Dread Knot - Yarn Necklace

Greetings! Here is an in depth look at how I made what I am now referring to as the 'Dread Knot'. Why such an awesome name? Because I decreed it. >:D

This was an experiment that I am rather pleased with. Very classy, but cozy and awesome. I wanted to make a chunky scarf/necklace thing without knitting for weeks on end. This is the result. :D

I chose 3 colours of yarn that I thought had both good contrast and went well together. The yarn I chose was a thick soft yarn that reminded me a bit of dreadlocks.

I looped the yarn around in circles alternating the colours until I found the right combination, length and thickness. I made the main colour purple, with green as secondary and white/cream as the accent.  I made sure there was enough left at the ends to knot it and finish it off, while still hanging where I wanted it to.

I separated the colours and then cut the loops into strands all approximately the same length. 

I divided the yarn into 3 equal groups with varying amounts of each colour. The knots on the end is a bad idea. I tied them too tight and it was a bit of an effort to get them undone, damaging the ends of the yarn more quickly.

I tied an elastic band around the 3 groups and twisted them around until I found the look I was going for. I then tied the other end with an elastic band. 

I flattened it out and used bias tape to sew the ends together so it wouldn't fall apart. The bias tape acted as a barrier to prevent the yarn from getting sucked into the sewing machine.

I then hand stitched the ends into circles, so they were more compact and easier to work with.

I found a large wooden bead and braided it into a sort of rope to wrap around and cover the bias tape. The bead would act as a fastener, as I made a loop for the other end of the scarf.  These 'ropes' hide the bias tape and finish the piece.

And there you have it. I don't think the knots for the fasteners are quite as firm as I would like, but as I said: it's an experiment.

This project used only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the yarn I bought, so with the 3 skeins, you can make more than one scarf. I'm thinking about making one for myself... :D

It can be worn in a few different ways: you can put the knot at the front, or the back, and twisting it to different degrees gives it a different look.

January Update

Hey all! I disappeared off the face of the planet for a long time. O.o  I mean, it's already 2012!

...Well I'm back. I finally finished with the Fanexpo stuff, and I'm ready to move on to some more recent material. Yeah. School's been keeping me very busy.

Woot.

In the next little while we will get to look at some of the stuff I made for school, as well as all the christmas gifts I made this year. 

Elanne's panda bag & Mum's jumper!

Alex's scarf & Mike's sweater!

My shop project, and my sewing project of first term will be posted once I track down all of the progress pictures taken on various people's cameras. XD

As for future projects? The next on the cosplay list is Alex's costume for Katsucon in February! Look forward to it! After that? Focusing on the Katamari entry for Anime North. It will be epic.

Jelly wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ;D

Ginny Weasley - Wig and Broom

So here's the last of my costumes from Fanexpo. Looking at the improvements made to my Ginny Weasley costume.

EDIT: For those of you interested in seeing the original post on my Ginny Weasley Hogwarts Robes posted in February of 2010. :)

Who's that in the background? XD

Anyway, so I decided to re-use my broom from my Kiki costume, even though it's not 100% accurate.  Since it was August that meant that I could harvest more day lilies from the garden to help fix up my broom. It was looking a bit sad after all the wear and tear.

This wig was a much better purchase than my Doctor wig.

I parted it to one side, and combed the hair out like crazy. The wig was quit a bit longer than I wanted, but it was a last minute purchase, so I had limited selection. I had to move my 'workshop' to the porch because the wig was longer than the stool was tall. Hahaha XD I put it on my mother to do the initial trim, and then worked with it a little more to thin it out a bit. Still not 100% happy with it, but I think it really suits the character.

I tied up the leftover hair and kept it, because it might be useful for something someday...  Who knows?

Lots of fun running around in this one. Lots of complements! People were telling me I look a lot like the actress. XD  I saw lego Hagrid and quite a few Harry Potter cosplayers. I even went and got a picture with Tom Felton! :D






That's it for Fanexpo! It was a blast! Next to come are my sewing and shop projects from this fall! Look forward to them! :D

10th Doctor - Wig

Hello all! Here is a quick look at how I made my 10th Doctor wig.

Re-creating David Tennant's iconic, gravity defying locks is no mean feat for an amateur at wig styling. As an amateur with limited funds, styling can only go so far. And so any wig for a character with really short hair is very difficult to pull of without it looking terrible. I managed a decent job considering. And actually received a few compliments on it. (Someone even asked if it was my real hair, which was weird because it is fairly obvious that it is a wig... O.o)

As always, the most important part of styling any wig is buying the best, closest base wig you can find. Which can be hard. Because most wigs are bought online. Ordering from a reputable cosplay store is one thing, but when you order from an ebay seller who lives in Asia (No offense) it can be a complete crapshoot.  Like mine was.

This is the wig I ordered. Because I figured that it had enough lift in it already that it wouldn't be too hard to get it to defy gravity and that I could easily style it to look more like I wanted it to.

THIS IS THE WIG I RECEIVED IN THE MAIL. NOTE HOW IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE THE PICTURE.

And then I was like...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--"

"orz

But I was out of time to buy  new wig. So I resigned myself to do the best I could with what I had.

My wig studio: a stool on my front lawn. Wig head duct taped to the stool.

My tools: sharp scissors, pins, comb, and hairspray. I use 'got 2B glued'. It works pretty well.









First I combed out the wig, and then pinned it in place on the head.

Then I divided the top section that I wanted to spike. I also trimmed the emo bangs and shortened the back. 

I started at the crown and worked my way to the front: pulling the hair straight up and spraying the base of it. I held that in place until it was mostly dry and then repeated the process with the hair in front of it.

This wig actually did have some of the lift that was shown in the product image, it just wasn't apparent when I first took the wig out of the package. It needed a bit of styling to stick up properly.


I shaped the 'sideburns' as best I could, knowing that it wouldn't be perfect because it is not the best wig.

This wig looks best from a 3/4 view, as you are able to see the styling better, and the sideburns look less... wig-like.

Overall a good attempt at this wig. I was really satisfied with the result (especially considering the starting wig).

Next up: the final post from Fanexpo: Ginny Weasley - Wig