Moondragon
I have a giant costume to-do list, so of course it made perfect sense to suddenly come up with a completely new idea and make it. ¬ _¬
The basic concept of the costume was my love for opalite, a synthetic manmade stone that looks milky white but glows blue or yellow depending on the angle of the light and the colour of its background. I *LOVE* this stone, and a random thought of "what if I covered a dress in the stuff?" led to some brainstorming. I eventually figured that a dress front covered in stones would look kind of scaly, which led to the dragon concept.
I had to do all the beading on the dress front first, as I knew that it would be super-heavy. The dress has a lightly boned understructure to support the weight. Then the shoulders and hips were draped on my dressform; I hand-pleated and hand-sewed the pleats to conform to the curves. There is also beaded trim to emphasize the pleated detail.
The gloves are hand-beaded and have Fosshape claws inside.
Headpiece: I carved the horn shape out of pink insulation foam, shaped Worbla overtop, then pulled out the foam and cut the holes using a hot-knife attachment for my woodburning tool. The mask is Worbla and craft foam, and the finish was created using 'black mica' paint with additional glitter added. The horns have iridescent organza inside to catch the light of the LEDs.
Spine and wings: The spine is Worbla over craft foam, and the wings are wire frames with "Fantasy Film"; it's like cellophane but stronger and adheres to itself with heat.
Awards Won: Best in Show - Costume-Con 31 SF/F Masquerade
The basic concept of the costume was my love for opalite, a synthetic manmade stone that looks milky white but glows blue or yellow depending on the angle of the light and the colour of its background. I *LOVE* this stone, and a random thought of "what if I covered a dress in the stuff?" led to some brainstorming. I eventually figured that a dress front covered in stones would look kind of scaly, which led to the dragon concept.
I had to do all the beading on the dress front first, as I knew that it would be super-heavy. The dress has a lightly boned understructure to support the weight. Then the shoulders and hips were draped on my dressform; I hand-pleated and hand-sewed the pleats to conform to the curves. There is also beaded trim to emphasize the pleated detail.
The gloves are hand-beaded and have Fosshape claws inside.
Headpiece: I carved the horn shape out of pink insulation foam, shaped Worbla overtop, then pulled out the foam and cut the holes using a hot-knife attachment for my woodburning tool. The mask is Worbla and craft foam, and the finish was created using 'black mica' paint with additional glitter added. The horns have iridescent organza inside to catch the light of the LEDs.
Spine and wings: The spine is Worbla over craft foam, and the wings are wire frames with "Fantasy Film"; it's like cellophane but stronger and adheres to itself with heat.
Awards Won: Best in Show - Costume-Con 31 SF/F Masquerade
