With Halloween around the corner I'm hoping to get a few blog posts in... And on top of that, Dejathoris is looking to get in on some writing fun! She sent me this post because she actually remembered to take pictures of her progress. Yay! Enjoy!
Shrek Headpiece Tutorial
Halloween 2012 is closing in fast, and
Dejathoris is planning on painting herself and her man green to rock a Shrek
and Princess Fiona look. Understandably,
shaving one’s head for a single night of Halloween fun is a big commitment – so
instead of asking Mr. Dejathoris to go the full cue ball route, we were
experimenting with the idea of using a traditional bald cap. While effective, these can be time consuming,
messy (spirit gum in your hair, anyone?) and uncomfortable. Luckily, a quick stop at the local Good Will
thrift store provided the perfect solution for the low, low price of only
$1.99.
 |
| Original thrift store rubber Witch mask |
It didn’t look very much like Shrek in the
thrift store bin... but a half hour of cutting and sewing was all that was
needed to transform this Witch into an Ogre!
 |
| Creating a green rubber skull cap |
The first step was to cut out face
portion. The remaining cap will be
turned inside-out to use the green underside as a base for the new headpiece.
 |
| Remaining sections cut from front of mask |
The next step was to cut the ear flaps,
using the extended chin piece to create the fluted tubes needed to form the
shape of Ogre ears. We saved the face
portion for future costuming needs.
After all, you never know when you'll need a rubber Witch nose.
 |
| Ready to sew ear flaps |
Starting from the narrowest end, each piece was folded in half and sewn upwards about two thirds of the way, then turned inside out. After sewing a dart into the back centre of the rubber cap to customize the fit, the final step was to sew the stems of ear tubes to the sides, using a solid zig-zag seam to anchor them securely.
 |
| Completed Shrek headpiece! |
And
viola, DIY Shrek on a budget!
Protips for working with rubber:
·
Using a specialised leather needle, available at any
sewing or crafting store, will make sewing the thick rubber much easier.
·
You will need to manually feed the material through
the sewing machine, as rubber will “grip” your feeding foot and tends to stick
in place quite easily.
·
Use a heavier thread – such as embroidery or
upholstery thread – and a medium to long stitch length on a lighter tension
setting in order to ensure that your stitches don’t bite through the rubber.
No comments:
Post a Comment