PADME LAKE DRESS TUTORIAL WRITE UP
CONSTRUCTION TIME 5 MONTHS
FABRICS SAME AS IN THE MOVIE GOWN:- Sand washed Silk Satin halter-neck Dress & silk chiffon wings,
MAIN DRESS OMBRE DYED (SAND WASHED SILK SATIN)
FLOATY WINGS SPRAY DYED
(SILK CHIFFON)
Arm bands & necklace made from metal sprayed gold with mother of pearl shell pieces glued on.
PLEASE NOTE:
SINCE MAKING THIS DRESS THE DYES THAT WE USED ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO BUY, BUT YOU CAN FIND THE DYLON DYES AT THIS WEBSITE:
https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dharma-acid-dyes.html
THE NAMES OF THE COLOURS HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME, SO BEAR IN MIND THAT THE ORIGINAL COLOURS USED WERE PASTEL SHADES. WE CAN ONLY SUGGEST THAT YOU TRY SOMETHING CLOSE TO THE COLOURS THAT YOU NEED BUT USE SPARINGLY UNTIL YOU HAVE ACHIEVED THE COLOUR THAT YOU NEED.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU EXPERIMENT WITH VARIOUS FABRICS AND ALSO BEAR IN MIND THAT MAN MADE FABRICS WILL NOT HOLD THE DYE AND WILL FADE OVER TIME OR NOT TAKE AT ALL.
The length had to be reduced dramatically, as I needed a straight hem and I substituted all the straps for a "choker" attached to the front of the dress [see later illustration]. This dress pattern had the right amount of extra material to make the dress hang properly. The material was white Sand Washed Satin Silk bought from Whaleys (Bradford) Ltd, email: www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk, who will send you a free copy of their price list. All material will need to be pre-washed to eliminate shrinkage, this will cause the fabric to lose its sheen, but you can get this back by using a steam iron on the fabric. But be careful, start at a low heat setting and gradually increase the heat.
FABRICS SAME AS IN THE MOVIE GOWN:- Sand washed Silk Satin halter-neck Dress & silk chiffon wings,
MAIN DRESS OMBRE DYED (SAND WASHED SILK SATIN)
FLOATY WINGS SPRAY DYED
(SILK CHIFFON)
Arm bands & necklace made from metal sprayed gold with mother of pearl shell pieces glued on.
PLEASE NOTE:
SINCE MAKING THIS DRESS THE DYES THAT WE USED ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO BUY, BUT YOU CAN FIND THE DYLON DYES AT THIS WEBSITE:
https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dharma-acid-dyes.html
THE NAMES OF THE COLOURS HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME, SO BEAR IN MIND THAT THE ORIGINAL COLOURS USED WERE PASTEL SHADES. WE CAN ONLY SUGGEST THAT YOU TRY SOMETHING CLOSE TO THE COLOURS THAT YOU NEED BUT USE SPARINGLY UNTIL YOU HAVE ACHIEVED THE COLOUR THAT YOU NEED.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU EXPERIMENT WITH VARIOUS FABRICS AND ALSO BEAR IN MIND THAT MAN MADE FABRICS WILL NOT HOLD THE DYE AND WILL FADE OVER TIME OR NOT TAKE AT ALL.
The length had to be reduced dramatically, as I needed a straight hem and I substituted all the straps for a "choker" attached to the front of the dress [see later illustration]. This dress pattern had the right amount of extra material to make the dress hang properly. The material was white Sand Washed Satin Silk bought from Whaleys (Bradford) Ltd, email: www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk, who will send you a free copy of their price list. All material will need to be pre-washed to eliminate shrinkage, this will cause the fabric to lose its sheen, but you can get this back by using a steam iron on the fabric. But be careful, start at a low heat setting and gradually increase the heat.
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Vogue Pattern V8361 View A. The length had to be reduced dramatically, as I needed a straight hem and I substituted all the straps for a "choker" attached to the front of the dress [see later illustration]. This dress pattern had the right amount of extra material to make the dress hang properly. |
The halter neck shape had to be re-patterned, so it came up to the neck line, to attach the "choker".
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The material was white Sand washed satin silk bought from Whaleys (Bradford) Ltd, email: www.whaleys-bradord.ltd.uk who will send you a free copy of their price list, and will need to be pre-washed BEFORE cutting out, as it shrinks. We also found, that once the silk was washed, it lost its "sheen", [this is normal] but you can get this back by using a steam iron on it, but be careful, start at a low setting and gradually increase the heat.
