Finishing Touches (Posted 28th October 2009)

The silver bow is the same as the previous one, but being bigger it's floppier. I put a wire in the top to stop it flopping over.
I didn't need to fall back on the fimo broach as I made the resin one successfully! Not as shiny as I'd like, but that's because the original wasn't perfectly smooth, being fimo moulded by hand. This was much lighter and had a nice translucent effect. I also cast a small star for the front of the skirt. I covered it in gold leaf to match the other smaller stars.

Boot Covers (Posted 28th October 2009)

I decided to make boot covers because I don't want to spend out lots of money on full length boots, plus in the art they're always really close fitting and average high-street boots are very baggy round my calves.

I started by putting on my base court shoes and drawing out the outline up to my knee. I could then use this as a rough guide to cut out the lycra with an extra inch added on all around the leg (but don't cut round the foot as this needs to be wider than it is high).

Now there's less fabric in the way the rough boot cover can actually be pinned round the shoe just tight enough to smooth out the surface. I made mine a full cover going all the way round the heel and under the sole as I wanted to re-use the shoes later, I did wonder if this would make them slippery on the stage, but it was fine on the day.

Sew the covers up the seams and then pop the base shoe back in, then I could put the black ribbon round the top, glued at the front behind the star. Having this non-stretchy ribbon at the top kept the covers taught and stopped them slipping down my legs.

Taking Shape (Posted 19th October 2009)

I finally joined the pants to the top. I'm waiting to cut the neckline once all the decorations are on so I'll know where it stretches.

I figured out the secrets of fake bows, so fiddly to get in place to pin! The back one is all ready to gather, but scaled up it's not as rigid, so I might put a wire inside.

The tiara went really well considering I thought it would be the hardest bit. It's one sheet of funky foam, I drew the indented boarder with a ball point pen before painting it all in gesso, lightly sanding it off and spraying gold.

Expo is so close...

Ah Fimo (Posted 12th October 2009)

Sailor collar and bows are done, just need to stick the bows permanently into folds. Sewing the white ribbon on the collar was very fiddly, but I'm happy with the result.

I made a start on the accessories tonight. This is the Fimo star broach to go on the front bow (it is black, honestly). I'm going to shape my resin mould from this and I can coat this version in glitter and gloss if all goes wrong. Also patterned the tiara which I'm going to make from craft foam.

Still Here (Posted 5th October 2009)

Just to prove I haven't forgotten about this!

I've done the poofy sleeves, body, skirts and sailor pants! This is a great pattern, the instructions make it so much more simple than the diagrams look.

I'm aiming to resin cast the star broach, maybe with glitter set in it, but I'm going to cast the resin from an original model of black fimo so I can use that if it all goes wrong.

I doubt I'll have time to make the staff yet, but we shall see.

75% Stretch? (Posted 27th August 2009)

Cut out all the panels for the bodysuit.
I didn't realise from the pictures that the skirt is actually sewn into the leotard on this pattern. I thought it was tacked on top. Remembering what Chevi said about the skirt sitting quite high on the waist, I've added some extra length to the top panels and I'm going to work out how far to drop the waist seam.

Also prototyped a glove. Initial attempts have been a bit tight, making my hands go cold in seconds. I was hoping I could skip using finger gussets because the fabric is so stretchy, but I may have to if I want to keep blood in my hands.

Launching Mission to Pluto! (Posted 27th July 2009)

Wig and shoes ordered, KwikSew pattern #2310 got! Starting this when I get back from Aya :D
Also found a bag of assorted metal star buttons in a bargin bin, perfect size for the boots and tiara. I might paint them, or I could use them to make resin molds from, though black resin isn't that great to look at...