Just a Big Ol' Update on the Lunar Fairy!

So, I've been hard at work, continuing progress on my Lunar Fairy!  Two weeks ago, I worked on the frame for her wings!  Like a lot of this costume, this is something I made previously, then when back and tweaked.  The first frame was made of two very long pieces of wire that I bent to make the top and bottom wings and the brace to join each side together.  They have a similar look now, but instead of two whole pieces, there are 4 separate wings that will be joined together.  I ended up re-bending the wire to balance out the design, and that lead to me having to make two new separate wings, so I just went with it. :)

Top photo: Version 1 of the frame.  Bottom photo:  Comparison between the new frame (left) and the old frame (right).

I'll be working on getting the wings covered, soon.  I normally use iridescent cellophane on fairy wings, but I want to change it up this time and try using fabric.  I've never made fabric wings before, so I'm going to practice with some scrap materials first.  I've got some pretty silver organza to go on them as well, and TONS of rhinestones! The rhinestones I'll be using on the wings will not be Swarovski.  As much as I'd love to bling them out with those, they're pricey and if any of them ever came off I'd be SUPER sad, lol! So I have a box of stones from Michaels to use instead.  I bought the Firefly Path Resin LED wing tutorial so I could try out something different, but I'm not sure what I'll end up doing for sure, yet.  This will be one of few sets of wings I'll have made that will have straps instead of going down the back of a corset. 

I've also continued working on the circlet.  I added more chain and beads to the back, and tested out adhering a cameo setting to one of the filigrees.  Swarovski rhinestones have been added to the crescent moon, and the cameo. The circlet will be finished when I add the large rhinestones to the center, and add the other cameos to the remaining filigrees.  I'm still waiting on some rhinestones that I ordered from ebay a few weeks ago, but I went ahead an got a back up set of rhinestones in case the ones from ebay end up not being what I want.  I also ordered the base fabric for the dress!!  I can't wait to get started on that next!

My updated circlet!! Such sparkle, much wow.

A few days ago, I made a necklace to go with everything else.  I haven't decided on whether or not I am going to leave it as is or add a little more detail, but here's how it looks currently:

That's all I've got for now, but updates will be a-comin'!! ^.^

Princess Dreams: Embroidering Tiana's Leaves

I figured it was time to do an update on Tiana progress. ;D I've started the task of working on the leaf part of her dress.  This is another part of her costume that I started on a LONG time ago, but embroidery by hand or machine isn't something I have much experience with.  However, I didn't let that stop me!  I initially had to figure out just how many leaves I would probably need, so I just cut out a bunch of leaves, and spread the skirt out on my living room floor, which was my craft area at the time.  Then I took the leaves and started trying to figure out how to arrange them so that I could figure out a rough estimate.

Back in 2014, yo.

My initial plan was to sew the leaves to the skirt itself, but since resuming this project, I came up with another idea.  My current plan is to make the entire green part of the costume, into its own dress.  I made a base skirt using the skirt pattern from Simplicity 1553.  Once all of the leaves are done, they'll be sewn on to the skirt, and then attached to the bodice.  :)  The leaves are made out of green faux suede that I got from Joann (same as the bodice).  Next came figuring out how to do the veins on the leaves.  A friend suggested embroidery, but I didn't have a machine, and the idea of doing them by hand did not appeal to me (and still doesn't, lol).  I've since gotten an embroidery machine, but I haven't sat down with it enough to figure out if I can use it for this.  I also found out that my regular sewing machine does a satin stitch, which is the type of stitch I need for the leaves.  I also went ahead and looked up how to satin stitch by hand in case it came down to me just doing them by hand.  By the way, I determined that I need about 26 of these leaves...  Shoot me. :P

There has been a good bit of trial and error while figuring out how to do the embroidery by machine.  I first had to decide on whether or not the puff paint method (drawing the design in puff paint then embroidering over it) was the way to go.  I found out that my machine isn't a fan of trying to stitch over puff paint, so I switched to just a flat gold glitter paint and paint the veins on the leaves.  Below is a comparison pic of when I first started painting the leaves, and the present when I went back and re-painted them to be more accurate to the picture.

On the left: 2014 leaf.  On the right: the revamp.

