Wings and other aerial structures

I had a few random costuming thoughts last week. I was messing with bamboo stakes for hanging some Chinese calligraphy pages and was thinking they might not be bad for supporting a wing structure of some type - they're pretty strong and lightweight, also cheap. They do have joints, but depending on the type of wings, fins, or other aerial-type structure, they could definitely work. Then I was thinking about how if you're traveling by plane/bus/train, how would you make them smaller for travel...

So, for something that doesn't require permanent attachment to the frame, one could make the pieces shorter and use joiners to assemble the pieces and then slide them into pockets. Which led to the next idea -- tent poles. You know, the ones with the shock cords joining all the pieces? You can buy them separately at some camp places, but might be something to keep in mind, if you have or acquire an old tent that's no longer serviceable for whatever reason. With a little care you could even take some lengths of pole out and shorten to desired length.

Also, depending on what you're doing, you might be able to use the shock cord poles without using slider pockets, like if you were doing something with lacey or stretchy fabric.

Rockabilly X-Men Accessories

Been working on some accessories for Cyclops...

Spray-painted the sunglasses frame. Taping over the lenses  (both sides) was a picky job. I did light passes from different angles, taking time for drying between passes, and still missed a few things. Had to re-tape and paint again. Better lighting while spraying would have helped, but I did most of the spraying in the basement to keep the fumes out of the main part of the house. They'll do.

Large X is a "brooch" and has a clip on the back. Used old mat board scraps for the X and back board. X is cover with faux leather, as is back board. Black gems are adhesive-backed ones from JoAnn's beading/jewelry section. Red on that and the smaller X'es is adhesive-backed holographic paper (scrapbooking section, I think?). I'd been thinking something like tail lights would be cool, reminiscent of the car-racing for pink slips, and saw this paper.

I think the clip is an old chip clip or clothes pin? Strong spring action but is basically made from a heavy wire that's vinyl-coated.

The smaller X'es are on large buttons (button backs were flat), out of my mom's old stash of buttons. I'll be making rosettes to put them on, and then they'll go on my shoes. I took the photo at this point to show that I cut the holo paper so it was slightly in from the edge of the button -- to avoid having the red show outside the circle of black I'm outlining with gems.

The fit for the gems around the outer edge was a little too tight but in this case having plastic gems was a good thing. I clipped a tiny bit from the edges of a few of them to get them to fit, and you can't really tell even holding them in your hand. Way down on the floor on my shoes, they'll be perfect.

Snow Queen - Ruff/Collar

Hm, I suppose I should post about the sleeves, since I worked on those before the ruff, but I still haven't taken decent photos of them so...

This ruff is currently able to worn on its own, and will go on over the collar of the organza bodice that is still in-progress. I may decide to leave it stand-alone or I may decide to attach it to an overcoat/vest type of thing I have in the planning.

The foundation of the collar is leftover scrap from my new ironing board pad - thick but soft. I should probably line it, but since it isn't going to be in direct contact with my skin, I'm undecided on that. The wire is floral wire, which I bent so the ends all point up and out, and sewed onto the fabric. Both the bending and sewing around the wire in several places along the length of each bend keeps it in place remarkably well.

Here's a couple shots of the lace going on. I had to start at the bottom since that's where the fabric is, but I wanted to overlap the top of each lower row over the bottom of the next row, which meant remembering to leave each row unattached on the top half of the trim, attaching the next row, then going back and securing the top of the previous row to it.  Mostly, I remembered to do that...

I also was periodically inserting a pleat, both to ease the trim around the curve I was creating (the wires go up, out, and away from each other), and to create a more dimensional piece.  Although the human tendency is to create patterns, I purposely did not keep track of specifically when I was pleating or not, to try to give it a more organic look. 

Working around the wires was kind of a pain, but overall it went pretty well; didn't poke out an eye or anything! 

Once I had the trim all sewn on from the outside perspective, I put on a couple more rows on the inside, as the trim has a definite front and back, and the upper edge of the collar along the sides and back will be seen from both sides. This part I was able to attach working from the top down, which was a good deal more sane to do than the outer layer.

Next was attaching some plastic rhinestone mesh I got last year, on sale in the floral section of JoAnn's.  The collar is fastened with three snaps -- I'd first thought to use velcro but I only had it in black, then remembered the snaps on my old wedding dress -- part of the over-train, which has to come off anyway.

I also did some securing between the inner and outer layers and stitched some of the gathered trim into tighter pleats to create a little more depth and texture. I'm afraid I didn't get a photo that really shows that, but here you can see it on me.

