Sea Witch

Finished! 9/4/14

The last thing to finish on this costume is the ruff.  It had very special requirements, since the model will be wearing as she floats in water.  Most of the usual ways I’d have made a ruff were therefore not doable this time.  After some consideration, I decided to use plastic canvas.  I couldn’t buy it in sheets large enough, so I used three, wired together.

I also gave it a large back support piece, to give added stability.

Next, I covered it in fabric, then spray painted it, so add additional stiffness and sheen to the fabric.

Then I added a trim of pearls around the edge, and put on a system of straps to hold it securely on.

And then?  Just put the bodice on top!

And there it is.  The final costume I’m making for the Steampunk Monster Book.  The photographer has started taking the pictures for it this week, he’s going to post a few every day on the blog, here.  Check it out.

Sea Witch 8/1/14

This one, even though it will be one of the monsters in the steampunk book, is not a steampunk costume.  The concept is of an Elizabethan-era witch, who drowns at sea and becomes a ghost.  Thus, her outfit is almost pure Elizabethan – with many fantasy elements.

I still need to make the collar, but here is the finished bodice and choker.

I just made a simple skirt, because she will be photographed only from the waist up…and she’ll be floating in water, so that gave me added problem of making everything on her costume waterproof.

These are very crap pictures, because it’s very bright and sunny outside.  You’ll see better ones later on, after the actual photographer gets his hands on this.

All of the ghosts in this book need to be grey, so I spray-painted some fishnet, pearls, silk leaves, and shells to match.

Baba Yaga Witch

Baba Yaga Witch – 5/8/14

The idea is, she’s this creepy old witch living out in the forest…and I’m pretty sure she’s a cannibal.  Or at the very least, she likes to use various body parts on her costume.

The blouse is made from an old pair of lace curtains, much distressed.

The bodice has real leather panels – I put some canvas panels in there too.  Both for effect, and because I didn’t have enough leather to do the entire thing.

I also did some leather sculpting, which was a TON of fun.  And easy too.  Look, I made this eye:

I just soaked the leather in water, and while wet, sculpted it into the shape I wanted around a taxidermy eye I found on Ebay.  I held the sculpt in place with pins until it dried, then trimmed the edges and applied it to the corset with tiny brads.

I want to use this technique on another costume again, soon.

I also made this “skinned face”…which is actually a pouch.

I bought a “bag of bones” off Amazon.com, and used the jawbone as a frog to to hold a weapon.

Also hanging from the belt are these little jars, filled with creepy things.

I really enjoy working with leather.  I need to do more of it.  I distressed the corset as well…leather and all.

The white underskirt is this fabulous vintage petticoat that was used by Warner Brothers, and given to me for the purpose by Tyson Vick.  I wonder what film it was in?  It was incredibly beautiful, it was exactly my size, and I DID NOT WANT to cut it up and distress.  You guys.  It was SO PRETTY.

Sigh.  I  would have revolted against using it, except that when I started handling it, it was in such fragile condition that it just began to shred apart on its own.  I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to salvage enough of it to use it at all, but I managed.

I took a ton of reference pics, because I want to recreate it one of these days.

The overskirt is linen, and the bustle/train is made of many many strips of different fabrics…taken from the clothing of her victims.

And is that more bones?  Why yes!  I put the rest of the Bag of Bones to use as a frame for her bustle!

Tyson Vick has already taken some photographs using this costume.  There are more pictures of the model wearing it on our shared book blog:

http://www.steampunkmonsters.com/blog/2014/02/03/witch-photos-behind-the-scenes/