Michelle Joy Princess Hedmond

Michelle Joy Princess Marimon Hedmond @ShellieCutiePie on Instagram

Re-Creation - Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon

Hey! My name is actually Michelle and I’m from Nevada! I am Filipino and my family is from the Visayas islands. I used to live in The Philippines for high school and a year of college. I learned so much with working with our indigenous materials back then! From huge palm tree leaves, banana leaves, sticks, dried flowers, coconut husks, and more! I fell in love with working with what I have and what’s out in nature, it made me even more creative.

I hope you love my take on recreating Raya’s full outfit! I made my own hat with dead palm leaves straight from my own backyard. It was my first time making a foam sword and handling a dremel tool. The arm pieces are made of foam, thick shoe laces, twine, and puffy paint. I bought some boots that costed $13 and I cut it and made the tip of it sloping up, painted it, added foam for the center part. I painted all the props and boots all at the same time while each was drying, puffy painted details on my cape & blazer, and even made my own foam stamp for the blazer. I even made my own patterns. 

Faith is big in The Philippines. My parents raised me to learn the ways of our Lord, our God. I prayed to God that I could make and finish this costume and it was a fun and amazing experience overall! I’ve made and done things that I’ve never before! I spent less than $125 on this cosplay because I started with whatever I had at home first. My belt is made out of a handwoven wine gift bag that I cut up and puffy painted the designs. My pants I made from scratch with light green vibrant fabric that I already had at home, I dyed with brown and black rye dye in a bucket and hot water, dried in my backyard in this perfect summer heat to dry it up quick, and splattered it with water and spray to get that perfect Raya pants color! My top is sewn on the machine for the base part and then I draped and hand-sewn the pleats. By hand, I clay molded the dragon piece on my sword! Did embroidery for the first time too for the tip of my cape collar!

Raya And The Last Dragon was such a delight to see because I finally got to see a strong woman character who is Southeast Asian like me! Can’t wait for my future kids to watch it! 

Making this cosplay was definitely the most special one I’ve ever made. It is everything to me. That I put all of my talents, my faith, and my love into this, in a crunch of 8 days straight. I owe it all to God & I hope that little girls and boys who love Raya can look at this and know that with keeping our Faith and having it strong, Nothing is impossible. 

Photos and Video taken by my Husband, Robert <3 

All photo edits, video editing, hair styling my real hair, directing by me. 

I want to thank my Husband so much for motivating me to always do everything I love all at once and for believing in me. I love you forever!

I also wanna thank @nammai​ for inspiring me to make this & all the tips he gave me to start. I applaud his talents in costuming (and how fast he works) and hearing his podcast episode with @asiansewistcollective gave me that push to really go for my dream to make this cosplay.

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Enjoy this video <3

Comic-Con Masquerade Contest: Michelle Joy Princess Hedmond

Costume Name: Mulan

Costume Description: Recreation of Disney’s Mulan 1998 

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” ~The Emperor, Mulan

Makeup, Hair, Accessories, & Costume by Me. My whole costume was made without using any patterns. I usually eye it & wing it every time. My earrings are made out of hot glue & gold loose pigments. All the flowers, trims, & appliques, I hand sewed onto my costume. Total of 5 pieces to put together. The top has 2 snaps to close it in front. The Obi has three big snaps in the back. The belt is tied in a bow. The red skirt and gold train are both one skirt with a zipper on the left side. The lavender sash is one long piece with dollar tree flowers that I sprinkled all over! If you look at the sleeves, I also sprinkled flowers on them too. As if flowers from a tree fell onto me. 

Bio: I’m passionate about Cosplay because it’s all of my talents in one! Sewing, Art, Design, Makeup, Hair, the whole shebang.  I’ve always wanted to revamp my Mulan costume. The very first time I made my Mulan costume, back in 2015, it took me 2 days to complete because I was just so excited! With every year that passes by, I upgrade a piece here and there. It always evolves. At least a piece or new fabric is added or changed the next time I wear this cosplay. I worked super fast within 3 days to bring my vision for a new design to reality. She’s my ultimate favorite Disney Character! I’ve looked up to her my whole life. This cosplay is so special to me. 

Photo credit: Robert Hedmond (Husband) & Patti Hedmond (Mother-In-Law)

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