Halloween Costumes

Hello lovelies! It's me your friendly neighborhood screwup! And Loki...

Well, it's coming down to that time of the year again. My favorite time of year. Halloween! It's the one day of the year where you can dress up as a complete lunatic and not be labeled by social stigma as that freak. And, it's an excuse to go wild! But I digress. It's also a time of stress. For those who haven't come up with a costume idea. But fear not, because I have some really unique ideas that I bet no one is going to do this year.

Only a few months ago did I make my first foray into costume making. And I will give you step-by-step guides on how to make them as I did, except without the glue gun burns and the papercuts.

First, for the ladies. Now note: I was entering into a skanky video game costume contest, so when making this costume don't be a skank like me (hey wait a minute...).

Female Pikachu:
(Hey wait, don't run away! Come back...)

Materials:
Copper wire or craft wire
Wire cutters
Needlenose pliers
Scissors
1-2 yards of yellow fleece
Sharpie
Glue gun with glue
Fabric spray paints (brown and black)
Polyfil or similar material
Fishing line
Collar
Headband
Waistbelt

Time to complete: 2 days

Process:
First, assemble your materials.

Don't panic if the picture has things you don't or is missing items. I had to experiment a lot before I came to my finished product, and you don't. Just make sure you have the materials listed above.
Our first project will be the tail.

My first attempt at this was using a craft wire that was not nearly as strong as it needed to be, so make sure to use thick wire.

Mold the tail with the pliers into a proper shape. Depending on your size, the tail measurements will change, so I used 10" and went down about 2" each bend. This will depend on your preference and size though, so experiment with what looks right for you. If you are going for accuracy, in the newer games, Pikachu has a "V" shaped indent in the tip of the tail to indicate the female sex. You may do this if you wish.

As you can see in the picture, I was using the inferior wire. Make sure that the wire is strong enough that it can hold it's own shape. Next, use the wire cutters to cut sections of wire to go crosslength on the bends to sturdy the frame. Use the glue gun to attach the loose ends.
Place the tail after it has dried onto the fleece and loosely trace around it with the sharpie or marker. Give about 1" to spare on your outline. Cut two pieces of fleece out and place the wire tail in between.

Now depending on if you have a sewing machine or not, you can do this one of two ways. I don't so I used my trusty glue gun. Fold the bottom fabric in a little to hide the "seams" and glue it together. Depending on your preference, you can add a little or a lot of the polyfil for shape. Continue on each bend to glue or sew the fabric together, and stuff it with polyfil. Remember to keep folding the fabric over a little to hide the "seams". Once you are done with this, you can squish the polyfil around inside until you have reached your desired consistency.


While we let the tail sit and dry, we are going to move on to the ears. Take the wire and using the pliers, manipulate it into a pyramid shape. I used about 9" long pieces, but depending on your size and head shape, you can work out what's appropriate for you. Mold 2 sides and leave the third open a bit so you can use that as your "inner" ear. Use the glue gun to seal the loose wires.

Again, like with the tail, trace around the ears with the sharpie leaving about 1-2" for error. Unlike the tail, since the ears are a more conventional shape, you can take the fleece inside out and seal up the seams into some sort of ear sleeve with the glue gun or sewing machine. Then flip the sleeve inside out and slide the fleece over the wire molds.

Do not seal the bottom of the fleece, because the wire will need to be directly glued to the headband later. Find your generic headband, and using the gluegun, attach the wire to the headband in a pattern that you'd like. You can do off center or to the side, however you like. Then glue the excess fleece around the base of the ears, to the headband. Let this set. Your ears should be very sturdy now, and not flop around at all.

Now that this is finished, we will get to the last part of the night. First, make sure you have tested the spray paints you have bought on the fabric. I have bought fabric spray paint and had it leak all through matieral before, so be careful. Test it on the fleece, and make sure after half an hour minimum, it has not bled or done something else odd before applying it to your actual project.
If it's all good, then use cardboard or excess pieces of fleece to section off small triangles on the tip of the ears. Use the black fabric paint and liberally coat the tops so that the black is even and dark in the shape of pyramids on the tip of the ears.

