La Costumière 2020

 La Costumière 2020 

I have made many Costumes for Mademoiselle Marionette so I thought it was time I made somewhere to keep them.

Lid and Cloth

I started with an old Ice Cream Tub and some Black Cloth.

Getting Stuck

 

I cut to size and Stuck down. It was a complete shambles. I couldn’t get it stick properly under the lip. The Glue dried badly and the Cloth was so thin that the pattern showed through. I needed a complete rethink.

Bazaar Surprise

 

I decided since I was as always against the clock to try and find some kind of Box as a basis. I found what I wanted in a charity shop. It was a felted wooden Box originally from an Indian Bazaar.

Stripped and Scrubbed

 

I Stripped the Box of the Interior Felt and then Scrubbed Box with Antibacterial cleanser. I had to wait for it to dry properly for the next part.

Try for Size

 

I found some White Felt and tried for Size on the Interior of the Box.

Cut and Press

 

I Cut and Pressed the White Felt. The Original Red Felt for the Bottom of the Box was in good enough condition to reuse.

Glue and Line

 

I Glued the White and Red Felt in Place and waited for it to dry.

Blue Hole

 

I selected some Blue Felt for the Lid Interior. I had to Snip a piece out before I could Glue it on.

Stuck

 

After I had Glued the Blue Felt. I then painted the Edge of the White Felted part with White Paint. Unfortunately I closed the Lid before it was completely dry and ended up getting the Paint Stuck on the Blue Felt. I will have to sort that at a later point.

Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 6

 Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 6

Phew it is the final furlong of this Mask.

Add Elastic

 

In order to wear the Mask I had to add some Elastic. The Metal materials and Back Patch added to the Weight of the Mask. Therefore I decided to use a slightly Thicker piece of Elastic to compensate. I Folded over one End and Sewed it at the Bottom of the Mask where the Washers and Chains are.

10cm Elastic

 

The next part was real fun. Trying to Measure the Length of Elastic required wasn’t easy. I managed to scratch my Face when I tried to Pin it in place whilst having it wrapped around my Ear.

Eventually I got a Measurement of 10 centimetres. This includes the amount to be Folded back on itself prior to Sewing.

Sew Mask Bottom

 

After repeating the process on the opposite side I decided that this would be a good time to add the Backing. I therefore Sewed the Back along the Bottom.

Sew Top of Ear

 

After Sewing the Bottom I began to Sew up the Sides of the Mask leaving a good inch at the Top.

I added the Elastic that would go over the Top of my Ear then continued Sewing up the rest of the Side. This was then repeated with the other piece of Elastic.

Finished Mask

Here we have the Finished Mask. It has been washed and pressed even if it doesn’t look it. The Back Patch is causing a few wrinkles but I will definitely be able to iron those out in time.

N.B.

Many thanks to Laura of https://www.alyssa-rose.co.uk/ for her much need advice.

 

Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 5

Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 5

Now I had my design for the Chain I had to fix it in place.

Pin Chain

 

The first thing I did was to Pin the Chain In place. This was easier said that done. It kept moving whilst I was trying to set the Cogs so in the end I had to use several Pins on each bend.

 Sew Chain

 

I decided that I was going to have to Sew the Chain bit by bit. I was going to have to add the Cogs the same way. In the above photograph it shows the first part of the Chain and the first Cog Sewn in place.

I then continued to do this with the second part of the Chain and the second Cog. The third was slightly more awkward as I couldn’t designed whether to have the Chain hanging down on the inside of the Washer or the Outside. I eventually decided on the latter.

I then used the same process on the opposite side of the Mask. This worked out slightly different as there was a greater difference in size of the Cogs.

Mask Back

 

Next I turned my attention to the Back of the Mask. I had made the Hands of the Clock by Sewing Copper Wire. Unfortunately the Ends of this wire were very Sharp. I found whenever I tried the Mask on these Ends were digging in and scratching my Face.

Naturally I would be putting a Back on this Mask as I had the others. However since I use the Inner part as a pouch I had visions of hundreds of pieces of torn up tissue as the result of the Sharp Ends tearing the tissue.

