Female Turian costume by Matt & Kristy on Flickr.
Tag Archives: costume
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Female Turian costume by Matt & Kristy on Flickr.
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Okay… so…
I walked to the mall today as part of my recovery I need to get my aerobic activity up- so I sing as a walk. Freaking hard when you jump from belting (Aida and Wicked) to legit (The Lowest Trees Have Tops and Think of Me). And I was thinking how sad it was I still hadn’t finished my Think of me Gown (I brought parts indoors to hand sew at night but it proved too much) and how really all that was stopping me was enthusiasm and good ropes in the skirt.
The Aussie ropes I believe are made the same way as the US but do not have the fabric painted ends. They also have red, green and black ropes- the black divides the red and green and so they don’t perfectly follow the bodice panels- not over time with wearing by different casts now anyway!) And I was simply unable to find a suitable green velvet anywhere. Nor red for that matter. The red and green in my bodice are particularldeep shades and I was only finding mid greens and warm reds.
Until today. Found a perfect berry red and decided what the heck I can always overdye (idey-Poly ftw) the green to match. But no. On the other side of the shop was the matching dark green. Slightly more vibrant than expected but a nice dark colour.
So 3m of each (sadly it’s not quite long enough to get two ropes per width) but it curls beautifully. ANd was only $NZ8/m. So I iwll have a heap left over to do.. somehting eith. Maybe I’ll cut the length first so I can offer the rest to anyone who wants to join in on the gaudy silly fun! I don’t even care if the bodices aren’t accurate and are made from existing patterns. I want a bevy of Hannibal ballerinas!
Anyway. So while the cutting will be monotonous I am going to try and do them all at once and then go mad making them in to tubes! So I may see what I can do about dividing work space in to splashy splashy latex and resin and paint and a totally separate area as delicate princess in GOLD and GREEN and RED
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Okay… so…
I walked to the mall today as part of my recovery I need to get my aerobic activity up- so I sing as a walk. Freaking hard when you jump from belting (Aida and Wicked) to legit (The Lowest Trees Have Tops and Think of Me). And I was thinking how sad it…
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Rachi Sitra progress!
The Obi is actually an underbust corset cut way down. It doesn’t show the effect so much because the mannequin is slimmer than me at the hips and bigger through the waist 😉 But I need it for comfort’s sake: pressure on my ribs is something I avoid as much as possible.
So:
Inner tunic tank tee with welts, sew down the selvage to avoid stretch, then cut on the bias to fit the front. Tall collar is tall and actually is the length of my neck.. ehem, it’ll be scrunched a little so I don’t look like I’m in a brace. It’s a super soft knit faux suede.
To do: face sleeves??? in matching knit to the darker aspects of the costume.
Loose tunic in mechincal stretch crepe with flared and split sleeves, all edged bound in (woven mechanical stretch) faux suede, self made and ironed.
To do: possible hooks and eyes CF
Tabbards in faux suede bound in ditto, shaped at the waist and satin stitched together to reduce bulk
Obi: glazed brown cotton and plain white canvas sewn as one, seam allowances top stitch to create soft support. Dark faux suede bound top and bottom, secondary layer of same stitched down. Obi overlayer/pale decoration cut and sewn by overlocker then hand sewn in place.
To do: hammer holes in the back and gather the obi “wrap” which will hide the lacing but be permanently attached.
Pants: same soft faux suede as the the inner tunic. Terrible back shape so as to stay in place….
Twi’lek headdress: dark faux suede shaped to lower half of head, wide strip of same sewn above and three large pin tucks sewn. Wide elastic threaded through to create the three rows seen in art- but allows for the whole thing to suction to my head.
To do: hooks and eyes at chin and forehead, decorative piece to cover the closure. Cut holes for ear buds/nubbins and see if I can make them small ish.
Lekku: Cleaned and painted purple.
To do: last layer of paint and stripes. Ick. Not looking forward to the stripes.
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Currently light side costuming. Mainly I want a costume I don’t have to be glued into and is relatively easy to use the loo. So sick of getting sick from costumes that once on stay on until the end of the day with no food, drink or loo breaks.
industrialarts said: question!!! what kind of stitching do you use for the inner vest/shirt? Ive been meaning to make a neck seal for my Mandalorian costume but Ive tried a few times and it always looks so horrible.
I first took the full width of fabric and made the basic lines: I basically pin tucked the back- overlocked/serged in one go. The fabric twisted a bit but not enough to be a worry. Then I machine stitched each tuck to make the spaces a little bit narrower.