Oh, and I glued glass faceted beads onto the ends of the wires so it's safe and pretty.  I'm not sure where they came from but I'm guessing an old broken necklace maybe?  I've been storing them in an old allergy tablet bottle that expired in 1986, so it's anyone guess at this point.

Death Bunny

Inspiration piece:

http://www.skullspiration.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Skull-salt-and-pepper-shakers-3.jpg

This is for playboy bunny contest/party at D*C.  I have fuzzy pink bunny years I bought years ago, a black corset, and a black tulle skirt already.  I'm going to see about re-doing the skirt, as I think it's a little too long, plus I want to use an elasticized waist instead of the tying system it has currently.

A friend shared a site earlier this year that had some skull-y things, including a scarf I liked that you got for free if you ordered X amount of stuff.  Well, I liked some tall stockings/hose that were black with pink crossed bones on them so.... then I learned about the contest/party, looked at the hose, remembered the ears I have and the salt-and-pepper shakers, and voila!

These shakers have the bunnies wearing ties -- I'll have to think about whether I want to do this type of tie or not. I was thinking I'd like to make a standing collar with a mantle, so a tie could be worked into it without too much difficulty...maybe.  We'll see what happens :D

I'll also need to make a mask -- domino/half mask type.

Hm, do I need a wig? Probably not. Maybe just put my hair up in a bun...

My costume will be more black than pink, but I think it will be cute, and definitely fun.

Warhammer 40K - Rogue Trader

Seriously considering doing a Rogue Trader, likely based on Lady Sun Lee. I guess I need to look at more pictures of Rogue Traders, armor, etc., since the picture I have of her only shows the front and that not down to the feet.

Found these at Goodwill today, for $2:

These are little kid shin guards. Actually, they're pretty short, even on my forearms, but I can always add extension materials.  They aren't the same shape as the ones in the picture but I like that they're padded, so I'll make a cover for them.  Not craft foam if I can help it, since I don't have any, but we'll see, when the time comes.

I was hoping for more used sports equipment (like shoulders and elbows), but no luck this time.  Considered a pair of ski boots for $7 because they were nice and bulky and armor-like, but couldn't stand how rigid the soles are.

Inspiration piece for Lady Sun Lee:

Oh, and for no reason at all, got this too:

Faux leather but has a nice hand for all that, and only $5. I'm sure it'll come in handy for something.

Sleeve Progress

Gotten a little further on sleeves for Snow Queen. Mostly I work on it as a break from doing other things, so it'll take a while to make, especially over the next few weeks. I'm also working on curtains for the bedroom (yes, still), as well as rearranging things all over the place. And the porch has been pretty much eating my time up in large chunks but I think I'm finally done with that for a bit. Well, except for decorating the tree, but that can wait.

Anyway, here's a picture!

The lower part of the sleeve is rows of lace sewn together. I then added a row onto the bottom of the upper half of the sleeve. Then I made the snowflakes.

Well, then I made some small pleats while attaching the lower and upper halves.

These are mostly from new materials. I found a place online for the lace at a good price, and the fabric was on sale at JoAnn's.

The snowflakes are made from pieces I cut off while getting the lace matched up for the long cuffs, so a reduction in waste there.  They're beaded with blue glass rocaille and bugle beads, and also white pearl beads. The glass ones I bought new last year, the "pearls" I bought new as well, back when I was doing a lot of pearling in the SCA.

***

I wanted to have a coat with this, but then the dress would be hidden -- okay in a costume contest where you can walk around, take off the coat, and walk some more, but terrible for a hall costume.

I also thought it would be nice if I could wear the coat outside of a convention so...what I'm going to try to do is make a sleeveless coat/robe that I can attach sleeves to for actual outdoor wear. I have a lovely plush grey velour and also some white fake fur that I've been using for extra warmth in the bedroom, which should look great!

***

Originally I was going to have a blue skirt and in fact it's mostly done. But as I continued to do research I realized that the bluer winter beings like Snegurochka are a winter-into-spring theme. I want to go icier, so the deeper, more intense blue is now out. No worries, I'll wear that skirt with something else!

I have another option now -- my first wedding dress. I had it kicking around because I was thinking I'd remake it into something else and never got around to it. I think it'll be a fine base for the snow queen, and the light blue organza looks good over it. Now I have to decide if I want to keep the train or not...

Quick Post on Snow Queen

Wanted a change of pace last night, so I started work on sleeves for Snow Queen.  Yeah, Dragon Con is a ways from now, but these are going to take a little while to make...

The straight edges go fairly quickly, but futzing with joining the pointed ends takes a little longer. Liking the look so far!