I ran into a couple of amazing cosplayers earlier this summer and besides being very cool and down-to-earth people, they encouraged me to put my stuff out there. Everyone has to start somewhere. And one thing I really love about the cosplay community is the support and love everyone has for it. So, here we go. My Sorcerer Mickey.
So, first, for reference, here's what I was going for:
This is Sorcerer Mickey from the film Fantasia (1940)
I don't recall how the original idea to make this costume came to me, but I decided to do it about two weeks before Halloween. I was invited to a Halloween party and told the theme would be magic. Or magical characters. Or something to that effect. My girlfriend was going as Morgana Le Fey (BBC's Merlin) and thought this would be perfect as it would be a parody of the party.
So, in roughly two weeks I completed this costume. (Prepare for unflattering pictures!)
I already had blue felt on hand, so I used that for the hat. I bought a few pieces of grey felt for the stars and moon and red fleece for the robe. I totally guessed on how much fleece I'd need as at the time, I hadn't decided on a pattern yet. Probably not the best way to plan things out, but it worked out for the best! Also, it did not escape my attention that I was essentially making a snuggie. :P
I like bold, solid colors. And I felt that would really fit with the style and design of the costume.
I also purchased some rope for the belt. Originally I wanted a golden rope, but JoAnns didn't have any, so I settled for a brassy color instead. I like the way it turned out.
I have a bunch of patterns I've been collecting, and finally decided to use McCall's MP316 as the base. Because option C had the basic shape I wanted.
The hat took a while to figure out. I knew how big my head was, but the math involved... circles, cones... took a while to wrap my brain around that to figure out the right size of wedge to cut out. But I got it. I sewed extra fabric around the base of the cone so I could roll it up. Trust me... It looks better in person.
I also had some ren faire costume boots I bought a few years ago that have been sitting in my closet... because after receiving them, I realized I'd never be caught dead wearing these to a ren faire. But, they worked just fine for Mickey!
Blue swimming trunks that I found on safe in late October. These came with pockets, which means I didn't need to try to add pockets to the robe.
Here's a shot of me testing the boots, shorts, and a black base layer.
After making the robe, I decided I needed a hood. Just to complete the robe and because I didn't know what else to do with the neckline. It's WAY too large (I was winging it!), but since I didn't wear it up, it wasn't a big deal.
Robe with hat.
And the whole thing together!
You'll notice I've got four-finger gloves, but no ears. Originally, I hadn't intended to go with the mouse aspect of it. But I could not find plain white gloves anywhere! And I wasn't ready to attempt glove making. (Plus I was running out of time.) I found these rubber "cartoon gloves" by freak chance while I was antique shopping and wandered into a novelty shop. Serendipity I suppose. They actually had ears there but I declined to buy them because at the time, I didn't want to go "full-mouse." In hind sight, maybe I should have.
For the robe, I had to extend the pattern down to the floor, both because I'm so tall, and because the pattern ended around the shin level. I also decided to "Sweep" the front away from the front of the body to make it look more like the source material. And to aid in waking so I wouldn't trip over it. I intentionally made the back much longer to get it to drag on the ground. Mickey's robe is too large for him and I wanted to simulate that as well. I still stepped on it whenever I stepped backwards or turned too sharply. I only had two instances where someone else stepped on it. Plus, walking outside, it collected a lot of water and dirt. So, in the future, I may shorted it up a bit.
I also made the sleeves flare outward from about the mid-forearm to give it a "wizardly" look. I have no idea what that means... it just felt right to do it that way. Unexpected benefit: Because it was narrow near my elbow, I could pull the sleeves up to get them out of my way and they stayed. The sleeves extend just past my relaxed hand. I was intentionally trying to make the robe look like it was too large for me.
Anyway, here is my Sorcerer Mickey costume for Halloween 2014! I think I'll hold onto this costume. Maybe make some improvements. I'm kinda interested in taking it to a con or two.
