Fairy Magik - Modern Fairy Designs

June 14, 2010

In Need of Space

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By: Pete @ 9:26 pm

I’ve been lax in my contributions to Fairy Magik of late.  I’ll admit it – I just haven’t been feeling the art vibe.  It’s not as if I’m waiting for the proverbial muse to strike or anything like that; it’s a number of factors that most people don’t think about when they think about artists.

There’s a reason that artists have studios, outside the fact that we are messy, messy people and would prefer not to mess up the rest of the house.  That reason is that in order to produce quality work we need a space dedicated to what we do.  Preferably, that space is a separate room (or building) where you have everything you need within reach.  It’s a space that you can decorate with artwork that inspires you.  Most importantly, it’s a space that separates you from distraction.

My current living situation is a rough one in regards to producing artwork.  Katharine and I are currently living with my brother in order to save money and get out of some of our debt.  Unfortunately, because it’s not our house and we have to share the space, we can’t just do whatever we want.  My “space” at the moment is a corner of the living room, which is the epicenter of distractions.  Not an ideal situation at all.

However, I can’t continue to complain about this.  I need to tough it out and work, work, work on my art.  I may not create the best stuff of my career during this time, but I can still create.

Nature’s Daughter Fairy Costume – Part 3

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By: Katharine @ 1:25 am

I’m talking about wings today!  This is the firsts pair of wings I’ve ever made.

The base of the wings are two straightened out hangers.  The ends are tipped in hot glue so the ends won’t scratch.  I then wrapped them in copper wire.  This part is very time-consuming, and if you want to try something like this, you may want to wear gloves to protect your hands as the wires can get rough.  I folded the edges of the fabric in and stitched it to the copper wire to get rid of the raw edges.

The fabric of the wings is silk organza.  I dyed it with Jacquard acid dyes.  First I folded the fabric in half and basted the edges so I would have two mirror sides when I dyed it, then I stitched a big curved design and pulled it taut.  One section of fabric was dyed in purple, one in orange.  After the fabric was dyed, I cut it in half.  I deliberately kept the dye shapes amorphous.

I stitched the wings directly to the corset, then put the corset on my dress form to drape the bottom of the wings.  Then handtacked.

I really love the way these wings look, but every time I need to wash the corset, I have to remove the wings.  Which is fine, because it only takes about an hour to stitch the wings back on, but if you aren’t a strong sewer, you may want to figure out a better way to attach them.

June 7, 2010

Nature’s Daughter Fairy Costume – part 2

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By: Katharine @ 12:49 am

Today I am going to talk about corset making!  Specifically, this corset:

This corset was from a workshop I took in grad school.  First I subtly dyed green cotten fabric in a splotchy pattern with RIT dyes.  This is a very subtle dye job.

The pattern is a commercial pattern.  When making a corset, you want to go at least two and potentially four inches smaller than you actually are at waist and chest.  For example, I was at the time (and hopefully will be soon again once I can drop this pesky 10-15 pounds) a perfect size 14 in pattern size (36, 28, 38).  If I was to make a corset at a size 12, though, it would not suck anything in.  So I actually made the corset at a size 10 because I knew I was fairly squishy.  If I was making a more hourglass corset to go over my hips, I would’ve gone with a 12.

Note: your pattern size in NO WAY is a reflection of the size you buy at the store.  Make sure you measure and look at the measurements on the pattern.

The top fabric of the corset is interfaced and lined with a heavy cotton canvas.  The corset ribbon is stitched on.  You can see that it doesn’t look extremely pretty on the inside.

But from the outside, it is beautiful.

We decided to use plastic boning instead of steel.  Actually, we used industrial cable ties cut to size.  The lovely thing about the plastic boning is it is so easy to get custom lengths.  I cut a curve and then quickly ran each tip through an open flame to get a nice smooth finish.  Proper ventilation and a mask are of course necessary for this procedure.  Plastic boning is also the closest thing to whale bone we can currently get.  Sturdier than spring boning, and you don’t have to worry about it hurting you like steel boning.  It molds to your body over time the longer you wear it.

