Princess Mononoke Cosplay Breakdown

So this cosplay was one of the easier ones that I have made, but a bunch of fun! I went into this costume with the idea of not making everything not so crisp and clean. I wanted it to be a little rough around the edges because, well, she is out in the wilderness like 24/7...

Ok lets get into it....

I'll start with the mask. First, I cut a circle the size of my face out of a cheap eva foam mat I bought at the dollar store (Dollarama). I then dremeled the edges so you wouldn't see bumps from the textured side. I heated it with my not so trusty heat gun and stuffed it into a large metal bowl till it cooled to get the shape. I drew, with pencil, where I wanted the details on the face. Then I cut the bottom half from the top. I noticed in the movie that you only really see the bottom half when she has it down over her face. Almost like the mask is made out of rubber and folded in on itself. It's weird... anyways... I wanted to be able to wear it both ways. Next I cut out 2 pieces of black worbla, heated it and wrapped it around the foam with about a half inch going around the back side. Then I added the details. I placed the lower "roll thingy" (idk what to call it, geez.) right along the edge of the lower piece so that it would hide the seam. I then set the mask aside and started on the accessories.

For the necklace, I cut the general shape out of some pink insulation foam, carved it with a utility knife and then sanded it smooth. I poked a hole where the string goes, cut two pieces of worbla, heated them and then wrapped it around. I smoothed the seams as much as I possibly could and poked a hole through the worbla shell as well. For the beads in between, I had these metal tube beads already and figured I'd just wrap some worbla scraps around them. It worked well.

The earrings are 5mm eva foam, wrapped in worbla. I dremeled the edges of the foam to make them round. I put a small notch in the foam and filled it with worbla so I had something strong I could put the metal bit into. I heated where the notch was and squished the end of the earring into it.

For the dagger, the blade is carved out of pink insulation foam and then put onto a small metal rod I had from an old shoe rack. I wrapped the blade in worbla and added some 2mm eva foam to the handle to make it thicker. The end piece is also insulation foam wrapped in worbla and hot glued on.

The ears were two layers of insulation foam, glued together and then carved and sanded. I wrapped them in worbla as well. After everything was crafted I coated it in XTC-3D by Smooth-on. This stuff is magic for worbla. I just did one coat and then did some light sanding.

I almost forgot. The little jewelry pieces for the arm and head bands were made with worbla and a googly eye, painted with acrylic.

I primed everything with a coat of flat black spray paint. Everything was then hand painted with acrylics and I finished with some satin finish clear coat.

For the blue dress I just took a tank top, traced it, made it longer and flared out. I only finished the seams and not the edges. I used a stretchy denim-like knit. I ripped and cut the bottom to give it that lovely tattered look.

The apron I used linen. I feel like it doesn't need a whole lot of explaining as it's basically a rectangle with a head hole and some boob darts. I didn't finish any of the edges either, however, I did stitch around the edges in hopes that it wouldn't fray too much. Added the two tabs on the sides to pinch it together under my arms. I used some matte eye shadows I had to make it look dirty.

For the fur pieces I used a dollar store, plastic table cloth to make the pattern. I looked at the movie and did the best copy I could. I hand sewed the edges over very loosely and put a single stitch at the top of the tail to pinch it together. I thought it would make it look more like a wolf tail. The necklace I sewed onto the shoulders of the bottom fur cape.

The back of the mask is not so pretty but it worked. The Fur cape is attached with 3 pieces of velcro and the ears are also also attached with velcro. I wanted to be able to remove the mask from the cape so I could hang it on the wall in my room. The bottom portion of the mask is also attached with velcro so I can easily remove it. Velcro was my friend with this project :D

I forgot to mention that I glued fabric around the handle of the dagger...

Oh crap, the shoes..... can't forget them shoes...

I first traced a piece of eva foam the size of my foot and cut it out. It would be the sole of my shoe and give me some padding. I wrapped my foot and foam in plastic wrap and covered it in painters tape. I drew on the pattern I was going to use and then cut out the pieces. I then traced them onto fabric with seam allowance. I added some height to the boots as well when doing this. Then I sewed the pieces together, stuck the foam inside and finished off the top of the boot. I tied some fake suede string around them and BAM, some weird-ass shoes. I also put some hot glue on the bottom of the soles to give me some traction.

Over all this costume turned out really well I think :)

I hope this helps some of you and you learn the things..... I need to stop typing....

Feel free to ask questions, make the comments, give me tips on how to do things better.... I appreciate all of the feedbacks. Just don't be rude. k thnx bye. ;P