Something else I plan to do for this costume is give it a pocket or two.  I decided that somehow, I need to start finding ways to put my phone and stuff somewhere, so I'm going to try to start giving my costumes pockets.  I took a 3-month industrial sewing class last year, and learned how to do pockets, so I plan on putting at least one pocket on the back of one of the leaves so I can carry my phone, debit card, and con badge somewhere when I need to.

It did come down to me deciding that I'd have to embroider the leaves by hand.  Metallic embroidery thread and my sewing machine just were not getting along.  I spent a LOT of time researching how to do embroidery with a regular sewing machine, and nothing I've tried has really worked out, so I just decided to do them by hand.  *SIGH*

My current progress on the first leaf.  One

down, 25 to go...

The plus side about doing these by hand is that I can choose to embroider with thick thread, as opposed to single threading on the machine, which I could have potentially had to go back over a second time, since I was using flat paint instead of puff paint for my guidelines.  I think that if I'm diligent with getting them done, I'll definitely be able to have them all done for when I hope to wear this in 2017.  Even though hand embroidery does take longer, I've been finding that it hasn't taken me very long to get to this point with the first leaf.  Not too shabby for someone who has never done any sort of embroidery, eh? :D  Until next time!!!

Lunar Fairy Circlet

So, I've been working on the circlet headpiece for my Lunar fairy!!  Last time, I showed the way it used to look, and now I've taken it apart and re-vamped it!  It's not completely finished, but it's probably about 80% done!  So in my previous post, I showed you what I first started out with.  It's got a similar look now, but with a lot of additions!  So here are the before pics:

And here is what it currently looks like:

Version 2.0, weeeeeee!!!

Because I added beads in between the filigrees, it's a bit large for my head at the moment, so I'll be going back and taking out 1-2 pearls from the pearl chain, and that should make it fit better.  :D  Something I did this time around, was I went back and did some research on jewelry making tools, and how to use certain jewelry pieces like jump rings, eyepins, and headpins.  I'm SOOOO glad that I did, because I actually felt like I knew what I was doing, lol.  I went to Michaels and bought a set of different types of tools, and found some videos on YouTube so I could have visual references.  

I want to take a little bit of time to talk about where I found some of all this stuff.  The filigrees, I found on ebay, and they did come from overseas, so it took a few weeks for them to get to me.  There are different types of metal quality it seems, and since I'm not entirely versed in that area, I'll say that these are very pliable, which can either be a good thing or not so great if you want something more solid.  I do also have some filigrees that I bought from Etsy that are more solid and do not bend, but it all just depends on what you want.  These filigrees that I ended up using were actually good, because I was able to modify them by cutting off the corners.  The pearl chain also came from ebay, and it may or may not have been from a US seller, but it was exactly what I wanted for this. ^.^  Of course, the beads and findings came from both Joann and Michaels, both of which were having sales on beads when I went shopping, so it was nice to save some money, for sure!  (That's probably why I ended up with so many strands, LOL!)  Michaels also had their multipacks of Swarvoski rhinestones on sale, and I snapped up a couple of packs.  I'll be using some of them on the crescent moon, and I also intend to make a necklace, using a few on that as well.  I'm debating trying to buy some in bulk for the dress when I finally get started on it, we'll see!!  I did get some cameo settings in the mail that I plan to add to the filigrees, but I need to find stones to go in them.  I have some that are the PERFECT size, but they aren't the right color, lol.

I used a lot of iridescent beads for this.  I love the rainbow effect of an iridescent finish, so I felt like it would be a nice contrast to the silver filigrees.  I also used a few glass pearls, both white and a dark silvery gray color that reminded me of moondust.  I've been trying to get ideas for makeup to do, as I work on the circlet, because when I have it finished I want to do a makeup test with the circlet and wig! :)  I think that's all I've got for now, I'll be updating again, very soon!

The Lunar Fairy

This week, I decided to take a break from Tiana (I'll write a separate post about what I've been up to with her), and go back to another costume project I have in the works.  I've always wanted to do an original character, and while the concept of a Lunar Fairy isn't "original," just coming up with ideas for a fairy design is pretty exciting. :)  I've been making a supply list of things to get, and started on the frame for a set of wings, a few months ago.  Since then, I've gotten a lot more ideas for her, and so I'll kind of be starting over from scratch.

