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Description
Character: Tinker Bell from the Disney Fairies franchise
Seamstress/Model: Tess [cupcake-rufflebutt]
Photography/Editing: Leonard [ljinto]
Location: Katsucon 2010

Construction Notes:
I chose to base my Tink dress on the dress worn by "Tink" in the Disney parks. Despite my personal ban on all things velvet, I found myself faced with the task of working with THE most hideous lime green stretch velvet of all time. ^__^; The dress is altered from a pattern for a very simple 2-panel gown with darts, and is fully lined and boned. The shading and leaf veins, which aren't quite so visible in this particular capture, were created by pinning yarn to the dress where I wanted the lighter leaf veins to be, then spray-painting over the entire dress with various shades of dark green. Next I removed the [extremely gross and sticky] yarn strands and soaked the dress in water and detergent, scrubbing it every so often to prevent the paint from hardening the fabric. Once dried, the fabric was a much darker shade than it began as, and I was left with bright "veins" of the original lime green to give the whole garment a nice leafy, natural feel. The last thing I added were the rhinestone "dewdrops," a dusting of gold glitter spray, and the shoulder straps, which were instituted mainly to support the weight of the wings, since the dress itself is quite sturdy and fits much like a corset. I did deviate from the Disney parks design in my wings and wig, as the park wings appear to involve the molding of large sheets of plastic [definitely not something I felt like dabbling in] and frankly I dislike much of Disney's wig work. The wings took me FOREVER to construct. I began with a wire framework that was modeled after the park wings, then used JB Weld to connect and secure the many, many wire segments together. The frames are covered in Fantasy Film, a plastic that shrinks and develops these beautiful iridescent hues when exposed to a heat source. Working with Fantasy Film was one of THE MOST STRESSFUL experiences of my costuming career, since I paid an arm and a leg for it and it was SO easy to mess up - Just a tad too much heat and BAM, there's a hole in the middle of your wings! Still, it was a very neat project and I'd like to try it again in the future with perhaps a slightly more lightweight wire and a better construction plan for the harness. My wig began as a waist-length Godiva/Enchantment-style. I chose a rich buttery yellow to match her Disney Fairies rendering, which I admittedly find SO much more adorable and flattering than the "Peter Pan" bottle blonde. I chopped off most of the length, saved the excess fiber to make the bun from, and cut in the basic style: fluffy side-swept bangs and a short pixie cut in the back. The bun was constructed using methods similar to those used in odango-making and is attached to the top of the wig. I was really quite pleased with how this particular aspect of my costume turned out! Also worth mentioning are the elf ears, purchased from Ardani Studios, which OMG I need to practice putting on - they look so terribly awkward in this picture, sorry! I also am wearing bright blue contacts, not quite visible in this shot, and probably at least eight bushels of "pixie dust" [ie, spray-on gold glitter]. I was very sad that I was unable to finish Tink's fall outfit from the "Lost Treasure" movie, which had been my original intent for Katsucon. The base costume [dress, wig, wings] proved troublesome and time-consuming enough, so I hope to work on completing the other aspects of her cutey-patootie fall outfit over my summer break.

Other Tinker Bell Uploads:
[link] | TAKE TO THE SKY

Special Request:
Please no critiques/criticism; I'd like to keep this gallery happy! :3

Description
Character: Tinker Bell from the Disney Fairies franchise
Seamstress/Model: Tess [cupcake-rufflebutt]
Photography/Editing: Leonard [ljinto]
Location: Katsucon 2010

Construction Notes:
I chose to base my Tink dress on the dress worn by "Tink" in the Disney parks. Despite my personal ban on all things velvet, I found myself faced with the task of working with THE most hideous lime green stretch velvet of all time. ^__^; The dress is altered from a pattern for a very simple 2-panel gown with darts, and is fully lined and boned. The shading and leaf veins, which aren't quite so visible in this particular capture, were created by pinning yarn to the dress where I wanted the lighter leaf veins to be, then spray-painting over the entire dress with various shades of dark green. Next I removed the [extremely gross and sticky] yarn strands and soaked the dress in water and detergent, scrubbing it every so often to prevent the paint from hardening the fabric. Once dried, the fabric was a much darker shade than it began as, and I was left with bright "veins" of the original lime green to give the whole garment a nice leafy, natural feel. The last thing I added were the rhinestone "dewdrops," a dusting of gold glitter spray, and the shoulder straps, which were instituted mainly to support the weight of the wings, since the dress itself is quite sturdy and fits much like a corset. I did deviate from the Disney parks design in my wings and wig, as the park wings appear to involve the molding of large sheets of plastic [definitely not something I felt like dabbling in] and frankly I dislike much of Disney's wig work. The wings took me FOREVER to construct. I began with a wire framework that was modeled after the park wings, then used JB Weld to connect and secure the many, many wire segments together. The frames are covered in Fantasy Film, a plastic that shrinks and develops these beautiful iridescent hues when exposed to a heat source. Working with Fantasy Film was one of THE MOST STRESSFUL experiences of my costuming career, since I paid an arm and a leg for it and it was SO easy to mess up - Just a tad too much heat and BAM, there's a hole in the middle of your wings! Still, it was a very neat project and I'd like to try it again in the future with perhaps a slightly more lightweight wire and a better construction plan for the harness. My wig began as a waist-length Godiva/Enchantment-style. I chose a rich buttery yellow to match her Disney Fairies rendering, which I admittedly find SO much more adorable and flattering than the "Peter Pan" bottle blonde. I chopped off most of the length, saved the excess fiber to make the bun from, and cut in the basic style: fluffy side-swept bangs and a short pixie cut in the back. The bun was constructed using methods similar to those used in odango-making and is attached to the top of the wig. I was really quite pleased with how this particular aspect of my costume turned out! Also worth mentioning are the elf ears, purchased from Ardani Studios, which OMG I need to practice putting on - they look so terribly awkward in this picture, sorry! I also am wearing bright blue contacts, not quite visible in this shot, and probably at least eight bushels of "pixie dust" [ie, spray-on gold glitter]. I was very sad that I was unable to finish Tink's fall outfit from the "Lost Treasure" movie, which had been my original intent for Katsucon. The base costume [dress, wig, wings] proved troublesome and time-consuming enough, so I hope to work on completing the other aspects of her cutey-patootie fall outfit over my summer break.

Other Tinker Bell Uploads:
[link] | TAKE TO THE SKY

Special Request:
Please no critiques/criticism; I'd like to keep this gallery happy! :3