Introduction: How to Make a Kiki's Delivery Service Costume
This guide will walk you through the process of making a Kiki's Delivery Service costume. You will learn how to make a very simple Kiki costume.
Step 1: Gather Materials
For this costume there are a number of things that you will need to gather beforehand. You may have some of them already. I used materials that were lying around my house.
- .25-.5 yards of red cloth
- thick paper
- small bag of fiber fill
- black dress
- red shoes
- two corn brooms
- hot glue gun
- hot glue
- 3 safety pins
- string
- headband
- needle and thread
- something to write with
- scissors
Step 2: Get Ready to Make the Bow
For this step you will need the red cloth, thick paper, scissors, needle and thread, and something to write with. Make sure that they are all close by so that you don't have to move around too much during this process. (red cloth is not shown in the above picture as I have already completed the bow)
Step 3: Create a Pattern
For this step you will need to create a bow pattern. You will only need to make one half of the bow, though.
Imagine your typical bow shape and draw it as shown in the picture above. Make sure to draw it large on the paper. Add straight lines on the skinny ends of the bow so you will be able to attach the sides together later. Cut this pattern out on your thick paper.
Step 4: Trace the Pattern
The next thing you'll need to do is trace your half bow onto your red cloth. You will need four of these half bows to complete the whole thing, so make sure to place them close together. You will also need to trace a 4.5 by 4 inch rectangle on the cloth . Once you have all the half bows and the rectangle traced you will need to cut them out.
Step 5: Sew It Together
DO NOT LABEL THE SIDES OF THE FABRIC, THIS IS PURELY FOR DEMONSTRATIVE PURPOSES!!!
When you have your bow pieces cut out you need to take two of them and place them together. Make sure that the wrong sides of the fabric (typically lighter in color or coarser than the correct side) are facing outwards: away from each other. This is important for later as you will be turning the bow inside out.
Once the pieces of cloth are lined up you will need to sew them together. It easiest to do this by hand unless you are skilled on the sewing machine. Sew around the edges, but make sure not to sew up the stem of the bow off completely.
Repeat this for the other two halves.
When you have finished the bows, take the rectangle and fold it in half hot dog style. Sew along the long end of the cloth making sure to leave one of the ends open for now.
Step 6: Turn the All Pieces Inside Out
To do this it will take some maneuvering. You will be pushing the inside of the bow through the hole you left open on the stem. Do this for both bow pieces as well as your rectangular part. When you have done this you will need to get a bunch of small pieces of fiber fill.
Take the fiber fill and stick it through the stem of the bow piece. Don't fill it too full, though, because it won't look like a bow anymore. It should look about as full as in the photo above.
Step 7: Sew the Bow Pieces Together
This step is as simple as it sounds! Once the bow pieces are full of fiber fill, take the two stems of the bow pieces and sew them together. There will now be a loose center to the bow that is completely straight. Next will come the rectangular piece.
Step 8: Create the Knot in the Bow
The rectangular piece is what you will need to use to create the knot of the bow. First you will need to grab your headband.
Place the bow you have made with the straight, center piece in the middle of the headband. Then take the rectangular piece and wrap it around the headband and the center of the bow. Pin the ends together with a safety pin to secure it. By not sewing it together you are making it easier to adjust later on if need be.
Step 9: Secure the Bow (optional)
You may be able to get by without this step. It depends all on how tightly you packed fiber fill into the bow.
If you need to, this is how to secure the bow to the headband.
Go as far down the bottom of the bow on one side as you can, pinch a small piece of cloth to the headband, and then pin it down with another safety pin. Repeat on other side if necessary.
Step 10: Prepare to Make the Broom
Gather all materials needed to make the broom. This is a very lengthy process and may span several days, so prepare in advance if you are planning to do this.
You will need the two corn brooms, scissors, hot glue, hot glue gun, string, some sort of container, and tremendous patience.
Step 11: Remove Weaving
If you notice, there is a sort of weaving along the broom's bristles to hold them in place. You will need to remove this from both brooms.
Step 12: Make a Choice
Choose between the two brooms. One will become an actual broom again and the other will be scavenged for parts. Factors to consider would be:
Which has the sturdier handle/bristles?
Which handle looks more aesthetically pleasing?
Which broom has more bristles?
Step 13: Tie Off and Rip Off
We are going to label the brooms.
Broom A is the broom that you will be gluing bristles onto later. It is the broom that you have decided not to scavenge for parts from.
Broom B is the broom you will be scavenging from.
When you have made your decision about which broom to keep, you will need to take broom A and set it aside for now. We will return to it later.
Take broom B and begin to pull the bristles from the broom. You can use your container to store these until you need them again. As you reach the center of the broom, you will notice the bristles become thicker and harder. You can stop pulling when you get to these as many of them will need to be cut with scissors or wire cutters to be removed. Odds are you won't be needing these anyways.
Step 14: Tie It Up
Now that you've removed the bristles from Broom B you can return to Broom A.
Take the string that you have and tie it around the bristles of Broom A, bringing them closer together. This reduces the space you have to cover with B's bristles as well as making it sturdier to work with.
Step 15: Start Gluing
Be sure that you let your hot glue gun heat up before starting this step. Hot glue is the easiest to work with on this project as it is not as messy as other types of glue.
When your glue is ready to go you can start by picking up a small handful of straw. Just enough to hold between your thumb and forefinger. Line them up side by side before continuing.
Step 16: Start Gluing (cntd.)
With the glue gun and the bristles ready, make a small rectangle of glue towards the top of the broom. Place the bristles in your hand into this glue, but be careful not to touch it. Be sure to place them so that the tops go up further than the bindings on Broom A (see above photo). If some oozes over or out, you can add extra pieces of straw to keep from wasting it. Do this all the way around the broom.
Step 17: Celebrate Finishing the Broom
Congrats on that. I realize it was long and tiring. You deserve to relax for a bit. Do it. You'll be able to enjoy the next part more if you do.
Step 18: Get Dressed
Put on the black dress and the red shoes. Put on the headband with the bow attached. Make sure to check that it does not flop around. That's it! You're done!
Enjoy your Kiki costume!