If I had more time, I would have lined the corset, just to make it pretty on the inside too, because I love details like that.  As it was, this corset made it to the display with pins still in the seam binding because I decided to finish two corsets in one night, one to wear and one to display.  At three AM while grommeting both corsets and crying because of the pain in my arms and fingers, I knew shortcuts would have to be made.

I was taught in school to put grommets in the opposite way that they tell you, so the smoothest side is against the skin.  It is more comfortable if you aren’t wearing a lot underneath, and the raised ring creates a nice decorative detail on the back of the corset.

The binding is machine stitched on the right front of the corset and then hand stitched to the back.

Voila!  Corset!  The lacing was white lacing that I dyed gray.

Next week: wings!

May 31, 2010

Nature’s Daughter fairy costume – Part 1

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By: Katharine @ 2:07 am

This is the first of a three part post about my Nature’s Daughter OOAK costume.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember precisely which corset and chemise pattern I used since I did this off of one of the costume shop’s patterns while in grad school, but it was one of the major brands that you can find in any sewing store (Simplicity, McCall, or Butterick).

I will start today with the chemise.  This is a simple, loose-bodied garment with no shaping.  The sides are simply stitched together, the armholes are bound, and the top is gathered into the shoulder piece.

The body of the chemise is made with rough-woven silk iwth a small suare pattern set in the weaving.  I used a splatter dye technique with this fabric.

I layed the silk out dry and scrunched up on a table covered with a plastic painter’s dropcloth.  Then I heated purple and tangerine Jacquard acid dyes (mixed with water) on an electric burner.  When they were almost boiling, I used a plastic spoon to drip and splatter the dye over the fabric.  I then let the dye sit overnight, or until the fabric was almost dry.  Then I rinsed until no dye came out.

The body sides and bottom were serged on a serge machine before being stitched together, and then the armholes were stay stitched.

The shoulder piece is made from a light orange cotton fabric that I dyed using low-water immersion.  The fabric was soaked in water and scrunched into a small tupperware container.  Then almost boiling purple RIT dye and water was poured over the top.  The ruffle is a green fabric splatter and dip-dyed with purples and browns.

The binding is made from the same fabric as the shoulder piece, cut on the bias.  As you can see in the pictures, I machine stitched the outside edge, then flipped the binding and stitched in the ditch from the top to catch the bottom layer.  The shoulder piece is two layers.  The ruffles were stitched in between the two layers.  The top was stiched together first, with the bottom layer being understitched to the ruffle, then the bottom ruffle was stitched to the bottom of the top layer of the shoulder piece.  Then the body of the chemise was stitched to just the top layer.  I handstitched the bottom piece for neatness.

The final step was adding the same green, loose-woven fabric ruffle to the bottom of the chemise.  The top of the ruffle (the hidden part) has been serged on a serge machine to prevent fraying.

As you can see, I stitched a very fine machine stitch on all of the ruffles.  This is the point where I want the fraying to end.  If I didn’t stitch this stitching, I would eventually have nothing left but fraying threads.

That’s it for this week!  Here are a few dyeing tips though:

  1. Always make sure to heat your dye over a stove.  If you can afford to, get an electric stovetop (you don’t want to permanently stain the one you cook with, especially if you are renting!)  Heating the dye allows the particles to disperse evenly into the water.
  2. Always start with your garment or fabric wet if you want an even dye.  If you are going for streaking, start with it dry.
  3. Agitate frequently if you are going for an even dye.  This allows for deeper penetration into the fibers.
  4. Never EVER use utensils or pots that you have used for dyeing for cooking.  EVER.  The dyes are dangerous and can cause severe problems with prolonged exposure.  I also recommend wearing rubber gloves when handling the dye and a dust mask if you are using powdered dyes (at least until the dyes are dissolved, then you can remove the mask).  Be careful!

May 17, 2010

Artist Recommendation

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By: Katharine @ 3:27 am

A few weeks ago, Pete and I had the pleasure of going to the Spoutwood Fairie Festival in Glen Rock, PA.  While there, we had the pleasure of seeing some wonderful artisans, and I wanted to share one with you this week.

Beneath the Leaf is the work of Elisabeth Finn.  She creates wonderful fairie cottages, with fairie-sized accessories and decor.  At Spoutwood, Elisabeth had a plethora of her playsets on display, and I was immediately drawn to the adorable details.  Her work is everything I ever loved about doll houses as a child combined with the whimsy of the fae.

