Morgiana- Magi Cosplay!

It was after Halloween and time to start working on the harder cosplays. While my internal debate over who the heck I will dress up as for FFX was still raging on, I knew at least who I will be for our Magi cosplay and this makes things easier.

Step one: Research! (This was done before Halloween)

I had to watch the anime Magi to first figure out who I would like to cosplay from the show.  It didn't take long at all for me to fall in love with the character Morgiana, who was quiet but feisty, and a loyal friend to her comrades in the show.

Here she is rescuing main character Alibaba from trouble again

Step Two: Now that I have picked a character, time to write down what I need to make this character happen!

__Wig

__Dress and Belt

__Necklace

__Leg wrap/shoe
__(Optional) Bracelets

__(Optional) Red contacts

__White short shorts to go under dress in case the material is thin!

I made a journal (which I got from an awesome friend!) to help keep me organized. Here's Morgiana's page in the journal:

The wig is something I would have to buy online. At this point in time I have the wig, but I still have to style it (they come unstyled, and this is something that I don't know how to do yet.

I decided to make the necklace first, because I could potentially go without the bracelets, but not without the necklace. (I'll post a picture of the bracelets in question, don't worry!)

The necklace was made with craft foam, mod podge, and paint. I didn't take pictures the first time I made the necklace, but I didn't carefully plan things out first and just dived in.

So, it came out kind of crappy so I made it again with more pictures. Here they are!

Here's my first attempt: Three layers of foam glued together, with gold spray paint and copper paint on the edges to give it a worn look.

I was having a weirdly tough time getting the shape right. So, I printed out  an image of one I found online, and because it was too big I used the smallest rung as my template. (You can see where I traced it with marker, then I put it on the window and used that to trace it on a piece of paper). The old necklace is on the top for reference.

I traced the design onto the foam using the paper as a template, and then carefully traced out the top design out on foam, and cut it out with an exact-o knife. 

After gluing the pieces together and letting them dry, I covered everything in mod podge. This helps keep everything together and creates a smooth layer. I painted it coper next, but if you are spray painting just skip this step (which I should have) because the spray paint covers everything.

The new necklace has a piece of foam running along the side to hide all the layers that were used to make the necklace. 

This is the old one. The edges look rough because I didn't add that extra layer to cover the sides. (Side note: The monster book in the background is a card my brother made for me for my Harry Potter themed wedding. I was showing someone and forgot it was out when I took this picture.)

I missed and sprayed my hand. Gold thumb!

Finished product. I added another layer of mod podge to protect it, and it dulls the bright gold a little which is nice.

ok, now those bracelets I was talking about:

She wears these cool bracelets (which I think used the be the chains she wore as a slave, so they kind of represent her overcoming that while it being a part of who she is).

I used foam to make these, and sadly forgot to take good pictures of the process again. I need to work on that. But, I needed a template for the bracelet, so TO THE INTERNET!

My awesome roommate found one and printed it for me, and I cut it out and traced it onto some craft foam (my new best friend) and followed some directions I found online. Thanks Moon Light Sirens

I removed the stones from these because the spray paint started cracking and I needed to respray paint it.  I added a few layers of mod podge in the hopes it would help.

Here it is with the jewel! I found the jewel at walmart, it had only two reds in this color, so I was lucky!!

I will post a picture of the final product when I have the chain attached, (I have this done but don't have a good picture right now. Oops.)

Now, the dress:

I ordered a dress online because I didn't think I had the skill or time to learn how to do it on my own. My awesome roommate was willing to help, but I knew she had her own cosplay to do so I just bought it.

Being a total newb, I misread the sizes, and even the largest size was way too small for me. (These are made for tiny people). So, instead of returning it, Nichole (my awesome roommate who got me into Cosplaying) used the dress as a template and cut it up at the seems, traced out a larger size dress, cut that out and sewed it together. Like a boss.

I am really impressed, even though she insists it was easy to do, and a very simple dress. I am still impressed.

Here she is tracing out the dress in her craft room

More cutting out pieces

Close to being done!

At this point, the dress needs to be hemmed, and it's done!

Note: I am not doing contacts. I have never worn them, and while it would look amazing, it's unnecessary especially where it's my first con and I don't want to have dry sore eyes if something went wrong.

The only things I have left to do for Morgaina is hem the dress, work on the shoes (I got some Roman sandal style Halloween shoes that are one size fits all, so they just need a little work) style the wig, and that's all!

I will post another update soon!