Overall I probably used 15-20 yards of fabric for this cosplay. It's hard to quantify exactly. There are four yards each in the train and bodice/hat, while the skirt/lace sleeves used around eight yards. A yard and a half of white brocade gave its all for the overskirt "wings."
The train was the largest (and most time-consuming) part of this cosplay. Work began in July, I lost motivation for a few weeks, then I finally completed it in September. I can't be sure how many appliques I stitched on this piece, but it's well over fifty! I also used seed beads and cut glass beads as accents.
My bodice feels like a feat of engineering. The pattern started out so basic, based off a simple sloper, but it quickly got really complex. I attached the applique, soutache trim, and beadwork before sewing up the garment. The garment has eight steel bones, all sewn into the interlining or seam allowances.
Finally I sewed up the entire bodice, and...it all bunched up around my waist. I should have expected that because, really, you can't make a perfectly fitted garment out of five pieces with no darts. So, DARTS!
I added four darts, two on each side of the center back seam. There's still a little bit of trouble with bunching up around my waist, but this mitigated most of it. Sewing the sleeves on was a trial in itself. Each sleeve is made in nine pieces, including four layers of white lace inside the sleeve bell! To finish the garment I added gold bullion trim to the hem and installed fourteen two-piece eyelets to the fronts to facilitate the lace-up closure.
Three of the four layers of lace inside the sleeve bell
This thing is a parfait of lace. Overall I purchased well over fifty yards of lace and I actually ended up using most of it. Thank goodness for Etsy sellers who frequent estate sales, because I found some beautiful lace patterns. Only thing that pisses me off is when they say it's white, the photos make it look white, but what I receive in the mail is cream or brownish in colour -_-
Even though the hat wasn't finished, I decided to wear this cosplay to my school's Halloween dance. The event was stupid, but it did give me valuable feedback about what did and did not work for the costume. The problem is that debuting the costume always decreases my motivation to complete pieces I haven't made yet. Stupid hat.
I put off the hat for a really long time because I had to fucking clue how I could keep it stiff and attach it securely to my wig. I am proud to announce that there's still no system for attaching it to my wig...
A piece of mat board became the stiffener. The fabric pieces were worked in the exact same way as the bodice and train, with applique and soutache and beads.
The only difference was the addition of hot glue shapes. Bead dangles on either side of the hat are strung on beading thread and then stitched through the mat board for extra support. They are tipped with magenta Swarovski cut glass teardrops!
The totals for this cosplay:
- 15-20 yards of fabric
- Over 50 yards of lace
- 14 eyelets
- One 12-pack of large craft foam pieces
- 150 sticks of hot glue
- 1 pair of pointe shoes
- 10 yards of gold braid trim
- 1 yard of gold bullion trim
- 2 yards of gold ribbon trim
- 3 yards of spiral steel boning
- LOTS OF BEADS
- 80 yards of soutache in two different shades of gold
- Six hook and eye sets
- 1 yard of velcro
- 2 yards of corset lacing
- 18x24 inch piece of mat board
- Brass brads
- 3 cans of spray paint
Finally finished!
No comments:
Post a Comment