Pennywise | 2017

Pennywise | It

Made for : Auckland Armageddon Expo 2017

Background : About a week out from the convention that year I saw It, I then decided that I could totally put together a Pennywise costume in that short amount of time.

Things used :

Wig : This poor wig started it’s life off as a lovely Jane wig from Arda Wigs in the shade Pumpkin. I originally brought it to do a Claire costume from the Breakfast Club, later straightning it, slicking it back and adding a lacefront with a widows peak for a Mystique costume (that never got finished. A theme for parts of this costume) and finally, deconstructing it once again for a Pennywise wig.

For the base, I made a bald cap from latex. used the same clown white foundation I’d used on the rest of the makeup so it would match. Applied it much higher than I normally would and added stuffing to fill it out and make it sit high.

I then applied the lacefront of the wig right on the top of the head, teased the bageebas out of it, cut a chunk from the back and used spirit gum to apply it to the bald cap creating an even more exaggerated widows peak.

Neck/Wrist Ruffs : Just like the wig, this part of the costume was sourced from another of my unfinished pieces, this one being my picnic Padme’s skirts. I cut the skirt in to long rectangles, sewed then together and gathered them tightly along one edge. I attached this gathered edge to a wide ribbon in three tiers, and added snaps in the back as a closure.

The wrist cuffs were made the same way but sewn directly to the sleeves instead.

Jumpsuit : I made the top half of the jumpsuit using Simplicity 4059. I made a base from plain cotton and then added strips of the mystery $2 fabric which I top stitched in place.

I added a gathered panel along the bottom of the top. It closed in the front with hook and eyes.

I winged the sleeves, I kept playing around with shapes until I had something that was passable.

The red and white rope trim was hand stitched in place along the waist and wrists.

I made all the pom poms by hand and sewed them to the jumpsuit.

The bottom half of the jumpsuit was made using Simplicity 8773. From the knee down I made tubes with a gathered panel on the end and the rope sewn in place by hand.

Shoes : The shoes were an old entirely black pair of Chuck Taylor’s. I painted the white design on them using acrylic paint and sewed to the toe one of the pom poms I’d made earlier.

Props : I got a super fake looking arm from the dollar store and repainted it to be an exact replica of my arm, moles and all.

I used an edible fake blood recipe for the blood so that the wearer could “chew” on the arm and not get poisoned. From memory it was a mix of corn syrup, Hershey chocolate sauce and red food colouring.

The balloon is a prop that I’m still weirdly proud of to this day. The convention center doesn’t allow for helium balloons so I had to make a normal balloon appear to be floating and full of helium.

I sandwiched a bit of sturdy wire in between two strips of ribbon which I glued together. One of the ribbons I left a long tail on so I could curl the end of it. I then had a red balloon holder attached to the top of the wire and then a normal air filled balloon sitting in that.