Introduction
Hah! Now I can prove I DO cosplay other characters besides Jade. But anyway.
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| A real picture of me |
Confession: While Nonon is a very fun (and bratty!) character, Mako is my favorite. What swayed my decision to actually cosplay her is that her design is my favorite-it’s just absolutely adorable. Basically, if I were designing a marching band uniform, it would look a lot like hers. The pastel color scheme with pops of pink, the super girly dress, and the creepy elements... the ensemble is so adorable. Also, I wanted to challenge myself! I had the whole summer ahead of me, and all my sewing supplies were at my fingertips again. Back when I first getting into cosplay Nonon was one of those characters I wanted to cosplay someday. Of course, I didn’t have the skills for it, but fast forward almost two summers later and I felt like I could do it!
And it was indeed a challenge. Out all my costumes, this one was definitely the hardest, and required the most effort. And by effort, I don’t mean just tricky sewing: Lots of love was needed for every component. There wasn’t many resources on how to construct this conglomerate, either. I found myself stuck at some roadblocks due to this. So, along with having a written record of how I made my Nonon, I hope that I wouldn’t want others to feel discouraged like I was at parts, so I am hoping that if you’re working on a Nonon cosplay and stumble upon this, that you’ll be able to glean SOMETHING useful from it. And of course, never hesitate to leave a comment if you have any questions!
Costume Components: From Top to Bottom
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| The reference I used the most! |
From the top, she is wearing a shako the size of a comically large top hat, complete with angel wings and a wobbling skull. Next is her dress, which is practically seamless but is still visibly fluffy and full. And of course, her skirt is pleated with contrasting colors. A set in yoke also manages to be incorporated in the bodice. This is paired with with a set of wrist cuffs, and chunky platform boots. She also would not be a true drum baton without a baton so she also wields a hot pink mace for a prop. While Nonon’s outfit does not exactly have many “elements” to it, each DOES require a significant amount of work!
Costume Breakdown
Prelude
The dress is made entirely out of Kona Cotton, and I am pretty happy with this decision! I originally want to make the dress out of a nice sateen or polyester to give it a more “magical girl” appearance, but I was unable to find anything in a color I liked. Color was something I was picky about-the sky blue HAD to be the perfect pastel dream. I’ve seen some other Nonon cosplayers use pink for their inner pleats and other costume details, but after matching a pink with my blue I hated how it looked. The pink dirtied the baby blue-it made a much crisper appearance when paired with white. What’s nice about Kona Cotton is that not only is it quite a few steps up in terms of quality compared to the thin broadcloth stuff, is that it holds shape wonderfully! It has a good weight, which is necessary for a dress as full as Nonon’s. My only real complaint about it is that it wrinkles easily. The skirt can rumple up even just from a car ride. This makes the pleats look really messy, especially when you are trying to emulate Nonon’s impossibly stiff ones. Starching the skirt would remedy this, and the key to achieving that ridiculous cartoon stylization!
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| Materials! Pink and blue is one of my favorite color combinations! ♥ |
I do not remember the exact the yardage, but it was probably around three for the blue, and over two for the white. However, I honestly cannot emphasize enough that you need to get more than I originally did, especially if you are making pleats as opposed to just gathering it. Nonon’s box pleats eat fabric up like candy. There’s nothing more miserable trying to salvage a scrap of fabric together and attempting to get the shape you want out of it. And there’s also nothing more disheartening realizing that you made some silly mistake out of said precious fabric scrap. And then there’s nothing more obnoxious realizing that your effort was in vain and you need to buy more anyway. Which will totally hinder your progress. So! It’s best just to go with at least half a yard extra more than what you think you’ll need. This provides some kind of safety net, at least. An extra yard is even better if you’re VERY unsure.
Wow. After all that, it’s time to move onto the dress itself! As you can see, Nonon’s dress contains minimal seams. This however, is extremely difficult to replicate in real life. Making a waistless, pleated dress that is also fluffy would require extensive patterning. And I simply do not have the skills to do said extensive patterning. So in the end, I took the easier route and added a waist to the dress. Having those box pleats and fullness was simply more important to me.
