10.12.2011

making: a costume (part one)

Starting to get more things checked of the list for my Halloween costume which in case you are not entirely up to date with my various shenanigans and such I should mention is a retro nurse. This weekend I made cross patches for the pocket and hat and while I was at it I decided to do a name tag as well. I used what was originally a cotton pillowcase with a layer of iron on interfacing in between for stability, with stencils made of electrical tape. My guesswork (and surprise! it worked) method for getting the glitter onto the fabric was layers of spray adhesive, micro glitter and shellac. After several layers had dried I removed the tape to reveal shiny shiny red crosses.
As you can see I did two versions of the cross patch, a negative space white cross, and a red glitter cross on a white background.

In the end I decided that I preferred the classic red cross to the more prevalent (at least it appeared that way when I googled nurse costumes) white cross in a red circle. Also this classic style seemed to look better on my hat (more on that later).

When it came to the dilemma of how to attach the patches to the dress I decided that I wanted to pockets to be functional enough that I would make things a bit harder for myself and sew them on by hand. Sigh. I did go around each patch once on the machine with no thread to make a set of even holes which proved very helpful in maintaining an even row of stitches around, and kept me from stabbing myself in the finger with the needle as much (the patches were very thick when all was said and done) so that was a good idea. And I do like to make things a bit more difficult for myself as always so it's not like I could just glue them on now could I?!

All in all the costume is coming together nicely one little bit at a time. The little details are really what builds the authenticity and I do find that when I am drawn to a really good costume it is layered with texture and of course plenty of accessories. So I still have a fair amount of work ahead of me. Next I will reveal the saga of a spray paint shoe redo, and finally, the most important part of any costume if you want it to be particularly awesome (and who doesn't want that really) hats!

1 comment:

  1. Hey Max - hope all is well and you're enjoying being back in the City. Don't know where you're exactly at with your costume but somewhere I have a picture of my mom in her WW2 Red Cross Volunteer Nurse uniform. If you're interested, I can look for it and attempt to scan and send to you. It's not a full body length shot, just her head and shoulders. She has a head covering - not nurse's cap - with a cross on the center front; more like a cotton veil/head scarf. Hugs - Candy

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