It is at this stage that the dress can be dyed. We chose to dye the dress AFTER it was assembled, with hindsight though, I think it should be dyed BEFORE the two layers are sewn together and I would only dye the top layer and keep the under layer white. From the top of the halter neck to the base of the zip we used Dylon Cold A22 Sahara Sun, about 10cms was then dyed orange [as this helped to blend the yellow with the pink], from 10cms below the zip to approximately knee level, we used Dylon Hand Dye Baby Pink, then the remainder was dyed Dylon Cold A3 lilac.
Large shallow trays were used for each colour, with a handy bowl of water to wash the gloves between colours! This was the difficult bit, one person held the top of the dress, another dipped the dress in the dye, and one more person to hold the dress at the bottom, so that the dress didn't drop in the dye!!
The following pictures shows the process used to dye the dress. I had four shallow trays set out on the lawn, with dye in each one. I then dipped each section VERY CAREFULLY into each dye, being careful NOT to drop the dress!! As the dress dried,
the colours became less vibrant.
It is at this stage that the dress can be dyed. We chose to dye the dress AFTER it was assembled, with hindsight though, I think it should be dyed BEFORE the two layers are sewn together and I would only dye the top layer and keep the under layer white. From the top of the halter neck to the base of the zip we used Dylon Cold A22 Sahara Sun, about 10cms was then dyed orange [as this helped to blend the yellow with the pink], from 10cms below the zip to approximately knee level, we used Dylon Hand Dye Baby Pink, then the remainder was dyed Dylon Cold A3 lilac.
Large shallow trays were used for each colour, with a handy bowl of water to wash the gloves between colours! This was the difficult bit, one person held the top of the dress, another dipped the dress in the dye, and one more person to hold the dress at the bottom, so that the dress didn't drop in the dye!!
The following pictures shows the process used to dye the dress. I had four shallow trays set out on the lawn, with dye in each one. I then dipped each section VERY CAREFULLY into each dye, being careful NOT to drop the dress!! As the dress dried,
the colours became less vibrant.
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The halter neck choker was made from 1" white satin ribbon and was not dyed, it is fastened at the back by a strip of velcro and fastened under the dress at the front in a "V" shape.
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The outer "wings" were made from white silk chiffon from Whalleys. I used a cheap substitute satin material first to practice with, so I could pin it to the dress and mark out where the dye needed to be spray painted. We found this method easier, because of the curved lines we need to achieve.
The chiffon was cut in two lengths and to measure this, raise the arm to 90 degrees out straight, place the tape measure at the bottom front, continue to the wrist, go over the arm and then to the lower back, continue down to the floor and add approximately 30cm to allow for a small train.
The following pictures show a very helpful tailors dummy, showing where the colours need to be added to the chiffon. I marked where the colours should be, then laid the chiffon on the lawn and using spray bottles, dyed each segment the correct colour. First of all pin the corner to the top of the dress, let the material hang down straight.
The chiffon was cut in two lengths and to measure this, raise the arm to 90 degrees out straight, place the tape measure at the bottom front, continue to the wrist, go over the arm and then to the lower back, continue down to the floor and add approximately 30cm to allow for a small train.
The following pictures show a very helpful tailors dummy, showing where the colours need to be added to the chiffon. I marked where the colours should be, then laid the chiffon on the lawn and using spray bottles, dyed each segment the correct colour. First of all pin the corner to the top of the dress, let the material hang down straight.
Next, with the arm at 45 degrees, lay the material over the arm, tape the material to the arm, just above the elbow. You do NOT need to allow for too much slack here. Remembering to make sure the material hangs down the front of the dress, tape the material at the wrist. Place a mark at these points, either with a pen or pin [when the material is laid out flat on the floor afterwards, these two marks will be joined up and a running stitch used from one end to the other to gather the material.
With the arm still at 45 degrees, pin the material at the top of the zip and let the material drop to the floor. From the zip to the floor, is where the other section will be sewn together, at this point, you can now determine the length of the "train" as a finished length. Cut as required. Word of advice though, if you are going to wear the dress on something other than a tiled or smooth floor, the wings will snag. I wore the dress in the local carnival and the road surface made a bit of a mess of the satin edging ribbon. This will determine how long you want the train to be.
