Visas WIP (complete)

[Guest Aysel]

this will be a long time in the planning stages and probably in the building stages as well as funds are tight. I will probably go with a dyed to match fabric but I want/need to know if the swatch of fabric that I do have is the right shade for the comic version of this costume, any input will be very welcome. (please dismiss the out of focus pics, but the colors is what I'm after)

 

in natural light

 

under a house lamp (red cup makes for a good 'red' baseline)

[Twi'lek Pam]

It's difficult to see the exact color of a fabric swatch by looking at a photo online. I know, because I've bought plenty of fabric based on a photograph posted online, only to find out that it was the wrong color when it arrived. (Which is always a good excuse to use it for something else... )

 

It's very difficult to know the true color of the fabric (look at how different it looks between the two photos!), but my gut reaction is to say that it looks reasonable for the comic version of Visas. Hold it up next to a picture of her costume, and if you think it works, then go for it!

 

Pam

[Guest Aysel]

thanks Pam, and yea I know the monitor color thing, which is why I took 2 different pics under different light. It looks right to me and within the shades that I've seen other ladies use, but I wanted an expert opinion before I ordered dyed-to-match fabric and find out that it's wrong.

[Guest Aysel]

I had an epiphany last night while I was in the stupor of a migraine headache. I have an old Renaissance dress that I believe I could rework to be the under dress for Visas and have enough fabric left over to do the veil. My only question is, is the color about right? One pic was taken under artificial light and the other under natural light, it's not as shiny as the pic makes it look, that was the flash.

 

 

[Guest Aysel]

after a few PM's with Pam, thank you btw, I went fabric shopping (it was also a big sale at joann's for president's day, yay for sales!)

 

under dress and belt material

 

under dress and leatherette

 

leatherette showing inside and outside (the inside is black, big plus there)

 

I also got patterns (simplicity has a pattern that includes the bell sleeves that's almost the right length AND a dress pattern that has the same collar that Visas has) silver and black fabric spray (this will be fun) what they didn't have was the right gold paint but my local department store had it so I'll be picking it up there. I have a time line to get this done, and a non-formal event to test this costume at, May 14th is my D-day for this costume. Wish me luck and I'll be posting lots of pics for everyone to follow

[Guest Anonymous]

It looks like you have a plan (I wish mine was moving along that fast!), but the one thing I would add to your fabric paint shopping list is a light grey for the overdress's pinwheel pattern. Definitely experiment with that one though - I'm finding tricky to find one that dries in the right shade.

[Guest Aysel]

I have grey/silver fabric spray paint and black if it's too bright and to tone down the finish on the leatherette, not that it's shiny at all.

 

as for the gloves, I'd like to know if the ones I already own will work. They are spandex not leather, which works better for my hands since my hands are small and leather gloves tend to look really bad on me

 

pictures:

 

 

[Guest Anonymous]

Hmmm. I don't think I've ever seen spandex for the gloves before. Check the standards again, but I believe they specify leather. As for the paint, something called 'silver' normally has a shine to it. I was only concerned that - while a light black layer may darken grey, and probably helps with the fabric shine - it may be apparent in circumstances such as a camera flash. I'd ask around; in passing, I don't recollect anyone mentioning the use of a silver paint for anything but the glove bands. It seems to come back to this: Experiment, experiment, experiment! ...possibly why mine is taking so long...!

[Guest Aysel]

my only problem is I can't find leather gloves to fit my hands, I seriously have tiny hands, even those spandex ones are too long in the fingers and they are an x-small

 

as for the silver/gray paint, that's why I got the black, if it turns out to be too bright, a light coating of black over top and it's all good

[Twi'lek Pam]

Hiya,

 

Please let me know how that outer dress pleather works out. I've been looking at that same fabric at JoAnnes for my next Visas dress, and I'd love to hear how well it works! (It looks like you selected the same dress fabric that I did, too. Can we claim that great minds think alike? )

 

For painting the pinwheel pattern, I highly recommend using vinyl paint rather than fabric paint. Vinyl paint is designed for sticking to the plastic surface of vinyl. (I believe it's a chemical bond.) Fabric paint, on the other hand, is intended to make a mechanical bond with the fibers of the fabric. Since vinyl is smooth, fabric paint can crack and peel off of it over time. If you want to use the fabric paint, my advice is to do a test patch, let it cure for a few days, and then try folding and stretching the fabric to simulate wear and tear from trooping. Find out how well it holds up!

 

Presidio Gray SEM vinyl paint is what I used for my dress. I'm annoyed with myself because the one photograph that actually has the paint can in it... only shows the back side of the can. D'oh!

 

http://chucrew.com/Visas/outerdress.html

 

 

Yes, the gloves do need to be a leather or leather look material. (Leather is much more comfortable!) Fabric gloves don't give the right look, and they aren't in the standards. (My leather gloves are too long for my fingers, too. I look like I have dragon lady fingernails inside of them!)

 

 

 

Pam

[Guest Aysel]

thanks Pam, I'll totally let you know how well that leatherette works out, for those who haven't ever seen or felt it, it's super soft and flowy for leatherette. To your paint point, it's supposed to be like "silk screen" in a can, we'll see how it works out, I had planned on testing it cause lets face it, I so don't want to have to go buy more of that leatherette cause of some screw up with the paint. I may see about having gloves custom made, I'll have to price them out.

