Medicine Seller (Mononoke) | photos by @brittanyleeartistry
“Making Of” Video
I created this video for TwitchCon as an applicant (and was selected) to be featured in their Cosplay Showcase 2024 in the Needlework division; it features some clips of some of the many, many techniques used in constructing this costume.
Costume Information
Materials + Prep
Medicine Seller was a yearlong project with 3 goals: a love letter to Japanese textile arts, a reflection of kimono craftsmanship, and a story about a traveler, worn by centuries of service exorcising demons. All of the fabrics you see here are either (originally) white cottons, silks, or linens from Dharma Trading; the rest are actually re-used and pieced from damaged kimono. All of the sashiko embroidery is also done by hand.
Undergarments
The Hipari | The undershirt or hipari, was made with cotton I shibori dyed with wooden flat blocks, and an altered pattern from Folkwear Sewing. The sleeves were redone to match the choken/longer shape of the kimono, and a tie was added to close it without a separate himo tie.
The Monpe | The pants, or monpe, were made with cotton I shibori dyed with clothespins and an altered pattern from Folkwear Sewing. They feature an elastic waist, patchwork from my first draft of these pants, and a gathered paperbag cuff that’s been weathered.
Leg Wraps | Were patterned in a curve shape to hide all visible seams and feature ~40 individually cut and tea-dyed strips of cotton jersey. They slide on and stretch as I swell with heat, so they needed to be comfortable.
Headwrap | Modeled off a furoshiki cloth, features a raw silk that’s batik dyed with an inspired by his tattoos when he transforms as well as couched kumihimo cords.
Kimono
The kimono is 6 yards of white linen-rayon from Dharma Trading that was self-drafted and dyed in 2 different ways: from white to Teal Blue using fiber reactive dyes, and then arashi shibori, or pole-dyed, with two different navy dyes in a gradient. The floral design was painted using a stencil and white fabric paint, with the edges softened using fiber reactive dye to match the custom dye job and thickened with sodium alginate to add to the weathered look. There are 6 patchwork appliques in total. All patchwork consists of self-drafted designs, with each individual square sourced from a secondhand kimono that has been dyed to tonally match; every square has been fused with MistyFuse to muslin, which was then cut and appliqued onto the kimono, with kumihimo cord around the designs. Each color block features a different pattern of hand-applied sashiko, with 4 different designs throughout the piece. This entire garment is finished with a secondhand kimono-patched edge, including a fake ‘eri-shin’ pink collar hand-sewn. Additionally, the entire thing is lined.
Obi
First, the shape was drafted from a traditional tateya musubi furisode knot using dressing videos. The fabric is 4 yards of raw silk that has been first dyed golden yellow with fiber reactive dyes. Then, batik wax was painted onto the fabric to resist the second round of dyeing, which went from gold to red. It took over 20 samples to find the correct ratio to prevent it from going orange. Then, all of the fabric was foiled by hand using 2 different types of gold fabric foiling applications. This fabric was split into 5 pieces and interfaced with both traditional obi paper interfacing and modern fusible, as well as Kobracast, so it would be sturdy yet packable. The entire knot is supported by a kobracast, flex foam, and interfaced ‘backboard’ that can be hidden by the waist part of the obi, allowing the costume to be worn with or without the decorative knot. The whole thing comes apart, assemble with snaps in 2 minutes, and can fit in a carry-on and be crushed safely.
Credits/Build Thread
Sword/Medallion STL from @DangerousLadies
Wig styled by @VickieBane
Build thread found here; more detailed log on IG.
Accessories
Braids | All braids you see were made with either an 8 round or 24 round kumihimo with beads (sponsored by CosplaySupplies) threaded in.
Shoes | Drafted from scratch to my measurements with two single blocks of white oak wood, carved and stained with persimmon dye and finished with raw silk scraps for ties.
Sword | Resin printed with dyed gems, gold-leafed and alcohol ink stained body, and faux fur sculpted ‘beard’ and tail, finished with a kumihimo braid and bell.
Jewelry | The medallion was resin printed, gold leafed, and painted. The red necklace is a mix of coral beads and then molded and cast coral masters in epoxy resin with foil and alcohol ink.
Ofuda | The ofuda cards were created by handsculpting a stamp, which was then used on individually tea-dyed hand cut paper.