G A R N E T " D A G G E R " T I L . A L E X A N D R O S
Final Fantasy IX
S O P H I E . H A T T E R
Howl's Moving Castle
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The Inspiration
I made Sophie's green dress back in 2008, and deep down always knew I could do better. I'm not one for direct re-makes though (usually), so when I finally got the impulse to tackle it, I chose her yellow dress from the end sequence of the movie.
The Build
I used a combination of a vintage nightgown pattern, and custom drafting work to re-create her dress. It's very hard to find light yellow fabric, and the only thing I could find was broadcloth. Not wanting it to look cheap, I scoured the internet and found/purchased a cream/light yellow lace netting with a diamond design, and did an overlay on the entire thing. The white collar I embellished with a tiny eyelet trim I had in my stash. The broach was recycled from the old resin broach from my Mytho school costume. I broke it off the setting, painted the back red, then mounted it to EVA foam and trimmed the whole thing in a gold gimp braid for the frame. The hat was a straw hat I bought on Amazon. It was supposed to be WHITE, but after 3 attempts and always ending up with off-white/cream, I eventually kept one, stretched it using steam, and painted it with white acrylic paint. The hat band and ribbon are made from a leftover navy-blue rose brocade from my Rose-Bride Utena costume.
The wig is a cheap Amazon wig, and honestly, pretty terrible. I tossed it almost immediately after the couple of times I wore this
