Anteater is DONE! - L

All Anteater posts are here.  Please scroll to the bottom of this post for the most recent updates.  Thanks.

Remember this guy?

I finally cut a muslin and Robin fit it for me.  So now I'm ready to cut fabric.  The only thing....

I have a couple of things I NEED to do before Thanksgiving.  This does not count cleaning, shopping and prep for the actual cooking.

Here are my patterns.









The fabrics and trim:

The underskirt was fairly simple.  The pleating is going to take a long time because I decided to try to make the pleats look like pinstripes by pleating the white part  out.  Looks neat; takes forever.

 Finally a picture of the lobster tail bustle.  Fast.  Easy.

I added a layer of netting flat-lined to the back of the skirt to give the bustle extra pouf (recommended in instructions).

And a picture of the Sisyphisian pleating job I created.  I pleated one of the five panels and set it aside.  Also, I set the pleats with vinegar.  It really works.  The smell really goes away.  I can pick up the pleated panel and shake it, and the pleats lay down perfectly.  Which is good because I didn't have time to spent hours pleating.

This pleating will be a rainy day job for quite a while.

I did manage to squeak out the overskirt though.   It still needs a hem, and all of the trim.  I have sated my need to work on the anteater dress for now.

After nearly a month, missing in action, I am back with an update!  I have, quite literally, bled for this project!  Part 2 - Fit-erations.

You know when you have a good idea, and it totally poops the bed doesn't work?  It's been happening a LOT.  Let me list the things that have not gone as planned:

1 - The very cool pleating for the skirt.  Yes, the pleats stayed in, however the rayon fabric is just too soft and drapey.  After my first pleat-a-thon, I discovered that the fabric wrinkles easily and badly.  I re-pressed the pleats removing all horizontal wrinkles.  This knocked some of the pleats out of alignment, and the fabric wrinkled again (horizontally).  Making fancy pleats is boring but worth it.  I love 'em.  But I don't love them enough to know that I couldn't sit in a chair or a car for 20 minutes without wreaking havoc.  Even hanging on a hanger messed up my glorious pleats.  This idea will have to wait for a more appropriate fabric.  This girl knows when she's beat.  Moving on.  I ruffled the fabric and made two rows of ruching to go over it.  Not nearly so awesome, but I'm content that I've achieved the hairy, hairy anteater look.
(Ruching is merely pinned in this picture.  I wanted to make sure it looked straight.  And yes, the skirt sort of trains in the back)


2 -  The trim.  Here is yet another bad photo, showing the finished trim.  I sewed it onto the overskirt by machine, one layer at a time.  Mistake.  The white fringe stretched.  The satin black ribbon wouldn't give on the bias at all.  The brown lace stretched more than the white fringe.  So yes, I ripped it all out and sewed it on by hand.  I had to make careful snips in the black ribbon to get it around curves.  And the bodice has a lot of curves.

Here I am, hand sewing, in bed, watching Naruto Shippoden with my son, with a cat on my head.  (for the record, watching anything with subtitles while sewing is a really bad idea)


3 -  Fitting the muslin too snug.  Oh, yes I did.  Robin helped with this crime.  I flatlined my wool bodice with denim left over from my son's Assassin's Creed cosplay, plus I made a pleated center front that added bulk.   Luckily, I didn't cut all the seams to match the muslin so I could still close the front.

4 - Horizontal pleating on the center front.  This isn't a mistake.  I love it.  But ohhhh, the time.  Actually, these aren't pleats, they are tucks that are sewn in.  I sewed the tucks into the fabric before I cut it.  Otherwise it would have been 'change-of-plan' #4.  I'm not good enough to figure out how to measure for tucks on a curved edge before I cut.

Here is a sample - and no, it wasn't finished at this point.

I also started making a hat because just look at that anteater!  I need to have a hat.  I've made two other hats so I got brave and made up a pattern myself.  Lucky for me, feathers and ribbon hide a multitude of hubris.  Here's the hat pattern, and the pinned together decoration so far.  More to come.

 I still have a decent amount of work to do.  I need to fit and sew the sleeves.  I need to bone the bodice.  And I need to sew down the ruching on the underskirt.

