Ursula 2.0

 My lovely husband put a bug in my brain. I put on my FINISHED blue mermaid 25-yard skirt to go to the fabric store and he said "Now you can do Ursula things!" I said "Wrong color" and then got slammed into a costume idea so freaking hard my head is still spinning.

So the base of it is:
- Another 25 yard skirt
- A sweetheart-neckline corset
- The seashell necklace from the first Ursula costume
- Silver and purple jewelry?

I haven't really thought of accessories yet, or the hair situation, but that'll come together eventually.

First the skirt, since I already have the fabric - 4.5 yards of bleached muslin, 118" wide.

I already know the math, etc. I need to figure out how I want to dye it.

Option 1: Dip-dye. Black on top, purple on bottom, to get the "black octopus skin + purple under-tentacle" thing. Could be easy, but I've never dip-dyed and it seems like work. It's too hot here to think about that much work right now.

Option 2: More Shibori! But not the one I used for the blue skirt. That was a pain in the butt. No, this time it would be Kumo Shibori, where a small object is wrapped up and then tied really tight. I'd want it all around the bottom with a few places where they kinda... mounded up? Toward the hips? Dye purple all over, tie, over-dye black.

Food for thought.

Queen of Roses

Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/phwoosh/costumes-inspiration/queen-of-roses/

Eyes: https://www.crazylenses.com/witches-eye-contact-lenses-pair.html

Silk dyes: https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/jacquard-acid-dyes.html in Silver and Lilac
OR
https://www.ritdye.com/color-formulas/lavender-oil/?type=197&hue=209&collection=0&collaboration=0
Hyacinth 1T (3/4t if powder) & Petal Pink 1 1/2t (1/4+1/8 if powder) in 3 gallons of water for main color and Dye-na-flow in Violet plus Lumiere in Pearlescent Violet for accent paint (dharma for paint)

Silk for skirt/corset shell: https://www.dharmatrading.com/fabric/silk/silk-habotai-8mm.html?lnav=fabric_silk.html in white

Fabric for chemise: https://www.dharmatrading.com/fabric/cotton/silky-cotton-voile-52-inch.html?lnav=fabric_cotton.html Purchased dark green cotton gauze from OKC Fabric Mart

Initial thoughts:
Skirt a la Maksy from the Autumn Leaves Dress but with silk rose petals in lilac and silver. An underbust corset or waspie with attached skirt of shorter petals. Green chemise with loose sleeves cut like rose leaves. Leather/wire thorn wraps around wrists, neck. Leather thorns sans wire scattered through the skirt. Spiders???

Obtained air-dry clay. Stick-on giant thorns? Thorn clips in hair!

Rabbit and Hat Baroness Bodice 1121

Pattern: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1036884545/pdf-3x-baroness-bodice-with-shoulder?click_key=bab6f159cc4efc2ff35e64157c0fb9133dca9bcf%3A1036884545&click_sum=dfead4f3&ga_search_query=baroness&ref=shop_items_search_7&sts=1 

Video Instruction: https://www.facebook.com/lori.gerlisky/videos/10217993261494251?idorvanity=682819748869476

Measurements at ~25min
Bust = bust - 6"
Waist = waist - 4"

Side bust bone is 3" from bust seam at top and meets seam at bottom
Next bone angled & parallel to side bust bone 3"-4" away
Back bones straight up and down

Grommets 1.5" spaced

The Corset

 This one's gonna be a doozy. I want to make a corset to go with The Skirt, and there's an overarching "mermaid" theme going on. Mistakes were made on skirt calculations resulting in the omission of a sandy color that I was rather bummed about... But then I realized, I can put that in the corset!

The trick is that the corset is going to have a scale-smocked shell on the outside.

The Plan:

THE SHELL
Smocking:
Here's where I found the idea: http://www.alltomorrowspatterns.com/2015/04/0x0-html/
Here's a generator for the 120 degree angle: https://incompetech.com/graphpaper/vartriangle/
---I set it to 1" triangles and .25" printer margins. We'll see how this goes.
Muslin shibori dyed in raw muslin (base) and Celadon (shibori)
---This might be tricky - I need more than 11.75" of height here. I can wrap around the pole more than once, which might result in an awesome fade. More dye experimentation needed.

Adornment:
Open-donut flounces in Skirt Tier 1 fabric set in back seams to look like fins.

THE GUTS
Draft an overbust corset with a split busk front.
Use as few layers as possible (just one from coutil?) for air-flow - The Shell may be more insular than expected.

The Skirt

 I've been in love with 25-yard skirts since the first time I saw one. They fly. They tuck. They swish!

I need one.

So here are some plans:

Muslin, 4-tiered, shibori dyed.

Sparkle Belly helped figure out the tier heights and an alternative to buying 12.5 yards of fabric and having so much left over. https://www.sparklybelly.com/diy-25-yard-skirt/

I need:
18 strips 3.125 yards long (112.5 inches) by 11.75" wide of muslin
Dharma Fiber Reactive Dyes in 157 Celadon, 162 Grecian Sea, 22 Cobalt Blue, and 132 Caribbean Blue
Chemicals for dying
11" outer diameter PVC pipe
Sewing machine, thread, gathering foot

Notes:

SKIRT:
Tier 1 - 1 strip in Celadon (solid) and Cobalt Blue (shibori)
Tier 2 - 2 strips in Cobalt Blue (solid) and Caribbean Blue (shibori)
Tier 3 -  4 strips in Caribbean Blue (solid) and Grecian Sea (shibori)
Tier 4 - 8 strips in Grecian Sea (solid) and Cobalt Blue (shibori)

GATHERING FOOT:

Good info here: https://blog.treasurie.com/gathering-foot-tutorial/
In short:
Long length, tighter tension for more gathers
Flat fabric on bottom, face up, with fabric to gather on top, face down
For muslin on Brother machine: Tension 6.5 Stitch Length 3
Sew gathers then attach strips via overlock machine.

