The first part of my costume I started working on was the robe...well, rather a "trial robe". I haven't sewn since I was 12 (that's right folks, 14 years ago) so I wanted to practice on cheap fabric instead of the stuff I'm actually using. Also, I wanted to practice robe to fiddle with any needed alterations. So, I found some hideously delicious fabric at 99c/metre and went from there. This was the result:
I sent a pic to a friend of me wearing it, and he laughed at me for several minutes and said I looked like a "home-school kid." So I'm sparing the embarrassment and put it on my dummy I created using a bra stuffed with towels around couch pillows in a sleeping bag case taped to a camera tripod, approximately in my dimensions. All in all, I think it turned out okay =P The white is the beginning of the patterning I did of the panels on the robe. There are more, but this gives an idea.
Sadly, my purple fabric hasn't come in yet (I have the gold and maroon), so I was forced to start on my shoulders, which I was putting off since that scares me more than the robe creation.
The plan was to glue (via spray adhesive) several sheets insulation foam together, trace my shoulders on the top, and then carve from there. However, I quickly realized this foam is quite dense and without an actual foam carver (those heat up knife thingies), I would have a lot of difficultly, so I chose the route of tracing and cutting each one out before I glued them together for further carving.
12 sheets later...
Carving....
I'm fairly pleased with how the carving process turned out. I had such difficulty starting it though. I honestly stared at the hunk of styrofoam for like an hour just feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. In retrospect, I should have chosen a less dense foam. I went with this stuff because it appeared to be the most cost effective route, but without proper tools (I used a utility knife, a wood file, and a 10 dollar electric meat cutter) I should have shelled out for the craft foam or something. Also, I should have done it in two pieces, perhaps even shaping the top piece out of cardboard and stiffening/thickening with papier mache or something. Oh well, live and learn! It was very fun though, even though it left my dining room and living room an absolute mess! Next step will be figuring out the lighting and covering with paperclay so I can paint these bad boys =D
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