Aussie Dark Force Witch

[bextar]

Hi this is the start of my build for the Dark Force Witch.

 

These are only first fittings and still lots of pinning going on. The outer cloak I am still working on, I only just got the red the other day. Any help or advice on dying the material would be a great help.

 

We have just started on the amulet and sceptre will be sourcing the paints during the week or next weekend. My husband has the foam for the chest armour and head piece that's his job, I have helped him out enough in the past with his TK & Fett.

 

Please let me know what you think, any advice is welcome.

[Guest Nihilus]

I think it looks great Bexter, can't wait too see once you fully finish it

[Twi'lek Pam]

Hi,

 

I'm pleased to see someone tackling this costume again; it's been a while since I've seen one. It's a challenging costume, but it'll look great when it's finished!

 

The biggest challenge for EU costumes is that most of them have to be made from scratch, one piece at a time. We spend a huge amount of time finding just the right fabrics and supplies, and then experimenting to find creative ways to make those materials meet our needs. To date I have seen three ladies make the Dark Force Witch costume. All of them had some really great elements to their costumes, but all three of them also had some glaring inaccuracies. If you're up to the challenge, I'd love to see you make the first truly accurate version of this costume. If you could do so, I would also love to see you serve as a model for the legion's CRL project. I have to warn you, though: I'd be really picky about the details, and getting 'em as close as humany possible! (Or perhaps a bit inhumanly possible... I am a perfectionist, afterall!)

 

 

I think the biggest challenges for this costume will be finding the right fabrics, both for color and texture, and then coloring them again. The layers have an ombre dye pattern to them, which is a challenge to do right. (Just ask some of the Padme and handmaiden costumers out there!) If you dip-dye the fabric, then you'll need a fabric with a high natural fiber content, such as cotton or silk, because synthetic fabrics won't accpt most dyes. If you try to airbrush the color gradations, then you can use fabric paints and any kind of fabric, though this can be tricky also. (And the quality often isn't as good as using fabric dyes.) An airbrush gives much better results than a hand held spray bottle.

 

Here are a few web pages about ombre dye. I have some more links somewhere... I just need to figure out where I hid them on my computer!

 

http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/ombre.html

https://www.ritdye.com/dyeing-technique ... %A9-dyeing (I do not recommend RIT dye for professional quality costuming... it's just not a high quality dye, or very permanent for that matter.)

 

To start with what you have so far....

 

The red colors you've chosen aren't quite the base color that I feel you should start with. The base should be more of a candy-apple red that blends into purple, rather than the more brownish red that you're wearing.

 

 

 

The base of the inner dress needs to be asymetrical, rather than flat across the bottom.

 

 

 

The texture of that inner skirt fabric is fascinating... it really looks like something you would see a lady from Star Wars wearing. It isn't quite the deep purple that we need, though. Is it a fabric that would accept dye?

 

 

 

I like the turned tops on the sceptor pieces. (Hardware store find, I'm guessing?) However, they don't match the reference images. It's always great to use found pieces, but we typically have to make pretty big changes to the things we come across, mixing and matching and creating some elements from scratch to get the right look.

 

This is going to be a fun thread to follow. Good luck, and happy costuming!

 

Pam

[bextar]

I have modified the tops of the amulet and sceptre and included in the photos the mock up showing the rings and dots that I am going to use. I then undercoated the piece to see what it would look like. I think they are looking more like they are supposed to now. With the rings we tried curtain wire and shoe laces to see what worked best, as you can see the curtain wire is definitely the better of the two and it paints better also. The dots I used rubber stoppers for furniture and cupboard doors, the are perfect for the sceptre. We bogged in the top of the amulet to give it a rounded top and cut off the decorative bits on both pieces, I then drilled out the top of the sceptre and counter sunk the hole and inserted and glued in the pieces we had cut off. They now need the rings to be attached aswell as the dots and the attachment for the cord at the top of the amulet to be done and then I think we are ready to start the painting.

[Nefthys]

I started this costume, but it's sitting half finished in the closet as I changed my mind and decided to do Nihilus instead. This is a really tricky costume to do and I'm glad to see someone else also taking the challenge. I look forward to seeing how you handle the project. I plan to finish my Dark Force Witch once Nihilus and the Twi'lek are completed.

 

For dying the fabric I took a natural fiber (raw silk) and soaked it in water. Then I hung it upside down on a wooden dowel. Then I very carefully poured the dye on top so that it would run down the wet fabric. It worked quite well. I helped it along in spots with a wet brush if there were areas not running as far down as others. I learned this type of fabric dying at school, but it is not very common. You need a very long wooden dowel, and strong enough to support the wet fabric. Also a lot of space to do this with a floor you don't mind getting dirty ( or a large plastic tarp).

