Hospital appointment, cortisol test and xrays of feet and hands, done!
So I also went to Spotlight, got more lining for dress two.
Got thread for dress shell, dress lining and sewing sequins.
Got sequins to test dye and also glitter in two shades of pearl. To match the two shades of interference powders I’ll be using 🙂 Oh, next step. Transfer all my resolene to a clean container with a lid as I have no idea where the lid actually is. So, to the sequins, then to bed.
Top; Athena Bead cornflower blue, cornflower blue Josey Rose sequin film, aqua green Athena Bead, ditto overdyed with iDye poly Turquoise.
Middle; Sullivan’s (29032- 9mm cup ivory with coating) dyed ditto, Maria George clear with coating 20mm sequin dyed ditto.
Bottom; Sullivan’s cup undyed, Maria George undyed, Elizabeth Craft shimmer sheet (iris) ditto Turquoise.
Turquoise 3mm matte sequin mesh.
So I now just need to decide between film or ready cut sequins.
But over all I now most recommend solid pet/pvc sequins cut or uncut in white/ivory/clear and dye them to colour. It’s paler than anything easily available and so easy to get your materials stockpiled!
Luckily I have had heaps of experience with both parts in terms of drafting and draping 🙂 Key things to note are:
Most commercial patterns are a good start, however they almost universally make backs too deep. It looks lovely on a dress form but on a human it winds up a secondary anchor point. There are two, generally speaking- at the waist and under the bust. These are where you can put circles of elastic and they will stay mostly in place. In the case of the former because there is rigid bone above and below (ribs and hips) and in the latter there is gravity/friction from breast tissue that also acts as a physical barrier.
Of course this is far from universal and speaking as someone who has one anchor point in actuality it still helps to work out where they both are for any support layers- hidden stay tape, where you can a padding etc.
So, the back; extend and widen. You can use inner stay elastic to hold the back in place and then let the bodice float over that, but this is the secret to victorian corsets- they rise higher in the back than the front. That is in part due to the rigid boning keeping the shape from displacing vertically. This eliminates the old bra line issue 🙂
Anyway, the bodice I draped here started as a rectangle of fabric and I put in extra padding on my form at the bust so that I can make the bodice to fit over that then padd the inside to shape. But I really need a foundation to at least start cutting my fabrics and find the most natural places to take in or let out as needed.
Oh and no, that is not yet the final shape. It’s close because I’ll do as everyone else has and ignore how the bodice actually sits right at the waist at the back and sides and only dips below at the front. Why? It’s not entirely flattering. Elsa does not have big hips and yet even she looks distinctly hourglass because the shape pulls over the hips making them more prominent.
I need to decide on accuracy over flattering so I will need to get started asap.
Oh and further to the above and to the previous post about shapewear- I did find one glorious bridal gown at Savemart. It’s the perfect example of how the inner of a high end gown is a very different shape to the outer. It was however a really good example of how bulky our modern formal wear is. I have an 1890s bodice that is fairly typical of the time and even with velvet it does not add much bulk. The stays (flat steels) are super thin, my steel boning is about 3X the thickness.
The corsets I have handled have likewise been much thinner yet as sturdy. Apparently it is in part down to our modern fabrics just not being as strong as in the past (which means we wind up using bulkier fabrics for the same strength). I do think there is a tendency to use bulky material to begin with. The fuzzy boning cover material is one example. It’s on underwire as well. You don’t need it.
Found royal blue satin to line my fabric and boy does it make the sequins pop green!
But of course this is only seen at the hem, so i will need to still get the green on the sequins as per my vidéo in Feb.
How the same light but different angles affect the colour.
First is with main light source directly behind me (green, tinted turquoise, blue)
Second is with main source of light behind the sequins (bue, tinted turquoise, green)
Third is at 90 degrees from the right of the main light source (blue, turquoise, green.)
The differences and similarities are more and less pronounced depending on the light type as well. This was overcast and the whole lot tended towards green. With eco bulbs they tend to show the base colour mare than the duo tone coating.
