Tiara Under the Dog Star. Seriously

Tiara BC (Before Combs)

Tiara Finished. I think.

I've been dog sitting Martha and Jim Marshall's three dogs and two cats. Got some Sirius beading and sewing done under their watchful eye. Pieced together two of the four skirts I have for the play. Even cut out a big surprise for Cindy and a petticoat for Sky.

I was tempted to add more - some droplets above the tiara - but it's saying no, so I've stopped for the moment and will watch it to see if it barks. Did some fill in between the swirls to tighten up the design. Bought a ton more crystals and beads since I ran out, and the two tiara combs to hold it in place. Cindy will kill me when she sees how much I spent in OTHER beads, but I'm trying to spoil her and stock up while I'm able to see the eye of the needle.

I decided to shape it slightly like a Russian diadem pushing the center of the beaded net inward and bending the beaded caps at the top outward. Looking at the finished picture of it, I see some spaces that call for a few more beads, which I will add after I finish with the day's sewing.

I'm pleased with it. It conforms very to the shape of the sketch I did on the edge of a newspaper and is light and airy enough to be sure that Sky is comfortable without having to have a stage hand prop her head up as she does her lines.

A continuation of the casual style tute:

Leave the last 2 or so inches of your frame without fill wires. Position your combs (can be purchased or made with elongated bent wire loops wrapped at the top and secured to a length of bar metal or several head pins wrapped together).

You'll use 26 gauge wire to wrap the combs securing the bar between your base frame. Bend your ends in at the finish and tuck inside the wrapping. You can also string crystals or beads on the wrapping gauge to position on the front side of your tiara as I've done.

Shape your tiara with gentle pressure and you're finished! Wor-lah!

I showed the finished product to Reno, Abby, Boomer and cats Balentine and Blueberry Marshall as I enjoyed my work and a well earned glass of Marty's house merlot. They were interested in it with what I assumed was real interest, but then they reminded me that it was dinnertime. Sigh.

A nice thing about being a dog is that you don't have to load up several bags when you leave to go somewhere and need to take your work with you. It's all there. Built in.

The Zen of Tiaras With Florals

I'm starting on Sky's tiara to go with the Sleeping Beauty gown for the play. I'm including the first picture for artist Vikki North because she gets enthused seeing creative piles of possibilities in my gathering to start a new project. I hope it gets her going on her own sewing and making adventures in addition to her art.

There really is the base of a tiara in there! If you want to make your own fairy tiara, you'll need 16 gauge wire for your base, 20 gauge wire for the scrolls and wrapping, jewelry making pliers, and an assortment of crystals, gemstones and beads that will fit on your 20 gauge wire. I'm using gold wire to match Sky's trim on the gown.

Start with a cut length of 16 gauge wire about 34". Form a circle and join the ends by bending and wrapping, snugging up the wire with a flat nose plier. Bend your circle in half so that you have a shape that vaguely looks like the outline of a taco or half moon. (Don't you just LOVE my technical terms!)


Don't worry about it being wonky at this point. You'll stabilize the entire piece with the 20 gauge wire. I started at the center front of the tiara. Determine how tall you want the finished piece to be and cut several lengths of wire this length doubled plus an inch to allow for your swirls and curls and the wrapping at top and bottom of your basic frame.


Here's where it gets fun. Start slipping your crystals or beads on bending and coiling your 20 gauge with round nose pliers ....

(note here: My computer was taken over by a Trojan ZLOB while working on this post, published it incomplete, and caused 3 hours of down time while I fixed the thing. It should make a bit more sense now.)

....until you have a piece the width of your frame height coiled. Then wrap it on your frame top and bottom. You can get an idea of what I'm talking about in the picture above. The rough sketch behind is for another costume I'm making for the play. More pix and directions on the tiara later.

Frangipani/Lei Flower/Plumeria

Blue Skies from India

I know that many of you in the temperate climates are experiencing Autumn leaves changing color and thought that you might enjoy seeing my 'Fall' here at Dogpatch. I'm enjoying my frangipani - so fragrant it just puts you in a trance! The bottom shows one of the many living arches I have here complete with weeds. It's a vine from India and has almost covered the tree tops above my house in drifts of these gorgeous yellow-throated garlands.

If you look closely, you'll see the waterway behind my home. The ghosty gray thingy hanging beside a pannacle of flowers is Spanish Moss, ubiquitous in Florida. It was once used to stuff airplane seats with. My mother pulled moss in the swamps bordering Georgia when she was a girl in the early days of the last depression.

Frontispiece/Bodice Beading on Sleeping Beauty Gown

Finished frontispiece of the bodice. I quilted details into the fluer to both define it and to make it lay more flat against the chest. I'm going to bone the bodice as well. Even though it doesn't call for it, there's a lot of weight being supported here. I'm making self bias piping to outline the pieces which helps to keep the edges crisp and defined. The color is actually a deep, rich sapphire blue, but the duchesse reflects the light.

Everything else has been put on hold - sorry dear Annette! - as the deadline for the first costume reveal is the 3rd. Fast approaching deadlines! I've also felt like warmed over you-know-what the past few days and that has slowed down my work.

This is the back of the frontispiece showing the cuts where batting was stuffed and then stitched closed using trapunto, the quilting stitches, and the grid work where I laid on the plated gold twist bugle beads. Each of the individual knot is where I stitched a 3 cut Czech Charlotte size 13/0 bead. I chose a pale blue lined with copper Charlotte which will pick up the blue velvet contrast and accent the gold beads.

There's at least thirteen hours of hand work here. Lots of ripping out to keep lines and proportions equal or it would have read like op art on stage. I showed this to Cindy and she was thrilled with it. I'm pretty pleased myself.

Recommendations: Always back this kind of work. Keep your slits narrow and small on the back of trapunto work and baste them closed with a medium loose stitch to keep the front from puckering and curving. Non-quilted trapunto does better in small areas. If your design is large, quilt it or anchor it with beads.

I worked this without a frame, but would recomment one if you have issues with keeping your work flat.

Use a waxed polyester or nylon thread for your beadwork. The sharper edges of the bugles won't cut the waxed surface as quickly without the microscopic thread fibers frizzed out to catch the raw glass.

Judiciously pad areas that are to be solidly covered with beads so that the surface is almost rigid. It supports the beads better.

If you really want the beads to stand up to vigorous wear such as a beaded belt or bra for a belly dancer or stripper costume, dab a bit of fabric cement on the back on each knot. There will be a lining to hide your work and add longevity to the piece.

More later.

Butterflies Are Not Free

But they are almost ready to fly onto the costume. Spent the past hours beading, setting stones, and embellishing the butterfly appliqués with additional glitz. I glued them to a Flexifirm backing with Aleene's Super Fabric glue, turned over the edges and glued then pinned them down to dry as you can see in the first picture above. Flexifirm is a very thick interfacing something akin to craft plastic or styrene and can be heat shaped when I'm happy with the look.


In the close up you can see the stones I used to shape and trace the wings and body. I used AB faceted crystals in a medium amethyst and pale turquoise blue pillow beads on the wing halos, rim set AB crystals in two colors to compliment the silver and gray iron on studs that form the rest of the butterfly and then used silver lined rose violet rocailles to outline the top and bottom of the wings. The smaller butterflies have a modified version of the beads and stones.

I will do more embellishment, put a on beaded edge, and am trying to decide whether or not to use feather tips around the edging before I put on the back lining lining. I like the different finishes of the stones.

Bells and Butterflies

What you're seeing in the picture above is some of the prop pieces for the stripper's costume. The white lace with red and blue stones is the G-string that one of the Toreadorables picks up in the dressing room and hangs around her neck because she thinks it's a necklace. On the shoulder are the colored jingle bells Cindy's character installs on her costume as a gimmick in the 'Gotta Have A Gimmick' number.

We found some incredible appliques appropriate for an actor and I gussied up a tee-shirt for her as well. These three items are ready to go out the door.

Today, I work on the butterflys that go on the front of the gostume. I used the back side of the brocade I dyed as a contrast and will embellish and back them.

The gorgeous green silk gauze wings are cut out. I will keep them together as I lay out the color design with chalk before airbrushing them. Then they will be cut out, edges rolled, I'll stick a few pounds of beads and sequins on them to help weight them and finish with a collar and the dowels in the front edges.

The white ball of light you're seeing at the bottom of George's scratching post just flew by as I photographed this with the tripod. The other light balls on the green gauze I didn't see until I uploaded the pictures. I hope 'they' were approving my work!

This is the finished piece of 10" beaded fringe to go on the dance pant. The beige you can just barely see is the lycra pant and the brocade above will be pleated into a split skirt to cover the front. I'm also beading an 18" tassle for center front from additional colors of Miyuki's and rocailles. When you bead on a header of twill or horsehair, or even directly onto a garment. Keep your work from coming undone with a dab of fabric glue on all the knots on the wrong side.

Practice Wings Finished

Cindy came over for the practice wings yesterday. I finished them up with Velcro in the car! Since the clean and reorganizing fest last weekend, I can't find diddle here!! Tip with Velcro: Always put the scratchy loops on the garment that's closest to the skin and the soft loops facing the skin. Velcro hook side is just nasty to feel rubbing against your skin.

Also used a variegated ribbon in greens as the collar piece faced with ribbon and bias and as the pouches to hold the wing dowels. I put a small 4" ribbon patch overlapped half an inch on the open top edge. This keeps the dowels from falling out when they're raised.

