Sophie Hatter

Series: Howl’s Moving Castle
Version: 1st Dress
Created: June 2021
Worn to: Anime Banzai 2021, Kumoricon 2021
Awards: CHCC 2022 Best Advanced Innovation

Sometimes I choose to make a costume simply because I’ve found the perfect fabric for it. That was the case with Sophie. I had stumbled upon the most perfect teal linen and knew I had to make it into a Sophie dress. But, because I can do nothing simply, I decided to make an Edwardian inspired version of Sophie.

The foundation of this costume is a set of Edwardian underthings including a combination, a hip pad, an s-bend corset, 2 petticoats, and a corset cover. These were all made following the instructions in a 1905 sewing manual! This was my first heavy dive into true historical sewing – it was crazy fun. Next I made the skirt and shirt waist. Both are made from the teal linen and are flat lined in muslin. The skirt has incredible twirl to it and it also has a pocket!!

I finished Sophie in the summer of 2021 but when 2022 rolled around my BFF Nicole Bee and I decided to enter Sophie AND Howl into CRX’s online contest! When I was making Sophie I had a really clear picture of how the matching Howl would look, so I ended up doing a majority of the stitch work on Howl while Nicole worked on the details. Howl’s look includes a pair of pleather pants, a cotton lawn shirt (with star lace and rhinestones), and of course the patchwork jacket. We wanted this jacket to be super magical and give Nicole a more masculine silhouette. The jacket includes tons of different fabrics and trims and the entire thing is flat lined, lined, and has classical tailoring techniques! This was my first time making shoulder pads!

Wearing these with Nicole was the most magical experience. I cannot wait to change up a few things and wear them again!