Poison Ivy Cosplay

New Years Eve 2016 brought around a Superhero & Villains dress up party

So of course, I needed a costume. 
But what to wear? 
Who to be? 

So many heroines wear skintight costumes, which is just not my thing. I had been thinking about a new cosplay for a Comicon trip we're planning, and decided that I would do my take on Poison Ivy for the party.

I went to Spotlight and bought the following:

• bright green cotton poplin (for the top)

• green tulle, the stiff kind

• teal green organza

• dark green stretch jersey

• alllllllllllllll of the ivy!

I have a wonderful husband who bought me a dressmaker's manikin a couple of years ago, so a lot of what I was about to do was easier. 

Step 1 - Make the underskirt

Using a straight skirt that I already own as a template, I doubled the fabric over and cut the skirt out. I made the stretch side-to side, so that I could just pull the skirt on and not have to worry about adding a zip.

I whizzed both sides through the overlocker, hemmed the bottom, and made a waistband that would sit up high (flattering for my body shape).

My overlocker: 

Step 2 - Fun part of the skirt

There are four layers of tulle and organza on this, of various lengths and cuts. A long tulle length on the bottom, then three layers of others. 

Originally the tulle frill on the front had a straight edge, but I decided that it needed to be spikier.

 I put ivy under each layer all around the skirt, and then over the top. It was all hand-sewn on.

 

The end result (back view):

Step 3 - The top

I have started making my own tops rather than buying them, though I did look at op shops for a few weeks to see if I could find a base green dress or shirt to alter for this project. I found nothing suitable.

Recently I bought a couple of mid-riff tops to go with high-waist skirts, and liked them so much that I cut a pattern off them.

Very simple, with a single dart to make it more fitted in front. They are short tops that sort of float over the waist, just covering the top of a high-waist skirt like the one I made above.

I cut the front and back out, with a 1cm seam allowance, and overlocked all of the individual edges. 

Then I put the darts in the front to make it fit and joined the front and back together. I hemmed the bottom and the neck, as I knew I was going to cover them with leaves so they didn't need to look amazing (keeping in mind that I made this in the space of a couple of days).

The next step was to put the basic top on the dressmakers dummy and start pinning ivy leaves on.

I sewed all of the individual leaves on with straight stitching, so that the edges would still move. This made the leaves stick out at all angles.

I had cut triangles and odd shapes out of the tulle when I made the skirt look more leaf-like, so I sewed all of these scraps onto the back to make it look better:

I liked the way they looked hanging from the bottom as well:

Step 4 - completing the costume

I sourced a long red wig from a local costume place, and some of the resin gum that you use to attach prosthetics to your skin. I also bought a bright red lipstick and a green makeup texta.

With some scraps from the shirt and extra bits of ivy, I made a couple of "vines" that I could tie on my wrist and arm.

I forwent jewellery, as I figured I was wearing enough interesting things.

I looked for green shoes, but apparently beige is the very "in" colour at the moment, so I added some ivy to one of my favourite pairs of shoes for the night instead:

Testing the wig out, as well as the resin I had bought to stick the leaves onto my face:

The final result: