Lost Hope fairy
Jul. 20th, 2015 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizabeth_mnOk, so I'm a little late to the party, but who cares!
I should mention I've only read this book recently. Everybody here was talking so much about it and I love a good novel with magic, so I got a cheap used copy last January and read it. I have to admit I had to persevere a bit to get into the story. The footnotes drove me crazy, and the text felt very small for my tired eyes at night. But after I few chapters I fell in deep, and loved it.
My vision for this costume is very earthy, like mold and moss and slightly rotted dead things in the dark undergrowth of the forest. That's how I pictured the fairies in the book. The Gentleman is also described as wearing green.
Anyone remember this annoyingly bright dress? Well I decided I could sacrifice it to the cause. I did really enjoy the brightness, but I'd already worn it twice for two different events, and I really doubted I'd wear it again. So I dyed it to make it more earthy and mossy. One pot of Procion bronze later, I had this:
To make the wings, I bought a big sheet of fancy mulberry paper from the art supply store and did some paint. First a mottled layer of brown watercolor, then a sponged layer of metallic bronze.
After this I coated the back in Mod Podge to stiffen, which was a total fail. It's actually softer now, instead of stiffened! It's heavy and soft and floppy and thick. Probably you real artist types are saying "duh," but usually when I Mod Podge things they get stiff, almost crispy stiff, like they stand up on their own.
I am really not much of an artist, so please know this is really the best I could do. It's not quite what I envisioned, but oh well. I will go with it anyway. I have a wing template, sort of a dragonfly's wing shape, that I will use to cut out wings from my painted paper. I plan for them to hang down, like they are folded, not stick out to the sides.
The twirly sticks are for my hair, which I plan to braid up and then cover with moss and twigs.
Finally the overbodice. This is still in progress, and it's a little ambitious for me, so we'll see how it goes. The plan is to glue a layer of moss to a tulle foundation to make a bodice made of moss. Here's the sample I made.
It worked pretty well, though I had to absolutely saturate it with glue (Fabric Fusion). I put freezer paper below and on top and weighted it with a book until it dried.
I have a bag each of brown and green and another bag that's more peat-y. I'll try mixing them a bit. I hope this ends up looking like what I am imagining.
I should mention I've only read this book recently. Everybody here was talking so much about it and I love a good novel with magic, so I got a cheap used copy last January and read it. I have to admit I had to persevere a bit to get into the story. The footnotes drove me crazy, and the text felt very small for my tired eyes at night. But after I few chapters I fell in deep, and loved it.
My vision for this costume is very earthy, like mold and moss and slightly rotted dead things in the dark undergrowth of the forest. That's how I pictured the fairies in the book. The Gentleman is also described as wearing green.
Anyone remember this annoyingly bright dress? Well I decided I could sacrifice it to the cause. I did really enjoy the brightness, but I'd already worn it twice for two different events, and I really doubted I'd wear it again. So I dyed it to make it more earthy and mossy. One pot of Procion bronze later, I had this:
To make the wings, I bought a big sheet of fancy mulberry paper from the art supply store and did some paint. First a mottled layer of brown watercolor, then a sponged layer of metallic bronze.
After this I coated the back in Mod Podge to stiffen, which was a total fail. It's actually softer now, instead of stiffened! It's heavy and soft and floppy and thick. Probably you real artist types are saying "duh," but usually when I Mod Podge things they get stiff, almost crispy stiff, like they stand up on their own.
I am really not much of an artist, so please know this is really the best I could do. It's not quite what I envisioned, but oh well. I will go with it anyway. I have a wing template, sort of a dragonfly's wing shape, that I will use to cut out wings from my painted paper. I plan for them to hang down, like they are folded, not stick out to the sides.
The twirly sticks are for my hair, which I plan to braid up and then cover with moss and twigs.
Finally the overbodice. This is still in progress, and it's a little ambitious for me, so we'll see how it goes. The plan is to glue a layer of moss to a tulle foundation to make a bodice made of moss. Here's the sample I made.
It worked pretty well, though I had to absolutely saturate it with glue (Fabric Fusion). I put freezer paper below and on top and weighted it with a book until it dried.
I have a bag each of brown and green and another bag that's more peat-y. I'll try mixing them a bit. I hope this ends up looking like what I am imagining.
