8th April 2012: Wig revamp I decided yesterday to fix up Aurora's wig - I wasn't very pleased with it cos not only did the side of my hair show but the bangs weren't very volumized. Also, to create that swirl, I used hair benders, clips and a whole load of hair spray which made the swirl look really unnatural, hard and create a lot of nasty spray flakes >< So I decided to brush the bangs out and try again; this time heat setting the bangs and I think it's turned out better.
14th January 2012: Aurora bodice revamp Even though I absolutely HATED making the bodice, I decided to have another bash at it XD It's very rare that I would choose to do this unless I was extremely unhappy about it ¬¬ Anyways, after I finally got a beuauutiful dress making dummy, I began to make the bodice from scratch which only cost me an extra £6-7 cos I had lots of left over from the last time :D Though it went smoother, it was still hellish to make.. The collar cost me so many hours... I still hate it...
After 20 hours of channel 4 tv and 90 episode of Prince of tennis, I have made a new bodice XD though there are imperfections still, I am more pleased with the second attempt :) I corrected the three seams to actually meet, added a pearl trimming along the collar (personal touch), corrected the annoying triangle thing to be flat than poking out, sleeves are not fully sewn to the collar as I found this made my arms huge last time, used satin bias binding cording than plain cotton and it fits a bit better to give me a shape than the last one which made me soo chunky XD The only thing left is to get a fresh set of photos :) x
23rd October 2011: The crown's journey ¬.¬ Literally I'm not kidding you - it has take me ages to get the crown almost right... As you can see from the diagram, I went through 4 different crowns >.<
Crown 1: Craft foam was the cheapest solution and the most managable since I'm damn useless cutting wood or metal ¬¬ This first crown I wasn't too fussed about as it was more of a trial - at first I wanted to copy some of the detailled designs from the crown shown in that famous pic of Aurora asleep but I not only dented the thing too much but it was messy trying to get those designs
Crown 2: Discovering Embossing metal, I wanted to see how it goes when I use it. BUT because it was so thin, it can easily be dented and looked really cheap.. not what I wanted to go for... also, I wanted to adopt the red jewels but I didn't think this worked either ^^;
Crown 3: Getting frustrated at this point, I decided to abandon the detail and just go with a simple crown - I of course stuck with craft foam and spread PVA glue on both sides which took a painful 3 days to dry .. however, just as one end was about to finish drying, my clever mum decided to move the crown thinking it was dry and as a result what wasn't dry got stuck onto something else and therefore made an undried dent when I peeled it away.. I was so miffed off after that >.<#
And Crown 4: after telling my mum to NOT TOUCH IT, everything ran smoothly XD Cut a new one out of craft foam, used PVA glue on both sides, applied a line of glue down the centre to accentuate the fold in the crown and spray painted this gold - also, used a clear spray to make it more shiny and protect the gold from rubbing off :) and TA-DA!!! I have a crown which I also too managed to find a way for it to float on the wig without permanently glueing it on :D
14th October 2011: Dress complete Just an odd entry bout the skirt - I am really happy with how this turned out but still annoyed bout the bodice ¬¬ however, with everything together, it does make me feel more 'Aurora' like ^^
At first, I was going to only have one layer but the dress would look quite flat - then when I analysed the film, Aurora had a white underneath skirt so then I thought perfect I'd do that! so now, I have a trail dress with a bit of volume from the underneath skirt ^o^ Huzzah!
13th October 2011: Samples At first I wasn't sure bout the choice of fabric for Aurora's skirt - I was going to opt for cotton but would make the dress be too plain then thought of using crepe satin but I didn't want this dress to be too shiny - in the end, I decided to use Duchess satin cos of its subtle sheen ^^
I looked round in the stores and internet for the right shade of blue and came across three -
(left to right) Cornflower, Mill blue, turquoise
After ages and ages of debating, I decided to purchase the cornflower shade - not too bright or too dark :D
12th October 2011: Crown wip Since I'm waiting for my dress fabric to arrive, I decided to finally make a start on the crown which somehow magically sits on Aurora's head without sliding off XD It's made from craft foam and gold spray paint. I don't think this will be final as I'm simple testing the length and pattern embellishments - it's a bit messy too - I'll see how it goes though
11th October 2011: Bodice complete Instead of opting for an open ended zip, I used the corset lace fastening method - I think it makes the bodice look prettier too -^^- Also about the triangle at the back, it wasn't physically possible to have it all joined without getting in and out of it easily so in the end I had to separate it at the back... It's super uneven...
Also, in the photo I decided to wear the wig to show off it's colour - I didn't wanna go for a single blond tone; instead got a wig which had two different tones - mainly cos it suited my skin colour and to enthasize Aurora's golden hair better :)
I'm still not 100% happy with it but I neither have the time nor money to make a new better one - this damn bodice really does show how inexperienced I am T^T
11th October 2011: Necklace This was truly a damn lucky find!! I couldn't believe I found something within the highstreet stores that was exactly like Aurora's necklace! :D Best part, it was on sale! 8D
10th October 2011: Collar wip Next hard bit was the collar along the top which I drafted outta lining - making it I sense is going to be a pain too ¬¬
5th October 2011: Bodice wip 1 This damn thing took forever!! everything about this was difficult to get accurate and right - for example, since Aurora has three seams, I wanted to enthasize this so I deicded to put cording within some bias tape to do it - it's so not straight... the other massive problem was the damn triangle at the bottom ... I hate symetrical things for a cosplay ¬¬ It's so not neat DX Even though it's not held together just yet, I have completed the main bit of the bodice but I'm not very happy with it at all ...
26th September 2011: Aurora wig WIP 2 Slightly redid the swirl as I wasn't entirely happy with it and wanted to give the fringe a bit more volume - this wig is about the most I can do for this cosplay for now as I'll be a tad busy for a while til I can get to working on the dress :(
24th September 2011: Aurora wig WIP 1 (reupload) As soon as this arrived, I started thinking of ways to style it! It's super rare for me to feel more excited about the styling of the wig rather than making the dress - I'm badly procrastinating for this one cos the dress is giving me slight head aches DX
Anyways, back to the wig, all I did was cut, trim, gel and hair spray the bangs into a swirl - It's the first time I've ever done this for a wig and it shows my inexperience DX I seriously am not sure about it but I can alter it later if I really don't like it...
Left image: Original wig
Centre image: Styled bangs (clip is holding the swirl in place)
Right image: Me wearing the finished wig(?)
24th September 2011: Blue reference Even though most of the time she was wearing a blue dress, the pink one seems to always be the more popular choice... The blue one suits me more so I'm going with it =b