How To Make a Sailor Moon Costume

1. What you'll need
2. Making the costume...
   • hair
   • tiara
   • choker
   • scarf
   • bows
   • brooch
   • bodice
   • gloves
   • boots
3. Putting it all together

Methods for Making the Hair Buns:

1. Put your hair into pigtails. Twist the hair around to create small buns with your pigtails close to your head (one revolution is fine) and fasten with red hair ties. Leave as much as possible of your pigtails hanging down, behind the buns.
2. Split your hair in half, as though you're making pigtails. Take one pigtail, and split it in half. Use the top half to make a bun, and the other half to make the ponytail portion. Be sure to fasten them close together. Use a red hair tie on the bun. Repeat for other side.
3. Split your hair in half, as though you're making pigtails. Take one pigtail, and split it in half. Fasten one pigtail in place and use the hair of the other one to wrap around the base of the fastened pigtail. Smooth the pigtail that's sticking up through the middle down the back of the bun and fasten with a red hair tie. Repeat for other side.

If you don't want to make this as a separate piece, use makeup or face paint to draw and paint it on your forehead (you may need assistance).

(manga tiara #1)

• Newspaper
• Pipe cleaners/ chenille stems that are close to the colour of your hair (or the hair/wig colour you will have when wearing the costume)
• Gold wrapping paper
• Flat gold wire ribbon (try a craft store)
• Red craft jewel (flat on the back and shiny) – available in most craft stores. Usually have a foiled back and are cut textured in the front.

(manga tiara #2)

1. Use a long pipe cleaner (or attach two together) and make a downwards point in the middle.
2. Press the pipe cleaner against your forehead, try to get it in the shape of your head, and keep it centred.
3. Remove the pipe cleaner from your head, carefully maintaining its shape.
4. Wrap some strips of dry newspaper around the pipe cleaner (keep it tight, but be careful to maintain the shape), taping them at the ends of the strips to keep them on. Keep the puffed newspaper strips around the pipe cleaner consistent (so it doesn't look lumpy). Have the puff of newspaper go around enough pipe cleaner that when the tiara is on, the ends will be at about your ears.
5. Put the tiara against your forehead again to make sure the shape is still right. Then carefully remove it, maintaining the shape.
6. Glue or papier maché strips of newspaper onto the tiara, smoothing out as many wrinkles as possible. Use as many layers as you need to get the desired smoothness. Proceed when dry.
7. If you are spray painting the tiara gold, be sure that the tiara is completely dry; then spray paint the entire thing (follow directions on spray can, and use in a well-ventilated area). Proceed when dry. If not spray painting, skip this step.
8. Put the tiara face down on the back of some gold wrapping paper. Using the tiara as a guideline, trace out the tiara shape on the paper with a little extra space on each side (you need some overlap). Cut out the shape from the gold paper and glue the gold paper to the front of your tiara, folding the edges around the sides, to the back. Smooth out any wrinkles. Proceed when dry.
9. Cut the gold wire ribbon, in two pieces in a shape to fit the tiara along the bottom edge. Make sure your cuts are angled so that the pieces will fit together smoothly. Hot glue the pieces of wire ribbon along the bottom edge of the tiara, attaching it to the back (making sure it is partly visible from the front). Also cut and glue pieces of wire ribbon appropriately for the top edge.
10. Hot glue an oval, red, craft jewel that is flat on the back to the centre of the tiara in the front.
    

You can use the pipe cleaners to attach the tiara to your head. Try to weave them through your hair a bit and wrap them behind your ears. Use some bobby pins to help hold it in place.

Alternatively, you could cut the pipe cleaners off at the ends and glue on some combed teeth instead (facing down), and attach the tiara that way. I'm not sure how well that will hold, as I haven't tried it, but it should be fine. Hair clips might also work, but they could be tricky.

If you want, you could use a piece of wire coat hanger instead of pipe cleaners, but it will be quite difficult to mold to the correct shape.

• Use a length of red ribbon (slightly wider than 1/2 an inch or 1.25 cm) that is the right size to tie around your neck. Or buy a red choker that is the right size.
• Glue on a crescent moon – made with cardboard and yellow fabric/felt, gold sparkles (affixed with glue), or gold paper – to the centre of the front of the choker.

Materials:

• Blue scarf (preferably same colour as skirt)
• White ribbon or white fabric paint.

