Team Rocket Costume: Jessie

This is part one of several Team Rocket Costume posts.

This year, Zane and I are finally going to be Team Rocket for Halloween. It's just been a Pokemon Halloween for me, I guess. I've wanted to be Team Rocket in the past, but Jessie's hair has always overwhelmed me too much. If serious cosplayers can't do it very well, then I'm not even going to try.

So, our Team Rocket costumes are "Team Rocket inspired." Let's start with my costume: Jessie.

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1. Skirt. I bought a long skirt from a thrift store and cut off the bottom.

I hemmed it down. 

2. Shirt. First I tried to make a vest out of the extra bottom panel from the skirt. It ended up being a ton of work and didn't fit me at all. I threw it out and did some breathing exercises to de-stress. 

The next day I went to Salvation Army and bought a turtle neck for $2. I cut off the bottom, and added a giant R, which I cut from red felt. 

I used iron-on bonding strips to affix it to the shirt. I also could have sewn it, but this was easier. Just be careful ironing felt. My iron has some permanent red on it now. 

3. Hair. For Jessie's hair, I decided to make a ridiculous headband/hat/fascinator in the shape of her hair. That way, I wouldn't have to deal with making failing at anime realism.

I wanted long red feathers, but Michael's only sold white ones, so I decided to dye them. 

I didn't have a container long enough, so I used a 9/13 cake pan and just wrapped a plastic bag around it, so the dye wouldn't ruin my pan. It worked really well.

I also tie-dyed a onesie for a friend of mine who's having a baby girl next month. I figured I'd make the most of the dye while I had it out. 

I let them soak for an hour, but they still only looked pink. I gave up and laid them out to dry. 

Next, I started making my fascinator hat. I used an oval piece of felt as a base and added a strip for a bow:

Then I made three red rosettes like so:

I hot-glued the rosettes to the base. Then I anchored the four big feathers between the rosettes with more hot glue.

I bought a pack of small, pre-dyed red feathers, which I glued all over the tops of the big sturdy feathers. The final product looks like this:

Then I sewed it onto a headband. 

4. Earrings. Jessie wears green earrings. I went to Michaels' to buy supplies to make them, but the jewelry-making supplies is kind of pricey, so I just decided to make it out of materials I already had. 

I started with leftover Publix green bag, two lightweight gold plastic buttons, and an old pair of earrings.

I cut the green bag into two octagonal pieces and glued them to the buttons.

Then slipped the earring through the button hole. 

 I sewed the dangly part to the base of the earring, so it wouldn't dangle below the green part.

Then I sewed the top of the earring to the top of the green button, so it would hand properly from my ear. 

Voila!

I'll post pictures of the final costume, all components put together on Tuesday after our Halloween shenanigans. Check back to see how it all turned out!

P.S. Here's the onesie:

So cute! I can't wait to give it to her!