Key staff Finished (Posted 27th October 2011)

Glued the final details on today using liquid nails. Tada! this is my finished Key staff. Really pleased with the final result.

Problems and solutions (Posted 26th October 2011)

Had some big setbacks!
1. The Plastikote primer I used on the key staff still hasnt dried, but seems permenantly soft as in..you can scrape it off with your finger nail. Why! So I have sanded the whole lot off - which clogged up loads of sandpaper.

Anyway the good news is..I then sprayed with white car paint as primer and it dried quickly so I was also able to spray the top coat using metallic silver car paint. Its drying now ..And it looks ace! Tommorow I can stick the orb and decorations on. Feeling like its in the bag! :)

2. Fuku skirt has been really tough this time around! - even though I used the same pattern I made for Mars. Strange. Skirt just wouldnt hang right. Very unhappy with it. So I unpicked the whole thing, and tried to push the drape into submission by steam pressing knife pleats. Looked great layed out flat but as soon as I tacked it onto the bodice it just went horrible again. Agghh. No more black fabric to spare either. So I unpicked the whole thing Again! and pressed the fabric back flat - fortunately the knife pleats completely came out.
Solution - Finally I hung the bodice on a coat hanger off the door frame and started pinning the skirt from the front centre, putting the gathers in as I went. This seems to be the key! Pinning the gathers whilst the skirt is hanging upright shows properly how the drape is looking, so you can adjust the fabric until it looks just right, then pin to hold that position. Finally I handsewed along the pinned seam. Skirt is now draping properly. :) Just needs hemming now.

Still need to make two bows and sailor collar, make boot extensions, glue decorations onto staff.

But my heart broach and Star neck choker are finished. And I have made the chevron earrings..if I can fix them onto my clip ons somehow. Gloves also finished and wig styled.

One day left till Expo. I think I can do it.. even if I have to work on something in the hotel on Saturday. :P

garnet orb holder (Posted 24th October 2011)

Pic shows cutting the detail strips from mountboard, and then pva glued around the garnet orb holder. Really pleased how this turned out.

Also completed, but not shown, I have cut slots out of the mini baubles with a mini disc in the hobby drill, so these are all ready to be fixed onto the staff top..after it has been painted.

staff progress (Posted 24th October 2011)

Key teeth details were cut out of perspex sheet. Then I cut long slots into the broom handle using a chisel and fixed the details in with liquid nails.

staff - baubles and top detail added (Posted 24th October 2011)

Pic shows the finished top detail after I filed the edges neatly down to the drawing lines and also rounded the corners off..lots of filing with the metal files! It has been fixed into the staff top - I cut a slot and secured with liquid nails.
The base construction of the garnet orb holder has also been added by glueing two layers of thick paper card. One of the baubles is also noticable on the staff. These were all done before the top was added - lots of filing grooves into the broom handle and then each bauble had to be cut in half, filled with Milliput for strength and pressed onto the staff.

Staff progress (Posted 24th October 2011)

Day three on the staff! I didnt realise it was gonna take this much work. Ah heck and Expo is coming up fast like it always does! :/

Pic shows cutting of the staff top detail. I used some thick perspex as it is pretty sturdy and the detail is fairly thin so needs the strength.

I selotaped a copy of the head detail drawing onto the perspex sheet. Then chain drilled, and then cut through with a hacksaw blade for the rough shape.

key staff (Posted 22nd October 2011)

I drew the heart shaped staff head pattern using a screen grab for ref (where the top garnet orb part seperates from the staff)

Pic shows how the baubles will be used on my key staff.

Key staff sourcing parts (Posted 22nd October 2011)

Baubles from Poundland - I made sure they were plastic ones before I bought. So these will form some of the details. Medium size for the spheres down the length of the key staff, a large red one for the garnet orb, small golden ones for details around the heart shaped head of the staff.

key staff mock up (Posted 22nd October 2011)

Start of key staff - bought a broom handle. I drew some cardboard cutouts and selotaped them on to work out the detail shapes and positions.

transparent sleeve caps attached (Posted 22nd October 2011)

Transparent sleeve caps on, handstitched onto the inside of the sleeve rolls. I havent had time to try it on yet but time is running out fast to Expo so it will have to do.

transparent sleeve caps (Posted 22nd October 2011)

completed transparent sleeve cap. They are clear acetate sheet with a sparkly organza layer hand stitched on.

transparent sleeve caps - progress (Posted 17th October 2011)

Had problems with the transparent sleeve caps.

