You Are Ladybug! and You Can Do It!
by Kerin in Craft > Costumes & Cosplay
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You Are Ladybug! and You Can Do It!
Miraculous Ladybug comes fully equipped with her miraculous gear!
Supplies
Mask Supplies
- Red thick foam
- Mesh Fabric
- Red, Black Fabric Paint
- Circle Template (Bottle cap upcycle)
- Hot Glue (partial to Gorilla Glue)
- Fabric Glue or Modge Podge
- Wire
- Red Felt
- Elastic
Leotard Supplies
- Leotard Base
- Sportflex Black HTV
- Mesh Fabric
- Off-White Fabric Paint
Shoes
- Red or White Shoes
- Circle Template or Bottle Cap
- Chalk
- Black Fabric Paint
Ladybug Yo-Yo
- Model in PLA
- Black Permanent Vinyl
- High Gloss Polyeurethane
- Red Spray Paint
- Sand Paper
- Adafruit Microcontroller
- Adafruit FeatherWing Board
- Foamcutter or similar poke tool
- Elastic Thread
Downloads
Mask Base
Using a super hero mask the kids already had on hand, I outlined the basic Ladybug mask shape on thick foam, and cut it out.
Dots
I traced the outside of a water bottle cap and used an X-acto knife to cut out the shape.
Texture
Paint fabric glue/Modge Podge on the mask and circles. Paint fabric glue/Modge Podge on the mask and circles. Paint red fabric paint covering the entire front surface, allowing for excess to be trimmed once dry. Paint black fabric paint over all circle pieces.
Trim & Stick
Hot glue down excess trim on the backside so that the outward edge is covered in fabric, but keep the inner edges clean.
Skeleton
Glue three pieces of wire to create a bendable structure that will keep its form. Not pictured, but I added a vertical wire running along the length of the middle behind the center circle after I glued in the circles.
Mask Puzzled Together
Glue along the edge of the circles and place in their respective positions. If you over glue, you can melt off the extra bits with the glue gun tip. Measure the elastic strap, and glue to the sides.
Lining the Interior
Glue felt lining over back structure.
Bend and Snap
Bend mask to fit the face form of the wearer.
Wrap and Sealant
Dab on a few coats of Modge Podge to seal things up.
Masked 4 Year Old
Leotard Base
The base of this costume was definitely a cheat so feel free to use this hack if you find yourself unable/unwilling to make a leotard as well.
Circle Circle Dot Dot
The circles were ~2.25” in black Sportflex since the leotard was a nylon fabric.
Texture
Fabric paint in an off-white. I found this sand color which worked nicely. Blot a generous helping of paint on the mesh fabric which you will use to print texture over the entire leotard.
No Red Shoes? No Problem.
Prep the red dye and shoes. Take out the shoe inserts and Vaseline the soles of the shoes. After shoes have fully dried, pulling out that ever trusty bottle cap once again, outline your Miraculous Ladybug spots to the areas of your fancy. Use chalk or similar material that can be easily wiped off once the paint dries. Paint the spots in black fabric paint. Once everything dries completely, clean off chalk residue lightly with soapy water.
Ladybug Miraculous Yo-yo
Ladybug’s accessory helps her fight evil Hawk Moth, and the only way she can properly defeat evil is when she has her backup theme music. For this obstacle, a microcontroller with vibration sensors and audio/light capabilities will do the job just fine. The lighting ended up being unnecessary due to the opaque filament and paint, but in other conditions would have been a neat feature. Printed in PLA, object files are attached.
Sand It
Buff out all of the uneven layers and imperfections. I went up to a 220 grain for this.
Precautions
Cover the inside beveled edge with painters tape to avoid any future closure headaches. Always sand and spray outside in a well ventilated area while wearing proper breathing protections.
Spray
Trying to get an even spray is difficult when nature gets in the way. Note to self: keep bugs away from wet paint.
Dot Spot
Apply black vinyl decals for the spots. I did find some creasing laying them across curved edges. Poking the crease with a pin and pressing it down will help further flatten the vinyl. The sealant layer helped even some of this out in the end. Another option to avoid this altogether is to bring out your trusty bottle cap once more to trace outlines for the spots and paint in with black acrylic.
Holes
Foamcutter was the perfect solution for releasing the speaker holes, but any kind of sharp pokey tool should do the job cutting through vinyl just fine. Finishing polish with a couple layers of high gloss polyurethane.
Inner Workings
The inner workings of Ladybug’s accessory. A microcontroller that can play audio and detect vibrations. Turning it on/off took a few taps which was great fun for Ladybug on our trick-or-treating adventure. The light was unnecessary in the end because of the opaque filament and paint, but the intention was there.
Make It an Accessory
Ladybug just could not be without her tooling. String some elastic thread through the holes on the inside and wrap around your subject in whatever fashion they see fit. (They are Ladybug, after all.) Do not be like me, and tape off the inside bevel Before! painting. My closure was too gunked up to fully fit again. Hot glue for the win!
Sing It!
Featuring the musical stylings of Ladybug! The device turns on/off through tapping. A feature well exercised on our trick-or-treating adventure.