Skip to main content

Costume Project: Wisteria Fox Day 4.5

 The extra yard of fabric is on the way! It's coming via USPS so might be a while so in the meantime I'm assessing what I have for other parts of the project. 

Paint and Fabric Paint

One of the major things I am doing for this project is hand painting wisteria vines throughout the kimono. I will also include blue flames (foxfire) as part of the sleeves and lower edges. 

Checking my box of paints I was happy to find that I had paint meant for fabric in a shade of purple! Miraculous! Who put that there? I also have acrylic paints in red, blue, and white so I can mix different shades of purple and pink. I also had a couple shades of green. I also found my Liquitex Fabric Medium so I can use all my acrylic paints. (Except the metallic ones apparently.  Luckily, not planning on using metallic paints. I don't think.)

For the blue flames, I was thinking of painting it on too and luckily I found my Turquoise Fabric Spray paint that I used for Princess Zelda's apron.  

I do like the slightly cloudy effect for the flame motif. I don't want them to be too prominent. 

Fabric Painting Methods


The plan is for the flame motif to create a stenciled effect out of painter's tape, cardstock, and wrapping paper. These will go along the bottom edges of the robe and sleeves. For the sleeves, I can get away with using my painter's tent to spray the paint on. The robe is not likely going to fit in the tent so I may have to use my old shower curtain and set it up on the railing of my porch outside. That will be weather-dependent. 

I learned from the Zelda apron that laying the fabric on the ground and spraying from above results in paint drop spots. So I need to be able to hang these pieces vertically. Or at least at a 45-degree angle. 

For the wisteria vines, I may create a couple templates, use some transfer tracing paper, plot down where I want the major flower clumps to be, and plan out the flow. There will likely also be some free-handing to this as well. 

Order of Operations

When I do each paint job will need to happen at specific junctures of construction. Making this a little complicated. 
  1. Cut out all fabric pieces. 
  2. Dye Fabric purple - darker at the bottom and fading up to white. 
  3. Sew the outer robe. This will give me armholes to hang with. 
  4. Spray Paint blue flames
  5. Paint parts of the fox applique (nose, eyes)
  6. Iron on the fox applique to the front of both outer sleeves. (Labeling pattern pieces will be very key to this.)
  7. Sew edges of applique if necessary. 
  8. Pin Sleeves to kimono body. 
  9. Start painting flowers. 
  10. Sew the lining and attach the sleeves to the kimono. 
So there's no actual progress today except finding my hidden supplies and thinking about this stuff. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hakama Series - Hibakama (Scarlet Hakama)

The bright red hakama with a white kimono is a common sight in both anime and video game characters. Shrine maidens or Miko also wear this combination of colors when they work at Shinto shrines. Honestly, there is a LOT of history and cultural significance wrapped up in this one.  Anime/Games: Inuyasha, Genshin Impact, Sailor Moon,  So let's talk Design. Design Considerations Cultural Significance This is one I'd pay attention to if I was creating a character of my own. I assume that already created characters have had this research done and have taken their artistic license.  Some of the research taught me a few things: The color is technically scarlet or vermillion, not "red". 🤷 Miko are not part of the Shinto clergy. Sometimes they are just seasonal workers.  Generally, Miko are young women in their teens or early 20s. After a certain age, they wear different colors.  This was based on Heian nobility colors and fashions.  Color Like I said earlier, the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hakama Series - Side Opening Covers/Pockets

The side openings on hakama can feel a bit exposing if you're not wearing a full kimono underneath or perhaps you just can't stand to be without pockets! While these things are not necessarily historically accurate for the area, you can make it work.  Modesty Panels These will be panels of fabric that hang from your waist at your sides where the openings of the hakama are. You can choose to attach these to the belts (himo) of your hakama or to make your own waistband.  You can use any kind of cloth but the idea is to use any left over clothe from making your hakama. But if you want different colors or prints go for it.  You will cut a rectangle with rounded corners that is 16" tall and about an inch wider than your side openings (sasahida). To keep it from fraying, either use a serger or overlock machine to finish the edges except at the top. Alternatively, use a zig-zag stitch on your regular sewing machine all around the edges except the top..  Make a waistband fro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hakama Series - Split Leg Hakama

This is the classic style that you likely think of when you hear the word "Hakama". Very wide-legged pleated trousers worn by swordsmen and warriors. Admittedly these are "modern" hakama. There are variations based on historical time period and social status. But these should suit most cases.  So, lets go over how to make them!  You will see examples of this in many games and Anime but some faves of mine include: Rurouni Kenshin, Bleach, Demon Slayer, XXXholic, Hell's Paradise and Genshin Impact.  UPDATE 4/10/2024: I've redone all my instructions. Now that I've actually made a pair of hakama and found some more resources, I felt this needed updating.  From Chihirohowe's Guide Design Elements Color For modern or fantasy character design, no limits to color! You can also use print fabric and add designs! Historically, these would be a solid color and often have a neutral color scheme (white, grey, black, brown). More colorful hakama were usually worn ...
Post a Comment
Read more