Character: Hiraru Shidou
Series: Magic Knights Rayearth
Version: Artbook
Debut: Fan Expo Dallas 2024
Build Thread
I have had the idea for this costume in the back of my mind for years now, but part of it’s appeal was a performance to highlight the sword prop so I’ve sat on it. Last year I had the opportunity to go to Holiday Matsuri and decided to attempt to make this costume and submit for the WCC. SPOILER ALERT: I did not end up doing that. The effort in engineering the prop + sewing the costume + coordinating a skit proved to be too much in the time frame so I gave up on the WCC and instead finished her over the next 7 months to participate in the Fan Expo Masters of Cosplay event. What the HECK was I thinking if it took me an additional 7 months to make this thing lol. It’s ok though, I am incredibly proud of this costume and this prop and I am very happy I gave it the time it needed to come together.
The Costume:
Since I was going to be putting a lot of effort into engineering and building the prop sword for this costume I wanted the outfit I chose to be something I felt confident in making but would still have stage impact so I picked this dress from CLAMPs illustrations.
Skirt and Blouse
To make the garments I drafted a high-low circle skirt and made that out of 3 layers of chiffon with one layer of charmeuse for opacity. These layers are finished with a fishing line hem. The red layer is taffeta lined with more charmeuse and it’s all attached to a half elastic waist band. All of the gold bias tape on this costume is made by using Pellon shape-flex interfacing cut on the bias and fused to holo spandex. This gets the spandex to act like a woven bias tape since the interfacing is a woven. A+ would recommend if you want obnoxious metallic bias tape.
The blouse was based on a generated sewist.com pattern, but I ended up doing 2 full bust adjustments on it to get it to fit right. The sides have panels of chiffon gathered and sewn into the princess seams to create the look of the flowy fabric in the art. The rest of the blouse is layers of chiffon and charmeuse flatlined to muslin. It’s lined and closes in the back with a zipper.
Waist Cincher and Arm Guards
The waist cincher is 3 layers and modified off of a commercial pattern. The fashion layer is a mystique dot spandex interfaced shape flex. The mid layer is a thick cotton with rigilene boning and it is lined with muslin. The applique and cabochon were attached (more on that below) and the top and bottom were finished with the gold bias tape. It laces in the back with a modesty panel.
The arm guards were made using scuba to give them some bulk while still being stretchy. I was able to use the pattern I drafted from my Nel costume and modified that. I used the same white mystique fabric as I did on the waist cincher.
Boots
For the boots I used an old pair of thrifted boots from a previous costume as a base. Since Hikaru’s boots are white I started by painting these black books white so the black wouldn’t show through the boot covers. I also painted the soles with angelus and too hard additive. Once the base boots were ready I drafted a pattern using the saran wrap and tape method and made my fabric covers. I also drafted the large cuff of the boot and the little armor piece that sits on top. For the boot cuffs I used interfacing foam and covered those in my white mystique fabric. They are a separate piece that I put on first and then attach to the boots with a snap. The armor piece is just made using the scuba and a spandex strap and it slips onto the boot and just sits behind the heel. I finished the boots off with a row of white trim at the base where the boot cover was glued on.
Cabochons and Gold Designs
For the cabochons I used a few methods to create the pink gems. For the very large ones on the tabard and waist cincher I used fillable plastic ornaments. The inside was painted with color shift and metallic paints. Then they were filled with expanding foam to create a flat backing. I cut off the extra foam, sanded it smooth and glued it to a stiff felt piece. For the small round cabochons I used glass flat backs and painted the backs. For the trapezoid shaped ones on the tabard I had to cast my own using 2 part resin because of the unique shape. These were also painted and mounted on felt. Once the cabochons were done I was able to create beaded bezels to set all of my “stones”
The gold designs surrounding the gems was done with applique. For most of the pieces it was a straight forward applique using heat and bond and stabilizer, but for the 2 large designs I added a layer of neoprene to create a puffy effect and add some dimension.
Leggings
The leggings were made using power mesh for the skintone and spandex for the stockings. I also added in a pair of safety shorts under the skirt. The shorts were the same pink spandex but they are lined with a layer of white spandex so they are opaque. These were patterned off of a simple trace of existing leggings. I made a mock up and used that to determine where to put my seam lines. I then made a scrunchy tube and attached it to the ankle of the leg where the stocking is “falling.”
Fun fact: so far every time I wear this at least one person tells me my sock fell down lol.
Cape
The cape pattern was created by simple draping. I started with a circle shape for the shoulder swags and added a gathered rectangle. I used ban-rol to sew very small rolled hems on the cape. The cape attaches to the red tabard.
