#fauxtuny

 I finally made a Fauxtuny

This is as John Singer Sargent as I will ever get

This started last year

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-fortuny-dress-cant-be-that-hard-right.html

The grey pleated polyester fabric for the toile was more expensive than the Joann's but too heavy and not suited to the task. The Joann's is thin fake china silk, the perfect weight and did I mention that it was already pleated? 

https://www.joann.com/navy-solid-pleated-bodre-silky-fabric/18260612.html 

The toile is heavier and not worth mentioning for this use, but it was informative. I did not quite pay attention to everything it told me.

The neckline is a portent of things to come

the ensemble, minus handboat

There's no photos of it in action because it sorta fell off me.

I have had cosplay failures. Seam ripped up the backside of the pants, the belt disintegrated. Heat stroke in a onesie in a cold convention ballroom. You just keep going as if nothing is wrong. this is how it works. 

Pay no attention to that woman with the dress falling off her

This time the problem was something I anticipated but didn't do anything about and forgot about. 

The delphos opening of the dress at the top is entirely gathered by cord and the sleeve are secured by beads spaced out. The neckline needs to be a separate loop of cord, or secured somehow, to keep it from expaaaaaaaanding so the dress falls off your shoulders. 

Which it did.

I was wearing a slip dress underneath, so it's not like anyting was showing, but the comments went from "I love your dress" to "Your hat is very nice" over the course of a few hours. Sitting in a theater seat did not help. The cocoon wrap also slid off. Not checking in the restroom mirror did not help (I was ushering, I did not have time)

I needed to keep the beads in the gap and the cords at the end. It's 50% of the design, and 100% of the effort I put into it. No, I did not pleat my own fabric (thus the faux) but the beading was vital to the look.

So much handsewing to keep the pleats pleaty and the tunnel for the cord open

THIS TIME, I added stitching through the cord and the first bead and the fabric, back and forth a couple of times. The neckline is stablized.

I used my head as a measuring device to determine the optimal neckline opening.

And here we are

With the not entirely period one piece cocoon wrap, made from a frosty mesh knit from Joann's 

(it leaves a trail of silver dust wherever it goes)

There is no pocket in this ensemble. That is a fault I will live with.

For a cheap piece of Joann's polyester and a bag of glass beads, it's a great dress; It really looks great, it's appallingly comfortable. I made a belt only because without it feels unwieldly.

Now I'm going to need a hat to wear this to Seattle Frocktails

Well, the hat looks good : An iceberg hat for Titanish

It took a slightly different trip than I thought it would, but it got to a better place.

The 'derby' hat was purchased from Amazon. I know, I hate them but it solved for HAT and

this is mostly about the model Titanic (not to scale) crashing into the iceberg.

Iceberg still needs work, but we'll get there in time.

Let's meet the process!

Yupo. I still have some sheets of Yupo from a million trillion years ago. when you never move, you can keep all the supplies you ever bought. All you have to do is find them.

These hats are reviewed as being mashed up and unflattanable, which is not true. they will take some low heat with a pressing cloth. And the big scrunched up 'blossom' will unpick and become whatever you need it to be. Say, a gathered hat band.

But we need a boat

All the good projects start with a piece of scrap cardstock from the recycling bin

these tiny bulldog clips are about to come in handy in a new way

To make the top deck, I notch and need to fold on the line

I line the clip up and fold over with it,

which produces some very sharp creases! 10/10 will use again!

They also work as clips. Double duty!

As shown with just the single chimney, it's too short

but if we add a third again the length, it's better.
this is not going to be a scale model: it's going on a hat, which will not

be a scale model iceberg.

New cardboard roughly measured and marked

and here's our model

this was about the happiest afternoon I've had in years

and now, we'll use that model to make one out of yupo.

https://yupousa.com/

https://www.dickblick.com/products/legion-yupo-synthetic-paper-pads/

It's sturdy, flexible, thin, takes pencils and paint like a champ and most of all 

It's Very Lightweight: the finished boat with it's magnet weighs less than an ounce. It's great for models.

It also takes glue (527 in this case)

I had plans. Wanted to start with white and spray paint the edge in blue. the hat is the tip of the iceberg.

GET IT????? I'm the iceberg!

(sighs)

Like plants in nature, these hats take spray paint nicely. I work exclusively in whatever I have at hand, in this case Tardis blue

The masking was a good idea, I made it wavy just in case

and frankly, this is rather pretty. Not shown: the part where I shortened the crown prior to this.

Now: which way is the ship supposed to be pointing?

Starboard in

And lets paint a ship!

Blue painters tape for masking and handle

Like the ship handbag, we're going with three funnels. Boba straw from the garbage.

The fourth was decorative on the real ship anyway*

Oh, this is just delicious. i don't wear girly, but this!

No project is complete until you bleed on it

Sewing ridges for icy effects. 

Thumb is yellow from not wearing a glove to spray paint the funnel straw.

And suddenly we have a new hat in a dark navy cause it goes better with the dress and the wrap. 

How do we shorten that crown?

You fold it over and jam it in the opening of the sewing machine and sew to remove excess.

I still have the white and blue hat, which is lovely, and may get a sailboat.Or a float plane.Or a shark?

OOOOOOH SHARK

Cause you see that beach cabana bag in that photo?

Recently there was a Kate Spade beach cabana bag that resembles this 2013 McCalls pattern.
Tastes like chicken....

Back to the hat in progress

Sew in magnet glued to hat band

Another magnet glued to ship

Okay

Okay, this was the right choice

Now it does need more of an icy presence on the crown. We certainly have the waves and the right shape. We've got the berg on the starboard (right) of the ship. it just needs something icier. It will get that something, but we're moving into a busy noncostume season.

And of course the bag made a repeat appearance. It works pretty well for a pair of sunglasses and my phone and keys, but not much more.

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2022/07/i-sewed-boat-handbag.html

I had a wonderful time ushering at Titanish and the show is just hysterical,

but no, there are no photos of me at the show in costume. We're getting there in the next post, but that's a sad story. Not as sad as the Titanic, but sad enough for costume fail.

https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=184397

for tickets, at Seattle Public Theater at Greenlake, through Sept 17th 2023

And it goes into a hat box from a hat we bought at Bernie Utz's a lifetime ago.

God bless Paul Ferry and his obsession with hats, rest his kind soul

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic

I know, probably not an exhaustive source, but one close at hand