Ideas I Tried out:

Organza on its own - flopped
Organza with net tulle backing - flopped
Clear acetate sheet - v plastic looking on its own, but holds its shape nicely
Clear acetate sheet with Organza glued at edges - almost! but dried glue is visible!

Final solution
Clear acetate sheet with a layer of Sparkly Organza - This involves making loads of tiny holes around the egdes. I used my Dremel type mini drill. The Organza is then joined onto the acetate sheet by hand sewing along the border of holes with invisible thread. Pics of completed sleeve caps tommorrow. :)

wip gloves (Posted 17th October 2011)

pic left - gloves made out of white stretch lycra, seperate thumbs, no finger gussets because there is enough stretch in the fabric. The glove rolls left are in stages of progress.. 1st the long sausage shape is sewed up out of upholstery foam strip. Then the foam sausage has been covered with black stretch fabric. Next the sausage shape is bent into a ring and the ends are stitched together. Finally the black fabric is closed over the join and sewed neatly. This completes the individual glove rolls - three made up for each glove.

pic right - shows the three individual glove rolls sewed together so they form a band of three. This is then finally sewed onto the glove top. Far right is the first completed glove.

Both gloves are now finished.

Finished wig (Posted 12th October 2011)

Pretty pleased with it even though im not 100 pc convinced the hair bun is right. But its the best I can do. Im not gonna risk changing it again.

End of a wig! (Posted 11th October 2011)

Oh dear, there is good news and bad news... First the good news, the fringe actually looks pretty good. The bad news, the hair bun idea has not worked out.. having effectively a complete wig hangiing off the back of a really long wig was really heavy! So I hacked the length off the bun extension hoping to leave just the bun, but the hacked off ends just stuck out badly, so I had to take it all off. Pic shows what is left now of the short wig. oopse. Ummm time for plan B...
Plan B - ok so I am going to try the trusty odango method the same as I used for Nehelenia. So I have cut a large hole through the polystyrene ball and painted it black, and dark green. I shall leave overnight to dry. Hopefully the long cut off piece from the short wig will be enough to cover the bun.
Darn, I need to look in on some wig styling workshops at the cons. :I

Wig styling (Posted 11th October 2011)

Plu wig arrived today, 1M long dark green - which is really great cuz the ad said it could take up to a month to arrive from HK! Fotunately it has arrived after only 6 days. So I spent the morning styling. Fringe was veeeery long so I have chopped a good 6 inches off in a bit of a curve. Also I put some rollers in and steamed with the kettle spout. When the rollers come out I will see, hopefully it will look how it should.
Also - the first wig I had bought for Plu which was too short is exactly the same colour. So I am using that for Plu's hair bun and extension. I used a polystyrende ball and just fitted the wig over it and tied around with black elastic. You can see the hair bun extension in the photo and there is a spare polystyrene ball too.

Base progress (Posted 5th October 2011)

..just needs transparent sleeve extensions adding now. Wondering what to use for these - just ordered some sheer organza, hope it will be stiff enough to hold its shape...

more time keys (Posted 7th March 2011)

I got this key in my winners bag from Midlands Expo, It just reminded me of the keys Plu has on a key chain around her waist in some artworks..so this key has been put with the other Pluto costume stuff. I know Im doing Super vers, which officially doesnt include the key chain, but I like the look of this key. Now I just need to find some more like it. ^_^

Boots (Posted 2nd October 2010)

These are boots which I will be useing as a base. Not much modding needed by the looks of things. :)

costume parts (Posted 2nd October 2010)

Have the Black satin for the skirt. Like Mars' it's the nice stuff..a bit more expensive but doesn't crease up like those cheap thin satins. This time I might go for a more pleated look skirt.

Also found a light up orb in the pound shop will be ideal for the time key crystal.