 

Airbrushing would have been my preferred method if my airbrush wasn't currently out of commission. You have more control with an airbrush for this kind of project. Especially if you are like me and do your dying after you have sewn the basic robe.

 

I wish you all the best on your costume!

 

Cheers,

Nef

[DARTH CRANE]

esta Genial!!

I'll watch your progress!

[tk6232]

Cant wait to see this up close, Bextar. I know you and Phantom make some high quality costumes, so this will be no different.

 

I'd love to do a matching Nightsister Ventress to match!

[bextar]

Hi again,

We should have most of the costume made tomorrow, without the dye work, so I will post the pics then.

Have been working on the sceptre and amulet, we ended up using artist modeling wire for the ridge pieces as the curtain wire stayed tacky after painting. I think the dots on the top of the sceptre are too large and would love to hear what you think. I will look for something better next week if you all agree with me. Any and all feedback would be appreciated. Below are some pics taken of paint testing on the sceptre and amulet.

[bextar]

Hi again, here are some photos of the four pieces, they need some slight adjustments to hems and the dyeing to be done.

[Twi'lek Pam]

It's coming along quite nicely! Right now the colors all look so different without the color gradations, I'm eager to see how it will look when the dye is applied to "blend" them into a unified outfit! I think it's going to be pretty cool to see the change.

 

Pam

[bextar]

Hi all, I will be posting up some pictures later as I have been doing some testing with different dye colours. Just wanted to get your opinion on nail and eye colour for the D F Witch. Her hands are white, but what colour is her nails white or purple, and does it matter what colour her eyes are or are they purple too? Just wanted everyones thoughts.

thanks bex

[bextar]

I have finally taken all the pictures of the test dying. I tried a wine coloured dye and also another dye that I used mixing two different colours together to make a deep purple colour. In the pictures I have included an undyed piece of the original material and then one piece that went through a bleach wash before dying and another that wasn't bleached. The purple colour seems to have given the material a more pinkish tinge which is what I wanted, it also changed the colours into a graduated style which is what is needed for the make. I dyed the complete material for the recommended times and then pegged them to the sides of the buckets for another 1 to 2 hours to get the dye to bleed up the material. Let me know what colours you think have worked the best.

The original dress colour is on the bottom and on the left is the purple dye and on the right is the wine dye

The piece third from left draped over fence is the inner cloak material

This is the red from the outer cloak, original red in the centre and purple dye on left and bottom and wine second from left and right side

You can see where the dye started to graduate up the material on the left and bottom middle material

This one shows the red material on left and the dress material on the right, both dyed with the purple, I think if dyed longer and in proper ombre style these would match the best

[bextar]

I am finally near the end, when I dyed the clothes I made the mistake and had too much material in the dye container and the final result was patchy and not what I wanted even though the colouring was correct. After talking it over with some friends in the Redbacks I decided that the way that I could correct this was to airbrush the imperfections out. the following pictures are of the costume and the unpainted chest piece. Let me know what you think please, I want to get this finished and approved before April, so any help would be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthTagion]

Really looks like it is coming together. Definitely one of the pictures I liked from that book. Keep up the pics! Fun to watch the progression.

[Twi'lek Pam]

The colors are beautiful, and I love seeing things like this come together!

 

The color gradation on the inner pieces is fantastic. I'm wondering/worried that an approval might be held up by the lack of gradation on the outer piece, though. There's a more abrupt transition between the brighter red on top and the darker color at the bottom. Is that one of the things you were hoping to airbrush?

 

Someday I really, really want to try some ombre dying techniques. When I do, I'll know who to ask for advice!

 

::bounces:: I'm gonna have a Dark Force Witch model for the CRL! Woohoo!!

 

Pam

[Guest stinkape]

Very Nice .. Pictures are worth a thousand words.. Great going.. Can't wait to see more...

[bextar]

Steve is pushing me to finally finish this lady.......oops witch, he even took one for the team yesterday and we cornered muppet and asked some questions about the outside cloak, which looks good on Steve too.

Believe it or not this isn't the first time I have found him wearing my clothes.!!

Just kidding.

We went and bought some makeup today and did a rough trial to see how easy it was and how long it took. It is a bit patchy in places and the lines aren't straight, but overall it wasn't a difficult as I thought it was going to be.

 

 

 

 

Thanks Anda for the the tip about the makeup store.

I personally think I am channeling Peter Kris but its what the CRL wants, maybe the creator was a KISS fan.

We have also started the head armour, I bought a head piece to make a Fascinator, then some Eva craft foam. We heated the foam and stretched it over a soccer ball for a couple of days. The head piece was sealed with PVA glue and water, they were glued together with shoe goo and supa glue.

 

 

 

 

Kayle once again helped me out and sewed up my gloves, here is and inside and outside pic

 

 

[Guest Duck]

This is going to be so awesome when it's done!