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Description
Character: Sally
Source: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Seamstress/Model & Photography: Tess [cupcake-rufflebutt]

Construction Notes:
What can I say about everyone's favourite ragdoll? Sally is a costume that I've wanted to make since I began cosplaying in 2004, but I always told myself "maybe next year" or talked myself down, afraid that I wouldn't do her justice. So what finally coerced me into making her? I thought that she might be a nice, "little" project for me to tackle during the school year. Little? Clearly I've never made anything patchwork or involving copious amounts of decorative stitching, because the dress alone ate up over 40 hours of my life, LOL. I began with a mockup of a simple 3-piece dress to which I added some sneaky darts (Sally has such a lovely figure, I really didn't want to look like I was wearing a bag). I cut the mockup into patches, which I used as a pattern for the actual dress fabric. Before stitching everything back together I added the various patterns using watered-down acrylics and various bits and bobs. Piecing the patchwork back together was probably the most frustrating step of the process, as the patches often converged at weird angles (THANKS TIM BURTON), and then came the task of hand-stitching all the black topstitching along the patches. Lastly I chopped at and frayed all the edges and weathered the entire garment with brown/black paint. Since Halloweentown is so dark and dingy, it seemed a more realistic choice for Sally's dress to be dirtied up and wrinkled than pristine and brightly coloured. (And in general, I sought fabrics that were a tone darker or duller than the colour scheme seen on most Sally merchandise, swapping out bright teals and pinks and yellows for murky greens and dusty salmons and brown-golds.) I chose to use a bodysuit rather than do full bodypainting, partly for warmth and partly for pure convenience. I do have quite a bit of work left to do on the bodysuit, since I was working on it at the convention and didn't have the time to add all the topstitching and weathering, and it also needs to be taken in for a snugger, more skin-like fit. I went back and forth a number of times in deciding between a synthetic wig vs. a yarn wig, and in the end I went with the more doll-like approach -- yarn. Making a yarn wig proved to be slightly more time-consuming than I had anticipated, seeing as the entire thing is hand-sewn, but I really like the look of it, and I love that the yarn I chose is mottled with other earthy colours, adding to Sally's mismatched appearance. The socks were sewn and painted to fit over the tops of my boots, creating the illusion of teeny tiny feet. (Seriously, she has the most adorable tiny feet!) As a prop, I chose to make Sally's "gift basket" for Jack, covering a real basket in butcher paper (AGAIN, THANKS TIME BURTON) and filling it with all her goodies -- a corked bottle, a plate, a wooden spoon, and a handful of the flowers she picks outside Jack's gate. My makeup presented a few troubles this time around, not having any time before the convention to properly test the Ben Nye cream makeup I had purchased, and I was a little displeased with how translucent it went on, but I guess it serves me right for switching from Mehron, my preferred theatrical makeup brand. At any rate, I did do a tiny bit of photoshopping in these images, since the paint did not go on as opaquely as I'd have liked. Next time I hope to correct these problems! Oh, and rather than paint the stitching onto my face, I used spirit gum to apply black crochet thread -- time consuming, but quite a neat effect!

Please pardon the quality of these images. I'm still waiting on nice images from the photographers I worked with at Anime USA, but wanted photographic evidence badly enough that I grabbed my father's old camera and threw on my costume while visiting my parents for Thanksgiving. All in all, I know what I need to fix for Katsucon, but I was pleased with the costume's first run. Thanks for looking!

Special Request:
Please no critiques/criticism; I'd like to keep this gallery happy! :3

Description
Character: Sally
Source: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Seamstress/Model & Photography: Tess [cupcake-rufflebutt]

Construction Notes:
What can I say about everyone's favourite ragdoll? Sally is a costume that I've wanted to make since I began cosplaying in 2004, but I always told myself "maybe next year" or talked myself down, afraid that I wouldn't do her justice. So what finally coerced me into making her? I thought that she might be a nice, "little" project for me to tackle during the school year. Little? Clearly I've never made anything patchwork or involving copious amounts of decorative stitching, because the dress alone ate up over 40 hours of my life, LOL. I began with a mockup of a simple 3-piece dress to which I added some sneaky darts (Sally has such a lovely figure, I really didn't want to look like I was wearing a bag). I cut the mockup into patches, which I used as a pattern for the actual dress fabric. Before stitching everything back together I added the various patterns using watered-down acrylics and various bits and bobs. Piecing the patchwork back together was probably the most frustrating step of the process, as the patches often converged at weird angles (THANKS TIM BURTON), and then came the task of hand-stitching all the black topstitching along the patches. Lastly I chopped at and frayed all the edges and weathered the entire garment with brown/black paint. Since Halloweentown is so dark and dingy, it seemed a more realistic choice for Sally's dress to be dirtied up and wrinkled than pristine and brightly coloured. (And in general, I sought fabrics that were a tone darker or duller than the colour scheme seen on most Sally merchandise, swapping out bright teals and pinks and yellows for murky greens and dusty salmons and brown-golds.) I chose to use a bodysuit rather than do full bodypainting, partly for warmth and partly for pure convenience. I do have quite a bit of work left to do on the bodysuit, since I was working on it at the convention and didn't have the time to add all the topstitching and weathering, and it also needs to be taken in for a snugger, more skin-like fit. I went back and forth a number of times in deciding between a synthetic wig vs. a yarn wig, and in the end I went with the more doll-like approach -- yarn. Making a yarn wig proved to be slightly more time-consuming than I had anticipated, seeing as the entire thing is hand-sewn, but I really like the look of it, and I love that the yarn I chose is mottled with other earthy colours, adding to Sally's mismatched appearance. The socks were sewn and painted to fit over the tops of my boots, creating the illusion of teeny tiny feet. (Seriously, she has the most adorable tiny feet!) As a prop, I chose to make Sally's "gift basket" for Jack, covering a real basket in butcher paper (AGAIN, THANKS TIME BURTON) and filling it with all her goodies -- a corked bottle, a plate, a wooden spoon, and a handful of the flowers she picks outside Jack's gate. My makeup presented a few troubles this time around, not having any time before the convention to properly test the Ben Nye cream makeup I had purchased, and I was a little displeased with how translucent it went on, but I guess it serves me right for switching from Mehron, my preferred theatrical makeup brand. At any rate, I did do a tiny bit of photoshopping in these images, since the paint did not go on as opaquely as I'd have liked. Next time I hope to correct these problems! Oh, and rather than paint the stitching onto my face, I used spirit gum to apply black crochet thread -- time consuming, but quite a neat effect!

Please pardon the quality of these images. I'm still waiting on nice images from the photographers I worked with at Anime USA, but wanted photographic evidence badly enough that I grabbed my father's old camera and threw on my costume while visiting my parents for Thanksgiving. All in all, I know what I need to fix for Katsucon, but I was pleased with the costume's first run. Thanks for looking!

Special Request:
Please no critiques/criticism; I'd like to keep this gallery happy! :3