The Making of Princess Cadence

This is an overview of how I made my Princess Cadence cosplay. Please see my gallery for pictures of the finished costume!

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The bodice started from a bridal pattern but was altered to a separate margin of purple velvet at the top. It has 3 layers consisting of white satin, coutil, and lining, with an overlay of lace for the 4 side panels. The coutil layer also has spiral steel and flat steel boning, as well as bra cups installed. Gold seed beads were hand sewn along the top in swirls and were also sewn throughout the lace areas.

The skirt layers and swirl designs on them were all drafted by hand. Each swirl size had to be drawn separately, because I wanted the swirls to go from small to big to small while keeping the scalloped edges consistent. I made about 8 swirl sizes to be traced on to my master patterns. The final swirls designs were traced onto interfacing, ironed on, and then satin stitched on to the satin with more interfacing and embroidery paper behind it all.

The crystal heart brooch started from a glass paperweight that was cast in silicone to make a mold of the front. Epoxy resin was then used to cast the final brooch. The wig was colored with sharpies and curled into place, and the veil was hand made from silk chiffon with beading sewing around the top and edges.