[Guest Anonymous]

I may see about having gloves custom made, I'll have to price them out.

Yeah, in the end, this is what I did. I had the gloves custom made, and gave the seamstress the embroidered gold trim (I think I'm the only one that used embroidery on the trim, rather than paint) and the silver bands, and she sewed it all together for me. Pricey, I suppose, but so was the whole costume, and I got perfect gloves!! Good luck.

[Guest Aysel]

I ordered leather gloves for $26, I couldn't pass that up. I'll just have to tailor them myself (no biggie I just didn't want to)

 

and thanks Marcella for your tidbit, any and all help I can get from all of those that have done this costume is well appreciated.

 

I just had a thought and so not to do a double post I'll just stick it here

 

I figure I should probably post which patterns I found in simplicity that I thought would work for this with only a little modification

 

Simplicity pattern 2249 and 2282. 2249 is a mid calf length dress that has the correct sleeves (I'll be lengthening this so it'll hit the top of my feet) 2282 is also a dress pattern but this one has the correct sleeves and collar for the over dress.

[Guest Aysel]

question:

 

will vinyl paint work on pleather? I ask because the spray fabric paint I tested didn't work at all and I'm searching for paint that will work on pleather. I have links saved to both a SEM presidio grey and plastikote grey vinyl paints. I just need to know if it'll work on pleather, I think it will but I don't want to get another paint that doesn't work.

 

edit:

 

ok, after beating google with a stick, I found the answer to my question, and it's yes. Acrylic or paints formulated for vinyl will work on pleather.

 

I'm so glad I pulled out my google beating stick.

 

2nd edit:

 

after looking through the paint samples in the PDF for the SEM paints I'm leaning towards the graphite color, it's a little darker than the presidio. if you want to see it you can see it here

[Guest Aysel]

real updates YAY!

 

 

so I got to making the dress pattern as directed so I'll know what I have to change. What I'm going to be doing is making 2 of the 2249 dress pattern each with different mods. the mods for the the underdress are going to be, making the left side panel and front panels of the dress one piece for the kick out, and adjusting the sleeve length and depth for the bell of the sleeve also I'm going to cut the pattern on the fold instead of 2 separate pieces. Easy peasy. the over dress will take a little more work. I'll be making the front bodice panel and the front skirt panel one piece, the left sleeve and skirt piece one panel and the right sleeve and skirt panel one piece as well as taking a little of the flare out of the skirt, but not a lot cause I like the amount of flare there is. I'll be putting a zipper in the back of both dresses. But the one good thing I ran into is that the length of the dress as is is perfect for the overdress and I'll just need to bring it up an inch for the underdress.

 

if you want to see the rest of the pics I took as I was working you can go here http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd42 ... arr%20WIP/ or if you want to see me in a red puppy paw print hoodie footie.....oh and please excuse the frown on my face it was getting late and I was tired

[Guest Aysel]

well I took today to work out the pattern for the veil, and holy poodoo that thing is hard to do without another set of hands. I'll have pics latter once I get this thing worked out.

[Volund Starfire]

Coming from the other set of hands, a third might be handy, as well!

[Twi'lek Pam]

I can second (and third) that problem!

 

I ended up having to use a stunt double!

 

 

Pam

[Guest Aysel]

my problem is that I don't have a stunt double I'm working it out though

[Guest Aysel]

update! with pictures! yay!

 

I think I've gotten my pattern for the veil done. I had a second (make that billionth) look at Pam's tutorial (thank you lady) and noticed that the veil pattern she used had a rounded face not a straight front seam, and hence my veil difficulties were solved. And I remembered that I have a Styrofoam head, she'll be my stunt double for this project.

 

my 2nd try at the veil, notice the wonky shape of the face part

 

most recent attempt (and the one I'm going with) notice the fixed wonky shape

[Guest Aysel]

I've got the under dress complete but for the gold edging on the sleeves and hemming, I'm waiting to hem the bottom for when I have the overdress done so I can get the length right.

 

 

and just for fun here's the under dress with my muslin veil

 

 

and from the back

 

 

I'm going to add about and inch to the back of the veil, I'm not satisfied yet with the length of the veil

[Guest Aysel]

my next task is to tackle the over dress, I'm starting with getting the pinwheel pattern scaled correctly, which I did in photoshop. I just need to print it out on card stock paper for the stencil. Thank you Pam, once again for your wonderful tutorial as I took the dark pic that you have worked out there and fixed it to be the right size and cleaned up.

 

[Guest Anonymous]

You're making great progress!! I'm a little concerned about the length of your sleeves though. I'm assuming from the shape of them that you're making the comic version, and your sleeves look a little short. The gold trim isn't supposed to be very wide, and I don't know that it will add enough length. On the other hand, it could just be a trick of the camera that makes the sleeves look short! I'd suggest that you look through the explanation and photos in the costume standard for the Visas Marr comic version, and make sure you think they're long enough.

 

Happy pinwheeling!!

[Guest Aysel]

I've determined that concept art is a 3/4 sleeve, so about mid forearm and not much longer because if the model in the concept art were to put the arms down then the sleeve would go up a little.

[Guest Aysel]

I got the stencil cut out, my fingers hurt and it took me most the day to get it done