Forums > Expressive movement / costumes and props > Costumer�s technical discussion

I have been getting into making a lot of circus/ spinning costuming of late and I was thinking that there must be some other hoppers that do this kind of thing as well.

I know there have been costume threads in the past, but the only ones I could find were people asking for specific help. I thought it would be great to have one place where costumers could discuses / share links / share techniques/ ask questions especially because as spinners / performers our demands and needs in costuming can be quite different.

So yeah here we go.

Ps. I was debating which forum this should really go in, but considering it is about building and that sort of thing I thought this one would be ok.

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

I ment to make a post my self last night but the interwebs died unexpectedly.

I do a lot of sewing and am currently working on making some cheesy trad style circus costumes. There is just something about the gaudy style that I love. I am also trying to make a pair of shorts for hooping in (read: butt shorts) but I am struggling to find a pattern to start me of in the right direction.


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Any ideas on how to make battery powered light-up clothing whilst still making them durable?
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If you go about it correctly el wire can be quite durable. So things that might help though
� get the super tough stuff from cool neon ( it is designed for use out side)
� Make sure there is some kind of built in support for the battery pack, for example a small pocket stitched to the inside of the pants.
� Make the el wire removable, so that the garment can be washed. A good way to do that would be having little Velcro tabs that hold it on, or you could run the el wire through some skinny clear plastic tubing that is sewn in to the pants.

Have you had a go at hand sewing? it is really not as hard as you may think, and there are lots of web sites you can look up that will give you tips. It will make your life a lot easier.

Jane

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

�What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.�

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!

A wise man once said: "You have two ears and one mouth, therefore you should shut the up and listen" (though, to be fair, he might not've put it _quite_ like that..)

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu

he he .. critch
That is a good idea though, but it might be a bit breezy :P

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

�What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.�

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

�What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.�

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

A wise man once said: "You have two ears and one mouth, therefore you should shut the up and listen" (though, to be fair, he might not've put it _quite_ like that..)

Intresting one. Silicon is also very heavy in large quanitities, and could possibly need some sort of support.



I reckon your best bet would be fibre glass, which I belive you can use in a similar way to the mod-rock (plaster bandages) Nigel was describing.



Other than that, chicken wire and paper mache?!



Remeber, that whatever you use to make the structure, you're going to cover it up, so the covering is the thing that makes it look proffessional. A decent paint job, with the mossy stuff you can buy from train modelling shops would work well.



I think fibre glass is definately your best bet, its more durable, lightweight, and gives a good surface finish. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about it to tell you more than that, so you'll have to google it I'm afraid, unless someone else here has had more experience of it.



Edit, reading your post again, maybe the above isn't the best way to go. (especially not if you're likely to fall over, ow!)



How about instead of thinking of branches sticking out, you have more of a vine like thing, around a tree trunk, with possibly just a few branches sticking up from the top. So some sort of stems creeping around the trunk. Does that make sense?

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

�What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.�

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu

A wise man once said: "You have two ears and one mouth, therefore you should shut the up and listen" (though, to be fair, he might not've put it _quite_ like that..)

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

�What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.�

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oooo all the ideas
The part i'm struggling with most for the tree is actually the design beacuse the branches need to be proportional to the legs or trunk but the net was a great suggestion gnor . I had not thought about silicon or fiber glass yet bu i had been thinking about sculpting some foam so i think i might try and work some of those in to the plan.

mparker i really like those pants v-cool.

Hurm when i get my lazy but in to gear and take some photos i'll post them. But don't hold your breath :P

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Live like there is no tomorrow,
dance like nobody is watching
and hula hoop like wiggling will save the world.

�What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.�

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />

Oooo that method of leather working sounds interesting.

Yesterday I found the perfect costume pattern to satisfy my trad circus costume kick.
Here is an example of what it will hope fully look like.

But I am a bit stuck on what colours to use. The blue and fairy floss pink looks so awesome, but I know that the pink will look funny on me because I have red hair and really pale skin.

Any one got some suggestions on colours? My theory is that they should be fairly contrasting but that is about all I have.


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Non-Https Image Link

I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.<br /><br />