which is part of the problem, but it wouldn't be much of an issue if they weren't simply too large. I might go buy the child size socks instead. (I wear a size 6, for the record.)

Shoes were bought on eBay, Pierre Dumas brand. They have a suede texture on the outside, which is I think is visually interesting, and are the perfect shade of warm blue for Pearl, if slightly dark.



Spear:

This was the biggest challenge of the project. I wanted it to have the translucent, glowing effect that her spear in the show has. Apparently, no one else had attempted this before, so I had to do a lot of trial and error to get this to work. While the rest of the costume had easy construction, this spear was rather difficult.



I have a masterpost of my technique here: http://fabrickind.tumblr.com/post/129016897358



The nutshell version: I used .030 thickness PET-G thermoplastic cut into a spiral shape, and heatformed it around a frosted acrylic tube. This was then glued in place and painted with acrylic paints. It attaches to the main staff part of the spear with a smaller acrylic tube glued as a fitting inside the visible tube. LED string lights run through the translucent portion of the spear for the lighted effect, and the battery packs sit inside the PVC pipe below. Frosted acetate film (about 2 feet worth, rolled up) was placed inside the tube to diffuse the lights.

Personal Thoughts:

Before I got into Steven Universe, everyone told me that I would make a perfect Pearl. After I got into SU, she quickly because mt favorite character and I knew I had to go for it. (It only took a few episodes in for me to decide on this!)

How was the wig colored?

Rit Dyemore, Apricot Orange and Super Pink

Styling Notes

This is my second attempt at the wig. The first attempt was also a Jeannie, though due to my inexperience with foamcore and a too-small wig size (it hurt my head to wear), I had to remake it for my second wearing. The wig was dyed with about a capful of Dyemore total, mostly the Apricot Orange color. The color ended up very pastel, though still more vibrant than about a bottle and a half of regular Rit dye did on my previous Pearl wig. The back of the wig was dewefted, and a craft foam cone (stuffed with batting) was sewn in place. The remaining wefts, and a few of the removed ones (to fill in gaps), were glued in place with hot glue and Got2B Glued hairspray. I like the somehow softer, more natural look of having a lot of hair that isn't firmly glued flat to the foamcore. I need to do a bit of fixing on the bangs, but I cut them at about 1AM the night before (morning of?) the day I was supposed to wear the wig. The wig has a few wig clips sewn in to hold it in place on my head.

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