With the arm still at 45 degrees, pin the material at the top of the zip and let the material drop to the floor. From the zip to the floor, is where the other section will be sewn together, at this point, you can now determine the length of the "train" as a finished length. Cut as required. Word of advice though, if you are going to wear the dress on something other than a tiled or smooth floor, the wings will snag. I wore the dress in the local carnival and the road surface made a bit of a mess of the satin edging ribbon. This will determine how long you want the train to be.
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Next you will need to determine where the colours will be sprayed. We used large marker pens, to roughly draw where the colours need to be. [Careful doing this, you don't want the pens to leak onto the dress] If you want to mark the area by another method, then do that. |
Next take out the pins from the back and front, [remembering to leave your markers on the arm] and lay the material out on the floor. This will be your template.
Lay the white silk chiffon over your template and mark where the colours will be, using pins, [remember to mark where the arm gather will be] Try to dye on a VERY calm day. We found it a bit difficult to spray it on a washing line, so laid the material on the grass and filled 3 spray bottles with the dye [you don't need the orange dye]. After spraying in the required colours, it was then hung up to dry. You will of course, need to do two of these.
The wings are then joined at the front seam and at the back seam from the zip top of the dress to the floor. It was at this stage that I shortened the length, because when the tassel at the front was made, it touched the floor, so I reduced it all the way around by at least 20cms.
Lay the white silk chiffon over your template and mark where the colours will be, using pins, [remember to mark where the arm gather will be] Try to dye on a VERY calm day. We found it a bit difficult to spray it on a washing line, so laid the material on the grass and filled 3 spray bottles with the dye [you don't need the orange dye]. After spraying in the required colours, it was then hung up to dry. You will of course, need to do two of these.
The wings are then joined at the front seam and at the back seam from the zip top of the dress to the floor. It was at this stage that I shortened the length, because when the tassel at the front was made, it touched the floor, so I reduced it all the way around by at least 20cms.
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Using a very co-operative dummy and a false arm, you can see how the colours turned out and how it is draped over the arm. You now need to put a running stitch from the wrist to the top marker, using very strong thread. Gather up, to fit between these two points.
This is an example of the two front pieces after they are sewn together. [The join will be covered by a 1.1/2" [3cm] wide white satin ribbon, which will be dyed to correspondence with the colours.
The edging ribbon [2" wide white satin], will be temporarily pinned onto the bottom edge of the wings [centre front to wrists, down the sides and along the back], because this will be dyed to correspond with the colours. You will need to mark where the colours change, then its back to the dye trays and the co-operation of a helper. The top edging ribbon will be left white, so this can be sewn in place onto the chiffon. Create a "V" shape at the neck and sew the ribbon on its edge to the chiffon. The outer wings are NOT attached to the dress. I have used a press stud under the apex of the "V" to attach it to the top of the dress. The whole wing section is shown in a later picture, before putting it on.
The edging ribbon [2" wide white satin], will be temporarily pinned onto the bottom edge of the wings [centre front to wrists, down the sides and along the back], because this will be dyed to correspond with the colours. You will need to mark where the colours change, then its back to the dye trays and the co-operation of a helper. The top edging ribbon will be left white, so this can be sewn in place onto the chiffon. Create a "V" shape at the neck and sew the ribbon on its edge to the chiffon. The outer wings are NOT attached to the dress. I have used a press stud under the apex of the "V" to attach it to the top of the dress. The whole wing section is shown in a later picture, before putting it on.
The top edging ribbon, runs straight across from one side to the other without a break [it is shown pinned in place at the zip in this photo]. This picture shows how it will look when pinned with a brooch at the zip. I have temporarily taped the top edging to the arms to show what it will look like when the arm bands are fitted. The bottom edging ribbon is fastened with velcro under the wrists to hold it in place.
Next I put the edging strips on. We used 2" wide satin ribbon on the wings, this had to be dyed to correspond with the changing colours of the wings. Again I used 2" ribbon to go from the halter front, over the arms and to the back. The centre back wings are NOT stitched to the dress, it is left to hang loose, as a brooch will be used to attach it to the back. Please note: at this stage I am just demonstrating how the wings hang, the upper arm ribbons are NOT fastened around the arms, they hang loose and are attached to bands (shown later). The ribbon at the wrists is fastened tight using a small piece of velcro. A snap fastener is used at the top of the "V" front to the halter ribbon. A 1.1/2" wide ribbon is attached down the front and again dyed to correspond with the colours of the wings.