If possible, find or sew a scarf that has a square back. However, a triangular one works just as well.

Steps:
(add the white stripes by either method)

1. Use fabric paint to draw them on. Be patient and try to maintain a consistent line that is about half an inch from the perimeter (not around entire scarf, only on the top, along the outer edge). Draw a second line up to half an inch from the first one, and try to be consistent.
2. Sew on two lines of thin white ribbon (using same measurements as previous method).

• Wide, red ribbon. About 2 inches (5 cm) wide or more, if your prefer.
• You may want to double up the ribbon to create a larger bow.

Steps (two methods):

1. Tie into a regular bow. You can sew the middle so that it won't untie.
2. Double your use of ribbon. Create two loops of ribbon (glue or sew the ends together, overlap is okay) and place one loop over the other, making an "X" shape. Take another strip of ribbon, pinch it in the middle, and place it behind the loops, aligning the middles. Tie them all together with a smaller piece of ribbon around the middle.

• Two sheets of red felt
  (can be bought at a craft store, sheets are usually a little smaller than an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper)
• Red ribbon (slightly wider than 1/2 an inch)
• Hot glue (and glue gun) [optional]

Steps:

1. Cut a strip (roughly 2 inches) lengthwise from an edge of the felt (be as neat as possible because you will use all of the felt)
2. Fold the larger piece of felt accordion style, pinching it in the middle (hold in place) hold the smaller piece of felt to the bottom of this by pinching in the middle as well.
3. Use some red ribbon to tie the two pieces together, trimming the edges of the ribbon. You may hot glue the centre to prevent it from coming apart.

• Plain paper – white or in an appropriate base colour depending on the brooch style chosen
• Round makeup compact or other stiff, circular object
• White glue
• Paint
• Pencil and eraser

1. Glue the paper to the front of the makeup compact. With the compact open, tuck the edges of the paper around the edges. Close the compact and proceed when dry.
2. Draw on an appropriate design and paint it, or cut out appropriate shapes from coloured paper and glue them on. You can optionally glaze over top to set everything.
3. Hot glue a brooch pin to the back of the compact. If you don't have a brooch pin, use a safety pin and cloth mesh.

(anime brooch)

Design #1: Sailor Moon (Season 1 – Anime Version)

• A 1/4 inch golden border is around the entire circle
• In this circle, a crescent moon sits (like a smile) and a small pink circle slightly above the moon (but still contained within the border and centred between the points of the moon).
• Make four small coloured circles in the border: top, bottom, left, and right in the colours red, blue, green, and orange respectively. Alternatively, small craft jewels in the correct colours can be glued in place.

(manga brooch)

Design #1: Sailor Moon (Season 1 – Manga Version)

• A thinly bordered (1/8 inch) crescent moon sits (like a smile) near the bottom of the brooch (about 1/4 inch from the edge, centred horizontally)
• A thinly bordered small pink circle (1/8 inch) sits slightly above the moon (centred horizontally between the points of the moon), it should be about 1/4 inch away from the top edge.
• Make four small coloured circles (beads will also work) to attach to the edges: top, bottom, left, and right in the colours red/ pink, blue, green, and orange (respectively).

Design #2: Sailor Moon (Season R – Anime Version)

• A 1/4 inch golden border is around the entire circle
• An outlined star (almost 1/4 inch thickness) is placed within the border, all points touching the inner edge of the border.
• Create a circle in the middle of the star, touching all inner points of the star.
• Inside the circle, a crescent moon sits (like a smile) about 1/8 inch from the edge of the circle.
• A small pink circle is about 1/8 inch above the moon (but still contained in the circle, centred between the points of the moon) and about 1/8 inch from the edge of the circle it's directly contained within (the circle inside the star).
• A red circle goes inside the top point of the star; a green circle on the outside of the star between the two left points; a blue circle on the outside of the circle between the two bottom points; and the orange circle outside the star between the two right points. Each circle can be bordered by about 1/8 inch. Again, craft jewels work well for the coloured circles.