The first thing I looked for, was a silver wig.  I wanted a lace front, so I could make a natural looking hairline.  I ended up finding a gorgeous wig on the Wig is Fashion site, and got it for Christmas from my dad.

After that, I knew I wanted to make a headpiece for my fairy.  I looked around on Pinterest to get ideas, and started ordering and buying ALL THE THINGS, to get started.  I began putting stuff together, and making a base for the headpiece.  I have different ideas now, so I'll be starting over.  I started with a crescent moon filigree, and attached some pearl chain to each side.  Then I took more square shaped filigrees and cut their square edges off to give them a different shape.  I bought a huge box of rhinestones from Michaels and glued a few to the crescent moon, but since I'll be starting over and replacing those with Swarovski rhinestones.  

This week, I started buying and ordering more materials for this project.  I'm pretty sure I have a bead addiction, now...

I don't have a bead problem.  NO YOU.

I'm excited because jewelry making isn't something I've done a whole lot of.  In fact, I should probably make it known that I have no idea what I'm doing, or what this will end up looking like.  But hopefully the end result will be magical. <3 

Princess Dreams: Making Princess Tiana #3

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!!  Tiana has a bodice (I hope you were reading that in Professor Farnsworth's voice)!!  I've been working on piecing this together over the last few weeks!!  When I first started this, I honestly didn't have much idea on how I was going to create the top of her gown.  But I took a good look at pictures of her actual gown, and also other cosplayers that had done her, so I could figure out what they did, and what I wanted.  I chose Simplicity 5006 for the bodice, and came up with a piece that I hoped would work for the leaf-like front.  A friend suggested I try using suedecloth for the bodice.  I found a really pretty green that reminded me of the color from the artwork.  I bought a Kelly green cotton fabric for the lining, because that was all Joann had at the time (or maybe I didn't look hard enough, one of the two), but I later found a different green for the lining that looked a lot better.

A few of the pattern pieces I originally came up with.

I also used the center front pattern piece of simplicity 5006 to come up with the petal pieces, and then an extra piece for the third petal.  I made these out of some of the same brocade fabric as the skirt, and ordered some super pretty beaded lace from ebay.  I love the beaded fabric, it was so pretty I didn't want to cut it!  I literally apologized to it before finally mustering up the courage to do it, lol. I added lining and interfacing to everything, and the center seam of the petals on the left and right have a piece of white steel boning sewn in.  The center petal was going to be topstitched on.

The original petal fabric: Main fabric (top), beaded lace added (bottom).

Two weeks ago, I turned my attention back to the bodice and re-cut the lining pieces.  I also used my serger to finish the edges on the main fabric.  I added interfacing to the lining pieces and sewed them together.  I ordered some white steel and spiral steel boning, because plastic boning is really pretty meh.  I decided that since I was going to be going all out for this version of her dress that I was going to put good, lasting boning into the bodice. :)  I decided to try using twill tape instead of boning casing in the seams where the boning would go.  Joann didn't have the width I actually wanted, so I used some one inch twill tape.  I laid a piece of boning on top of each piece, and drew lines on either side of the boning with tailor's chalk so I'd know how wide the channel needed to be.  I also made sure that when it came to ordering the boning, that I took seam allowance into account because steel boning is NOT easy to cut.  I definitely like using twill tape to make channels, as opposed to previous bodices where I was fussing (and cussing) with sewing in the casing.

One side of the lining, with twill tape added.

I originally thought I was going to be able to sew everything together as-is, but I realized that the petals were going to need something behind them.  So I made a center panel for the petals to be sewn on to.  After I made sure each side of the panel wasn't going to interfere with the boning channels, I used a zig-zag stitch to sewn in the panel.  Figuring out how to put in the panel was a little tricky!

OoOo-la-la! XD  The center panel sewn in!

Petals added to the center!

A test fit on my dummy. :)  Isn't she lovely?

The petals have been sewn on to the panel, and the boning has been added in.  I think two of the pieces might still be a little long, so I'll either have to try to cut them, or just re-order them a little shorter.  It needs a zipper in the back as well as a hook and eye (probably), and I will be tacking it down in various places.  After all that is done, it's on to the leaf skirt!  It might be a little while before I update on that.  I'm trying to get the embroidery figured out.  But hooray for progress!!