Then cut both front pieces on the bias sewed the front seam (which is slightly S shaped) and finally topstitched the tucks from the topside, making sure all the tucks lay pointing down.
There is only enough to be seen, so that I could still be comfortable- there are so many layers at the waist I’m a little worried 😉
Also the machine stitching on top is very very short. A lesson learnt from Victorian period techniques where the tiny stitches make it look hand sewn or sewn by anything other than an industrial machine 😉
Another tip though: knit fabric will creep at different rates under the serger/overlocker and sewing machine. I help the fabric through by alternately stretching and pushing the fabric as needed. It’s a feel thing, something that takes practice to do. I also rarely pin fabrics any more- if I can’t hold the fabric in place then it’s probably going to need to be basted. Velvet. And slippery poly chiffon or slippery silk habotai etc…
And finally faux suede has a nap that can drag on the sewing plate r foot if you sew against it. And coated fabrics can also do the same thing. Except glazed. That obi has glazed cotton on the outside so far and it’s wonderful to sew. There is a reason it was ideal for Victorian garments.
Next up is to make the lekku again. I was going to strip back my Talon Lekku because that would be easier. But I wore her when I met lovely people and I have such very strong memories tied in that I cant. They are just going to be retired as they are 🙂
I have three bottles of white airbrush ink to tint and the “crappy” latex should still be fine for this project. I need to water it down anyway 🙂 And have a day where I can spend time out in the workroom with a fully functioning brain.
There should be just enough of the faux suede to make the wee helmet, which nicely hides the entire hairline. Body paint is easy peasy when you aren’t also trying to blend prosthethic seams….
Now I also need to see what kind of lightsaber she uses and decide to just use what I have or use some of the piping dug out from under the house (I am incredibly happy we got all our plumbing replaced after a house fire in 07 but boy did they leave a lot of pieces under the house!) Yay for some funky pieces for random buttons on random props.
So to bed so I can have a head start in the morning. While doing this I have also started a nice historian style outfit from some rust red-brown raw silk. I will be offering it to anyone in NZ as a bribe *ehem* to join he rebel Legion. I have helped a lot of RL members over the years just not so many locally.
Hense why I am having an open workshop this weekend and plan to pass on costume pieces 🙂 The crepe used for the tunic was a great and cheap find. I want to say Nick’s Fabrics but it may have been Geoff’s Emporium. But I got it essentially for my Shaak Ti (The Force Unleashed) costume. Yes I bought 15m just tomake sure i had enough for what took 1m tops.
I kind of want to make Master Fay’s robes from it too….
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@masseffect Nyreen progress! Again sorry for bathroom photos but this is the best lit mirror in the house at this time of day and I do not fancy setting my tripod out and all the rigmarole it takes to get my camera to focus when taking self portraits (I need to have a stand in or the camera focuses on the background…. I usually use a Christmas tree stand, vacuum tube and wig head, it can be entertaining)
Anyway so this is the first successful cast! I will be using this but I want to make as many sets as I can before the mold loses too much definition. I love the texture I got on the skull but it will eventually go bye bye. The very last set will be a semi rigid urethane which I will also use to cast my Asari pieces from and any other plaster mold looking a bit dodgy.
Also, I will be using various means to hold pieces together. The pins forced curves not present and the underside of the upper lip sticks out but will be glued flat to the inside. I will be using a lot of velcro dots. They stick very well to latex indeed and will allow for fast removal in case of heatstroke. Cough, not that that happened at the Dragon*Con parade at all… cough. ehem.
I may go try and test the hood pattern. It’s crazy with overlaps and stand up collar and all that jazz.
(ETA: I use @XYZ because I cross post to twitter on this account 😉 )
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Yus! I knew it 🙂 face part pretty much over a direct face cast and the back part is one piece-fits-all.
The full thing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW7NtjSzaYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ta-J1589ok
And another:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFuX6Uo1VlE
Hmmmm, face is silicon but the back is clearly foam backed. Might have to think about my options here..
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Since you're doing Nyreen, did you consider making a mold of your face, so you could sculpt a perfect fit? I was just wondering since you're sculpting on a foam face
A head cast requires at least two people and the person having the cast made 🙂 And money for the good alginate (plaster heats up very quickly and is not recommend for a full face/head cast.)
I did recently do the tour at Weta Cave (small window into the workshop, omg the CNC machines which are all handbuilt…..) and spoke with well… everyone. 😉 But one artist said what I was doing was fine 🙂 You do need to be able to think in 3D shapes and take your own measurements pretty well.