Other Suggestions [optional]:

• Add gold sparkles to all the yellow/ gold parts
• Use plastic beads/ craft jewels for the small circles
• If you want sharp, black lines; use a fine-tipped permanent/ waterproof marker. Staedtler makes quick drying, waterproof black pigment liners in varied widths. You can also use black paint (with a fine brush) or India ink (with a fine brush or a fine-nibbed calligraphy pen), but you will need lots of patience and a steady hand.
• Coat the entire brooch with clear glaze to protect it (glue/ podge will work too, but they are susceptible to water damage)

Other Brooches:

cosmic heart compact
(anime) [inside]

crisis moon compact (manga)

Materials:

• White cloth
• Velcro strips
• Large, plastic ice cream container (or something else stiff) cut to appropriate shape
• Stuffing (for bottom border) [optional]
• Thread
• Sewing machine

Steps:

1. Have the bodice peak in the middle at the top and curve a little downward on either side of the top peak (front only)
2. Keep the back (top and bottom) fairly straight. The top of the back should be just under chest level, about the place that the band from a bra wraps around the body. The bottom of the back should end between waist and hip level, depending on your preference.
3. Use something stiff (like an ice cream container) cut with the upward and downward peaks, place in the middle of the bodice and sew inside. This will help keep the bodice straight when being worn and helps with the sizing.
4. Create a slightly puffed border along the entire bottom edge. You can use stuffing here to add dimension.
5. Sew Velcro on the edges at the back for a vertical closure.
6. Attach your back bow to the back of the bodice (on the side which will be on top when the bodice is closed).

Or, just work with the shirt a little bit:

• An alternative to a sewn piece to wear overtop is to attach the middle of the bottom of the shirt (in the front) onto the skirt. This can be done with pins, buttons, or possibly Velcro. Be aware that this may cause the skirt to lift slightly.

• White gloves
• Red ribbon or red cloth and stuffing

Methdods:

1. Attach three strips of red ribbon around the open end of one glove with hot glue or by sewing. Repeat for other glove.
2. Measure the appropriate length around your elbow before cutting the length of your cloth. Cut the width of the cloth at a little more than double the desired height for the entire ensemble of the three bands. Fold the cloth in half along its length and put a little stuffing along the inside of the fold, then sew along the length to secure the band. Put some stuffing inside the cloth, next to the seam you just sewed, and sew along the length again to secure the second band. Put some stuffing inside the cloth, next to the seam you just sewed, and sew along the length again to secure the third band. Sew the completed ensemble to your glove. Repeat process for other glove.

Note for real boots: They should be about knee high. If your boots are not already red, do not spray paint them because the paint will chip off, and it looks really terrible. Try to get boots that have a fairly snug fit so that they look similar to the what's illustrated in the series.

1. Use knee-high red socks, and wear short red shoes (flat or with low heels).
2. Add border as outlined below.

1. Use knee-high red boots (try secondhand stores, the Salvation Army, or Goodwill). If you can't find red boots, you can sew cloth covers to wear over top or wer the covers with shoes (similar to the sock method above).
2. Add border as outlined below.

The Border:

To attach the border to the boots you can either sew them together (sock method or cloth boot covers), or hot glue them together. However, if you are worried about ruining your boots, you will need to be more crafty.

Example: glue thin pieces of cardboard to the inside of the boots, maintaining a consistent border (1 inch should be fine) for both below (inside the boot) and above (outside the boot) the top edge of the boot. Glue the felt and moon border to the cardboard. Later, you can rip out the cardboard and border. It will likely be easiest to remove if you use hot glue. If there is any discolouration or tearing, hopefully it won't be noticed. If you're worried about discolouration or tearing, just cut the cardboard down to size of the boot when removing, and try to remove the cardboard gently, with warm water. You may need to soak the boots for this.

Example 2: Attach the border using adhesive Velcro strips. Be sure to put the soft Velcro inside the boot, in case you won't remove it. Rubber cement thinner, lighter fluid, or baby oil can be used to remove the Velcro from the inside of the boots. Be sure to clean off the boots after with water or a non-flammable, gentle cleaner.

• Attach one of the red bows to the ends of the blue scarf. Also attach the top points of the bow onto the scarf appropriately (otherwise the bow droops). You can use hot glue or sew these pieces together. Safety pins will show through, so they're not recommended for attaching the points. However, a safety pin is a good way to attach the center of the bow to the scarf.
• Pin the locket onto the centre of the bow.

The scarf and bow ensemble can also be attached to the T-shirt (along the collar if V-necked) with hot glue/ pins/ by sewing

The Skirt

• One of the red felt bows can be easily pinned/ hot glued/ sewed to the back of the skirt (or bodice)