I’ll need to tint a few more of the paler ones a touch darker so i can have a more gradual change. Will follow this pattern of overlay though, and then overlap from top to bust point as well. I do need to stabilise the net, i was going to omit the extra net layer but i think for ease of embroidery i’ll want some. So i’ll get some wash away stabiliser.
Meanwhile i get to make this sequin and net bodice layer lie as flat and stable as possible. So i undid a fair bit from this week. Sigh.
I managed to snaggle some Madonna blue Dylon. They have the tiny pots again! Well not as pots but as sachets. So like the old silver top with colour sun packs, not the cold water dyes. Technically this is the right warm tinted blue for the Elsa cape. I had a rummage in my pile of stashes and I will have to switch out the fabric, I got some dye on a spot but it was a layered spot…. so…. meh.
I also got more sequins online and worked out how to layer my current fabrics to make the skirt and lining, yay! I’ll have to make all the seams as per the movie to make sure the fabrics stay nicely in line if I do, and also try and get a layer of super sheer tulle over the top to avoid catching. But there will be the right weight to the skirt. The reason my mind went to Mackie immediately is not just the sparkle but the weight you get in that classic beaded and sequined fabric. It swings, it flows, and slinks. And from the top to the bottom, not just at the hem. It may be worth watching a few Cher videos of her Vegas shows…
And I got some RIT colour remover to knock out the salmon of my viscose satin (used also for my Mina drapery lining) so I can tint that up to line the skirt and bodice.
I almost bought some large circular sequins to cut up but decided I may just wind up buying some already cut. I do wish I could get bigger shapes or that the sequin film I have was more durable but ah well. There are places to get wholesale bulk amounts but I’d need to really make sure about shapes and colours.
Also I grabbed some idye for my silk. My marroon silk should definitely dye, it has grippy but not waxy finish so should absorb the dye well.
The horns will be cut back a little more. With fitting so well over the top I can cut in at the side. But my head cast then does need to be cut back a good 6mm in on one side! So yes, I’ll have to do that later as well 🙂
Looks like my local hardware store sells aerosil! But it’s labeled as glue powder so I need to check it out online, because hooray if it is just aerosil!
Top: Shimmer Sheetz turquoise, Shimmer Sheets iris blue, Josey Rose cornflower blue sequin film. Middle: Athena aqua green, Athena cornflower blue? Bottom: turquoise 3mm sequin fabric. With duo blue/green on left, plain on right. So I appear to have gotten the cornflower blue by accident the first time. But this is good! Now I have a proper full comparisson for anyone wanting to mix known and tested colours. It’s interesting to compare the hues of these similarly named products as they really are all very different! I think I may wind up using the Shimmer Sheets and sequin film for my own gown. The Athena cornflower blue however really is great as a match to the Disney doll colours- even if the name suggests a warmer blue than it is. They are significantly darker than the Shimmer Sheets or film. The Aqua green is very green indeed with very little of the purple interference. But it may be possible to dye these so I will sacrifice some to iDye poly to see 🙂 But yes, pretty sure I want to cut my own just need to get the shape into a file. It really will be halfway between the pre-cut and scanner pre-set shapes.
Small problem with trying to get photos, the sequins flash green mostly when vertical, when flat they look really purple. But in scale they are a nice match to the sequined fabric and do indeed blend in between the other sequins.
So these are the Athena “green aqua” cornflower blue which I think are slightly deeper tone than the cornflower blue– the base plastic is pale blue but the colours that flash are green and lilac. Really recommended for lower torso then blend up over the bust with paler sequins.
I need to leave soon to get the final of a three step vaccine. And next week have to go to hospital for a blood test (to make sure my body has not gone a bit skewy with the old cortisol and not producing any) which will take an hour and a half. Gah. But then I get to go to another lab and get tested for adrenal antibodies and then another for TB testing. Again! really!!!!!!!