Back Patch

 

I decided that in order to avoid this problem what was needed was an extra Piece of Material. For want of a better term I was going to add a Back Patch.

I found some scrap black material then Cut and Hemmed it. Since it was not going to be seen it didn’t need to be symmetrical just large enough to cover the Sharp Ends. I used Blanket Stitch to Sew the Top and Bottom. I couldn’t Sew the Sides as it would have Shown through.

 

Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 4

 Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 4

For my next part I needed more material.

Plaited Copper

 

Since the last was Metallic I needed the same but instead of using Silver I decided to use Copper. This would tie in with the Copper Hands of the Clock.

I decided to take three strands of the Copper and Plait them together to make a twisted Copper Wire.

Copper Wobbles

 

My friend Laura had explained that Steam Punk was not necessarily symmetrical. I therefore Encircled the Clock Face. I have to confess that I was not entirely happy with the result.

Although I hadn’t completely Sewn it in place as yet I found it to be extremely bendy and twisted out of shape. I decided to have a vote on it and it turned out 3 to 1 against.

Copper Copy

 

I unpicked the Wire and with a much longer piece I started again. This time I mimicked the opposite side. This looked far better and got the thumbs up from my friend.

Cog Idea

 

My friend had also had the idea of moving the Ear Chains towards the Centre. However I had another idea and decided to try and continue the Clock theme using some of her Cogs along with mine.

Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 3

 Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 3

As I stated previously I am Out of my Comfort Zone with this Mask. Time to consult an expert a.k.a. my friend Laura https://www.alyssa-rose.co.uk/

We had quite a discussion, I told her my ideas and she told me mine plus a quick raid of her Steam Punk items. (A later blog)

Need Chain

 

I wanted to Frame the work that I had done so far but I was unfortunately out of Chain. So after a trawl around the Charity Shops and Flea market I got this for a pound. 

Pin Silver Chain

 

I cut off both sections of the Chain and trimmed to size. I have kept the Beads. I try never to throw anything useful away. I then began to pin the first section in place.

Sew Silver Chain

 

I Sewed the Silver Chain in Place using a simple Tacking Stitch through the Loops.

Silver Square

 

I now had a Silver Square or more accurately a Silver Rectangle around one of the Clock Faces. I was very happy with the result.

The next blog will deal with the other part of the Mask.

Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 2

 Out of Zone Mask 2020 Part 2

Now that I have the Mirror Image that I wanted I can continue.

Chain Gang

 

For the next part I needed small pieces of Chain. Unfortunately I didn’t have any so I took a broken Chain and cut it into bits. This took absolutely ages as after Cutting I had to prise off the little End sections so they were Equal length.

Tricky Stitching

 

It is a complete nightmare trying to add in a straight line something that wants to bend in all directions.

Nearly Time

 

I eventually managed to add all the bits of Chain so am ready for the part that I am going to have real fun with.

Getting Wired

 

What I need is some Copper Wire. I know Crafters have a tendency to hold on to things but I used this for a project over 20 years ago. I am using some old Cutters to Strip back the external casing and expose the Wire beneath.

Time for Tea

 

The Wire is actually a collection of Strands. I had to split the collection to get a single Strand. I then Threaded a Needle and came up through the Centre of the Inner Circle.

One Strand was going straight up. The other was to the 4 O’clock point or as I like to think of it. Time for Tea.

 

Out of Zone Mask 2020

Out of Zone Mask 2020

Yes yet another Mask. However this one is slightly different as the Style is completely Out of my Comfort Zone.

Getting Size

 

I start as usual by getting the Size by using a different Mask as a Template and leaving room for Hemming.

Thick Hem

 

This time I have made a Thick Hem. This is because the Decorations are going to be Heavy.

Ear Chain

In a change from the Canvas Ties this time I am using two Old Chains and some Washers.