Next, take your tail and cut out a jagged shape in cardboard or excess fleece. Make sure to apply your pattern on top of the tail carefully to avoid leaking and bleeding of the paint. Then using the brown spray paint, apply liberally an even coat until the BOTTOM of the tail is brown. Make sure you are painting the smaller end, that attaches to pikachu's bum.

These will sit overnight. So leave them be in an aired out section of your house. The paint smell is really strong isn't it?

This part is optional, if you'd like to go the extra mile. If you have a waist belt, go ahead and get it. I don't like ruining my actual clothing, so I devised a sleeve about the size and width of the belt made of the fleece. Attach the fleece to itself once you wrap it around the belt using the glue gun. Now, cut out a stripe pattern in cardboard or excess fleece. This will be the stripes on pikachu's back.

Use the brown spray paint and coat the pattern so it looks like the above picture. I also used paper and shoved it between the belt and the fleece to further protect my belt from the paint leaking through. This will also sit overnight.
End of the first day! Exciting isn't it?

In the morning, check that your paint has dried. Until it has, don't move onto the next step. Now find your outfit. Like I said earlier, I had trouble hunting down a yellow skirt and top (it's harder than it should be). I managed to find one at a... specialty shop, but it was really skanky. This also was when it was warmer, and since October isn't known for being warm, you may opt to wear black leggings or tights as well as finding a longer skirt.

As you can see, it's quite skanky.  Anyway, it's time to attach the tail, which is the hardest part. First, you can opt to sew or glue the tail directly to the back of your skirt, which would look the best, but it ruins the clothes. You could also purchase a cheap belt and sew or glue it, but that ruins the belt. I opted to use a loop of excess fleece and glue the tail onto that instead. You can do that if you want.

Hopefully no one is looking too closely at your butt anyway. Or if they are... well... I don't want to know. Next comes the part I had trouble with the most. Get your fishing line and according to where the tail lines up with your neck now that it's attached to your butt, sew the fishing line into the bend of the tail. Adjust the length to your personal preference (do you want the tail to stick up or sit lower?). Then attach the other end of the fishing line to the collar.


Now, comes the interesting part. Putting it on. Don your shoes and outfit first, because bending over is harder than it looks. Then apply the waist belt if you made it. It should sit below your bosom, or if you chose a longer top, then slightly lower. Attach the belt around your waist first, if you chose to use a belt. If not, then this would be the time to put the skirt on (if it's attached directly to the skirt). Reaching behind you, clasp the collar or choker on carefully. If you lined it up correctly with your neck, the fishing line should let it swing naturally as you walk.
Apply red makeup to your cheeks for the iconic pikachu cheeks, and then put the ears on. You're done. Congrats!
Alas, due to the fact that my costume is pretty short (as you can see my skirt comparison to the remote control up above), I won't be posting a picture of me in it.


I hope you had a fun time making this. This only took me 2 days, and I messed up a whole bunch trying to figure out how to make it, so hopefully it goes even easier for you. I apologize if I was unclear on anything, this is the first time I made a guide like this so if you have any questions just ask below.

For the men, I didn't forget you either. This year I am making Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2/The Movie. As it's still in the process of being made I will be uploading pictures as I complete sections of it. My trials and tribulations are here to make your costume making easier.

Lastly, if any of you guys use this costume or my following Pyramid Head one, please upload your own pics and let me know. I'd love to see what you guys have come up with, or modified to make even better. 

 

I really tried to find a decent pic of me in it but the skirt was sold as "entertainer wear". No one really needs to see that.  I wish I could put a good finished picture up I'm sorry. Maybe I can don it and wear tights  I'll try later.

 

I literally took these RIGHT now. I had my hair cut 5 days ago  but somehow it looks good still. I'm obviously not wearing the red makeup. Also. I forgot to mention. It is very hard to sit in cars with the tail so perhaps it's best to put it on after arriving at the destination. The ears also are very tall. I have to take them off in my car 

 

I will be posting a guide to Pyramid Head soon. I'm still working out the geometry of his head thingy 