30th October 2009: Magic hat and bunny. Here is my lil bunny. I found her in a charity shop. I call her Flossy ^_^ ..and the finished magic hat prop. I thought people would like to see what she looks like close up - she's so cuuuuute. ^__^
Don't ask me how she manages to hide in the magic hat @_@ ...she's just a little star! ..anyway, a magician never reveals her secrets. ;P
30th October 2009: Magic hat and bunny I didn't want to wreck my top hat so I made a seperate one just for the bunny out of hat trick. Slightly smaller, made out of cardboard and covered in black paper card. In the background you can also see the bunny. I found her in a charity shop. I call her "Flossy". ^__^
23rd July 2009: Finished Shirt To make the shirt I drew the main shapes using one of my nice fitting shirts to get a pattern from. Then I cut out the shapes and drew a new shape for the stand up collar. Trying to keep seams and collar edges hiddeden..wow shirts are really involved!
Then I put my bewbs on and pinned the shirt so it fitted neatly around the bust - then sewed them in on the machine.
Ta da - finished shirt.
(Note buttons up on womans side ;) )
16th July 2009: 15 July 09 Final adjustments made to my second rough (made using Playboy Bunny pattern) now it fits me snug.
Pic shows the rough inside out and with original pattern pieces layed in position so I could transfer these alterations onto them (red).
15th July 2009: 14 July 09 Take 2!
Since I just found an authentic pattern for the Playboy Bunnny costume I started the briefs over again. I scaled up the pattern pieces and printed them out. Made up a new rough using these pattern pieces.
Test fitting
Since I'm not a curvy woman the flare over the hips is too big so I've adjusted the side seams to be more straighter. Also taken the bum in, now the rough is starting to fit right. :)
Resume tommorrow.
13th July 2009: 13 July 09 (Gotta get a move on with the costume - only 1 week left to get it finished for LFCC!)
Briefs/pants/bottoms what dya call these?
So for the briefs I am making some in like black satin. The material I got is quite heavy and even has like a soft flock on the reverse side, so I won't need to line it. (You really can't beat seeing and feeling the material you are buying in a rag market.)
For the styling I am using the panneled Playboy bunny costumes as ref. (Want to make a proper Playboy Bunny costume some day.)
Here is the rough pattern I have made. Basically just pin some spare material on me and draw with a biro. Cut and pin the material until it looks right and fits exactly.
e gads, these legs are Very high cut..hope I'm not gonna regret this! Time to transfer these shapes onto the black satin material.
12th July 2009: 12 July 09 Finished Top Hat, (just needs inner white lining glued in)
The trim around the brim is made from the waistband elestic off two pairs of knickers. The elastic had the right look so I cut it off pinned the two pieces together, held them streatched between a skirt coat hanger and sewed them together with the machine. Just for good measure the elastic trim has been glued to the brim - don't want it pinging off.
12th July 2009: 12 july Hat is now covered in black satin, glued on with Evostick PVA.
The decorative hat band (ribbon) has taken about 5 attempts.. nothing so simple as sticking a piece of ribbon around it. Because the hat shape is fluted where it meets the brim as well as at the top the ribbon just would not lie flat. I tried various methods of making something that would look right. After a number of failed ideas this is the method which worked. - I made a paper template for the hat band, (it turned out to be a gentle curve). I used this template and cut the shape out a piece of thick iron-on interfacing. I then lay some shiney black lining material face down on the ironing board and lay the interfacing on top with sticky side up. Then I turned over the black material and ironed it down onto the interfacing. This produced a curved shiney black hat band fitted nicely to the shape of the hat.
9th July 2009: 8 July 09 Sanded smooth, and coated with PVA to seal the filler, cardboard, and the original black material (is it felt or plastic, I cant figure out).
The hat is now ready to be covered.
26th June 2009: Top Hat progress.. I applied some filler to smooth out the steps at the top, now has the fluted shape I was after. Using a lollipop stick and some of this 'Lightweight Coving Adhesive' (left over from a DIY job, this stuff is meant for securing the lightweight polystyrene type coving) - I found it is an excellent lightweight filler for cardboard. It is easily sandable, sticks really well, is premixed and dries really fast (so doesn't soak the cardboard).
The filler is now being left to dry thoroughly, then I will sand it to a smooth finish.
26th June 2009: Top Hat progress.. I bought some thick white paper card from the art shop.
I drew an elipse on the pc the right size, printed it off and used it to cut out a stiff cardboard top the right size and shape.
I wrapped a cardboard cylinder around it and glued with pva
I added a second layer on top of that to make the hat sides more rigid.
I added more bands of paper card around the top to build out the fluted shape at the top - getting progressively thicker in steps.
I added another stiff cardboard top overhanging the edges - using the same elipse shape slightly bigger.
26th June 2009: Top Hat progress.. ..first off I sliced the top of the hat off at the headband position, as you can see.
The hat seems to be made from a tough plastic coated with black flock. The brim is the right shape so I'm keeping it as a base and will be adding my own shaped Top onto it.
26th June 2009: 26 June 09 This is how the fancy dress shop £4 top hat looks.
It isn't the shape I'm after so I've done some alterations...
19th June 2009: 19 june 09 Went to town yest and got some more basic material - black satin to make the high cut 'Playboy' style briefs with (the test pic is just black lycra).
And I've been puzzling over what colour/fabric to make the waistcoat out of.. I bought some grey bridal satin and some shiney silver 'showbiz' stuff to experiment with.
Also, my mum got me a Top Hat from a fancy dress shop. It was amazingly cheap but the shape looks more James Bond OddJob than magician.. :S and I want a vintage looking magicians Top Hat! So I am going to use this as a base to build my own Top Hat on.
2nd April 2009: 2 Apr 09 Started getting the pieces together.
I found a nice dress coat in the charity shop - this will do nicely to make the tail coat with. In this pic it is simply buttoned up around the back for effect.
It is actually a very dark blue, (in keeping with the artwork).
Fishnets - the diamond net pattern in the artwork is larger than standard fishnets but smaller than modern fence-net tights. I searched quite hard to find these. They are called 'Medium Net Tights' by Silky, and look spot on to me. They don't have a back seam so I'll probably wear them over a pair of sheer black seamed tights - cos I really want to ramp up the 50's glamour. *_*
I'm quite looking forward to having a go at making my own top hat. ^^