The power net is a no go. Won't take the tea stain. Makes it look a bit greenish, and not the good kind of olive skin tone greenish either! I'm having Cindy order 2 floozy looking body stockings from here and here (warning: nudity!! )which I will embellish with beads and crystals. One is net and the other a patterned lace. Her bra and dance pant will go over this so that the only thing naked about her will be her nose unlike the Pamela Anderson Lee model look alike.

Dye Job

Yesterday was day two of dyeing. I prepped Cindy's silk gauze by washing it in soap to remove the worm gunk in it and mixed up dyes. The first dye bath turned out too light a pastel because I got chicken and removed it before time was up. I used two blues in the next dye bath - denim and royal plus dark green to get a deep teal green. This time, I left it in the immersion for the full time then some and got this incredible teal green!

I used a flash on the silk hanging on the line so you can see the contrast as light hits it. The yardage in the background is the true color. I tinted the dance pantie and bra I'm using for Cindy's daughter Sky. Sky is worried about her mother's reputation and virtue among her young friends when they find out that Cindy is playing a stripper. Instead of leaving the costume base nude, I allowed them to sit in the dye bath so it's a little more obvious she has something on besides wings.

Got this wonderful brocade with a gold swirl pattern woven in metallic. I first dipped it in the teal dye bath to pull it together with the silk gauze then drizzled various pure colors on it - purple, dark green, light and dark blue. I love the results! The back is as beautiful as the fashion side! I'm saving scraps for art projects down the road.

The brocade will cover the bra and straps and the front of the dance pants. I was going to tone it down with an overlay of teal silk gauze but will wait and see how tacky it looks without it. I'm covering the pantie front tonight and will hopefully get to the bra tomorrow.

Cindy's bringing over the compressor for the airbrushes we got on eBay. I discovered that canned air only goes so far, is cumbersome and costly. Let me know what you think about the colors!

Tessie's Costume From Gypsy: Hunting and Gathering

So. I'm retired. But I do take on the occasional project for one of my own. My own this time is friend Cynthia Miller-Ray. She's playing Tessie for all she's worth in a community production of 'Gypsy'. Would I make her costume? Absolutely. Said Southern style as I've said before....'Has a cat got an arse?"

So. What does a costumer go through when you take on a project?

1. Step 1: Concept and Design. Here you study your character and discuss it with the director, stage manager, property and scene people and your actor. Who are they? What do they do in the production? Does their role have any special requirements like acrobatics, dancing, rigorous fighting? What colors or lighting effects do you have in your background? Should they stand out as a principal player or recede into the background as an extra? Think Meg Ryan in the red dress in a city street full of gray pinstripes and sensible shoe clad business women. You come up with sketches or mock ups and hash them over with your director, production staff and actors. Cindy approves my rough sketch. We've decided to stick with Tessie's 'Gotta Have A Gimmick' butterfly concept with wings, a body suit, headpiece with antennae and appliques in the fig leaf places.


2. When the costume has been approved, you begin hunting down the basic ingredients of what you'll need to build the costume. In Cindy's case, I won't have to go through a huge amount of revisions, matching fabrics and colors with backdrops and pleasing the other production staff members. She trusts me and we've worked together for years so I know her style, what colors are good with her Titian coloring, turquoise eyes, and Amazon tall frame. We don't have to please any directors or scenery people in this case - one of the lovely things about working community theater rather than equity productions. They're mainly just tickled to have someone doing the chore for them.


3. I hunt on eBay, the Internet, Etsy, through my own stash of fabric, for some baubles and trim. I make sure Cindy stands out in the crowd so I like to lavish on the glitz whenever I can. When we gather all our materials together we've got: About 2 pounds of various beads, rhinestones with rim sets, holographic textile glitter, stud sets and crystal in teal, purples and violets, and AB golds - thank you eBay sellers. We have an airbrush and propellant from Dick Blick so I can paint the wings and the skirts of her costume with butterfly markings along with basic paints to mix colors with and metallics in copper, gold and silver to highlight the markings. Two wooden dowels from the local crafts department are to channel into the upper edges of the wings so that she can 'fly' them. We got 12 yards of silk gauze for wings and skirts from Dharma Trading Company. And there's gorgeous oriental brocade in a purple with woven silk butterflies for a kimono from Joanne's fabrics. Her body suit is of a nude stretch net which will blend with her skin tone once it's all together.

Next we'll get on with construction. Stay tuned. Oh. And part three of the how-to tute is coming after I get up enough nerve to tackle the camera and construction again in a few days!

(Note: The pic above shows from left to right, top to bottom, sort of: Purple kimono brocade with embroidered butterflies, sketchbook, just above that the white silk gauze, to the immediate right of the silk, the basic airbrush colors plus opaque white and black, to the right of the basic airbrush colors is the beige power net. Just below the silk fabric, basic paints and power net are the two dowels for her wings, the bead assortment in the clear bead box, and Czech crystal heat set rhinestones and the boxes of rim set crystals. In the box on the upper right is the single action airbrush and components, CFS free propellant, metallic colors, and heavy grip textile glue.)