Suki
Avatar: The Last Airbender

Inspiration: Avatar: The Last Airbender is the best American cartoon of all time.  Suki is a smart, independent, and strong warrior…what’s not to love? Suki may not be Sokka’s only girl, but she’s the best (sorry Yue fans)!  When I made this costume Avatar was only on its third season, so now that the show is finished I’m eager to make Suki’s fire nation and final episode outfits!

Materials/Construction Details: The hardest part of this costume was probably the face painting!  I used red, black, and white ben nye theatrical makeup and sealed it with a powder so it wouldn’t smudge.  Putting the white on was easy enough, but making sure the red parts were even was a bit of a challenge since I had no experience with makeup on that level.  The process ended up taking me over an hour and is probably why I’ve only worn this costume once.

The skirt is made out of three different shades of green cotton all layered on top of each other.  To make the armor I bought a brown knit, padded it with batting, and then stitched the groves horizontally across it.  This gave the armor a nice raised look.  I then carefully painted over the stitches to make the lines a little more solid.  The patterns on the sleeves were cut out and ironed on.  To make the gloves I took a pair of black and a pair of white gloves, took them apart at the seams, and then sewed them back together half and half.  The head piece is made out of wonderflex, molded to shape, and then painted.

Wig:  The wig is actually a human hair wig and looked very natural.  I almost didn’t need a wig since I had a very similar hair color and cut at the time, but I decided to get one anyway so I could use it again in the future.

Prop:  I carried with me two yellow paper fans since that’s what Kyoshi warriors equip themselves with…though mine weren’t battle grade!