Sima Yi

Source: Dynasty Warriors 7

Worn to:  Amecon 2012

Awards: Amecon 2nd Place

I like sewing, so I made a costume with lots of sewing in it :P This was made to be worn for the Amecon Omake. I don’t even play Dynasty Warriors, it was just pretty.

I didn’t have the money to make the hat for Ame so I decided to just put it on hold.

Thank you to Kii for letting me borrow her embroidery machine to do all the edges. There are over 40 of the little designs which make it up which all had to be done separately. These were embroidered in a long strip of black cotton velvet to give it texture.

Most of the costume is made with crepe silk because of the drape and that it would take silk painting well. It’s lined in polyester crepe and backed with various cotton drills to cut down on costs.

Most of the designs are drawn in gold gutta then filled in with acrylic inks. I was supposed to use a spray gun for the gradients but the gun I ordered didn’t fit my compressor, so with less than a week to go I switched to using car spray paint. The arms and robes are all spray paint, which worked surprisingly well!

All the blue bits on the costume like the boots are hand dyed with acrylic ink and a sponge. It took about 3 coats to get it the right colour and ruined my washing line!

The silver bits on the costume are applique, a special kind where each design is carefully sewn onto black tafetta, then cut out, turned inside out and sewn down so there are no raw edges.

The costume is covered in bias binding on the edges and also all over the boots. I hate bias binding and want it to die.

The belt is made with a fabric I just happened to have died darker with black ink. The purple fabric is actually cotton drill that I ironed freezer paper onto the back of and sent it through my printer. The gold diamonds are more embroidery on black felt, cut and glued on. The buckle took a lot of ebay.

The stupid little dangly bit on the front is made with silk threads and jewellery findings all carefully crocheted together with a tiny hook.

See me sing in it here: