Katniss Everdeen ~ Mockingjay Dress
Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Inspiration: I really enjoyed the Hunger Games books and movies, but the biggest motivation for doing this particular costume was that the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta was featured in the movie. I knew I wanted to make these wings and just pose with this iconic Dragoncon/Momocon hotel in the background.

Materials/Construction Details: I searched the internet for a good navy fabric with a tie-dye patchiness to it as a base for the dress and managed to luck into some on Ebay. Once I sewed the dress up, I began the painting process. I followed some references as close as possible and marked areas on the dress with some soap stone before basically free-handing all the feather marks with various shades of blue and grey. I gradient dyed the bottom of the dress black and then sprayed down the whole dress with a little glitter to give it some sparkle.

These were the first wings I ever made, but I’m very pleased with how they turned out. I bought a pound of navy blue turkey rounds from Rainbow Feathers, along with a few white and grey feathers. All the feathers had to have the stem/base trimmed off and shaped at the tip, which took several hours. My friend Yaya suggested I use black Rit dye to paint the tips of the feathers, which I believe added a lot to the overall look. I also used some blue paint and a sponge to speckle a few of the feathers.

I made a frame of the general shape of the wing using some thick wire and then covered it in black felt. Then starting from the bottom, I used hot glue to attach the feathers directly to the felt, trimming the feathers when needed. I covered the very top of the wings with grey turkey flats to cover where the top row of feathers ended. To make the super long white feathers on the tip of the wings, I glued two feathers together before attaching them to the felt base.

My husband helped me figure out the harness part of the wings. The tutorials that we looked at consisted of a single wire comprising the wings and the back mount, and were designed for immobile wings that stayed spread. For more mobility at the con, we wanted to be able to raise and lower the wings, so we modified the design of the harness to incorporate a pivot point by separating the back mount piece and the wings, and assembling them with bolts and washers. The harness was then able to slip down the back of my dress and fit into the corset I was wearing, which held them securely in place. Ribbon hand straps attached toward the end of the wing allowed me to raise or lower the wings when needed.

My real hair was used for this costume, with some extensions from Arda supplemented in. Jessie L. styled my hair and did all my makeup, including gluing on the rhinestones and putting on my feather eyelashes. I purchased some grey contacts to finish the look.

Photos by BGZ Studios and Jessie Lykens