I’ve been sculpting since I was a kid. Mainly elfy type creatures and then again a few realistic and a few poupee types. So you can in fact make a sculpture taking all that in to account. Even sculpt it underneath in a different coloured clay.
Were it to be a foam piece I would have definitely waited until I had a cast. To mold and cure foam latex you really do need a mold that holds the final shape. With foam that really means having a backing that will match the final shape it will be adhered to.
As she is slip cast I have a little more freedom as I can glue in foam (urethane either cut from sheets or a low shorw two part urethane- which is incredibly fiddly and requires perfect environmental factors for it to go off with good cell structure).
Before the mold dies completely I’m going to cast her in a semi rigid urethane so I can have a permanent display piece 🙂 I’m currently prepping my Asari molds for the last four or five casts I can really get out of them and will do the same. I have my Samara and Liara tentacles for display but I’d like another set that will never degrade;)
For my next project, the Silurian Madame Vastra I will have to have a head cast. Preferably my own because the scales are so very delicate and fine and blend so closely to the eyes. I would ideally then cast them in foam latex and use a mix of paints and gloss to get that lovely rigid scale look. I’m pretty sure the originals are foam latex based on how the pieces move.
I do have a back up plan in case I am unable to deal with a head cast (I am very very claustrophobic and do not cope with restricted breathing- this is why you need two helpers to make it go faster and also so there is always someone able to help you breathe/understand what is going on.)
BTW I have made gelatin, slip latex and silicon appliances. All have they pros and cons. Some are more delicate (encapsulated silicon which I haven’t done) some are easier to apply some look great except where glued (slip cast latex, sigh). It’s fun to try out each kind (highly recommend gelatin for those at home and who can do small partial face casts! The molds do eventually go moldy ditto with the casts but they are cheap and beautifully translucent).
So long wall of text is long 😉 But there are ways around a lot of issues with not having a full range of kit but it does take extra work and practice. And I am most definitely getting a head cast asap. But after my sinuses and glands have de-swollen. I really don’t need them captured forever 😉
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Since you’re doing Nyreen, did you consider making a mold of your face, so you could sculpt a perfect fit? I was just wondering since you’re sculpting on a foam face
A head cast requires at least two people and the person having the cast made 🙂 And money for the good alginate (plaster heats up very quickly and is not recommend for a full face/head cast.)
I did recently do the tour at Weta Cave (small window into the workshop, omg the CNC machines which are all handbuilt…..) and spoke with well… everyone. 😉 But one artist said what I was doing was fine 🙂 You do need to be able to think in 3D shapes and take your own measurements pretty well.
I’ve been sculpting since I was a kid. Mainly elfy type creatures and then again a few realistic and a few poupee types. So you can in fact make a sculpture taking all that in to account. Even sculpt it underneath in a different coloured clay.
Were it to be a foam piece I would have definitely waited until I had a cast. To mold and cure foam latex you really do need a mold that holds the final shape. With foam that really means having a backing that will match the final shape it will be adhered to.
As she is slip cast I have a little more freedom as I can glue in foam (urethane either cut from sheets or a low shorw two part urethane- which is incredibly fiddly and requires perfect environmental factors for it to go off with good cell structure).
Before the mold dies completely I’m going to cast her in a semi rigid urethane so I can have a permanent display piece 🙂 I’m currently prepping my Asari molds for the last four or five casts I can really get out of them and will do the same. I have my Samara and Liara tentacles for display but I’d like another set that will never degrade;)
For my next project, the Silurian Madame Vastra I will have to have a head cast. Preferably my own because the scales are so very delicate and fine and blend so closely to the eyes. I would ideally then cast them in foam latex and use a mix of paints and gloss to get that lovely rigid scale look. I’m pretty sure the originals are foam latex based on how the pieces move.
I do have a back up plan in case I am unable to deal with a head cast (I am very very claustrophobic and do not cope with restricted breathing- this is why you need two helpers to make it go faster and also so there is always someone able to help you breathe/understand what is going on.)
BTW I have made gelatin, slip latex and silicon appliances. All have they pros and cons. Some are more delicate (encapsulated silicon which I haven’t done) some are easier to apply some look great except where glued (slip cast latex, sigh). It’s fun to try out each kind (highly recommend gelatin for those at home and who can do small partial face casts! The molds do eventually go moldy ditto with the casts but they are cheap and beautifully translucent).
So long wall of text is long 😉 But there are ways around a lot of issues with not having a full range of kit but it does take extra work and practice. And I am most definitely getting a head cast asap. But after my sinuses and glands have de-swollen. I really don’t need them captured forever 😉
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