FO: Sailor Moon

In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!

Yay! So after making Sailor Venus, I was excited to try making Sailor Moon. It was around exam time so I didn't have a lot of time to devote to crocheting, but all I really wanted to make was the hair. So I made Princess Serenity instead. She turned out adorably, and rather quickly thanks to her almost plain white empire waist dress. I was also very happy with how easy her hair turned out to be!

Once I was out of school and had all the free time in the world, I got started on a proper Sailor Moon. The main difference in the uniforms of the main Senshi versus Sailor V is that the Senshi wear one piece leotards under their skirts while Sailor V has a two-piece with some midriff showing. This made V's outfit very easy with regards to color changing, I had to decide how to make the V-shaped dip at the stomach that appears in the main Senshi's uniform. Based on Becky's Basic Doll Pattern, all of the Senshi skirts go like this: 

On the last row of the torso and the center of where the doll faces front and on the front loops only: hdc, dc, tbl, dc, hdc. This will create a V-shape. Sew the legs, and use the back loops of the previous row where the stitches above are; that way they are on the outside. 

Skirt

Row 1: Hold the doll upside down so the stitches face downward. Pick up 24th around the seam of the torso and the legs, and under the exposed V-shape. 

Row 2: *sc 5, 2sc in next st* all around. join

For the pleats of the skirt ch 5 or 6 (depending on gauge and how long the skirt should be) from the join in Row 2 and sc back to the same st, sl to the next st, turn and sc back to the bottom on back loops only. From the bottom, ch 1 and sc back to the top on back loops only. Repeat the back and forth all around. Sometimes, when making it back to Row 2 and if the skirt was getting too full, I would sl into the next stitch and slip again to the following before going back down.

Bun Head

The hair obviously gets the most comments when I show this doll off. Usage's buns are the most iconic Sailor Moon element of all the dolls. I'm glad to report that they were fairly easy to do.

First, I made a wig cap, which is the same as the first half of the head on the pattern, just before the decreases start. I tied some bits of hair at the front for the bangs and cut it. I think I cut the bangs too short, and that makes them the most difficult part of this hair. The buns are just two smaill and lightly-stuffed spheres that I sewed to the top of the head. the two pieces of loose hair that go under the buns are two pieces crocheted flat. Starting with a chain of about 40, turn and sc back two or three times Increases give the piece some curl so I added increases randomly throughout every row. To make the piece thicker on top I included a few hdc and dc stitches near the top. To make the tips of the hair thinner, I sl st through the final stitches.

The red accents on the buns (as well as the tiara jewel, crescent moons, and the brooch on the bow) were added with puffy paint at the end.

I'm very happy with how she turn out, even if I do keep going back and fixing little kinks as I've gotten better at making the team.