Construction Details:

Starting off, I had no idea what kind of fabric I wanted to use for the dress. I knew I didn???t want to use satin, as it was too heavy for the flow-y feeling of the dress. I did some looking around in local fabric stores until I decided I wanted to use Silk. I ordered my silk online from Dharma trading co. This was a suggestion to me from December Cosplay.

Once I got all of my fabric in, I got straight to my dying process. All of the colors bits of the dress are hand-dyed silk and ribbon. I used RIT dye and did individual batches for each color. Since this was the first time I???d ever dyed fabric, I feel like it went pretty smoothly!

After I had all my fabric dyed I set to work on the bodice. I used a corset pattern because of the specific cut of the bottom of the bodice. This was the first time I???d ever worked with putting boning in to anything before. The pattern called for double the amount of boning I put in, but because I am using it as a bodice and not a corset, I decided that I only needed one for each seam, rather than two. The entire bodice is lined to give it a smooth touch, and the edges are finished with hand-made silk bias tape. The next step to finishing the bodice was to put the eyelets in for the closure in the back. I???ve had some??? bad experiences with putting zippers in, so with this costume I decided to use a lace-up closure. It worked perfectly, and helps the fit of the dress even more! Once I had the closure of the bodice done, I started on my ruffles! To obtain more of a large ruffle, I sewed horsehair braid into the hem, and then used box pleats rather than gathering. Since this was my first time using horsehair braid, I wasn???t entirely sure which kind to get. Looking at it now, I would have liked to use something a little stiffer.

???Once I finished the main body of the bodice, I got to work on my bows. The dyed silk was cut into individual strips, and then sewn together to make one long piece of fabric. I then interfaced the entire thing, and cut it into pieces for the bows. There is a white piece of silk sewn on to make a casing, and then formed into the bow and tie. The bow on the bodice is hand sewn on, and the bow on the headpiece is glued on using E-6000.

???The headpiece was made using a material called Cosplay Flex. It is a lot like worbla, except the material is much smoother to the touch. The pattern was cut out of foam, and then surrounded by the Cosplay Flex. There are two layers, to give it more volume. It took quite a bit of decided before I set on how I was going to make the gems. Once I decided to use crystals, I heated up the headpiece where each crystal would lay, and rounded it upwards. This gave it more dimension, so the crystals wouldn???t appear to be flat. The headpiece was then primed and spray-painted gold. The crystals were placed individually in the order of the colors. It is attached to my wig with magnetic snaps.

???My next step was to begin the hoop skirt. At first, when I didn???t really know what I was doing, I attempted to make it out of boning. This obviously did not work. I knew that I wanted to make my own hoopskirt, as the shape I needed to achieve didn???t really exist in one that I could order online. I found some thick wire that would originally be used for framing, and decided to use that. The 5 hoops were shaped in correspondence to the open front and how I wanted the back and sides to look. I then took measurements and sewed case for all of the hoops, as well as the strips holding it up. My cosplay partner, Ann Marie, then helped me place each hoop and pin it to the support strips. The strips and hoops were then hand sewn to each other. The waistband was also hand sewn to the tops of the strips. For a first time making a hoop skirt, I feel like it went very well!

???Now that I had the hoopskirt finished, I started on my overskirt. Since the dress is open in the front, I wanted to make my own pattern for the skirt. I got to work on my muslin, and created something that would work with my hoop skirt. I then repeated the process in the silk, and pleated the top of the skirt. I used pleating because it created large ruffles at the top that gave the skirt more dimension. I did not hem the skirt, because I created 8 yards of ruffles to go along the entire length of the skirt. The ruffles were 8-inch strips of silk that were hemmed, and then gathered using a serger. This was my first time using a serger by myself, but now I know that it is my favorite way to make ruffles! I then made a waistband using silk that had been interfaced. The bows on the bottom of the dress are hand-dyed silk that were sewn into a simple puffed bow, and then hand sewn on to the skirt.

???I decided not make the gloves for my costume because my Grandmother offered me the gloves she wore in her wedding 60 years ago, and I felt like it would be a bit of luck, and something that I know will made me feel more comfort while I???m on stage. Since I did not make them, I had to find a way to create the scallop that is seen in the design. I decided to use a lace I found, which was hand sewn on to the gloves. This gave me the scallop I needed, without permanently altering the gloves. I did try to make my own stockings, but the pattern I used ended up not working for what I needed, so I took some tights I had for another costume and cut them at the top. I then hemmed the top and hand sewed the lace on to them, as well.

???The veil is made from a 2-yard piece of tulle that was cut on a round table to create a nice curved edge. I was going to serge the edge but decided that it would not look very neat, so I just cut off the raw edges and used fray check to make sure that my edges stayed neat.

???Once everything was finished being sewn I started putting the crystals on everything. In the finished product, there are over 800 Swarovski crystals over the whole dress, not including the 400 on the headpiece.

Personal Thoughts:

Amulet Fortune has been a dream cosplay of mine since I was 12. Shugo chara was the first anime I ever watched, and is what really got me into cosplay. I had so much fun making this costume, and learned so many new techniques.

Styling Notes

The only styling I really had to do was some trimming and styling of the bangs. I also added an odango bun, mostly to prop up the headpiece. There were also 3 magnets glued in to the wig for the headpiece.

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