Centre Pin

 

I have Sew the Chains at the Top of the Mask. I then Sewed the two Washers at the Bottom. These were slightly Overhanging the Edge. This is because I wanted the Tail end of the Chain to go through and make a Loop. I then Folded the Mask in Half to find the Centre and marked with a Pin.

Odds and Sods

 

I am playing around with some Odds and Sods. It is a mixture of Broken Jewellery and assorted fixings including Washers.

Outer Edge 5cm

 

Now having some idea of what sort of Pattern that I want I have to measure from the Centre. It is precisely 5cm from the Pin to the Outer Edge of the Sewn Washer.

Equal Distance

 

I Sew the second Washer in place. These need to be Equal Distance as I am using them as a Marker for the next part.

Six Rings

 

I space out the selected items and Sew them in place. I now have two Washers in a line on each side. The Middle item is a bit of a mystery.

It consists of two Rings, a solid one and one underneath. I think possibly that they are some kind of Curtain Ring. They might have come off the Canvas.

Mirror Image

I next Sew two more Washers either side of the Ring. There is a Mirror Image on the opposite side.

Mademoiselle Medic 2020 Part 3

 Mademoiselle Medic 2020 Part 3

This blog is entirely about Hats.

Nurses Hats

 

Technically I should make a Scrub hat but to be honest I am getting a little bored with all the Cords. Therefore I looked up Nurses Hats and found the above Poster.

Paper Hats

After trawling through the ‘How to make a Hat’ sections on the internet and getting really mixed up I decided just to try and do my own.

I made two versions out of Paper and then tried to scale it down so it was Mademoiselle Marionette sized.

Paper Template

I preferred the T Shaped version of the Hat. I therefore undid my mini version. I found some material Pinned it to it and then Cut out.

Hemmed T Shape

 

I Hemmed the T Shape. I then turned up the Bottom as it is in the Paper Version. This left the untidy side on the Front. I decided I was not happy with it.

Blue Hemmed

 

My solution was to Sew Bias Binding all around the Edges. I thought Blue would be a nice colour. 

Overlapped Blue

 

I flipped the material over. I Overlapped the two Top Corners and Sewed together.

Press Stud Blue

 

I next added a Press Stud. This was a bit fiddly so after doing the one on the Top I turned it inside out to be able to add the second more easily.

The important thing doing this was checking that the Stud Halves would connect prior to Sewing the second one in place.

Front View

 

After turning the material the correct away around I fastened the Stud together. I then turned up the Front of the Binding as it should be.

Technically there really shouldn’t be Blue tips on the Hat but I couldn’t avoid that. Also a stray hair seemed to have snuck into the picture. At least it is the correct colour.

Back View

This is the view at the Back of the Nurses Hat. I am pretty pleased with the result. Obviously like the Mask it will have to be Pinned in place.

Mademoiselle Medic

 

The above photograph was kindly sent to me by Cayt Hewitt.

Mademoiselle Medic 2020 Part 2

 Mademoiselle Medic 2020 Part 2 

I have finished the items for the Body and the Face now I am moving on to the Hands and Feet. 

Boot Outline

I found an Oval to draw around to Cut out for the Boots.  These are not going to normal Boots but rather the Scrub Over-Boots.

Hemmed Boot

After Cutting out I did my usual Tacking Stitch Hem

Pin Over Cord

 

Next I put a Cord in a Horse Shoe shape and Pinned in Place. This was to make it easier to Sew a Hem over the Cord rather than to try and pull the Cord through afterwards.

I realised that I had made the right choice when pulling on the Cord a little too hard it snapped. I had to unpick a little so I could put another Cord in. This time I used a more robust type.

Scrub Boot

 

Once the Cord was near completely Hemmed in I pulled both ends and Knotted it together. I gives it a kind of Moccasin look. The black material in the above photograph represents the Marionette’s Foot.

Glove Outline

 

Fortunately I still had the templates for the Hand and Arms therefore I could just draw around the Hand part and Cut out a Front and Back for each.

Scrub Gloves

 

I Hemmed the Bottom of the Gloves but not the rest. I decided the best idea would be to Blanket Stitch them. This gave me more material to work with.