SOURCE Sugar Sugar Rune (manga - vol.4; ch.23)
COSTUME picnic outfit
COSTUME BREAKDOWN
- large straw hat [x]
- long auburn wig
- small golden loop earrings
- black dress with puffed sleeves [x fabric]
- heart pendant
- black velvet ribbon hair ties
- black strappy sandals with black velvet ribbon ties
- basket bag [x]
I've been meaning to make this dress since I first read the manga chapter, and recently I mistakenly bought a few meters of black poplin for something else, that I decided to repurpose for this dress.
Then, after this year's Cosplay Photoshoot, I was thinking about want to make for the Japanese Festival, in June, and had two choices: either Saki, for whom I need to buy all the fabrics, the yo-yo, which has been harder to find than I thought (that yo-yo shape isn't trending anymore), and the socks. Or Chocolat, for which I only need to get the wig, the earrings, some sandals, and make the heart compact. As I'm also on the mission to make a few 60's vibe dresses for myself, and one can't have enough cute and comfortable sandals, I decided to go ahead with Chocolat, and also wear her dress and sandals in real life. I also have a passable hat and basket, not exactly the same, but true to the spirit.
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| full picture of Choclat's Outfit |
About Chocolat and Sugar Sugar Rune and why I want to cosplay her. The storyline is fairly simple and takes a lot from my favourite mahou shoujo, Majokko Meg-chan. Two young witches, Chocolat and Vanille, are sent to Earth to learn about life and capture enough hearts to return and rule the Witch Kingdom. Chocolat is feisty, and right up my alley. I also chose this costume because it's summery enough, easy and quick enough to make, and very comfortable.
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| cheap blush compact |
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| the open compact |
Since I've got most pieces sort of covered, I started with the hardest piece to make, the heart compact. I still searched eBay and Mandarake for the official compact, but the price... Then I searched AliExpress for empty compacts or lockets, but they were all too small, and either didn't open or opened to the side.
A while ago, I bought this nice very cheap pink blush at a local pharmacy, and thought its heart shape compact would be nice to customise for Chocolat. I went back to the shop and they still had one, so I got a second one to customise.
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| removing the blush |
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| mask and paint the inside |
Then I made a bunch of patterns: One for the golden heart on the lid; and one for the inside heart. I only have one B&W picture of the inside of the compact so far, I'll make that piece when I know the colours. First I thought about painting the gold heart with a chrome pen, but I'd have to order it online, and I also didn't want to make a vinyl mask, mostly because the Affinity Designer free license expired, and I can't buy it right now. But then I remembered I have the golden vinyl leftovers from Mimikyu, and carefully traced it with a 0.5mm pencil, and even more carefully cut it out with scissors.
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| 1st coat of red |
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| final result |
I masked the mirror with masking tape, and started giving the compact even coats of red spray paint, waiting one day between each coat. 1st on the inside, then the back, and finally the front. I did one coat inside, and 3 coats on the outside. I had to sand it a bit on the front, because small bits of lint got glued to it, ruining the smooth texture. Then I cleaned it very well, left it to dry, and with the help of precision tweezers, I glued the gold vinyl heart to the front. Finally I added two coats of glossy varnish. And the main compact customizing is done.
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| 1st try to I-cord (too wide) |
The cord made me think for a while. It's striped in light yellow and black, but the stripes are too wide for it to be simple twisted cord. I searched for a wide striped kumihimo, but to have wider stripes, I needed to have a 32 strand kumihimo, and that would make the cord too wide. So i decided to make it in I-cord, with crochet thread, but this time with thin double sided knitting needles, the Clover I-cord maker is too wide, for thicker thread. I first made an experiment, with golden and black crochet thread, but it also turned out too thick. But then I remembered the stash of fabrics and embroidery threads my friend Ana gave me a few years ago, and I went digging for a thinner alternative. There is this cigar box filled with "silk" thread, and there was plenty of black and a light yellow. I put the "silk" in brackets, because I decided to burn test it, and it burned like paper, so it's most likely viscose, much like the thread I used for Yuuko's Valentine's Kimono, even though it's labelled "silk". Anyway, I started knitting it, and it turned out really nice, and I didn't even use that much thread.
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| "silk" I-cord knitting |
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| finished "silk" I-cord |
I've since blocked it, making it look much more even, but, apart for the trinkets, which I still have to order, the two main pieces for the compact are done!
+ I'm very happy to only have spent around €2 in all of this so far, because I already had everything, except for the compact, here at home.- Unfortunately I had to spend around €9 in crochet thread, but fortunately I can use it for something else.
THE CUNNING PLAN
Order the missing pieces (the wig, the earrings, the velvet ribbon, the trinkets, and the sandals) and start patterning and sewing the dress.
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