Things I need to go back and finish:

-Bedazzling the other shoe

-Adding horsehair to the skirt

-The monster petticoat

Princess Dreams: Making Princess Tiana #2

WOW!!  Sorry it's been so long!!  I'm going to try to get better about updating this blog!  I'd been considering moving this to a different site, but for now I will stay right here.  :)

Recently, I worked on the main skirt for Tiana's dress.  The skirt was made from Simplicity 1728, and it consists of three layers (all were made using the same pattern).  The first layer is some gorgeous upholstery brocade I found at Joann a long time ago when I first started this.  I chose this fabric because the fairy tale artwork for the doll depicts the base skirt with a flower pattern, and I wanted something similar.  Initially, this was going to be the only layer, but after seeing so many live action Cinderella gowns, I got inspired.  I added a layer of glitter tulle over the brocade, and then I added a layer of shimmery organza over that.  The organza has fishing line sewn into the hem, to give it a look like flower petals.  I love looking at the subtle sparkle from the tulle!  I ordered some 2 inch wide horsehair braid, which came in the mail the other day, and that is going to be sewn into the hem of the brocade layer.  The skirt will be completely finished after I sew that in, and put a hook and eye on the waistband!  I got 9 yards of fabric for each skirt layer, and the patterns calls for something close to that amount, so the skirt is made of roughly 24-27 yds. of fabric all together.

I will be starting on the leaves, next.  That will be the next update (which I swear won't be several months later, lol)!

Onimusha Soul Morrigan

Happy New Year!  It's been a bit since I updated this blog! I've been waiting to have some costume progress, and now I do!  I've been working on a new version of Morrigan Aensland.  Capcom apparently developed a game called Onimusha: Soul for the PS3 a while back, I came across the artwork for Morrigan by chance and loved it.

I wanted to put my own spin on this artwork, so I've been taking a lot of creative liberties. :)  Today, I finished the main kimono.  It's made of silk Dupioni fabric four the sort of beige-ish color of the main fabric, and I lined it with a red paisley brocade for the lining and details.  Here's the result, so far:

I used Simplicity pattern 4080 for this kimono, and did some modifying to suit the look I'm trying to go for.  This is a fairly decent pattern and the first kimono I've ever made, but the sleeve instructions had me a little confused for a while.  I found a video on YouTube of a girl demonstrating how to make the sleeves, and once I started working on the first sleeve I finally figured out what the instructions were saying.  I took pictures of the sleeves as I went along, I'll try to do a separate post with instructions.  Now that the main kimono is done, I'm debating on whether or not I will make the outer skirt part that has the big flowers on it.  If I do, I think I've found a lovely brocade to do it in!

The other thing I've been working on for this costume are the wings.  When I was trying to figure out how I wanted to do this costume, I knew that I wanted to do something really cool with her wings.  I came up with the idea of making a flower crown headband for her head wings, and a friend of mine also suggested that I give it spikes.  I did NOT know this was a thing!  I need to make some of these headbands now, just because they're awesome (Minus the bat wings, lol).  The head wings aren't quite done being painted, but here's how they are looking right now: 

The head wings on top of the wig I plan to wear.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but they are painted in metallic red and purple.  The red paint was a little difficult to work with, and I might try to bring out the color a little more.  The back wings were the next thing, and I came up with a really awesome idea for them.  I wanted the back wings to look like a painting, and decided that I wanted to paint cherry blossoms on them!!  Cherry Blossoms are one of my favorite flowers, and I'm REALLY happy I decided to go this route with them.  They came out SO PRETTY!!!

A close-up view of the flowers

The wings are made of 9 gauge wire, craft foam, plastic plumbing tubing, and Fimo Air Light clay for the claws.  I like how light the Fimo is, but I may go back to using Sculpey because it's not as fragile-feeling.  The metallic colors match the head wings, and then I painted on the cherry blossom branches and blossoms.  I went back over the branches with some Tulip puff paint so the branches could have some texture. :D  This costume is turning out just the way I want, so far, I'm SO EXCITED!!  The big wings are the reason I'm debating on whether or not I will do the outer skirt on the kimono, I'm trying to not go absolutely overboard with the details and keep it balanced.  We'll see what happens!!  <3