cut stitch glue cut stitch glue cut stitch glue

[alonewiththemoon]

I just spent 8 hours sewing.  I can still hear the sewing machine in my head and my fingers are dyed black from all the thread, fabric and feathers I've been working with.  But I made a lot of progress today:

• re-hemmed my trumpet skirt, dutifully using 8 million pins and thereby doing a significantly better job of it this time.
• Made a darted straight narrow belt using denim, a layer of felt padding and glitter velvet.  
• Made feather ornaments for the hips of the belt and sewed/glued them on.  I did a lot of combination gluing/sewing today, as this costume is somewhat sculptural and getting needles through stuff wasn't always an option.  I snapped a needle in half learning that lesson.
  
• Attached wings to bra.  You would not believe how difficult such a simple little sentence turns out to be when taken from theory to practice.
• Ditched the idea of having a swan's neck wrap around my torso, as I felt it would have had the optical effect of shortening my torso, something I do not need.  Instead, the swan's neck comes down from the middle of the front of the bra, and I think looks much better than my original idea.  It's more integrated into the wings now.  The swan's neck is constructed from heavy needlepoint fabric (I like using it as a base for things as it is sturdy yet flexible) and more glitter velvet, with the beak in some of the wet look spandex that the skirt and bra are made from.  Ultimately I think there will be a pearl hanging from its beak, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  I used a red crystal for its eye and made little velvet eyelids to make it look more mysterious and swanny.
  

It seems like I should have done more than that in 8 hours, but I guess I can be happy with what I've done.  I'm definitely done for the night, that's for sure.  What I have left:

• Make pearl strands for loops on belt, probably also loops on bra.  I hadn't planned on doing the bra so hopefully I ordered enough extra pearls to make that happen.
  
• Make headband and gloves from glitter velvet.  Somewhat kicking myself for not ordering these from L Rose when I placed an order over the summer, but ah well, one can't foresee everything.  I had no way of knowing then that the glitter velvet I ordered is exactly the same as her twilight velvet.

This is a good learning project for me.  I'm learning that yes, it matters if you take the time to measure twice and use many many pins when sewing, no matter how long it takes to put them in the pattern pieces.  I'm learning about designing for my particular body.  I'm learning about the construction of skirts, particularly with regard to trains.  And my biggest "yeah, ya think?" lesson learned today is that the fabric goes through the machine much easier if you aren't resting your elbow on the stuff you're trying to sew ;-)
 

Comments

[kinadancer.livejournal.com]

how about a dangly earring for the swan?

I know that swans don't have earlobes (duh) AND I don't know where you have the head positioned... BUT if you have head positioned just way a dangly earring would add interest and some whimsy.


Cause a swan costume is not whimsical enough ;-)

[electronicangel.livejournal.com]

I am VERY intrigued to see this piece in action... Raks Spooki?

[alonewiththemoon]

Yes indeed! :-)