Construction Details:

Body Suit: Started with the Green Pepper "Willamette Racing Suit" pattern for the body suit. Made a basic mockup and drew all over it with sharpie to decide when I wanted to add seams and details. The body suit was made from various types of stretch knit, which I thought was appropriate for a "prototype" suit (I also couldn't find green matte 4-way vinyl in the color I wanted, but... 8D;; I'm happy I went with the knit!!).

Quilted Pieces: I didn't want to add bulk to my body by -actually- quilting (plus it would be hot ;;) so I opted to fake it. I drew out all the lines on each piece with a pencil and lightly sponge-brushed along each line to create a "shadow". I then stitched over each line using the stretch stitch on my machine. Added bonus: the thread doesn't stretch -quite- as much as the fabric does, so it digs into my flesh a little bit faking the quilted look even more. Yay for being squishy..?! ^^;;

Chest Pads: Or as I like to call them, the "grabby hands," I sewed channels of the gold stretch then stuffed craftfoam inside to create the raised look. I'm super happy with the look, though sewing them into the suit was probably the biggest nightmare of this whole project ;;

"Plugs": I used large purse grommets underneath the fabric to create the raised effect. I traced the shape of the grommet onto the fabric, then stitched a small piece of fabric on the underside of the fabric, creating a "pocket" for it to sit in. Used a snap-button cover for the silver plug.

Shoes: Created shoe covers seperately, then sewed them to the legs of the suit like footie pajamas xD;;. I decided to use a wedge shoe since it's more flattering than a flat sole, so I painted the wedge green to match the suit. I then glued the cover directly over the shoe with hot glue.

Shoulders: Worbla!! My first real attempt. I totally failed at first, and learned that you need a real solid base to work with for molding this stuff ... made one out of a coke bottle, a giant plastic easter egg, a cup and two curtain rings and it was pretty smooth sailing from there xD;; Sealed the worbla with modge podge, then covered it coat of plastidip before painting. The lighter green base part of the shoulder is craftfoam covered in the same green knit as the suit.

"Broach": Also worblaaaa~! I made the base shape out of paperclay, then molded worbla over the top so it would be hollow inside for electronics. The bulb I cast from resin with the LED embedded inside. It's just one LED running on a 3V watch battery, so pretty lightweight!!

Gauntlets: One of my fave parts of this design ~ the prongs are made from layers of EVA foam and craftfoam, they're partially hollow inside to allow for the lights and battery. I used a 9V battery for each gauntlet. Creating the circuit was easy, running the wires through the gauntlet to get to the different lights without being seen was a little tricky though xD;;. The red covers for the lights were made from a clear folder, and the round bases for the gauntlets are foam can holders I stumbled across at Michaels, woop!!

Misc: What else ... pretty much everything I haven't mentioned already was made from craftfoam or EVA foam in some way... xD;; All the plugs and screws are craftfoam. The leg stripes and backpack straps are spandex tubes stuffed with craftfoam, the backpack is layers of EVA foam cut into the correct shape then smoothed out with wood filler putty.

I FINALLY MADE A PLUGSUIT AHHHH ♥

Personal Thoughts:

So I've wanted a plugsuit ever since I first started cosplaying ~ I actually remember showing a picture of Asuka's classic red plugsuit to my mom before I knew how to sew my own stuff, hoping she could help me. Lol my poor mom. I'm glad she had the sense to politely decline me... xD;; Of course once I knew a darned thing about sewing I realized a plugsuit would be an insanely challenging endeavor, which is why I've put it off for so many years... ^^;; So many of the details I wanted to get JUST RIGHT but I just couldn't wrap my head around how to do it. I could accurately say this costume was a product of roughly 10 years of casual brainstorming, in that sense...!! When Yoshiyuki Sadamoto was announced as a guest at Japan Expo, I knew my time had come. I decided on Mari's prototype suit because it's such a unique design compared to many of the plugsuits (I totally fell in love with it when I first saw Sadamoto's art), yet it still has those classic plugsuit details that I love (and kept me stumped for years... like the shoulders and the raised plugs on the suit). Putting it together in about a month was a struggle, and there's some things I do want to go back and improve, but overall I'm happy I did it!! And at least it wasn't #starry, hehehhhhh... >.>

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