I really enjoy that Elisabeth Finn works with a variety of materials, including found objects.  It creates incredibly rich textures that draw you closer to her work and make you want to stay and play for a very long time.

May 14, 2010

Answering the Question “Why?”

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By: Pete @ 3:39 pm

For my first post I was going to talk about why I like drawing fairies so much.  I realized, though, after balking several times and really thinking about it, that I can’t accurately explain why.  There’s just something enchanting about fairies, something about the combination of beauty, grace, and playfulness.  There’s also a million possibilities and ways to present them – innocent, mischievous, cute, brooding, glowing, dark, and so on.   That’s the great thing about fantasy – you’re only limited by your imagination.

Part of why I started drawing fairies on a regular basis was to show that you can break away from the traditional form of fairy artwork.  I’m not discounting the traditional way – I pull a lot of inspiration from the traditional artists.  But after a while art needs to evolve.  Or maybe not so much “evolve” as “mutate”.  It needs to branch out and show other possibilities.  I choose bright colors over muted tones.  I try to use different poses rather than stiff figures.  I draw outfits that stand out a bit from the flowy dresses and gowns.  In short, I’m giving the world something different from what’s already there.

I find it humorous that a mere five years ago I couldn’t draw a female figure to save my life.  I still don’t have it perfected (I always receive critiques, mostly from Katharine, on proportions).  Maybe drawing fairies is my way of constantly aiming for drawing that perfect female figure.

Or maybe I just love fairies.

May 10, 2010

Easy Fairy Wings

Filed under: Instructional — Tags: , , , ,

By: Katharine @ 3:18 am

These are instructions for easy fairy wings using items that you may already have laying around the house.  They make small wings suitable for a child or lovely wall hangings.  After making two of these for two different little girls, I contemplated making a pair to frame.  Maybe eventually I will!

Fairy wings

Fall-inspired fairy wings

Materials:

  • Two (2) wire coat hangers
  • One pair of nylon stockings
  • acrylic paint
  • glitter/jewels
  • fabric glue
  • ribbon

Tools:

  • scissors
  • wire cutter
  • needle and thread
  • glue gun

Instructions:

  1. Using the wire cutter (or a pair of scissors you really don’t care about), cut the hook off of the wire hangers directly below the twisted part.
  2. Shape the hanger into the shape of wing that you want.  Using the glue gun, put a splotch of glue at the cut end of the wire as extra protection against the sharp edges.
  3. If you are using full pantyhose instead of stockings, cut the legs from the body.  Stretch one leg over each wire frame.  This takes some work.  I found I liked starting from the fullest curve (in my case, the top of the wing), then worked my way around the bottom point.  There will be excess fabric.  Get the nylon stretched as much as possible, and knot the excess over the part of the wire sticking out in the middle.  Using the glue gun, seal the knot and cut off the excess of fabric.
  4. Now comes the painting!  I mixed acrylic paint with water, putting approximately three layers on each, with less water on each succeeding layer.  For the autumn wings, I used oranges and yellows, and for the princess wings, I used pinks and white.  It is important to let each layer dry in between.
  5. Once you have the wings painted how you like, take the sparkles of your choice and glue them on.  For the princess wings, I used the fabric glue and applied each star and moon individually.  For the autumn wings, I lay slightly watered glue in different consistencies and then shook gold glitter over, shaking off the excess.
  6. Once this has dried, I applied three layers of watered-down fabric glue to seal the wings, protecting the paint and the sparkles.  Again, it is important to allow each layer to dry.

Applying the glue glaze

Knots, paint, and sparkles!

8.  The final step is to stitch your wings together as strongly as possible using  long stitches, then glue long ribbons to the center used to tie around shoulders, and then glue ribbon around the center to hide the knots.

Finished princess fairy wings

If you are more interested in wings to play with and are less concerned with how long they will last, feel free to take shortcuts.  You could have a lot of success with spray paints and stencils, and could even stitch or glue found objects like sea shells, branches, leaves, or flowers.  Have fun with it!

Fairy Magik - Modern Fairy Designs