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Why Illusen?
Right after finishing my Fyora cosplay in 2018, I got the itching to make more Neopet faeries, so I started to assemble materials for Illusen! The dress was the first piece I had attempted, but I was very displeased and discouraged at how it had come out. The back area, I had cut the slits too high on, so it showed more than I intended, haha. I shelved the project until 2021.
Come 2021, I was re-inspired once again to pick up the Neopets spirit and revisit Illusen for real! I dove deep into immersing myself on her build, even removing social media apps from my phone so I could better focus. The end result was totally worth it, and I can't wait to cosplay even more Neopet faeries real soon! ^_^
Since I ended up using NO parts of the original Illusen dress I had attempted (besides as scraps for the green dress and gloves contrast, heheh) I'm counting this as having been started in February 2021, since I pretty much was starting from scratch all over again! Got new dress material, belt and choker material, even a whole new wig and pair of point ear prosthetics.
Costume Stats
Started: February 2021
Completed: March 2021
Status: active
Wig by: Purple Plum Inc. (wefts are from Cosplay-Wig)
Worn at: not yet debuted
Awards: none
Related Cosplays
About This Costume
Though simple in appearance, a lot went into building this cosplay! I made probably 7 dress mockups before finally settling on a pattern, and it still came out too tight initially, so I had to take it apart and replace the whole front panel, oof. The light green fabric is double layered synergy knit from Blue Moon Fabrics. To keep the leaves on the bottom hem from curling, I used Heat n Bond in between the layers. Only near the hem, though, it would not be able to stretch enough otherwise, haha.
The gloves were designed initially in two pieces, but decided I didn't like the side seam on the pinky side of my arm, so repatterned the glove to have only one inside seam (on the thumb side), and be one solid piece all the way around. The trim for the gloves and dress were done in the same fabric I had *initially* intended to use for the 2018 dress. I hemmed it using the same Heat n Bond method as the dress, so the leaves stay structured, without losing the ability to stretch.
The wings are a 12-14 gauge wire (I forget which) shaped by hand, and covered in green stretch mesh, hand sewn on using invisible thread. To get the leafy pattern, I made a stencil from Cricut vinyl to stick to the wings. This blocked out the paint as I lightly coated it in layers of Design Master Color Tool spray paint. The wings have clips in the middle that slide into pockets on the back of a corset-like garment that I wear under the dress.
More info coming soon!
