5th January 2013: Pointe shoe - making toe box inserts I have been asked how did I make the toe boxes which go inside my soft dance shoes to give them a pointe shoe appearance, so here is the explanantion...
What I did for my pointe shoe lookalikes was first I bought practice dance shoes - these look like point shoes but have no stiffeners inside at all. But the shape and general appearence is just like pointe shoes. So what I did was cut some thick cardboard shapes to fit over the top of my toes and bent the outer edges over at the edges. Then I PVA glued a few layers of normal printer paper over these wrapping all around my toes, forming the box shape. I added some more paper layers around the sides and top. The glue helps to stiffen and hold the box shape - a bit like real ones.. The toe boxe were formed over my toes and held in place until the glue dried sufficiently to hold the shape. (I wrapped masking tape around my toes first so the glue wouldnt stick to me.) Then when the toe boxes were glued enough to hold their shape I took them off and left them to dry completely. When they were completely dried I slid them up into the front of the dance shoes - the appearence is like pointe shoes with real toe boxes. The only thing was because the PVA glue dries hard the toe boxes feel a little hard and rough on the inside (just like the real ones) so when I put them on I first wrap a bit of kitchen towel around toes - this also helps prevent tights snagging on hard rough edges inside the toe boxes.
I have taken a pic of what the cardboard toe boxes look like in case it helps..
24th February 2009: mking the tutu - step 5 Final step of turning the puffball into a classic pancake tutu is to sew through the 4 layers by hand. This pulls all the layers together and is what gives the tutu its firmness and is how it manages to defy gravity ^-^
It was a magical moment to slip the tutu around my waist - I have a Tutu!! ^-^
- attatched pic shows the complete tutu, next stage to fix it to the bodice.
24th February 2009: making the tutu -step 4 I made up the second frill layer and fixed it to the same bias so it overlaped the first layer and faced the opposite way..this adds support to the top layer.
Then I made up frill layers 3 and 4 and secured them to another strip of bias.
Now..if my bodice had been made out of stong fabric I would have sewn the frill layers straight on, but I was using streatch velor for the bodice and I was worried the weight would simply pull and streatch the fabric, so I added an extra waist band of doubled over net tulle (incorporating a short strip of wide elastic for a bit of give) and fixed all the layers to this.
Note: getting this lot through the sewing machine was REALLY difficult. In fact I had to turn the machine slowly by hand most of the way!
- attatched pic shows all the frill layers now joined to the net waistband. The fril layers are all splaying out at this point.
24th February 2009: making the tutu - step 3 With the frill layer held in tight gathers by the strong cotton thread I then fixed it to a strip of bias binding through the sewing machine.
- attatched pic shows the gathered first layer now fixed to the bias.
24th February 2009: making the tutu - step 2 Each very long strip of net tulle has to be gathered right down to the hip measurement.
I simply passed an embroidery needle with some heavy cotton in/out - in/out the net tulle close to the edge, gathering the net tulle as I went ... It worked.
attatched pic shows threading the needle along the long edge of the net tulle in order to pull the gathers.
24th February 2009: making the tutu - step 1 For each frill layer I cut 4 strips of 56 inch wide net tulle and joined them end to end - it is awfully long to start with but all this is eventually gathered down tightly to fit my hip measurement of 35 inches.
1st frill layer - 15 inches by 56 inches net tulle x 4 strips joined together
2nd frill layer - 14 inches by 56 inches net tulle x 4 strips joined together
3rd frill layer - 13 inches by 56 inches net tulle x 4 strips joined together
4th frill layer - 12 inches by 56 inches net tulle x 4 strips joined together
- attatched pic shows just a plain zigzag through the machine to join the 4 pieces end to end into one long piece.
19th February 2009: 19 feb - 2 days left!! Oh no's..the market didn't have any black interfacing..darn there goes my idea for the feathers around the tutu!
I experimented painting white interfacing with black fabric paint but it is soaking it up like a sponge. I'll have to try something else..
2 days to go - Ok mild panic is setting in now. @_@
Tutu frills are done. Wow, battling with the net tulle under the machine - it really wasn't happy with it, especially when it is double layered and gathered. Most of the time I had to slowly hand turn the machine to get it through! 4 widths of 56' net joined end to end to make one layer! Suprising how it gathers up though. I think I may stick with 4 layers - I held them around my waist and looked in the mirror last night, ..magical moment! *Yay I have a tutu* ^-^
Ok now to sew the tutu frills onto the bodice and I will have a workable costume...
One thing I did find in the market was some large black feathers for the head-dress. I need to fix them onto the hair spring clip somehow..
Lots to do still.
17th February 2009: 16 Feb - bodice done! Phew, bodice is now joined successfully to knickers at last, it's starting to look like a costume. Zipper and fasteners also done, and I had to put boning up the back to stop the zipper buckling. :/
(Forgot to mention that the material I bought is a streatch velor fabric rather than stiff material, just cos I liked the look of this stuff when I saw it. :)Working with streatch fabric has its problems though, and I've got to use shoulder straps because the bodice won't stay up on its own. Ah well..
Now on to the tutu frills (looking forward to this part). That will leave just detailing.
Running out of time quickly, but I'm confident it will all be finished in time.
Oh, wig has come, and I fitted some hair slides to the Tiara. Tested it all on, woohoo! I'm pleased how it looks. :)
Shopping tomorrow in the city market for the 'Feathers'. I have a few cunning plans to try for the main feathers on the tutu. ;)
12th February 2009: 12 Feb - still working on main bodice The main bodice of the costume has been Reeeeally difficult with me. I have unpicked,trimmed re-stitched it 5 times now! Finally, it is lying across my bewbs nicely now and the front seams are where they should be ..running diagonally across the nipple.
New dilemma - since I am sewing a bra into the costume should I also follow the bra strap height around the back?? It's higher than where the back of the tutu should be.. hmmmm, *is running out of time fast....*
aaargh, tutu bodices are HARD!
Aha! - how long is my zip? that will settle it. ^^
23rd January 2009: Ballet shoes done. The ribbon ties kept going slack after wearing the shoes for a while. So I took them off then re-attatched them to some black elastic which I fixed too the insole. So now there is a little give when the ribbon needs it and it doesn't go slack anymore.
16th January 2009: Pointe Shoe lookalikes The soft dance shoes look similar to pointe shoes but have no stiffening. So I made up some toeboxes which fit inside and make the shoes look stiffer. I also added some black ribbon ties.
I'm happy how they look, and I think it's a good compromise between real pointe shoes and something more functional.
One last thing - I used normal black ribbon and it looks good but seems to undo itself and become slack even when the knot is tied very tight! Maybe ballet shoe ribbon needs to be a special kind..need to check this out.
11th January 2009: 11 Jan 2009 I'm going to try to cosplay Kraehe for Midlands Expo in Feb 2009. I watched the anime recently and just love her character so I have to try.
- progressing with making a 'rough' preliminary costume to experiment on. I found a pattern for a tutu in one of my ballet books and enlarged it on my PC. Some of the info is missing however. Still, enough to make a start and make something that looks like a tutu.
Experimented with addition of Nylon boning up the side seams. Looks like I might get away with having the bodice strapless. :)
- I decided not to use my pointe shoes for the Expo. 1)because they are pink, and 2)because there is lots of advice from real dancers against using them for cosplay.
Instead I have bought some ballet 'soft dance shoes'. They are made of soft black leather, have a full suede sole and they look like pointe shoes except without any of the stiffening. I bought some black ribbon and am sewing them on to complete the illusion that they are proper pointe shoes. :P