Next I put the edging strips on. We used 2" wide satin ribbon on the wings, this had to be dyed to correspond with the changing colours of the wings. Again I used 2" ribbon to go from the halter front, over the arms and to the back. The centre back wings are NOT stitched to the dress, it is left to hang loose, as a brooch will be used to attach it to the back. Please note: at this stage I am just demonstrating how the wings hang, the upper arm ribbons are NOT fastened around the arms, they hang loose and are attached to bands (shown later). The ribbon at the wrists is fastened tight using a small piece of velcro. A snap fastener is used at the top of the "V" front to the halter ribbon. A 1.1/2" wide ribbon is attached down the front and again dyed to correspond with the colours of the wings.
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A running stitch, (small tacking stitch) using strong thread or thread that is doubled, is sewn from the outer wrist to the top arm band and gathered up to fit. I used velcro to close the cuffs around the wrist.
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I have pinned the ribbon in place, so you can see the continuous strip that will go across the zip.
MAKING THE BROOCH
The back brooch was made, using a piece of mother pearl, shaped into a cloud and stuck onto a piece of plastic. Then a safety pin was taped onto the back. The dangles were made from cut strips of silver edging, [ usually found at the haberdashery store] then stuck to a small piece of sticky tape and attached to the back of the brooch.
Making the centre back brooch. I bought a square of Mother of Pearl (8" x 8") which was purchased from Inbeads on Ebay from Australia. A "cloud" shape was cut and stuck onto a piece of card in the same shape. I then taped a safety pin to the back, and attached a selection of thin glittery ribbons approximately 20cms long.
The back brooch was made, using a piece of mother pearl, shaped into a cloud and stuck onto a piece of plastic. Then a safety pin was taped onto the back. The dangles were made from cut strips of silver edging, [ usually found at the haberdashery store] then stuck to a small piece of sticky tape and attached to the back of the brooch.
Making the centre back brooch. I bought a square of Mother of Pearl (8" x 8") which was purchased from Inbeads on Ebay from Australia. A "cloud" shape was cut and stuck onto a piece of card in the same shape. I then taped a safety pin to the back, and attached a selection of thin glittery ribbons approximately 20cms long.
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The ribbon is folded over the zip to the inside of the dress and the brooch pinned in place to cover the zip.
The front tassel is made from lengths of the same shiny ribbon, attached to a 1cm wide ribbon. A small white flower is placed at the centre with a pearl bead in the middle and four small discs of mother of pearl sewn on either side, this will be permanently attached to the front of the wings.
The front dangle, was attached to a thin ribbon, it doesn't matter what colour, as it will not be seen. I took three white silk flowers approximately ¾" [2cm] wide and placed a white bead in the centre, and sewed the three together. Then cut out four discs from mother of pearl, put holes in like a button and sewed them to the ribbon.
The ribbon is approximately 8 cms long. The bottom front of the "wings" is gathered and the ribbon tied in place.
The front dangle, was attached to a thin ribbon, it doesn't matter what colour, as it will not be seen. I took three white silk flowers approximately ¾" [2cm] wide and placed a white bead in the centre, and sewed the three together. Then cut out four discs from mother of pearl, put holes in like a button and sewed them to the ribbon.
The ribbon is approximately 8 cms long. The bottom front of the "wings" is gathered and the ribbon tied in place.
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ARM BANDS
The arm bands were made using a template like this, you may need to have a few goes at making this before you get it right, so practice using cardboard first. We were able to get hold of some aluminium sheet and cut two pieces, but you could use something else as long as you can bend it into shape. It will grip the arms and hold the edging ribbon, so will need to stay in place once it is bent.
The arm bands were made using a template like this, you may need to have a few goes at making this before you get it right, so practice using cardboard first. We were able to get hold of some aluminium sheet and cut two pieces, but you could use something else as long as you can bend it into shape. It will grip the arms and hold the edging ribbon, so will need to stay in place once it is bent.