Skirt
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| Messy dorm aside, this picture really shows off the ideal shape for Nonon's skirt! |
This was my first “legitimate” pleated skirt. The first one I had ever made does not even count-unless you count folding fabric back and forth like a fan and stitching it together pleating a skirt.
My skirt’s pattern was actually a dress pattern for Anna-the one from Froze, which I am honestly still ashamed of. Anna’s coronation dress however just so happens to have the exact same pleats as Nonon’s. It was undeniably perfect. So a resentful me continued to fuel Disney’s chilly winter empire for the sake of cosplay. And even now it still does not feel morally correct. This experience gave me so much respect for Anna cosplayer, though. Cutting out almost forty pleats was painful on the back enough. But having to do all the appliqué also? No way. My biggest piece advice for the skirt is to simply allow yourself plenty of time. Piecing the skirt was at least ten hours of work minimum across a few days, so that’s a project that you do NOT want to leave until the morning of the con (though if you’re at that point with this cosplay, then you are drowning anyway).
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| I've never sewn anything this tedious before! |
After my skirt was pieced together, it didn’t look like much of anything. It wasn’t until I pressed and stitched down the panels in the shape I wanted was when it started to resemble Nonon’s. Afterwards was carefully stitching down the pleats, which requires care. Then came the arduous of the pressing and sewing the hem down, and then sewing it to the bodice!
The secret to Nonon’s skirt is a petticoat. A petticoat is an absolute must if you don’t want your skirt to look limp! The fullness of it will flair out the skirt beautifully, and it will also show off the hard work that was put in the box pleats! Fluffiness peaks from the hem of the skirt anyway, so a petticoat could also be used to achieve this look.
It sounds pretty straightforward writing it out, but I can only wish it was in practice!
Bodice
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| Sadly I don't currently have any pictures of the completed bodice without the bib on! :C |
The first thing I actually made was her bodice. Since the skirt has to fit all the way around it, then you’re going to have to construct it first! The pattern actually came from one of those “scandalous” Halloween costumes. They’re surprisingly versatile, so I used the Alice pattern as my base.
It did require heavy modification: Not only did I not want to be showing off my chest to the world which meant raising the cut and adjusting the shoulders, I also dropped the waist down. Resignation to that seam line meant moving the waist closer to my hips than anything. A low waist meant emulating the dress’s originally lower pleats. And besides, it just looks much cuter than something higher waisted! C:
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| My back pieces! |
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| If I remember correctly, I extended it by five inches? |
Piecing the bodice together went relatively smoothly, until I drove myself into a pretty major pot hole! I finished the neckline using white bias tape since the bib wasn’t actually sewn onto the bodice-but more on that in time! While it did clean it up, unfortunately it totally stretched it out! It was almost slipping off my shoulders entirely! In the end, a very disappointed me had to actually take off the sleeves and bring up the bodice through the shoulders. The yoke turned out to be my saving grace. I was able to conceal the sins I committed in my bodice construction. So while the completed look is very adorable, I cannot say that I am especially proud of my overall craftsmanship with that particular part.
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| Before the stretched out reckoning |
One of my favorite parts of Nonon’s design are her big poofy princess sleeves! The puffs truly tie the whole look together, so they were a total must! The sleeve pattern came from a Dorothy costume pattern, and since even THOSE weren’t big enough for my taste, I made them even taller!
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| Seriously, they're huge |
After cutting out my pattern I ran two sets of gathering stitches through them, and gathered them until they were practically standing up on their own! Attaching the sleeve band was next, and finally attaching them to the bodice!
