Construction Details:

The kimono is made from white twill and lined with Bemberg.(All fabrics came from Colorado Fabrics for this costume.) I chose twill because of the Western-ish crossover look of this artbook version. I used two different blue fabrics of brushed cotton and moleskin for the flowers which are couched with cotton perle around the edges, and beads added at the points. The circles are made of two different toned golds and black satin, with hand-sewn beaded lines. (Because Fai could use a little bling!)

I dyed the leather for the belts, and used buckles and keepers from Tandy. The holster is also made of leather, dyed black, with the design burned in and then painted using fabric paint acrylics.

The gun was a cheap dollar store toy, with the trigger assembly removed to make it look even less real. Spray primed, then painted in various Testors colors, with a resin cabochon glued on each side.

I also sewed the pants, edged in the same bias trim I made for the kimono, with functional buttons/button holes on each leg.

The "spur-style straps" are made of leather with triangle loops.

The headband was made with parachute cord, decorated with bells from a renaissance faire vendor, sakura-like flower-design cones and pink cat's eye beads from Fire Mountain gems.

Personal Thoughts:

This is the "hanami viewing" version from the artbook.
I had the costume mostly done in 2014, but was given the gift of the little chibi chess figure that fall. Finally having a reference for the flower on the back, I opened up the lining and added it, so the costume was finally finished in 2015.

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