ALL DONE!
Tucking tricks: Tribe Nawaar

Costume Inventory

 Pieces I have:

Shirts:

-Chemise shirt

Pants:

-Brown pants

-Wasabi pants

Skirts:

-Honeycomb skirt

-Purple moth over-skirt

-Purple moth under-skirt

-Brown gypsy skirt

Bodices:

-Purple moth corset

-Honeycomb stays

Dresses:

-Wasabi viking over-dress

-Ivory viking under-dress

Accessories:

-Plague/Pirate Coat

-Plague Mask

-Green felt hat

-Golden shawl

-Green belt

-Brown belt

-Pirate hat (ivory)

-Barcelona shawl

Planned Pieces:

Skirts:

-Black floor-length

-Blue floor-length

-Pastel floor-length

-Mermaid 25-yard

Shirts:

-Sage green chemise

-Mermaid canvas tank top

Bodices:

-Reversible stays in black and green/brown/tan

----Reversible stomacher in tartan and green/brown/tan

-Pastel "wench" bodice

Pants:

-Short salwar pants for use as bloomers

Accessories:

-Trellis-smocked apron

-Shell crown

-Embroidered dance belt with net

-Tartan and black hat

-Brown leather belt pouch

-White muffin hat

Smocking Resources

 Dragon scales! http://www.alltomorrowspatterns.com/2015/04/0x0-html/

Patchwork Plague Doctor Mask

I found the pattern via Facebook and decided I'd crazy-quilt mine. It's been coming along slowly, but now there is a contest at work for the most creative mask and I intend to win.

The only problem is that I wasn't sure how to do the lenses for the eyes. My dad is going to cut some for me with his lazer, and I'm going to tint them with some mirrored window tint, so that's all fine and dandy, but what about fixing them to the mask? The pattern provides pieces, but I don't care for how they are constructed. Then it hit me: Shisha embroidery!

https://www.needlenthread.com/2015/01/stitch-fun-shisha-embroidery-with-cretan-stitch.html

It's awesome and I'm totally gonna do that for my lenses. They won't be detachable, but that's fine. I just won't put it through the dryer after a wash. This is definitely more of a costume piece anyway, and I plan to wear it with my apothecary costume when I finally get it finished.

A Contest!

This ended up not getting done.

Christmas is coming, and so are the party games at work. My department is having a Santa Hat Decorating Contest this year, but they never specified that it has to be a traditional Santa Hat.

So I'm going to make one.

I seriously love witch hats. I think they're gorgeous. So I'm thinking red velvet for the pointy part, white fur for the brim (with the lining as more red velvet), a white fur pouf with a bell-rattler inside at the end of the pointy part, and a big wreath of poinsettias and pinecones and evergreen "twigs" twined with lights.

The "pointy part" will be stabilized with buckram and then shaped to droop and fold to one side. The brim will also be stabilized with buckram and have a wire around the outside to make sure that the shape holds. 

I already have the white fur in my stash, and I found almost a whole yard of burgundy stretch-velvet in the remnant bin at Hobby Lobby.

This is going to be so much fun!

Poor Unfortunate Souls!

From Halloween! The Ursula costume turned out wonderfully.

Remember all my blathering about it from the Scheme post?

I ended up getting an Einstein wig from one of the Spirit Halloween pop-up stores and leaving off the sleeves, but those were the only major changes I made to the plan.

Costume Idea - Bombshell Ursula

Halloween is coming!

Idea: Bombshell/Pinup Ursula

Dress:
- McCall's 7507
-----Sweetheart Neckline
-----Yoke (purple silk chiffon)** Lavender poly-chiffon from stash
-----Add sleeves from "overbodice" to yoke - do not scallop (purple silk chiffon same fabric as yoke)

- Knee-length circle skirt

- https://www.fabric.com/buy/0337432/polyester-spandex-lame-jersey-knit-matte-black  out of stock
- https://www.fabric.com/buy/0660716/faux-leather-legging-black OR https://www.hobbylobby.com/Fabric-Sewing/Special-Occasion-Fabrics/Lame-Fabric/Black-Warp-Lame-Fabric/p/49053- 4 yards
- https://www.fabric.com/buy/0450609/foil-lame-knit-spandex-black - Hobby Lobby option ran like crazy when stretched. Found this stretch lame cheaper than the faux leather, which is great because shipping is outrageous. Ordered 4.5 yards.

**Dye fabric for yoke from silk scraps and dye stock.

Accessories:

- Petticoat - https://www.amazon.com/Shimaly-Vintage-Rockabilly-Petticoat-Underskirt/dp/B01L5U1E9O/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=purple%2Bpetticoat&qid=1567789760&s=gateway&sr=8-7&th=1&psc=1 Out of stock & no Prime shipping. This one instead: https://www.amazon.com/Babyonlinedress-Layers-Homecoming-Fomral-Purple/dp/B01M0HESG3/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=purple+petticoat&psc=1&qid=1571411340&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&sr=8-5
- Purple tights ($6 @ local party supply store)

- Black heels

- White wig
-----Style help on Firekeeper wig from sister?
-----$10 wigs at Michael's craft stores
- Seashell necklace - Hobby Lobby? Purchased pendant or find a shell and paint it. - Found a shell!
- Blue eyeshadow, red lips, dark everything else on makeup.
- Press-on nails painted to match lips

Estimated total cost: $52.74

Later add-ons?
- Flesh-colored tulle panel for back of dress. Embroider shell with two eels wrapped around it in a bed of seaweed?