These are constructed using a wavy template and cut out of aluminium craft metal. Practice with a few designs first before cutting out properly, the bands are then sandpapered and sprayed gold and fastened together using Araldite or a glue used for metalwork. Mask off where the mother of pearl will be placed, before spraying, as they will not stick to the surface, the inside of the bands are lined with felt for comfort. Then a tab of velcro is glued to the lower parts of the band, this will be where the bands attach to the ribbon on the wings. The bands will be bent to grip the upper arms. Small shaped pieces of mother of pearl are glued onto the bands and a piece of velcro sewn onto the ribbon at the top to attach the wings to the bands. This is all that attaches the bands to the ribbon, the ribbon is not sewn at the back but hangs free.
I put masking tape on the sections where the mother of pearl would be stuck, because the paint would come off otherwise and sprayed them with gold car paint. I lined the bands with felt, so they would be more comfortable. Then cut out the mother of pearl sections and stuck them on.
I need the arm bands to hold the "wings" above the elbows. So I attached a small piece of velcro to the inside two bottom points of the arm bands and two corresponding pieces of velcro to the "wing" edging ribbon. Because although most people who make this dress, wrap the ribbon edging around the arms and hold it in place that way – on the actual dress, it is only attached front and back by the arm bands and is allowed to hang loose. (Fig 1) This is why the arms bands need to be made of a bendable metal.
THE SHELL NECKLACE
There is no template available to make the necklace, so a few guesses were made. Initially, I made it in one piece out of aluminium sheet, but it didn't "sit" right. So in the end, I made 5 individual sections and overlapped them.
The necklace is deceptively small. The bottom edges must not extend past the halter dress at the bottom. It is constructed in 5 pieces, the top section will be bent slightly to go around the neck, we practised with a few shapes before making it up. The pieces are made from thin cardboard and sprayed gold, but masked off where the mother of pearl will be glued on.
The top section gives the illusion of being separate from the rest, as it is curved, it was difficult to attach, so we just used copious amounts of masking tape as a "hinge" on the back.
The whole necklace is covered with beige felt on the back. The chains are 4 sections of gold chain cut to length to just fit around the neck with a clasp on the end, the chains are attached to the piece by 4 small gold jump rings and hidden underneath the felt.
There is no template available to make the necklace, so a few guesses were made. Initially, I made it in one piece out of aluminium sheet, but it didn't "sit" right. So in the end, I made 5 individual sections and overlapped them.
The necklace is deceptively small. The bottom edges must not extend past the halter dress at the bottom. It is constructed in 5 pieces, the top section will be bent slightly to go around the neck, we practised with a few shapes before making it up. The pieces are made from thin cardboard and sprayed gold, but masked off where the mother of pearl will be glued on.
The top section gives the illusion of being separate from the rest, as it is curved, it was difficult to attach, so we just used copious amounts of masking tape as a "hinge" on the back.
The whole necklace is covered with beige felt on the back. The chains are 4 sections of gold chain cut to length to just fit around the neck with a clasp on the end, the chains are attached to the piece by 4 small gold jump rings and hidden underneath the felt.
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The width of the necklace, all depends on the width of the halter neck dress. Some have made the dress too wide and therefore, have had to make the necklace wide as well. So, I tried to keep the halter neck narrow, because the actual neck piece, is not that wide.[Approximately 12-14cms at the widest point] The narrowest part is 7cm. With14cm at the widest point. A general rule of thumb, is to make up the costume and see how much room you have to play with. The width of the necklace, must not extend further than the dress.
The narrowest part is 7cm's
The height is 12cms. The four bottom pieces overlap each other and are all taped together at the back.
After cutting out the aluminium pieces, I masked off where the mother of pearl was going to be stuck, then sprayed the metal pieces gold, peeled off the masking tape when dry, then stuck the mother of pearl on, [using the same template as the aluminium, but slightly smaller all round]. All the sections were over lapped and held together with masking tape at the back and the whole thing was finished inside with a piece of felt.
The chain was an old gold one that was spare. I attached it to the neck piece in two places, then connected the chains to one clasp.
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Showing stages of construction. All gold sections were made of cardboard and mother of pearl pieces made from paper, before making the final necklace. The mother of pearl laminate will bend to a certain degree, so the top section is curved to go around the neck. The top piece is slightly curved to go around the neck and copiously taped on the back to create a hinge so that it moves and appears to be separate.
Before putting the top curved piece together, I sewed the jump rings through the cardboard first, then added the chains.
Putting the whole dress on, needs a helper. First of all the arm bands have to be put on, as high as possible on the arms for now. Then you step into the halter neck dress, zip it up, and fasten the "choker" ribbon at the back.