What was actually super fun to make were her bones! I was able to utilize what I have now so fondly christened the “Poor Man’s Applique.” I made my own pattern for them, and cut them out of the same white cotton I’ve been using. But, before cutting out ‘dem bones, I ironed on some lightweight interfacing first, and then carefully stitched around my pattern. This is waaaay easier than trying to fiddle with the interfacing if you cut it out before. Afterwards, I carefully cut a slit into the interfacing side, turned it, and poked my corners out. Then I had my set of three cute little bones! All was left was to simply iron them on and carefully topstitch for extra security! The end result is something that looks very much like applique without all the extra hassle and scary cutting!
I actually didn't take any pictures of this step, for some reason. I have pictures of my Three Star Goku appliqué which visualizes this process, though!
Bib/Yoke/Collar/Bodice Part 2: Electric Boogaloo
Now: The bib is going to require some insight to my train of thought. My bib/yoke/collar/whatever you want to call it is actually separate from the dress. Nonon’s bib is very odd: the front collar is a pretty basic standup collar, while the back is akin to a sailor’s. Meaning, the front of the yoke is attached to the dress, while the back is loose. Which is kind of ridiculous, but that’s anime for you. What this means, that if I had actually integrated the bib to the dress, then it would have been impossible to put a zipper in the back. A side zipper would also have been out of the question because of the pleats. This means, that my only option would have been a tiny zipper in the front which was very unappealing to me.
I was stumped. After some pondering, and consolation with my mom, we both came up with the same answer: Simply make the bib a separate piece entirely. And with the help of some clear snaps, the end result was excellent! It looks very much like it’s actually attached to the dress, I was able to put a zipper in my dress back, and I saved myself from a total migraine!
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| I was feeling pretty smug after hacking this thing! |
The collar is made out of white cotton, and interfaced for extra stiffness. It was patterned out myself, which was simple!-It has the same shape on both sides, but the back is a little longer. The first step was to cut out the pieces for the front and back, and then ironing on the interfacing. Since the front and back are separate pieces, I turned the pieces at the shoulders, and then stitched them together there (right sides together, of course!)
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| I have no pictures of my pattern, but it's a pretty simple shape to conceptualize |
I tend to obsess over the silliest details in my cosplays and a shining example of this was my hunt for the perfect Goku Star pattern. Nonon’s actually differs from the rest of the Elite Four, mainly to accommodate for the smaller space on her bib. If you Google something like “Goku Three Star”, the design for Gamagori or Uzu’s will pop!
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| See how the middle star is much more elongated? |
It took me ages to find a suitable image for Nonon’s and even then sizing modifications were necessary. But, if you’re stuck like how I was, then fear not!: here’s a quick picture of the pattern I made. Most likely you will have to change the sizing around but it should work as a decent frame of reference! When I have the chance, I’ll actually scan and upload my pattern in a different blog post!
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| My pattern stitched onto the interfacing and fabric! |
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| A few pictures of the process! |
The standup, scalloped “priest” collar was a bit scary at first, but wasn’t after I made my pattern. After constructing that, I cut it out on two pieces of fabric, sewed them together, and turned it. Bam, straight forward stuff. What was a pain was actually pining and stitching it down onto the yoke. Sewing through four layers of fabric plus interfacing is no easy feat, but luckily my sewing machine was able to chug along and get the job done! My first attempt at the collar was a miss-it was far too bulky. I didn’t have to scrape the entire thing, and instead trimmed it down to a nicer size. Admittedly, the collar is a mess in the back. The two sides overlap each other, and it’s still a bit bulky. My wig hides the back until I sit down and redo that part entirely.
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| Before and after with the collar! It doesn't look very nice here because I hadn't trimmed it down yet |
There’s actually a tiny... tie hanging on the end of Nonon’s collar! I personally kept forgetting about its existence until I just sat down and made it in about ten minutes. Even then, I forgot to stitch it on before I wore it the first time, and I couldn’t find it the second time. It’s just something to remember before a third wearing.
This post is getting waaayyyy too long, so the rest of Nonon’s hat and accessories (and along with my final thoughts about the project) will be covered in a separate post! You’re a saint for sticking around to this point and reading this message, also. So congratulations to you!
Cheers,
Sarah
