My second Juuni Kokki costume. ^_^ The Twelve Kingdoms is my favorite anime and one of my favorite outfits from the series is the uniform that the nyosen wear. (The nyosen are a group of women who raise holy unicorn-like creatures called kirin.) I opted to make the somewhat fancier green-trimmed version worn during a festival to choose a new ruler and was quite pleased with how it came out. ^_^

Construction details...

General: I chose to use Chinese brocades for this costume since the design is Chinese inspired plus I wanted rich fabrics because it is worn during a festival to choose a new king. Trying to match the green trim in the reference turned out to be problematic due to the limited shades available in brocade. Despite going through well over a dozen fabric stores in Manhattan, I couldn’t find a match for that green. -_-; I also attempted to dye the proper shade by using procion dyes but the swatches I tested wouldn’t take the color or would only dye on one side. In the end, I had to settle for a green that was the closest I could find but still a couple of shades darker than ideal.

Rather than creating 2 robes, I made separate tops and skirts for both layers because there didn’t seem to be any obvious overlap in the skirts in the reference. Since the costume requires layers and I knew that I would be wearing it in June, I used French seams where possible so that the pieces wouldn’t have to be lined. The few remaining seams were finished with bias binding or a zigzag stitch.

Blue top: The top was made, using an altered kimono pattern. I shortened the pattern to hip length and changed the angle of the overlap so that the end of the neckband would extend to the side seam. I also drafted a new sleeve pattern piece. The gold trim was sewn on by machine after the green bands were attached and seams were finished as French seams or with bias binding. Snap buttons were sewn to the side seams near the hem to help hold the garment closed.

Blue skirt: This skirt was constructed using an altered commercial skirt pattern. I shortened it to knee length, reduced the flare, and added a band of contrasting trim at the bottom. The skirt closes with an invisible zipper and a hook and eye. I used French seams for the sides and a zigzag stitch on the back seam where the zipper was added.

White top: This piece was created from a pattern I drafted by myself and constructed using French seams. To mimic the billowy sleeves in the reference, I designed the sleeves to go about 6 inches past my fingertips and have a hem of approximately 4 feet.

White skirt: The skirt was reused from a previous Twelve Kingdoms costume. It was made by sewing a rectangle of fabric into a tube and adding a hem and elastic waistband. It also uses a French seam.

Blue sash: The sash was created from a pattern I drafted by myself. The sash is lined and interfaced to add stiffness. The gold circles in the front were crocheted from metallic embroidery floss and stitched down by hand, along with the gold trim around the middle. The sash overlaps in the back and closes with a combination of snap buttons and hook and eyes

Yellow streamers: I drafted a simple pattern piece for the streamers. After the fabric was cut, I hand stitched gold trim to the top pieces to create the patterns in the reference. The pieces were then sewn and pressed. The top of each pair was finished so that they could hang from a belt under the sash. Originally, I had planned to sew them into the sash but decided against it because I thought the weight might make the sash sag.

Hair extension: This was the most complicated hairstyle I’ve tried to recreate so far and the first time I had to include rigid sections of hair. I made sewn wefts with two packs of extensions and braided part of the length with black wire for the loops. After the braids were made, I shaped the loops and gathered the ends together with elastics before sewing ribbon over the section to smooth it out and hide the wire and rubber bands. I used gold embroidery floss to make tassels and braid cording that I stitched into a hairwrap over the ribbon.

Then, with the top section complete, I attached the extension to a banana clip using wire. The ponytail was combed out and a section near the bottom wrapped with gold cord. I only used elastics rather than stitching the wrap on the bottom so that I can easily remove it and comb the ponytail when necessary.

Pink flowers: The two pink flowers were made by cutting little circles of organza with pinking shears and stitching them together, layer by layer. The finished flowers were then attached to an elastic.

Fan: The fan was my first attempt at making a prop other than a plushie. I used straight and curved rulers to sketch out an oval on white matboard and cut it out using the blade from a mat cutter. I used acrylic paint to add gold borders to the oval and paint the wooden pieces for the handle. The handle was made by gluing a square dowel to one side of the oval and adding small wooden spheres at both ends.

Otakon

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