The Snoopwiggy is a strange creature from the original Raggedy Ann books by Johnny Gruelle. The original books were full of strange creatures in addition to the fairies, witches, trolls, and talking animals that lived in the magical deep, deep woods. The tube-shaped head, trunk-like nose, fancy 18th century outfit, little hat, and striped socks were all hallmarks of original Gruelle charcaters. But the Snoopwiggy is special, because he's a centaur!

I love this guy. He showed up in a few early books, and his popularity solidified when he got a song in the 1931 Raggedy Ann's Sunny Songs album. He was also on some early merch, but never got a physical representation. He was phased out by the 40's.

My conspiracy is that no one else wanted to draw the four legs. He was replaced by the Snitznoodle, who is the same character with a different color palette and only two legs.

In 2026, the Raggedy Ann Rally announced that a costume parade would be part of the events. I of course needed a costume. And why wear something I already have when I can make something new? I would be busy running our day of panels and events, so I needed something I could easily throw on without changing. It also has to fit in my carry-on. The plan was to make a mask with a wig, and a lace collar.

Mask

I started with a cardboard base, and built the nose and cheecks out of cardboard scraps. This is a much simpler mask than most of my others, so I was soon on to covering it in paper mache. My log of my Pinocchio Masks goes more in-depth on this process.

The pupils of the eyes will be the eyeholes of the mask, so I planned the large whites of the eyes to take up most of the face. He ended up super cute!

Paint time!

Using a fine black pen, I outlines details on his eyes and nose to match the ink and watercolor style of the drawings.

I cut out two rectangles of buckram to cover the eyes, and colored them with watered-down black paint. Watering it down first helps it soak in and avoid filling up the holes in between the threads. After patting them with paper towels I let them full dry, and glued them into place behind the eye holes. The buckram works great - I don't have any vision issues besides the slight masking of the edges.

I haven't been adding buckram to my other character masks, since they are for stage, but these eye holes are so large and I'm likley to be seen up close more, so I did add it for this guy.

Accessories

This hat was made from this PDF sewing patterns: Sailor hat ("Dixie cup" style) by Olivia. The tutorial vide attached isn't very useful, and it took me a test attempt to make my own adjestments to the pattern and process. If I make it again, I'll make a more in-depth tutorial.

It's made from fabric scraps, with an iron-on interfacing in the brim. It's all fairly thick fabrics.

The collar is made from this Tie Collar (Peter Pan Collar) by Meineigenstil | Jennifer. This is a simple pattern with a good tutorial, but ended up being too small for me. I did add seam allowance, so I belive this is either an issue with the printing size, or my neck is just wider.

Wig

Wig time! My partner made me a wig cap from a wide crochet. I don't know their exact process, but they tell me they use an extra large hook forthe yarn size, which results in large holes between stitches. This is the goal!

I glued the wig cap to the top edge of the mask. The glue started to pull away, so for extra strength I cut small slits into the cardboard and stitched it into place on either end. Securing it at the point of the most tension is enough to prevent the glue from slipping off. After the mask was attached, my next step was placing and sewing on the hat.

For his tightly curled hair, I decided to use pipe cleaners. With four strands at a time, I curled the pipe cleaners around a large highlighter. I twisted together the ends so they stay, and looped one end through the holes in the wig cap, then twisted them back onto themselves. I did this over and over again, until the entire front is filled.

The back of the head and the spaces in between the loops are covered in yarn. This is a much easier process! I use a DVD case to create many yarn wefts of the same length. Using a crochet hook, loop it through one of the holes in the hat, under the yarn, and back out again. Folding two of the yarn sections in half, use the hook to grab the loop and pull it halfway through the hat. Take the tail end and thread it through its own loop, and pull the tail end tight. This is a simple knot that will hold the yarn sturdy.

Now you keep going... and going... and going!

I will not lie, the wig took me two days.

I used three colors of red yarn. One shade was very bright and matched the pipe cleaners, this I used mostly on the front and top of the wig. The other shade was a little muted (but still bright red) and makes up the majority of the wig. The third is a much darker softer yarn, and I used it in spots along the back just for some varriation. That's the number one tip I can give you when making wigs or fur of any sort - varriation of color and textures within a restricted color palette.

It's also important to style your wigs, even yarn and fabric ones. I spent some time cutting the back into shape (a bit of a mullet, honestly) and carefuly positioning the yarn around the bases of the pipe cleaner curls. It'll need cleanup when it comes out of my luggage again.

It's very comfortable! The back of the wig works as an elastic and supports the mask, so it dosn't need an annoying strap. I can see just fine, it shouldn't be too hot since the wig base has lots of large holes. The collar being too small is a little annoying, and it does scratch against my neck, but in the end it's acceptable for a short parade costume, and I can easily re-make it for next year.

Friend sof mine have been suggesting I go all-out with a four-legged costume similar to Squidward from the Spongebob musical. As much as Ireally, really, really want to, I know I'll be too busy this year to mess with changing. And I don't want to bring an extra suitcase just for my stuffed pair of legs. So they will have to happen another time.