Final Fantasy X Essential Facts: Characters: Rikku, Auron, Tidus, Wakka, Yuna Modeled by: Jason, Matt, Sam, Marc, Nikki Worn at: Otakon 2002 Notes: 04-01-04 -- I have never before used so much vinyl! Had I known then what I know now about rivets and grommets, Tidus, Wakka, and Auron would have had much more ornate armor. Had I known then what I know now about making stencils, Yuna's skirt would have taken about HALF the time it did. Given that I gave myself less time to work on this project than was needed, I'd say it was a smashing success: Rikku broke a lot of hearts (and brains) that weekend, and Matt still loves his Auron costume! (The robe makes a nice extra layer on cold days around the house, too, once the sleeves are cinched and out of the way!) If asked to make the Wakka or Tidus costumes again, I'd have to ask for at least 4 months to hunt down better materials, but that's a story for another day. Details: Rikku: Rikku is, I think, my favorite result of this group, for many reasons. The parts, overall, pack easier, and wear tougher than the others. AND the top is made of real leather, mm. This costume also has it's own PERSONAL gallery page, go check that out when you're done here! The shorts, shoes, large left glove, and goggles are all store bought. The wig was designed by an outside agent. The "blades" were created by Matt (Auron). All that cut my work down to half, but it still left some interesting problems. I'm not GOOD at making armor. Yet somehow, this came out looking great! The top: new tan leather scrap, trimmed in orange poly/nylon that had known a previous incarnation as track pants. The streamers in the back are cotton, with hand-painted details. The vinyl attatchments for the streamers, btw, are the weakest portion of this costume, and if Jason ever gets this item back into my hands, I know exactly how to fix it now! The socks are made of white cotton jersey knit (formerrly a tee-shirt, if I remember correctly..) with black Vinyl trim, held up inside with self-contained elastic garters. The belt was a double-layer of red and yellow Vinyl with a scavenged belt buckle. The left arm sports a green bicep band, made functional and ADJUSTABLE with tiny straps and buckles, as per the character designs from the strategy guides and art books. If I get a chance to touch this up, I'd also like to add the twin braids-with-feathers to the wig, as well. Auron: Made for and owned by Matt (Spam). I'm very pleased with this costume structurally, but I really want to add more details to this. THIS costume is going to be an evolving project that will get parts-upgrades as the materials and time come to me. Auron's robe is lightweight cotton (because this was designed for Otakon wear, I wanted it to NOT weigh a ton, and to breathe easily.) trimmed in heavy black herringbone weave, and trimmed with poly-silk ribbon and TONS of mother-of-pearl rivets. The sleeves' belts are leather with tiny silver roller-bar buckles, all cut and peiced by hand so that the costume would have a flowing, continuous look. (Those same buckles match what's used for Rikku's arm bands.) The pants are also made of light-weight cotton, and have a poly-silk ribbon trim down the center front of each leg. These pants are also very comfy jammies! Auron's collar, I think, will be the first upgraded peice. The original is flannel-backed heavy satin, which was then vinylized, and adorned with vinyl belt stips, buckles, and hot-glue "rivets." The dangling strap on the collar has a buckle attatched to it, and when the upgrades are complete, this buckle will integrate with a body-armor style tank/tee-shirt, just like in the chara designs. Auron's belt was made of heavy bottom-weight, vinyl, leather, and cannibalized belts. The glasses and boots are store bought. The ARMORED GAUNTLET was made by Matt of cut up and reconfigured rollerblade safety gear. Tidus: Tidus, I think, I'm very satified with VISUALLY, but not structurally. The armour is almost entirely vinyl, hot glue, and paint. (This does, however, have a gauntlet made in the same style as Auron's, which I'm still very happy with!). The hoodie came out really well, especially given that I couldn't fine yellow rib-knit fabric ANYWHERE for 6 months prior to this group, so had to invent some from scratch. I used off-white heavy cotton jersey knit with a respectable ribbed texture, and sprayed it several times with Dr. Martin's fabric dye. After it had been heat set, the color was more accurate than I'd hoped, and it was GO. It even has a zippered and decked-out pocket on the sleeve. The large bangle bracelet is made of Sculpey on a tinfoil frame. The chain is glued to the interior of the bangle. Tidus's pants are made of heavy weight black satin, fully zipped, fully functional, and yes, I made the mesh on the back of the leg, again, out of vinyl, with hot-glue "rivets." If I had to do the pants again, I'd make the meshing from the same material as the pants, and use real rivets. I'd also replace the plastic zippers with metal ones, and the sculpey cross-buttons with rubber ones. Tidus's Jekt necklace is made of silver Sculpey. Wakka: Snack (Marc) was so excited to do this! He even painted the bandana and Blitzball himself, rarr Snack! Wakka's armor is made of hand-painted leather, hand-laced leather lacing, vinyl, and more hot glue. The "shirt" is made of vinylized sports nylon, hand painted (free-hand, ooog!), and studded with tiny silver buttons. The "chaps" Are made of satin, the only fabric I could find that summer in THAT PARTICULAR COLOR, They're studded with larger matching buttons, and laced through with black acrylic yarn. (The original plan to use heavy black elastic cord fell through, since the cord didn't want to comply with the shape I had in mind. It made some lovely bracelets, tho!) The ankles have toggled elastic hems. (The toggles were rescued from the track pants that would become the trim on Rikku's leather tank, so the colors worked out great!) The bandana is 100% cotton, same as Rikku's streamers, and the fishy necklace was made of silver Sculpey. Yuna: Yuna was a fabric paint disaster from the get-go. I hemmed and hawed about embelishment for waaaay too long on this, and decided to let it be done in "Scribbles" fabric paint. But it looked great for the first day! From now on, it's acrylics and stencils! Yuna's skirt is 100% cotton, again, light weight, easy to wear. An elastic waistband keeps it comfy and adjustable. Yuna's wrap top is made of cotton muslin, her sleeves are also muslin, wet-sprayed with custom mixed Dr. Martin's fabric dyes. I LOVE THESE DYES! The result was phenomenal, I'd love to do these again. So easy... Space consuming, messy, but EASY. I might have to use this technique if I ever make myself that fishy-kimono I've been doodling... I did these sleeves again later in satin, using the same technique, and the satin looks stunning! Yuna's obi is.. not worth mentioning. If I have to do the obi again, I'm going to hunt down somebody with knowledge of tieing ornate patterns, and ask THEM for advice. The pink flower was made of FunFoam, and was another bad idea. If I had to do this again, it'd be RUBBER, about 1/4 inch thick. I have just the stuff in mind for it. Yuna's staff was made by Matt. Yuna's hair beads were made by an outside agent. The tank top, boots, and shorts were all store bought. Nikki, stop blinking when you're having your picture taken! (But thank you for painting the skirt!) ....That's about it! *WHEW!*