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Showing stages of construction. All gold sections were made of cardboard and mother of pearl pieces made from paper, before making the final necklace. The mother of pearl laminate will bend to a certain degree, so the top section is curved to go around the neck.Putting the whole dress on, needs a helper. First of all the arm bands have to be put on, as high as possible on the arms for now. Then you step into the halter neck dress, zip it up, and fasten the "choker" ribbon at the back.
Next, step into the "wings", making sure you know which is the front, fasten the press stud at the neck first which holds it in place. lay the gathered wings on top of the arms and fasten the velcro at the wrists. Next, fasten the velcro pieces on the top edging ribbon, to the two points under the arm bands. (fig 1)
Having turned over the edging ribbon over the zip at the back and fastened the whole lot together with the brooch. Put the necklace on and you're dressed!!!
Having turned over the edging ribbon over the zip at the back and fastened the whole lot together with the brooch. Put the necklace on and you're dressed!!!
Padme's Pastel Lake Dress Shell style Wig Construction
A Word of warning this hairstyle is difficult you may need headache pills! My first experience of doing this hairstyle took me 3 weeks initially and was extremely heavy, so I eventually went back to re-do it with better results.
Here is a brief explanation of my second attempt, I used a site called:- WWW.STORMTROOPERPRINCESS.COM
Here is an excellent tutorial in which I followed the first ¾ of her instructions and modified the end a little.
To do the hairstyle
First please take a look at www.Stormtrooperprincess as it will save me writing everything out.
If you don't have very long hair, you will need to buy a wig, preferably a good quality one as pictured just below this text. The hair length needs to be very long at least ¾ way down your back for this to work.
I bought this wig from (Rocky-Mountain-Beauty) Trading on ebay, it was called The Best Layered Wig and had some nice copper tones in it.
You will also need the following items to help with this style:-
Several hair grips & Small Elastic Bands
A sock or the end of a pair of tights stuffed as pictured
A Word of warning this hairstyle is difficult you may need headache pills! My first experience of doing this hairstyle took me 3 weeks initially and was extremely heavy, so I eventually went back to re-do it with better results.
Here is a brief explanation of my second attempt, I used a site called:- WWW.STORMTROOPERPRINCESS.COM
Here is an excellent tutorial in which I followed the first ¾ of her instructions and modified the end a little.
To do the hairstyle
First please take a look at www.Stormtrooperprincess as it will save me writing everything out.
If you don't have very long hair, you will need to buy a wig, preferably a good quality one as pictured just below this text. The hair length needs to be very long at least ¾ way down your back for this to work.
I bought this wig from (Rocky-Mountain-Beauty) Trading on ebay, it was called The Best Layered Wig and had some nice copper tones in it.
You will also need the following items to help with this style:-
Several hair grips & Small Elastic Bands
A sock or the end of a pair of tights stuffed as pictured
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I followed stormprincess's idea firstly parting the 2 front sections of hair either side about an inch in, as shown and banded them together at the front of the head under the chin out of the way. Again part a second section of hair either side as shown and band them together under the chin.
Parting front sections of hair both sides like this:-
Parting front sections of hair both sides like this:-
Banding the first 2 sections under the chin, I have used two small elastic bands either side on each section just to keep them separate from the rest of the hair.
It should then look like this:-
The rest of the hair is pulled into a VERY tight pony tail right on top of the head, pull it really tight and secure it with an elastic band. You should then have a pony tail sticking out right from near the crown of the head as it needs to be high.
You then split the pony in 2 and insert the sock, a cut off section of tights filled with soft padding. This needs to be approximately 8-10 inches long (20-25cms) and approximately 2" (5cms) in diameter).
Once you've inserted the hair piece just pull the hair straight over it like a ponytail to cover the sock, secure one elastic at the top to hold the sock in place, then place 4 elastics up the tail about an inch or so apart where you think the Lilac bands will end up.
Now take the second sections of hair from under the chin and give them a good brushing upwards, now pull them both backwards over the pony tail really tight and place an elastic band over the top of the pony again. Fan the hair out a little to cover the first elastics and again repeat by placing elastics over the pony in line with the first ones you placed.
Take the end of the tail and curl it under, I curled the hair round the end of my finger so it curled into the shape of the shell. I then pinned it using a few hair grips each side to the back of the wig to tightly secure it so it doesn't drop down, you may need a few grips to hold the tail end to the wig.
