Ok so I promised today I’d post more about the pink thing.
So this thing has a massive, giant head-dress. It’s a showgirl costume basically.
Comically large head-dress, if that gives you a hint.
So I wanted to find something to use as a base to build it off of. I found this massive crown on amazon:
And on me:
I stripped all the decoration off and made a framework on the inside of leftover hooping material, so that it wouldn’t collapse under the weight of the stuff on top.
I don’t have any pics of the framework – but it’s basically two pieces of hooping, taped together at the center top, and then I made little pockets for them to slide into at the base out of some leftover bias tape.
Then I made a cover for it, out of my pink satin.
This was version 1. This one wasn’t fitting well (wonder why…) so I took it off, took it apart and used it as a pattern to cut out some better looking pieces.
So I have a ton of feathers and crap that have to go into the top. I decided to add a foam topper to the center that everything could just stick into — that got covered up when I put the pink satin cover on.
And than’s when I realized it was way too tall. Which is funny because I was worried about it being tall enough.
So I disassembled it – cut the crown apart and took some of the length out, sewed it back together, took the satin cover in, and sewed it back in place.
Then I made a long tube of my leftover pink organza from the skirt to make the wrap pieces — pinned it around the headpiece and just hand-tacked it in place.
And I cut a triangular shape out of my sequin fabric for the front piece.
For the pearl “earrings” on the side, I got some big pearls at Joann, and threaded them onto some silver elastic — finished them off with some little silver beads I had on hand. I sewed all the tops of these together, then sewed them to a small piece of felt which then got sewn into the interior of the headpiece.
Problems arise —
1. The foam topper was not working. Just adding too much height. I dumped it and switched to a foam insert — the kind of green foam you use for floral bouquets. It fits right into the top of the crown very nicely without adding too much height. I also comes out if I need to take it out for transport.
2. I realized I had TOO much of the organza wrappings. So I took the top portion off, cut it down (removed about 10in in length I guess?), and sewed it back on. It helped a lot.
3. I also discovered my silver sequin triangle was misshapen and off-center. So I took it off, cut it down, backed it in felt so it would be a little less wobbly, and sewed it back on.
Then it was feather time.
So I ended up with 17 “medium” size pink feathers, 5 medium white, 5 large pink, and 50 of the small purple feathers. I attached one large pink, one medium pink and one white onto a length of floral wire (tipped at the end with electrical tape to keep it from tearing up) to make the biggest “sprays.” Then I wired 3-4 of the small purple onto the wires to make those. And the rest just got put in the center.
I also found some pearl sprays at the craft store that I used for the “antlers” mixed in with the feathers.
So that’s where I’m currently at.
I have a few more things to do on it this weekend.
For one I want to replace the black elastic I have as the headstrap with white. Didn’t have any white that was the right size so I’d hoped some black I had on hand would work – but it’s distracting. Need white.
I have more pink feathers coming today. I decided it wasn’t full enough — I’m going to put some more of the medium pink feathers sticking out the sides, maybe wired onto the large sprays again — and the new smaller ones coming today can be the center feathers. I also need to strengthen one of the big sprays so it sticks more upright.
I still need to stitch the hem of the pink satin piece to the edge of the crown – been putting it off in case I need to take it apart again.
And I’ve got to figure out how to hang the beads from the antlers. I think I’ve figured it out, just gotta test it out tonight.
Since I took these photos I’ve also attached the floor length “veil” to the back – just don’t have photos of it ‘cuz it’s not interesting.
Here’s a pic of me wearing it.
I had to bend down so it was all in the mirror LOL
This was before I fixed the misshapen silver triangle and I didn’t have all the feathers in – but I needed to see how it was looking on me.
I’ve tried to make this giant thing as easy to transport as possible. The feathers will travel in a poster tube separate from everything else. I’ll put them in the foam core when we get there. Then the foam core, feathers and all, can be removed until we get downstairs and then put back in once we’re no longer trying to get in elevators, go down stairs, etc. I have anxiety about this. I’m trying to circumvent it.
So in other news, here’s a few more pink thing updates that will give away what this is.
I decided that, even though you can’t see the hair with the headpiece on, I needed the wig for when I DON’T have the headpiece on. So I bought a cheap Mad Hatter wig off amazon:
And trimmed it and pulled it up:
It’s not great. It doesn’t want to sit on my head right, but it’ll do for the few minutes I don’t have the headdress on. I made the interior to fit with the wig ON — it’s a little big on me otherwise.
Make-up test!
And if THIS doesn’t give away what this, then you probably don’t watch enough classic TV.
