Happy Halloween!

“Hey Jessi, why did you basically stop updating your site over the past couple of weeks? I thought you were trying to keep up on first episode reviews?” Well, friend, it’s Halloween season, and while I typically don’t put a ton of effort into my costumes (I’ve told folks in my “real life” that my special shitpost language is conveyed through my janky Halloween costumes that are typically funnier than they are legitimate cosplays), I thought this year deserved something a little better than minimal effort. Typically, I like to base the costume off of either some meme, or something that the anime club has watched recently, and this past Summer I was lucky enough to convince people to watch one of my recent favorites, Planet With.

With how cold it’s been recently here in Minnesota (like, I know we’re known for being cold and snowy, but October has really been unseasonably cold) my mind started to turn toward something that could both keep me warm and convey the basics of a character. Kigurumi/onesie character pajamas have been a fun costume option in the anime fandom for a while, and for good reason – they’re comfortable and cute. They’re also pretty dang expensive if you buy them from a reputable source (the one’s I’ve seen have been somewhere in the $75 range and I know they can run more expensive than that). It’s not that they’re not worth that price, but it did influence my decision not to buy a ready-made ones and alter them. Having decided on the format, the character choices were obvious – Planet With literally has a race of people called the “Kigurumians,” after all.

I drafted the pattern for the costumes myself, using a tutorial I found on YouTube. Basically I used a hooded sweatshirt I already had, plus a couple of length measurements I took from my husband, to draw out the pattern pieces on some cheap wrapping paper I had left over from a previous Christmas. The main parts of the costume are constructed from solid-colored fleece ($3.99/yd on sale at JoAnn’s!) and the hoods are lined with solid colored flannel. I briefly considered lining the entire body of the costumes in flannel as well, but now I’m pretty glad I didn’t; it would definitely have been too hot. I bought about 5 yards each color of the fleece; I probably could have gotten away with less if I were more efficient at laying out my pattern pieces, but now I have some decently-sized pieces I can use for something else. I bought a couple yards of flannel and have about half of it left. Some things I might do later on are add detachable tails and add some pockets, so the extra fabric will come in handy for that.

It had been a while since I’d used my sewing machine, so there was some extra time re-learning how to do that. Also, fleece is very lint-y fabric, so there was some time cleaning that out of the machine and oiling the machine to counteract that situation. In between the Sensei costume and my costume, I made a few changes to the process; I decided to skip putting elastic in the wrists of the second costume, because I didn’t feel it was really necessary (it turns out I was right, though I kept the elastic around the legs which is still helpful for keeping it in place properly). I had also misinterpreted a couple parts of the construction process the first time around, so I was able to fix that and save myself some time. Overall I’m really proud of how the costumes turned out in the end. It goes to show you that watching endless hours of costuming YouTube videos over the past couple of months can really be helpful if you’re that type of learner!

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Since we’re here talking about humorous shit-posting, I thought I’d share my entries in the other anime club Halloween games. There was a fan-art competition, where the theme was to choose a character and put them in a costume that goes against their personality. Since we’re watching Run With the Wind currently in the club, I chose Sakaki (who we’ve been calling “douche-y ex boyfriend”) and dressed him as Mr. Rogers:

There was also a short fanfiction competition, where the theme was to pick some characters and to put them in a haunted house situation. I chose Carole and Tuesday since we’re currently watching that as well:

It was a great time as usual. I hope that everyone out there who celebrates Halloween has a fun and safe way to do it this year!