And of course, I need to finish the hat.  Here are some views of the work in progress.  Please excuse the mess in the background.  Homework was being done on the floor all around me.  And it's entirely possible that Richard Armitage is on the TV in the last photo.  Because why not?  I'll be back to write a final post with a picture of the dress (and me in it).

And it's done.  Things got seriously annoying at the end.  Finishing work can be that way, can't it...

And I didn't quite finish it because I didn't get all the boning in so it is a bit rumpled in spots.  There is just something off in the boob region that I will have to fix.  But it's Christmas, we're all sick, and I am outta time.  So here it is:

Release the Kraken! UPDATED- L

Due to my riveting problems (pun intended) work on the metal is slow.  My current plan is to glue all the parts and add rivets afterward.  The glue requires at LEAST 36 hours to set properly.  I can only glue a little at a time because the curves try to pull straight. Masking tape won't hold multiple sections in place while the glue sets.  I have about 3 'glue sessions' left to get the bulk of the 'head' put together.  Then some pounding, drilling, and riveting.

In the mean time, I have been working on the case to  hold the eyes.  Initially this seemed simple to me. Because I didn't think.  I'm still using my original metal for this, and it's very thin and soft so I've had to reinforce it.  There are two of these pieces which will surround the eyes.  I have to add hinges and a latch.

That is on the agenda for today or tomorrow.  Then I'll reinforce the eye opening and add padding and stuff to hold the eyes in place.  It's heavy.  I still need to attach tentacles and a way to attach it to ME!

And speaking of tentacles, here are the parts I've put together...

I'm not sure about the EL wire yet.  As a concept it is very appealing, but adding the switches and access to them is problematic.  I will be painting the clear tubing somehow.

Finally, I'm also making a jacket.  I made a LOT of progress on it this weekend.  The bodice and lining are made.  The sleeves are nearly made.  The collar is made.  Everything is fit.  I'm fairly confident I can finish it this week EXCEPT for embellishments.  I'm not 100% set on what I will do.  As long as I don't set the sleeves, I'll still have access to sew on trim.  And I can do it by hand too.  Here's a peek at the back - dark grey wool with black satin piping.  The lapels will be a textured black wool, and the collar is black velvet.  It hasn't even been pressed yet!  I was running a little late to work this morning and didn't get a picture of the pressed bodice.

         

And a quick hint of the eye...













               










  *    *    *    *    *

I got my Ass in gear!  I got crackin'!  Seriously, could we make any MORE silly puns?

I'm back with heavier metal and new finishes.  My hands are beaten up, nicked and scrapped. And it's starting to take shape.

 First, I tested finishes.  This looked very promising.  Brass for the base of the 'head' and riveted strips, and aluminum ducting heated and then waxed with copper Rub N' Buff.  I included a sample of the original aluminum and a rivet.

 But then I started to heat the aluminum.  This takes off the 'shiny' so the finish looks more realistic and aged.  And I got these really awesome patterns.  This is a direct result of my notorious impatience.  I wiggle.  And every time I wiggled, I got a swirl.  

I decided that, as much as I LOVE me a copper finish, the swirls looked fantastic.  (yes, I tested to see if they would show thru the copper because that would be best of all worlds...and no they didn't).  I threw a coat of varnish on the ducting and set to riveting.

And it is HARD TO DO.  I have to slice the brass strips so they bend.  Crimping them looked terrible.  One of the aluminum strips will NOT be riveted.  I feel glue in my future.  In fact, all of this will be reinforced with glue before I try to wear it.

And just in case you have NO IDEA what I have in mind, here is a very crappy drawing of 'sort of' that this will be when I'm done.

Or at least what I want it to be when I'm done.

Sorry for so many things about this drawing.  The top of the pictures is a person (ME!) wearing the Kraken as a bustle.  The brown square is how it attaches to my body.  Sort of a wide, boned belt.The kraken with it's sparkly eyes is sitting on my bum.  The long tentacles go over my shoulders and the smaller tan tentacles go around my hips.  Top tentacles are corrugated plastic tubing.  Bottom tentacles are clear plastic tubing.  There may some EL wire in there too.

The tidier drawing is what it looks like from the top. The white circles are where the top tentacles attach.

Riveting problems abound.  Power tools may be employed.

Send good wishes my way!!!!!