I have most of a hat

[eve11]

The splotches are from the mirror, not the hat. And I'm in no makeup or anything but I think I got my good side anyhow.

Right, though, most of a hat. For reference, Nefertiti's hat from the episode.

Mine is not quite the right color, and the top seam is jaggedy from how I put on the contact vinyl (I made tabs so it would fold well but the edges show up jagged; really not sure how to fix it unless I cover it with trim, and Neffy's hat has no trim up top), and it's a very tight fit and doesn't breathe at all (hello it's made of vinyl flooring and duct tape, mostly) so it's going to be not the best thing for Atlanta in late August, but I have most of it done, so that's good.

I made the pattern from trial and error, cut out the pieces and put them together (duct tape and glue), figured out how to get it to stay on my head, figured out the gold headbandy thing (it's actually a piece of wide trim; I couldn't get a real fabric headband to work with how tight the hat was), covered it with blue vinyl sticky contact paper and put on the gold trim at the bottom.

Just one in-progress pic: covering the hat with stick-on vinyl. You can see the flooring a bit on the underside/inside in this pic:


I also made a sculpt and mold for the snake-y piece. It started out looking like a clay spoon:


but I made headway to get it actually snake-like.

I think hers looks meaner than mine though. Mine looks, kind of cute.


Next, beheading. I had to make the snake's head separately in the mold or the clay never would have made it out of the mold.

Ready for the cast. I made a flooring well around it, reinforced with duct tape. I generally try to give everything a coat of clear spraypaint to help it come free of the gypsum better. I thought I'd found my clear spraypaint yesterday buuuut apparently the colors of the paints are on the lids of the cans, and I didn't notice that this one was, well:


Below is the finished mold; I'm waiting for it to dry out so I can put latex in there to make the piece. Then I will wait for the latex to dry, paint it, and assemble the snake back into its full self and shape the curve of the ribbon-y piece.

As it was, even separating the two pieces I had to chip away bits of excess gypsum from around the top of the cobra's hood so I could get all the clay out once the gypsum set. But I think this will work for the snake piece (and not be too heavy).

I have a piece of gold trim for the bow behind the snake that looks just right (ETA: mockup below; you can also see the jaggedy line of the top of the hat that I am unhappy with. If you zoom in on the picture anyhow).


I just need to figure out what to do about the band, and make sure that the colors that I use for it will match the paints (likely acrylic) that I will use for the snake. But that shouldn't be too hard to do. So at the least I should have a hat.

Not bad for not knowing how the heck I was gonna do it. I could have used a better material--some kind of stiff felt? Something that real hatmakers would use--instead of my old fallback of vinyl flooring, but this will do in a pinch.

Next up, the bodice. And maybe the earrings as I got the stuff to make them a while ago.

Comments

[gingerwood.livejournal.com]

For the top, could you use a trim that's a matching color?

[eve11]

That's a thought. iI have more of the contact paper so I could bring it as a reference and see what I could find that matched.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ohh, I'm rather liking it already!! But then, I find costuming rather fascinating all around.

*HUGS*

[livii.livejournal.com]

Great work!!

[flowsoffire.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, it looks great! Great work :D

[rabswom.livejournal.com]

I think it looks really cool. And even when I zoomed in, I didn't find the 'jaggedyness' v. noticeable on the top.

[eve11]

Thanks! It is probably one of those things that no one else will notice, but that will bother the heck out of me.

[eve11]

Thanks! I've got my hands full with this project for sure.

[eve11]

Thanks! :)

[eve11]

Thanks!

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

This looks awesome and it's just a hat so far! I can't wait to see the completed costume.

[eve11]

Thanks! I hope I can get it finished in time.

[giallarhorn.livejournal.com]

Ohh, it looks pretty good so far- especially the snake!

[eve11]

Thanks! I think my mold is dry enough now to try a cast. I'll have to smooth out all the chips I made in the plaster to get the clay out though. But it should turn out all right (crosses fingers)

[penwiper337.livejournal.com]

That looks really good! It's really fun watching your progress!