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Princess Peach Costume - Part 1
June 18 - First Purchases
I took my first craft store excursion to begin gathering supplies and ideas for costume accessories. I was disappointed to find a serious lack of adult princess costume patterns - I guess most adult women don't want to be princesses any more. I was hoping to find some kind of Cinderella or Snow White pattern to modify, but no luck. There were plenty of Renaissance/Medieval maiden and queen patterns, but nothing looked like Peach's dress. The closest I found were some Civil War-era ball gowns, but they were far too elaborate and didn't have the puffed sleeves I needed. It looks like I'll need to piece together several different patterns to get the dress style I need. Since Jo-Ann's was having a huge sale, all McCall's patterns were $1.99. I was able to pick up a very nice Renaissance skirt pattern for dirt cheap, and I think I can modify it into Peach's big skirt. I may wind up adding more panels of fabric to give it more fullness. I did not purchase dress fabric (although some I liked was on sale) - I wish to wait until I have more of the pattern pieces I need. I have plenty of time, so I'll just wait until the next fabric sale. I found a bridesmaid dress pattern with puff sleeves on Ebay, so I ordered it. The pattern itself is too large to fit me, but I want the sleeves to be exaggerated. Now all I need is a bodice pattern that has space for sleeves. I'm having problems finding one since most bridal dresses are sleeveless. Perhaps my good friend Ebay will come through for me again. Luckily, I have some time before the next con rolls around. I purchased fabric for my Veggie - white, bunchy fur for the root, and bright green felt for the leaves. I decided to make the leaves as four separate pieces instead of one big clump. Most of Saturday evening was spent cutting pieces and sewing them together. The veggie is mostly done, with the exception of the face. I couldn't find sew-on doll eyes anywhere. The closest I found were "wiggle eyes", and that's not quite what I had in mind. I may have to use something else like jewels or beads for eyes - I don't trust doing a crucial detail like that out of fabric paint. I would like to use fabric paint for the smiling mouth since it doesn't have to be completely symmetrical.
I found a medium-sized metal "French bucket" for the crown. I wanted one without a pattern, but I couldn't find one. The diagonal lined pattern was much better looking that the other flowery buckets available. I used my dremel to cut the bottom off, and it worked pretty well. Note to anyone using a dremel - always wear safety goggles. I thought the bits of hot, melted plastic stung when they hit skin. Sharp metal shards sting a bit harder. Using the cutting and sanding tools, I got the can bottom off without much difficulty. Looking at my reference pictures, Peach's crown only has four points, so I'll make a template and cut these soon.
I purchased the largest acrylic jewels I could find, but they're not large enough for the necklace. Then I remembered an aqua jewel necklace I'd bought at the Ren Faire years ago (three guesses whose necklace I wanted it to look like, even then). I plan to make the necklace setting out of Sculpey and spray-paint it metallic gold. Then I'll put it on an invisible cord and wear it around my neck. I know that Peach's jewel is more like a brooch, but I don't want to weigh down the front of my dress (I know how much Raichu's foam tail pulled on my leotard). I dug my white wedding gloves out of storage and added them to my collection of components. No sense re-buying something I already have. June 24-26: 2nd major set of purchases
Ebay: My puffy sleeve pattern arrived in the mail, and it looks perfect. I ordered a big poofy underskirt/crinoline that looks exactly like what I want for about $20. It has three adjustable hoops, so I'll be able to get the skirt exactly the right size and shape (and I don't have to worry about the skirt not being full enough). Jo-Ann's: I found big, round black buttons to use for the Veggie's eyes (thanks to my mom's suggestion). Fimo clay was on sale for 50% off, so we picked up four blocks of gold and three blocks of silver. These will be used for "jewelry settings". Since the sales change on Sunday, we headed back to find that the fabric I needed was 25% off. I purchased 2 shades of pink satin for my outfit (although the dark pink is a little more fuchsia-purple than I had hoped to find). I tried using aqua fabric paint for the earrings, but it just went all gloppy and was hard to work with. I may try spray paint or, as Concolor suggested, auto touch-up paint (the color of his old "Marill" car would be perfect). June 28: My crinoline arrived yesterday, and it's exactly what I was looking for. I'm not sure how this giant thing popped out of the small FedEx shipping box, but I can't get it to go that small again.The hoops are flexible, and at least I can sit while wearing it (although the hoops still stick up). I started working with the skirt pattern too. I got all the pattern pieces figured out and cut the light pink pieces.
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TR Rose's Cosplay Journal