The Sword
This sword was the lynchpin to my entire concept. I wanted to create a prop that would conceal a flame that could be pulled out at the climax of the performance. The challenges were that (originally) the sword needed to break down for easy travel and hide an entire flag in the blade. I really wrestled with how to pull this off until I worked with foam interfacing on my Nel costume. What if the blade wasn’t hard? What if the blade was just a fabric tube and the structure could break down into smaller parts? With that I was off to engineer this really weird sword. You can see the various components that make up this sword here:
The Guts
Before I could work on the visible part of the sword I needed to figure out how to build the structure to support the blade and house the flag. I looked around for existing objects I could utilize as a base and ended up finding a 3 part wooden handle with threads at the ends that came with these plastic threaded connector pieces. You just had to twist the pieces together. That seemed like a promising start, and it was pretty cheap which was another big plus. Using this premade existing connectors would save me time. I was able to find a longer wooden handle for a plunger with threads at the end I could use to build the sword hilt off of. The last element I needed to figure out was the piece that would house the flag. For that I ended up learning how to do some basic modeling in Tinkercad and 3D printing a diamond shaped box. Because I had to print in sections I used a flat metal rod inserted into the walls to add strength.
The Blade
The blade is basically a foam tube. I used a foam interfacing that had one side with heat n bond glue. I used that side to apply a metallic silver spandex to 4 foam pieces. Each side of the blade has a seam up the middle. There is one side of the blade that was left un-sewn to leave open a space to remove the flag. This area was finished by using contact cement and folding the spandex over the edge. The tip is also left open as it will be covered by a gold cap. The blade is held together with snaps and velcro. It velcros to the the 3D printed box to make sure it stays in place. The part of the blade that sits against the hilt velcros into place as well. The exta red designs are painted craft foam that was attached with contact cement.
The tip of the blade is covered by a gold cap in the anime so I chose to make that version so I had a way to cover the access point for the flag box. The tip is gold spandex heat and bonded to 2mm craft foam and then sewn together on the sides and turned out. I cut a small groove down the middle of the foam and used my iron to heat it up so I could heat set it into a more pointed shape. This piece covers the tip of the blade and snaps into place. I was also able to bead some cabochons that are on this piece to tie it in with the costume.
The Hilt
When I started this project I knew I wouldn’t have time to teach myself how to 3D model the more organic shapes of the sword so I defaulted to traditional sculpting using craft foam, foam clay and paper clay. I was able to use Tinkercad to create 3D models for the Lion’s head and parts of the pommel as well as a base to sculpt off of. I used my Cricut to cut some base pieces out of craft foam and made supports for the sculpting that could insert into the base and be sculpted on top of. I did it this way to try and maintain as much symmetry as I could between the 2 sides. For the grip’s tapered shape I used paper clay because it sticks to the wood better than foam clay. I also used the paper clay to fill in gaps on the guard between my 3D printed base and my foam clay sculpts. Once everything was sculpted I started sanding the sculpted pieces as well as the 3D prints.
After a lot of sculpting and sanding it was time to reinforce and smooth all of my hard work. I glued my guard onto the hilt and then I used Epsilon resin on all of the foam and clay sculpted pieces. I used XTC-3D to smooth out my 3D prints. This is a resin that does not produce a lot of heat so it won’t melt your prints. After all of the resin it was time for……..MORE SANDING. I really really hated the sanding.
I chose to hand paint everything because I do not like masking and spray paint so I used Plaid FX acrylics for the red and gold painting on the hilt. I added depth with some watered down black paint. Because I used the plaid FX I was also able to paint the craft foam pieces on the blade the same color. I used color shift and metallic paints to paint all of the gems on the sword so they matched the gems on the costume. Once painted and glued together everything got a few coats of spray on clear coat epoxy.
The very last finishing touch was sculpting the tiniest little claws in craft foam and covering them in the same fabric as the sword tip to tie the golds on the sword together. After they were wrapped in the fabric I glued them onto the sword.
The Flame
I did a lot of initial testing and prototyping in the beginning to try to find a material that would be as thin as possible but still visible enough to read as a flame. I ended up settling on spoonflower’s satin and got the flame printed. The design was cut out and the edges are covered in fray check. didn’t want any bulk from sewing seams. To make sure the flag maintained its shape as it moved I sandwiched the stain in a mesh fabric. This also protects the satin edge some and prevents any possible fraying. The flag has a tube at the end and a wooden dowel is inserted. This is what stops the flag from being pulled completely out of sword. It’s taped at both ends of the dowel and the flag is rolled around the dowel and inserted into the sword. There is a silver bit that sticks out of the flag and is attached the the blade with a magnet. This is what I grab and pull to release the flame.
If you read all of that, thank you and I’ll leave you with one last shot of this project.
photos by: BTSE Photo