Completed May 2008

Junko Mizuno is such a hip artist. She’s known for mixing the super-cute with macabre and a dash of retro. No one but Junko can make cannibalism, poisoning, sabotage and killing look so adorable!

Inspiration
Yes, I know this costume is incredibly innacurate. That is because I only intended to make the raincoat. I’ve been needing a new one for some time, and couldn’t find any I liked. When I came across this action figure, I knew that was the raincoat I wanted! The rest of the outfit was a complete afterthought.

Construction
I used the same pattern for both the jacket and the dress (Newlook 6656.) For the raincoat, I chose a waaay too thick clear vinyl. I wanted it to be sturdy, but the thing is so stiff it literally will stand up on it’s own when zipped up! It was so stiff it barely fit under the needle, and consequently took 2 hours to sew in the arms. I hand turned the wheel to make sure the needle didn’t break. And of course, after I sewed one arm in, I had to rip it out to fix the size of the sleeve. Learning experience. Thinner vinyl next time! I double-sided all the “blood drops”, sandwiching them around the clear vinyl to make it clean looking.

The dress was a breeze by comparison. It’s a Junko-inspired design so of course, it needed some cleavage! The back has Junko’s trademark bunny skull-and-crossbones on it. It’s super comfy and I love its 60′s vibe. I actually wear it out sometimes on the weekends. And since it’s all vinyl, that means its beer-proof. A useful attribute.