I make costumes too!

These posts are copied over from another blog I had, so I thought I'd move them over here so everything is in the one place. They were posted way over a year ago, and I'm currently working on a new Genie costume

Ivy Wilde's "Poison Ivy" costume

Instead of the skirt I bought a pair of Vivien of Holloway trousers which I pop studded all the way down the seams inside and out. The shirt was also pop studded with the buttons sewn back on to the front.

All of this took time of course but it was actually onto the really bones of it that I got a little *ahem* carried away. First things first I attached my LED lights, this was in itself quite a tricky job. Then I covered the bra and thong with ivy leaves (bought from trusty Hobbycraft) ensuring that the LEDs were poking out ain the right spacing. 

 I then sewed thousands of sequins on. It looked pretty amazing when it was done but to be honest this is the least fun part of making a costume for me. I usually run at least three if not four stitches through every sequin as I always think with the wear and tear that the costume is going to get I’d rather know that it’s going to stay firmly together for at least a year or two. 

This took the best part of a month, for I am one for smaller sequins to be honest…..but then I decided (foolishly?) that it would look so much better if the sequins had a crystal in the middle of them. Queue me sticking thousands of crystals to the bra and thong (this is not a lie, I spent a whopping amount of cash on Preciosa because I think they give the best shine next to Swarovski). 

I made the pasties out of one of the large ivy leaves and attached the old ones to the back, threading the tassels through a hold in the middle. I also sequinned and crystaled them once I’d done this. 

Then it was on to the shoes, now for midnight I had only stuck a few sequins and crystals to my black shoes but I really wanted the Ivy ones to stand out, as I was going to be in the bra and thongs for a little while towards the end (the music has changed somewhat) so I began the task of the shoes. After crystaling the heels I thought they needed more, so not the whole of the shoe is covered in Preciosas, apart from the ivy leaf to the front which is covering a bit of horrible buckle. I bought satin shoes as they’re less likely to lose crystals due to me using Gem Tac as an adhesive. 

So over all the costume is marvellous, well worth the hard work and the frustrating hours and back pain of sewing on sequins for a month!  

Zuul Costume for mine and Tim's 30th birthday Party

So Tim and I decided to have a costume party for our 30th, and eventually agreed upon the theme of film characters. 

As Tim's favourite film is Ghostbusters (2nd favourite Miss Congeniality then followed 3rd by Miss Congeniality 2) he decided to go as the Key Master Louis Tully, so I thought I'd complement him with going as Zull/Dana Barrett. 

I managed to get some pretty good fabric at Leon's in Chorlton (best fabric shop in Manchester) and made the outerlayer, again no pattern - I have no idea how I managed this...then I used some gold fabric I'd been given that was Tim's Grandma's as an under layer and made a matching sash belt. 

The party was brilliant, we had such a great time and everyone made a huge effort (apart from a few - naughty!) but I was sooooo hot, but then soooo drunk so I didn't really care after a while.

AND I now have a pair of pikey gold stripper shoes to add to my collection of shoes I'll probabaly never wear again, they were only £15 from Primark though. 

Ivy Wilde's "Midnight" Costume

So obviously not taking too much on I decided to make a full skirt for a costume for a new act called "Midnight" and it went pretty well! I made the top of it first, then added the net (I have been told previously not to sew net through the machine and broke two needles but the time it saved was well worth it!) then gathered the netting up into bunches. Skirt comnplete!

I then customised the bra, making it a haterneck, adding bows, sequins and crystals. 

I also made the chiffon panels, which took most of my time, hand sewing the sequins onto them afterwards was a major chore too but it looks soooo pretty under the light. 

I added fringing to the thong and sequins to the front mesh panel (you can't see this in the pic and I'm not putting one up!). You'll have to catch Ivy Wilde at a show to see it in it's full glory!