Ruffnut Thorston
How to Train Your Dragon

Inspiration: I absolutely love this movie and honestly, I really like all the characters in it, but I went with Ruffnut because: 1) she’s one of the only female characters, and 2) she’s a little rough around the edges and I like that.  Subconsciously I tend to avoid main characters and seem more attracted to the supporting roles.

Materials/Construction Details:  This costume was actually made for me as a birthday present by Samu-chan, so I can’t really talk much about how it was made.  I can tell you that it’s mostly made out of suede (my favorite material of all time).  Some of my favorite parts of the costume are the cartoonishly poofy boots, the super padded vest, and the amazingly accurate helmet.  I only made minor contributions to the construction.  For instance, I made the fang necklace out of air dry clay and painted the details on it.  I added a few brown leather ties here and there and bought and dyed the jeggings.  Everything else was done by Samu-chan.  If you would like to know more about the construction, please visit her website!

Wig:  This is where I stepped in.  The wig is a long clover from cosworx in 24/613.  I wefted two entire packs of hair extensions into it to try to make it thick enough to make three giant braids.  It was so heavy when it was finished.  I divided the hair into three sections and half braided, half knotted them to make three thick, messy braids.  I then took another entire pack of extensions and tied it into three braid balls, which I attached to the end of the braids using a lot of glue, covering the connecting area with tightly wrapped black twine.  The tiny braids sticking out the sides were braided around a piece of wire and attached to the netting of the wig.  This was probably one of the hardest wigs I’ve taken on, and though the braids were still not as thick as hers were in the movie, I like how it turned out.

Prop:  I think the helmet counts as a prop, but once again this was made by Samu-chan.  All I can say was it was difficult to walk through crowds and even doorways while wearing it.  I learned to either walk sideways like a crab or just take it off when maneuvering was needed.  It was awesomely constructed though, and very light weight.