Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 4

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 4

Now I had the outfit I wanted to add an Accessory. This was in the form of a Catapult. I would like to point out that this is not designed to actually work.

Catapult Material Selection

I found a Twig and then gathered a selection of materials that I thought I might need.

Twig Excess Removed

The first thing I did was level off the ends and remove any excess bumps that I might catch myself on.

Catapult 1^st Elastic

I found a few pictures of various types of Catapults. I picked one that had thin Elastic. I tied one end of the Elastic around the Right Side of the Twig.

Threading Catapult

This Catapult has a Leather part that is used to hold whatever is to be fired. I was lucky enough to have a section of an old Leather Belt with holes in that I could use.

Knotting Catapult

Once I had threaded the Elastic through the first hole I made a Knot so it wouldn’t pull back through.

Final Thread

I then threaded through the rest of the Elastic and Knotted it. On the other side before I tied the rest of it to the other side of the Twig.

Finished Catapult

This gave me my finished Catapult. So on to getting the whole Ensemble together. I dyed my hair and then after donning the outfit I was ready for the Carnival.

Minnie the Minx 2019

My boyfriend took this photograph of me after the Carnival enjoying a Minx Sized Milkshake. Needless to say we had a brilliant time. In fact some folks in the Parade stopped to take photographs of us (He was dressed as Dennis the Menace). Also it is not often you get a Hi Five from somebody dressed as Spiderman.

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 3

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 3

Minnie the Minx wears a Hat. It is a Black Beret with a Red Pompom on. I already had a Black Beret so all I needed to do was add a Red Pompom

Materials for Pompom

First I gathered the materials I needed. I got Card, Scissors, Pen and two circular items to draw around.

Pompom Outer Circle

For the Outer Circle I drew around the Bottom of a Glass. If I had drawn around the Top the Pompom would be far too large.

Pompom Inner Circle

For the Inner Circle I placed a Salt Cellar in the Middle of the Outer Circle. Before drawing around this I made sure that I had the same amount of edge all the way around.

Pompom Cut-Out

I cut out the Circle and then cut out Middle Section. I then repeated the process.

Start of Pompom

I wound a Ball of Yarn then tied it to the Pompom Templates.

Beginning to Wind

I then began to wind the Yarn through the Templates. I placed the Strands as close to each other as I could.

First Time Around

I made one complete Circuit. I then began the second. I had to make more Balls of Yarn and attach them as I went along.

Fully Wound Pompom

I kept winding until there was only a small hole left. The last part of the winding I threaded a Needle to make it easier to go through. When finished I tucked the end into the Yarn.

Snip Between Cards

I very carefully began to cut away some of the thread to expose the Card Templates.

Tie Pompom

 

I continued cutting the Yarn all the way around. I then parted the Templates slightly and using Yarn about the same length of my arm I tied it in between the Card. I pulled it tight to secure it.

Remove Card

It was then safe to remove the Card Templates. I fluffed up the Pompom and trimmed off any straggly threads.

Sew on Pompom

Now I had my Pompom I could use the ends of the thread to sew it onto my Beret. It was a little larger than anticipated. However that doesn’t matter as it is a Comic Character.

I did add a couple of hairgrips to secure it a little more to the Beret so it didn’t flop about whilst walking.

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 2

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 2

This blog carries on with the Bottom half of the Minnie the Minx Costume.

Minx Shoes

The Shoes were the simplest part of the outfit. The Minx wears different shoes in different Comics. Sometimes it is Boots and sometimes a kind of Plimsoll.

I had some old trainers that were about ready for the bin. So therefore I got some old nail varnish and I added a touch of Red.

Minx Socks Materials

I needed a Pair of Black Socks, Scissors, Needle, Thread and Red Edging.

Black Socks

First of all I bought some socks. It was quite a bargain as I got three pairs for 99p. The only drawback was they weren’t hundred percent cotton. So that along with the polyester Skirt I was going to be pretty warm.

Adding Red Border

With the Top of the Sock turned over I started to add the Red Border. I used the crease at the Back of the Socks as a marker. Ideally I needed Red Elastic however I had to make do with Red Bias Binding.

I used a simple Tacking Stitch at the Top and Bottom of the Binding. I had to make the Stitches extremely Loose. This was so when I had my hand in and Stretched the Sock that it wouldn’t snap.

Finishing the Binding

I Sewed the Edging all the way around the Top of the Sock. As you can see in the photograph above the effect wiggly looking. I tried it on and found it was a little tight.

On the Second Sock I made the Stitches even Looser. I also did not sew the Two Ends of the Binding so close together. Everybody has one leg that is bigger than the other. Therefore I used the Tighter Binding on my smaller Leg and the Looser Binding on the bigger Leg

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 1

Watch Out There’s A Minx About 2019 Part 1

I am known for have Idea’s that are completely impractical due to the lack of time. This project is no exception to the rule. Each year we have a Carnival. I have long wanted to be a part of it but never have.

Nowadays with my poor mobility I will never be able to walk the Parade especially at this time of the year when it is hot. Therefore I in my wisdom decided to this year just dress up in costume just for the hell of it.

The theme for 2019 was Cartoon and Comic characters. My other half said that everybody would be going as DC or Marvel Characters. Since we in the UK have a rich heritage ourselves I should go as one. The Character he suggested was Minnie the Minx.

Making of a Minx

Minnie the Minx has a very distinctive look. For those that haven’t heard of her I will post a link at the Bottom of the page. Since I had less than a week to get it done I have to admit that I bought the Top off Ebay.

For the Skirt I trawled the local Charity Shops. I found one in Treetops that was right colour and roughly the right length.

Found a Skirt

One slight problem was the fact that it was about two sizes too small. As we know women’s clothing labelling is pretty much a pick and mix. However I slipped it on (over my other Skirt as no changing room). I decided that it was worth a risk. I thought that I might be able to add a panel or something to make it bigger.

Removing Underskirt

 

I removed the Underskirt. Normally I would have unpicked this but due to time restraints I just cut it out. I then trimmed any excess.

Now the Underskirt was removed I tried it back on. Since the Skirt was more or less the same shape all the way around I decided to move the Zip to the Side.

I was delighted to find that I was able to do up the Zip and with a bit of wiggling I was able to wear it and still be able to breathe. So no further alterations would be necessary. I would just have to remember to breathe in!

Minnie the Minx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_the_Minx


Please support your local carnival
https://longeatoncarnival.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/LongEatonCarnival/