Daydreamer Nessa invited me in to this group for Fanime 2013. It was amazing to have all 9 senshi together with coordinated costumes!
Where to start - this was a big coordinated group effort, although each girl primarily made her own costume.
I am only rating this a 4 because of the skirt. Nothing else was too bad.
The main leotard was made from some cheap 4-way stretch spandex and a super super modified Green Pepper ice skating pattern. I added side seams to fit better and changed the neckline to accommodate the sailor collar. All the blues were Casa Satin, with the darker blue being the lighter blue custom dyed with iDye Poly. What a mess! But I finally achieved my desired color.
I drafted the patterns for the collar, sleeves, and bows and the group used those. The collar just snaps on over the leotard. The little puff sleeves make me so happy! They are flat lined on the inside with tulle to keep them soft but keep their shape. The bands are tubes of satin, cut on the bias, and then stuffed with piping filler. The same thing goes on the gloves. The gloves were from We Love Colors, and I totally recommend them! Super nice quality and totally worth the price.
THE SKIRT. Here is the real beast. Our Venus, SparklePipsi, is the mastermind behind this one. It's a pleated circle skirt that is essentially two circle skirts x 2 tiers. So much ruffle! I did multiple mockups and actually made real fabric skirts twice because I had so many issues with it. Math goes out the window as the fabric wants to stretch on the bias. The bottom is hemmed with horsehair braid to give it that shape.
The stripes on the waist were also made from the same blue satins. I cut them on the bias, used the pattern that SparklePipsi made, interfaced all the pieces so they wouldn't stretch out, and sewed them in. Then I ripped out the interfacing, to give the pieces as much stretch as possible. It's still a little tricky to wiggle the suit off.
All the stars as well as the tiaras were cast by our Moon, WindoftheStars. Aren't they pretty? The brooch magically matches my fabric PERFECTLY.
The boots: All the girls ordered the same model of boot in their size and modified the tops. To do this, you have to cut the zipper, so make sure to do a buttonhole stitch on top of the zipper pull so it doesn't fall off! I cut the V into the boot, and then basically created bias tape out of the blue fabric and sewed it on as you would bias tape.
The bows were again, my pattern - they are 4 separate pieces to really create the manga appearance. Heavy interfacing helps with these, but I like to attach pin backs in the center and sides to make sure they stay in place. The choker and tails in the back were done the same way: by double backing fabric using Heat 'N Bond. It doesn't fray, and I couldn't find ribbon in the right color anyway - DIY matching ribbon! Tip: use fashion tape to secure it to your neck! SM chokers like to slide around.
The wig is the Inigo from Arda in Midnight Blue. It was a pretty easy style - I reparted the wig and curled the bangs under a bit. It needed a little more fluff and curl overall, but nothing major. I considered dying it, but the blend actually looks really nice and doesn't clash with my fuku.
Photos by Darkain, OscarC, ViciousWarGoose, Waylen Photography, Madonia Photography
