COSTUME/COSPLAY #001 - Adventure Time with Fionna & Cake Costume

I've decided to make a new section of my blog for costumes, since I am a fashion designer with the power of pattern making and sewing and all ;]

This Halloween I set my heart on being Fionna from Adventure Time, as I feel she is pretty much a cartoon version of myself.

Me as Fionna and Cake from Adventure Time! Costume and Cake Plushie made by me!

Me as Fionna and Cake from Adventure Time!

Fionna is the genderswapped version of Finn, who is the main character, adventurer, and hero in Adventure Time.  Cake her cat is the gender and species swapped version of Jake, Finn's stretchy bulldog BFF.

Apparently Fionna is the "it girl" costume of 2012 for comic and cartoon enthusiasts this year, much like Ramona Flowers was 2011's costume "it girl". (F.Y.I. I was Ramona Flowers last year too in two different outfits, so I'm totally on trend with the cartoon/comic world. LOLZ.)  The divide between the have-it and have-nots rests in the fact that Fionna's hat is not yet available to buy in stores. Finn's hat at least have had a limited run in stores.  This forces people to either make their own or buy and fight for the limited quantities of  DIY version from sellers on Etsy or Ebay which are not made equal.  Luckily I am a fashion designer by trade and can draft and sew my own patterns so I make my own shit! Perhaps eventually I'll make a couple of my own to sell. But I'd rather share my secrets with you fellow DIYers.

The hardest part of the Fionna costume was making the bunny ears stand up and not flop over.  I had a similar problem creating my Bioshock Spider Slicer Bunny mask last Halloween.  Bunny ears are just difficult to make to stand up! I used boning for the Splicer mask though.  Would you know they now have an "official" Bioshock 2 Splicer Bunny mask you can buy? Which was one year too late for me, those @ssholes.

At first glance, this costume looks simple to put together.

What You Need For Your Fionna Costume:

• One light blue 3/4 sleeve scoop neck shirt -I used a long sleeve shirt and cut off the ends to make it 3/4 using my serger.


• One blue skirt -  I used a high wasited basic knit blue skirt from H&M, and folded it to make a mini skirt, but any basic blue skirt will do.


• One pair of knee-high or thigh-high athletic socks with light blue or turquoise stripes - Mine were from Journey's tube socks pack because American Apparel was out of their light blue striped thigh-highs.


• One basic sword - found at any Halloween or costume store


• Mary Janes - Mine are Steve Maddens I found via thrift store in my high school years that I still wear.


• Blonde hair - I made mine out of hair extensions via Nikki Lipstick's DIY extension tutorial and blonde human hair from a beauty supply store.


• Children's backpack - I found a green mini backpack and painted the top half with fabric paint and spray paint. (I wanted a real functioning backpack to put my wallet, girlie items, and flask  in while roaming the crazy Halloween parties in Kent). One could also make a simple back pack from felt as seen on etsy stores.


• Lime Green, Neon Red, and Plastic Primer spray paint (for the bookbag and sword)


• Fionna Bunny hat - the most difficult and important part of the costume! Because they are not for sale, cosplayers are forced to either make their own or buy one online on etsy or ebay. Fortunately I'll show you how to make your own!


• Cake the Cat Plushie - I also made my own Cake plushie.  It was relatively simple. Another option is to modify the Finn hat pattern to have cat ears and look like Cake's face and force your boyfriend or little sister to be your side kick for the night. I'll include basic instructions for the Cake plushie.

The Fionna Bunny Hat looks simple but was kind of a b!tch to make partly because the ears will fall down if not made correctly.  Being in my ambitious perfectionist nature, I didn't want to use wires in case I wanted to wash it.  I figured out a way to manipulate the pattern for the ears to stand up straight and full with just the felt and fiber fill stuffing.

MATERIALS FOR FIONNA BUNNY HAT: (all can be bought at JoAnn Fabrics or craft shop):

• White fleece


• White thread


• Sewing machine


• Fiber fill for stuffing dolls and stuffed animals


• Fabric scissors, paper scissors


• Pattern paper, butcher paper


• pencil

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIONNA BUNNY HAT:

1. Download the Finn Hat pattern from the Frederator Studio blog --> Download + instructions here.


2. Trace Finn's hat bear ears and draw bunny ears about 8.5" tall x 4" long at the bottom of the ears including seam allowance.


3. Follow the instructions the same as you would sew the Finn Hat except for the ears.


4. Cut the slits in the hat to sew the ears.  You will sew the ears on the slit and your ears together in a circle instead of a straight across.


5. Stuff the ears with fiber fill - and i mean pack it tight.


6. Continue sewing the hat as the Finn Instructions


7. If you don't want the stitches from the velcro to show through on the opposite side of your hat straps, one can hand stitch the velcro to the wrong side or sew on the velcro patch before the hat is sewn together and flipped inside out.

Trace around the Finn bear ear pattern to the shape of a bunny ears .5 with seam allowance, and viola!

I'll try to do a costume blog on how I made my Cake plushie in the next couple days.

Stay tuned for costume how-to's for previous my costume creations! (Such as Luke Skywalker, Silent Hill Nurse Zombies, Princess Zombie, Lady Gaga, Ramona Flowers, and Bioshock Bunny Spider Splicers, Lisa Simpson, Terminator, and Finn from Adventure Time... yes I have eclectic taste.)