So yes, my disease is nasty enough that we use hard core front line stuff that makes medical practitioners freak. Like this is seriously the sixth time I’ve had a test for TB of some sort (chest xrays, and the blood test before each request for these medications and then again once approval has been gained.)
I cannot have the skin test, again. We had them when I was 13 and with no follow up even though I presented with a rash for.. oh… a year after. So no. No we will not be doing that again. Mess with my immune system in some ways but not in ways I know will trigger an uncontrollable reaction.
Anyway so I’m possibly feeling the Mabthera slowing down/RA catching up as I have hot joints symmetrically across my body. So I’m slowing down even computer work.
So that gets me back to Elsa.
I have stalled her for a few reasons. First is above, second is all the Maleficent Feelz (I love me some flawed IPs I know, will post about it as there was a tumblr post that touched on it) and third is it is a hugely popular costume and I feel a bit worried about it all.
I don’t do popular costumes. I just don’t. So finding myself ranking high in google searches has made me pull back a bit as I haven’t even got anything cut yet. Well my tests yes.
But it’s also popular here. And with my moderate position of “power” I hesitate to do something in case a contestant is put off or thinks I’m going to be thinking “that’s not how I’ve done it” because that is not how the judging process works. And not how I work. I love seeing how people tackle engineering issues and come up with different methods 
I also feel guilty because at each show this year people have been asking when I’ll wear Elsa and so again the Olde Guilty “I’m taking focus” thing comes in. But then I’m also excited when I see other people doing things I love so….
Anyway, I have just fired up photoshop and will also fire up the Scan n Cut website to see how I can get the snowflakes laid up and also how to vectorise them (I may need to reinstall Illustrator though I am just not good at all with it…) so that I can get them in to all sorts of portable files. And I need to see how small the knife will go so as to see if I can get sewing holes in my sequins 🙂 And I will hunt out some sample from other stores after all and see how they work 🙂 I’m more worried about the shipping and customs of 25kg of sequin film than anything.
Anyway, I now also have a partial head cast- for making a perfectly fitted set of horns and cheek prosthetics. I soloed it, which is possible but so not safe! I only did because I know the product (how hot it gets and heavy and how far I can push proportions) and my own levels of panic and how to do things in stages so there was no risk of being encased in plaster. So what I have are perfect ear molds, a nearly great back of head (it fits perfectly just has big gaps) and what is essentially the mother for a face mold. It’s too big (did upper and lower in two stages) and so I’ll have to fill it with something that will take fine detail and not stick to my face. Or be something I’m allergic to. I also learnt that my ears are seriously defined and not very squishy.
So salt dough/play dough is my current option. It’s also biodegradable 🙂 But I’ll have to make, press and cast from it in one day so that may be a day where I have people around to get some help (hold my mold while I strap it together! Smash my ears!
Anyway so massive mess has been sorted and that was after a day of social times where people cae
2 Responses to “Quickie update, state of the Elsa, Maleficent and me.”
Meilin / 25 Jun 2014 3:34pm #I hear ya on Elsa popularity. But… If you love it and have invested so much effort so far (hello, sequins?) then just make the fricking costume already.
TB test, gah. Even with a seriously compromised immune system I have trouble figuring out where you would pick that up. Better safe than sorry I guess.
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admin / 26 Jun 2014 12:13am #Unfortunately I do live in a high risk area- an area with a lot of migration and people with low vaccination rates etc.
The effort invested so far is not so much that I couldn’t just pass the costume elements on and not be too far out of pocket (the experimenting has been a bit hit and miss.) I think it’s the specific way I want to do this and being burned out on corsetry having done so much historic stuff. But I have to remind myself this is more like testing out the 7 of 9 undergarment than yet another hourglass corset. 🙂 Yay spanks with a bra! Essentially. I want that effect of her dress being a floating layer- or two floating layers and the only way to do that is have the support completely separate from the gown and make the gown just barely skim. Difficult normally but extra difficult with a ridiculous wide lower rib, narrow waist and wide upper hip. There is so little room for vertical movement.
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