These posts are copied over from another blog I had, so I thought I'd move them over here so everything is in the one place. They were posted way over a year ago, and I'm currently working on a new Genie costume
Ivy
Wilde's "Poison Ivy" costume
Instead of the skirt I bought a pair of Vivien of Holloway
trousers which I pop studded all the way down the seams inside and out. The
shirt was also pop studded with the buttons sewn back on to the front.
All of this took
time of course but it was actually onto the really bones of it that I got a
little *ahem* carried away. First things first I attached my LED lights, this
was in itself quite a tricky job. Then I covered the bra and thong with ivy
leaves (bought from trusty Hobbycraft) ensuring that the LEDs were poking out
ain the right spacing.
I then sewed
thousands of sequins on. It looked pretty amazing when it was done but to be
honest this is the least fun part of making a costume for me. I usually run at
least three if not four stitches through every sequin as I always think with
the wear and tear that the costume is going to get I’d rather know that it’s
going to stay firmly together for at least a year or two.
This took the best
part of a month, for I am one for smaller sequins to be honest…..but then I
decided (foolishly?) that it would look so much better if the sequins had a
crystal in the middle of them. Queue me sticking thousands of crystals to the
bra and thong (this is not a lie, I spent a whopping amount of cash on Preciosa
because I think they give the best shine next to Swarovski).
I made the pasties
out of one of the large ivy leaves and attached the old ones to the back,
threading the tassels through a hold in the middle. I also sequinned and
crystaled them once I’d done this.
Then it was on to
the shoes, now for midnight I had only stuck a few sequins and crystals to my
black shoes but I really wanted the Ivy ones to stand out, as I was going to be
in the bra and thongs for a little while towards the end (the music has changed
somewhat) so I began the task of the shoes. After crystaling the heels I
thought they needed more, so not the whole of the shoe is covered in Preciosas,
apart from the ivy leaf to the front which is covering a bit of horrible
buckle. I bought satin shoes as they’re less likely to lose crystals due to me
using Gem Tac as an adhesive.
So over all the
costume is marvellous, well worth the hard work and the frustrating hours and
back pain of sewing on sequins for a month!
Zuul Costume for mine and Tim's 30th birthday Party
So Tim and I decided to have a costume party
for our 30th, and eventually agreed upon the theme of film characters.
As Tim's favourite film is Ghostbusters (2nd favourite Miss Congeniality then
followed 3rd by Miss Congeniality 2) he decided to go as the Key Master Louis
Tully, so I thought I'd complement him with going as Zull/Dana Barrett.
I managed to get some pretty good fabric at Leon's in Chorlton (best fabric
shop in Manchester) and made the outerlayer, again no pattern - I have no idea
how I managed this...then I used some gold fabric I'd been given that was Tim's
Grandma's as an under layer and made a matching sash belt.
The party was brilliant, we had such a great time and everyone made a huge
effort (apart from a few - naughty!) but I was sooooo hot, but then soooo
drunk so I didn't really care after a while.
AND I now have a pair of pikey gold stripper shoes to add to my collection of
shoes I'll probabaly never wear again, they were only £15 from Primark though.
Ivy Wilde's "Midnight" Costume
So obviously not taking too much on I decided
to make a full skirt for a costume for a new act called
"Midnight" and it went pretty well! I made the top of it first,
then added the net (I have been told previously not to sew net through the
machine and broke two needles but the time it saved was well worth it!) then
gathered the netting up into bunches. Skirt comnplete!
I then customised
the bra, making it a haterneck, adding bows, sequins and crystals.
I also made the
chiffon panels, which took most of my time, hand sewing the sequins onto them
afterwards was a major chore too but it looks soooo pretty under the light.
I added fringing to
the thong and sequins to the front mesh panel (you can't see this in the pic
and I'm not putting one up!). You'll have to catch Ivy Wilde at a show to see
it in it's full glory!