Now place the first head band at the front of the head, then with the second headband you may have to use a hair grip each side to hold the band to the hair temporarily.
For the last part use one front section of hair which is still tied under the chin and again brush the section backwards, pass it over the first and second head bands then pass the hair underneath the tail through the middle of the curl and wrap it around the top half of the tail from the top, this is like a coil effect. At the end of the section of hair I used a hairgrip to hold the end of the hair to the tail hidden inside the pony, I also used some hair gel to stiffen it so it wouldn't come loose.
I then took the last front section of hair from the other side repeated as above and wrapped it around the tail in the same direction as the other piece except wrapped it around the lower part of the tail, again used gel to hold it in place. (Once you mould the headbands around the tail they will help to keep the hair in place.)
This is a practice example without any hair bands in:-
You then split the pony in 2 and insert the sock, a cut off section of tights filled with soft padding. This needs to be approximately 8-10 inches long (20-25cms) and approximately 2" (5cms) in diameter).
Once you've inserted the hair piece just pull the hair straight over it like a ponytail to cover the sock, secure one elastic at the top to hold the sock in place, then place 4 elastics up the tail about an inch or so apart where you think the Lilac bands will end up.
Now take the second sections of hair from under the chin and give them a good brushing upwards, now pull them both backwards over the pony tail really tight and place an elastic band over the top of the pony again. Fan the hair out a little to cover the first elastics and again repeat by placing elastics over the pony in line with the first ones you placed.
Take the end of the tail and curl it under, I curled the hair round the end of my finger so it curled into the shape of the shell. I then pinned it using a few hair grips each side to the back of the wig to tightly secure it so it doesn't drop down, you may need a few grips to hold the tail end to the wig.
Now place the first head band at the front of the head, then with the second headband you may have to use a hair grip each side to hold the band to the hair temporarily.
For the last part use one front section of hair which is still tied under the chin and again brush the section backwards, pass it over the first and second head bands then pass the hair underneath the tail through the middle of the curl and wrap it around the top half of the tail from the top, this is like a coil effect. At the end of the section of hair I used a hairgrip to hold the end of the hair to the tail hidden inside the pony, I also used some hair gel to stiffen it so it wouldn't come loose.
I then took the last front section of hair from the other side repeated as above and wrapped it around the tail in the same direction as the other piece except wrapped it around the lower part of the tail, again used gel to hold it in place. (Once you mould the headbands around the tail they will help to keep the hair in place.)
This is a practice example without any hair bands in:-
MAKING THE HEAD BANDS
Next is to create 6 Lilac Headbands that graduate in size as in the movie.
You will need:-
A shop bought Alice band approximately 1-1.5cm wide
Thick pipe cleaners (which you can cut to size using wire cutters)
Padding to wrap around the Pipe cleaners to provide cushioning
Lilac Fabric (I used some cheap shiny polyester)
Lilac pearl beads (or any close colour, my beads were purchased from ebay shop (Kitzbitz) they were called Lilac Potato Pearls 14" String. I bought two strings of beads, it will depend on how many you want to sew onto the bands.
Here are some pictures of what I used.
Next is to create 6 Lilac Headbands that graduate in size as in the movie.
You will need:-
A shop bought Alice band approximately 1-1.5cm wide
Thick pipe cleaners (which you can cut to size using wire cutters)
Padding to wrap around the Pipe cleaners to provide cushioning
Lilac Fabric (I used some cheap shiny polyester)
Lilac pearl beads (or any close colour, my beads were purchased from ebay shop (Kitzbitz) they were called Lilac Potato Pearls 14" String. I bought two strings of beads, it will depend on how many you want to sew onto the bands.
Here are some pictures of what I used.
Lilac potato beads
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For the smaller headbands, you will first need to do the hairstyle and cut your pipe cleaners to size once you've moulded them round the tail to determine the size of each band. Once you've done this you can wrap the padding around each one as pictured here.
After this you will need to wrap your fabric around each one and sew it together tightly where the fabric overlaps, also sew the ends flat. Do this for each one and then sew on your beads, eventually you should end up with something like this (there should be six altogether)
You don't want the head bands to move once they are in place. The first head band should stay in place, the second head band is secured using hair grips, and the last four are sewn onto the wig itself. Voilà your finished hairstyle!
FINISHED DRESS
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